Jake the Snake hopes Dens men are piece of cake

AMID the media frenzy that surrounded the Beckham move to Madrid, the other Englishman to leave for the continental top flight slipped away barely unnoticed. While Jay Bothroyd’s move to Serie A from Gary McAllister’s first-division strugglers, Coventry City, might not have been as glitzy as Goldenballs’ exit for La Liga, in terms of cash or cache, it was far more remarkable.

"It did come as a real surprise," the striker recalls. "When my agent, Eric Walters, asked if I wanted to go to Italy, my first response was: ‘What, on holiday?’ Perugia invited me over to take a look around and have a trial. I enjoyed it - everyone made me feel welcome. I played for them a few times, and that clinched it."

Like David Beckham, he marked his continental debut in the summer in some style - scoring a first-half hat-trick, albeit in a friendly against non-league opposition. And he has shown that he does not suffer stage fright when it matters, contributing a couple of goals in the Intertoto campaign, and scoring in the opener of the league campaign to help Perugia to earn a 2-2 draw against Siena.

Bothroyd missed the UEFA Cup trip to Dundee because of three yellow cards picked up in the Intertoto Cup, but expects to be back for the second leg on Wednesday, with his team holding a 2-1 advantage.

"Everything over here is much more geared towards tactics and technique. You might only get one chance in a game, and if you don’t take it and the team loses 1-0, you have cost your team a result. But as a striker, you should be able to cope with that kind of pressure - that is why strikers generally get paid more."

"In terms of the facilities, comparing Coventry to Perugia is like comparing Stevenage to Man United. Everything over here is very professional - there is so much attention to detail. I’m enjoying the discipline, and I know that it will improve me as a player. At Coventry, I can’t say I enjoyed training: here, I can’t wait to get there in the morning."

Still only 21, in England Bothroyd acquired something of a reputation for being headstrong and petulant. That is hard to reconcile with the relaxed, assured, and intelligent individual who is currently relishing the pressure and rising to the cultural challenges of life abroad.

"I really like the lifestyle. I’m having language lessons for an hour-and-a-half every day, and everyone is helping me to fit in. I think being here will help me develop not just on a professional level, but on a personal level too."

At Perugia, of course, he has the son of Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi in the squad: "Saadi is a nice guy, and he’s a decent player too. I’ve got to know him a bit, as we’ve been having Italian lessons together."

At the tender age of 18, the former Arsenal youth star was sent to Coventry, after exhausting Arsene Wenger’s patience with a touchline outburst in an under-19 game. Luckily, he had already caught the eye of Gordon Strachan, McAllister’s predecessor at Highfield Road, during a fine display against the Sky Blues in the 2000 FA Youth Final, and the Scot paid 1m for his services.

Although he did a good job for Coventry, McAllister just did not warm to him: his 11 goals in 27 starts for the club last season represented a far better return than that of his strike partner, Lee Hughes, who cost 6.5m, and was considerably less skilful. Even so, he was not offered a new contract.

When, in his farewell address to the Highfield Road faithful before heading for the Umbrian sunshine, he declared: "I will miss Coventry. I hope the club gets promoted because the fans really deserve Premiership football - the support at the club has been fantastic," his largesse must surely have been laced with a hint of irony.

Whatever they made of him, even his most ardent critic at Coventry could not deny that the player was possessed with huge talent. And if Bothroyd felt he was too good for the English first division, he probably had a point.

An Arsenal insider who remembers Bothroyd’s early progress recalled: "There was no doubt Jay was always immensely gifted. Though he is a big lad, he is not your archetypal centre-forward - he was all clever touches and flicks. I can see him doing well in Italy."

The early signs are that Britain’s sole representative in Italian football will do very well indeed.

Perugia’s coach has already been hugely impressed by Bothroyd’s contributions. "He might be English," Serse Cosmi reflected, "but he plays like a South American. He reminds me of Adriano [Parma’s Brazilian striker]."

And Bothroyd can take further heart from the fact that he seems to have won over the crowd. Union Flags have started to appear around the stadium, many emblazoned with the nickname that Il Grifo fans have coined for him - ‘Jake the Snake’. "Yes, I’ve heard that one," he chuckles, "though I’m not sure whether it’s meant to be a compliment or not."

Having represented England at each level from the under-15 to the under-21s, he hopes that progress at Perugia will help to re-ignite international prospects.

That might be premature, but he can enjoy the prospect of European football - which six months ago was a remote dream. When Dundee visit, he will be keen to make sure it is not short-lived.