Kai Fotheringham has revealed that extra hours on the training ground with Dundee United legend Dave Bowman are paying dividends.
However, the Tannadice kid won’t be taking inspiration from “Psycho” when it comes to dealing with referees.
Fotheringham is in contention to make his Scotland U21s debut on Friday following a sensational start to the season, notching seven goals and five assists for the Championship table-toppers.
As well as the hard graft demanded by United boss Jim Goodwin, Fotheringham has lapped up one-to-one lessons from coach Bowman.
And while hardly renowned for his goalscoring — Bowman found the net 14 times in 429 appearances for the Terrors — his guidance is clearly having a positive effect on Fotheringham.
“He (Bowman) will notice something in a game on a Saturday and mention it to me, and we’ll look at the clips on a Monday or Tuesday,” said Fotheringham. “We’ll then work on that throughout the week on an individual basis.
“It helps solve any problems, and lets me work on things that could have been better during the game.
“We do a lot of finishing work and a lot of crossing. There are things in the final third that — although they are going well at the moment — I need to keep on top of and improving.
“There are always small things you can change or add that can make you a top player.”
He joked: ”As long as I don’t take any of his tips for shouting at refs, then I’ll be alright!”
Given Bowman was once banned for 17 matches after receiving FIVE red cards for abusive language aimed at whistler Alan Gemmell while representing Forfar, that would seem like a sage move.
Fotheringham: Goodwin drives consistency
Goodwin, no shrinking violet in the heart of midfield in his playing days either, has been another massive influence in Fotheringham’s rise to prominence this term.
“The gaffer has been brilliant for me,” continued Fotheringham. “I managed to impress him a lot when he first arrived at the club and he gave me a few starts in the Premiership, which was a big opportunity.
“Coming into this season, I obviously didn’t know where I’d be and where he saw me in the squad — but from the off, I started pre-season strongly and he has been behind me all the way and demanding consistency.
“The standard he drives in training pushes players on every week and, if I look at where I was three years ago to where I am now, it is night and day.”
Phone celebration explained
Given the frequency with which Fotheringham is hitting the net, his “telephone” celebration is becoming so familiar that even young Dundee United fans are mimicking it — as he spotlighted on Twitter over the weekend.
It was not so long ago that Fotheringham was copying his own idol, Lionel Messi, in his back garden, so that was a surreal sight.
Class wee man ⚽️📞🤣 https://t.co/eUOK0C6Fpg
— KaiFo (@kaifotheringham) November 12, 2023
“That’s a bit mad, to be fair,” laughed Fotheringham. “I gave the wee man a little quote tweet back because, at that age, you’d always like to get a reply. That’s the sort of person I want to be.
“I’m quite humble and will always take time for the supporters; that’ll never change.”
He added: “The celebration was actually just something me and the physio (Marcin Szostak) at Dundee United made up at training and I did it after scoring. So, it has become a bit of a good-luck charm.”
Fotheringham: Diamond Doak is “unbelievable”
And what Fotheringham would give to be showcasing that celebration once again when Scot Gemmill’s kid face Belgium and Hungary in Euro 2025 qualification in the coming days.
However, even if that doesn’t prove to be the case, he is already lapping up the opportunity to train with the likes of Liverpool prodigy Ben Doak.
Fotheringham added: “The players here are at a really high level and, already, seeing some of the stuff (Ben) Doak could do in training was unbelievable!
“You’ve just got to learn what you can from training alongside players like that and hopefully take it into the games going forward — and then back to Dundee United.”
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