In the 08/09 season, the Canaries were counting on Alan Gow to fire them to safety, but the Scot was unable to find the net in Norfolk.
The worst Norwich City struggles of the twenty-first century occurred during Alan Gow’s tenure at Carrow Road, thus Canaries supporters were relieved to see him go in the summer of 2009.
In a terrible Championship season, the Scottish striker was brought in to help propel the Norfolk team to safety. However, he failed to score a single goal, and his employers fell into the third level for the first time in 49 years.
The Rangers loanee had great potential when he joined the team, but he fell short of expectations after a string of lifeless displays that were indicative of the general malaise at Carrow Road at the time.
Fingers would have been pointing at their shot-shy striker, who only made four appearances on the winning team out of his 13 in yellow and green, with five points between the Canaries and safety.
Before joining the EFL, Gow was a well-known player in Scotland. He scored goals for Falkirk and Airdrieonians on a regular basis, which earned him a 2007 transfer to Scottish powerhouse Rangers.
For the majority of his tenure at Ibrox, the Glasgow team chose to loan the forward to England. However, he had a successful stint at Blackpool early in the 2008–09 season, scoring five goals in 17 league games for the Tangerines.
The goal scorer was expected to stay at Bloomfield Road for the remainder of the season and beyond, but Norwich outbid their rivals to bring him to Norfolk when Blackpool delayed a signing agreement in January.
From the beginning, it was clear that Gow was a different player in yellow and green than he was in brilliant orange, and the Scot was unable to turn around the situation for a team that was losing hope and had few ideas as they headed straight down the drain.
The forward’s first outing resulted in a 3-3 tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers; nevertheless, he wouldn’t contribute to a win for his team until his fourth game, a 20-minute cameo in a 1-0 triumph over Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.
Then came a defeat to his old team Blackpool, which would have surely made Gow think back to his time spent in the northwest, as goals from Brett Ormerod and Charlie Adam saw his old team win.
Fans of the Canaries were further hurt by a 3-2 loss to their neighbourhood rivals Ipswich Town, as the Tractor Boys nearly ensured their neighbours’ relegation to League One with five losses in their previous six games, leaving them five points from safety.
The team signed a player who seemed more concerned with making sure his fringe was aligned than causing problems for defenders during the January transfer window, just when they needed some extra motivation. As the season progressed, his contributions became progressively less significant.
Gow’s unremarkable performances demonstrated the difficulties faced by Norfolk at the time, as a team that included players such as Darel Russell, Adam Drury, David Marshall, and Dejan Stefanovic barely made it out of the second division.
The Canaries’ season opened with a 7-1 loss to Colchester United, a result that led to manager Bryan Gunn’s dismissal shortly after. However, Paul Lambert launched a comeback that would see the team return to the Premier League in less than two years.
Regarding Gow, the Scottish player moved around to several teams in an attempt to regain his form in front of goal. Before experiencing yet another dry spell at Notts County, he was taken on by Plymouth Argyle, Hibernian, and Motherwell.
As he approached the end of his 20s, 14 goals in 58 appearances for Exeter City was considered a victory. Meanwhile, Queen’s Park, St. Mirren, Bristol Rovers, and Stirling Albion will all be wondering what must have been in the Devon water after yet more disappointing seasons at each club.
The fact that he hasn’t scored many goals at most of his teams won’t come as a comfort to Norwich supporters, and they will likely regret beating Blackpool to sign him during that disastrous transfer window.
The only consolation in Gow’s performance over the final few weeks of the season was that it was merely a loan agreement negotiated four months prior, and he was shipped back to Glasgow without any fanfare. Relegation battles require players willing to fight for the cause.
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