YOU would have thought that Ryan McGowan, the Australian internationalist and Livingston centre-half who is in his 19th season as a professional, would have pretty much shown to everyone that he can cut it at the highest level in the game by now.
But McGowan, who is set to take his place in the heart of his promoted side’s backline in their William Hill Premiership opener against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park this afternoon, still has much to prove to one person.
His football-daft nine-year-old son Harry is not, despite now going along to see his old man in action on a regular basis, entirely convinced the ex-Hearts, Dundee United, [[Dundee]] and St Johnstone defender ever competed against the teams he loves to watch on television.
The 35-year-old is relishing a return to the top flight, where he has spent much of his nomadic career, and is both determined to and confident that he can help David Martindale’s men to avoid an immediate return back to the second tier.
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However, he is also looking forward to showing his somewhat sceptical offspring that he can hold his own against the likes of Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts, Hibernian and Rangers in the coming months.
“One of the reasons I signed a two year deal is because I wanted to play in the Premiership again,” he said. “I did feel that the squad we had last year was one that was capable of at least challenging at the top.
“This year will be challenging. We’re going to places like Easter Road, Tynecastle, Ibrox and Celtic Park. They're going to be difficult games and we’re maybe going to have to tinker with how we want to play. But when we play the top teams at home, we want to play the way that we want to play and see how we get on.
“You don't take it for granted. This is my eighth or ninth season in the Premiership. But I know I'm not getting any younger so I realise that opportunities to play against the top teams and test myself against the best players in Scotland will be limited. I’m really looking forward to that this season.
“My son Harry is a bit older, he’s nine now. So being able to play in those stadiums and against those teams with him watching will be pretty special. The last time I was playing there against them he was a little bit too young to work it out. So it'll be really good to be able to test myself week in, week out against those types of players.
“For a long time, I don't think he believed that I actually had a half-decent career as a footballer. He just thought I was a run-of-the-mill player. It would be good for me to show him that I can play at this level. For him to see me playing in the Premiership will be good. He'll hopefully get to the majority of the home games and hopefully he’ll remember them for a long, long time.”
McGowan is also a proud dad to daughter Millie, five, and 10-week-old twin boys Charlie and Casey. He is doubtful he will be able to continue in the game long enough for the younger members of his family to appreciate the level he plied his trade at.
“I don't know if I've got that long in my legs!” he said. “But it is good to be playing in the Premier League and having your kids being able to come out on the pitch and spend time at the ground.
“My pre-season has been a lot different to 20 years ago when I was starting out at Hearts. I’m just enjoying all of the things that life throws at you and waiting to see how it goes.”
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McGowan is not only optimistic that Livingston can survive in the Premiership this season – he thinks they can do so by playing a far more attractive style of football than that they are renowned for.
“To survive and to do well in the Premier League, you need to be hard to beat, you need to be very good at set pieces, you need to be a team that teams don't enjoy playing against,” he said.
“But at the same time with the players that we have in the club and the players that the manager has brought in, we're more than capable of playing our type of football, the football that we were successful with last season.
“Of course, we know it's going to be difficult this season in terms of bringing that week in, week out, with the opposition that we're up against and the clubs that are in this league compared to the Championship.
“But as a club we would rather play that way and take what comes from that instead of worrying about the opposition and worrying what they could do to us. We were more than successful last season playing how we wanted to play.
“I also think it will hopefully make us a better watch. We can maybe get away from not being the greatest to watch. Having said that, if we win 15, 20 games playing ugly then I'll definitely take that. But first and foremost we want to try and play the way that we want to play. That's refreshing to hear from your manager and makes the players look forward to the season coming up.”
