El Alagui vows to repay Pressley’s faith

Celtic will aim to achieve something only Brechin City have succeeded in doing this season when they seek to keep Farid El Alagui off the scoresheet during Sunday’s Communities League Cup semi-final clash with Falkirk.

The goalkeeper-turned-striker knows what it takes to breach a defence, having scored 21 times already. He has struck against every opponent in the First Division and also claimed vital goals on the road to Hampden, against Rangers and then Dundee United. The lucky pound coin he found earlier this season – and which he kisses after each goal – has clearly been a winning piece of treasure.

Perhaps the most significant twist of fate, however, was the decision of a previous manager to turn El Alagui into an out-field player.

“Football was just about pleasure for me,” said El Alagui. “I never even thought about making it as a professional. All I wanted to do was enjoy playing the game but when I turned 19 I suddenly became a striker.

“My manager saw me playing in a friendly and said I shouldn’t be a goalkeeper, I had to play as a striker. We didn’t have enough players so he told me to play up front. I said OK, and after just one game he thought I was good enough to stay there. It was an accident, just a friendly game. All the others players were on holiday so I had no choice.”

His entire career to date has appeared to have been based on an ability to be in the right place at the right time – or almost. He nearly blew his chance with Falkirk after turning up late for his initial week’s trial, having been drawn to Scotland by what he describes as his “adventurous spirit”. “When the chance came up I said to myself: ‘Let’s go and see what will happen’,” he said. “I was late for my first game, which wasn’t the best start. It was just bad organisation.”

He explains that he had managed to get lost in Stirling – Falkirk’s training base is in Bridge of Allan – after a taxi driver “sent me to the wrong side of town”. Fortunately for him, manager Steven Pressley saw enough grace in the charismatic striker’s apology to give him the chance to prove himself.

El Alagui now wants to repay Pressley’s faith at Hampden on Sunday. He supported the manager’s claim that the much-wanted striker will remain at the club for the duration of the season, and then, possibly, beyond. Although French-born, El Alagui qualifies for Morocco and, now 26, time is running out if he wishes to make an impact at international level. He knows that to help him catch the attention of current Morocco manager Eric Gerets he needs to be playing in a top league somewhere. If Falkirk reach the Scottish Premier League, then so much the better.

“In my mind, it’s not my last game for Falkirk,” he said. “There are a lot of games to be played. I’m pleased to be here, I am really enjoying my time here. Honestly, I want to finish my work here.

“We have a lot of important games. We are second in the league with a chance to finish as champions. We have the final of the Ramsdens Cup, we are still in the Scottish Cup and we have this semi-final. The games are massive. I wouldn’t like to not finish the work here.”