YOU know you are in for an interesting chat when Rangers’ new goalkeeper admits his knowledge of Scottish football only really stretches as far as admiring a former Celtic shot stopper.
Indeed, the 20 minutes or so the towering figure of Maciej Gostomski spoke within a quiet corner of Murray Park went to suggest that, if his spell at the Ibrox club gets extended beyond the summer, then we could see a character, and a player, with just as many talking points as his compatriot Artur Boruc managed to muster during his time in Glasgow.
In that chat with the 27-year-old, a variety of topics were covered from his long-lost family in Dundee, how he was almost consigned to a career of fishing for eels in lakes back in his homeland, pineapple throwing and his hopes for the future.
It is only right that we start with the latter. Formerly of Lech Poznan, Gostomski penned a six-month contract with Rangers during the week with Mark Warburton already looking to add competition to his squad.
With Wes Foderingham in form and Cammy Bell on his way back from injury, the Pole has his work cut out managing to force his way into the team in order to earn the longer contract that he admits he craves already. Having said that, it is not a position he is unfamiliar with.
“Signing for Lech Poznan was a risk because the contract wasn’t good,” explained Gostomski of his move from life as a fisherman back into full-time football in 2013. “I left everything. I left my work, my club and went to Poznan. I was a cheap goalkeeper.
“I was there because maybe if one of the keepers was injured I would be on the bench. In two months I was the first-choice goalkeeper and played 20 games in a row. After that everything changed.
“The first choice goalkeeper, Jasmin Buri?, had problems with many injuries. He second goalkeeper, Krzysztof Kotorowski, is an old guy of 39. He was playing and I was one the bench.
“But he was making a lot of mistakes, so they tried me and we won three games in a row. So I then started all the time.”
There is a humble side to Gostomski not often seen, but one that comes from a player who truly appreciates the privileged position he is in. Having been on a professional contract since he was 16, the dream of making it in the game appeared to be fading for the goalkeeper only a few years ago, as he explains.
“It was like when I was 22, I’d had enough of everything because I couldn’t play,” said Gostomski. “The money was not so good, so I thought about just leaving football and going to work. I was working and training every day.
“I was helping my father with fishing in Poland. He has his own company and I was helping with a lot of things. Fishing was the main thing I was doing.
“It was very hard work. I was out in boats hauling the nets from morning to dinner. After dinner I went training. But I was happy. I was doing it on lakes. There are many lakes in Poland.
“I don’t know how to say English names for the fish. We had eels. I think I was good at being a fisherman.”
He added: “It made me appreciate life in football. After that I went to Lech Poznan where I started to play. I saw the money and the people around me and every day I was working very hard in training because I knew that next year I could be a fisherman again.
“I didn’t want that to happen so I was working very hard in training.”
Gostomski doesn’t shy away from the talking point that brought him unwelcomed press when he was just 17. This was when the 6ft 5in teenager was pictured throwing a pineapple at an apartment window in a bizarre incident that saw Legia Warsaw, his club at the time, fine him for his behaviour.
“When I was 17, the Polish media made it a big thing but it was s***,” he said. “I didn’t throw a pineapple, it was just the small tree on top, the crown. They made it a big thing because they like doing that in Poland.”
Gostomski concedes coming to Scotland was an easy decision for different reasons when interest from Rangers first surfaced. Lured in by the size of the Ibrox club and the opportunity it provides, the Pole admitted his desire to emulate the impact made by fellow countryman Boruc, who enjoyed a tumultuous but ultimately successful five years in Scotland with Celtic.
It also provides him the chance to rediscover his heritage.
“I haven't watched too much Scottish football on TV. Sometimes I'd watch Celtic games because Artur Boruc – who I know – was playing for them,” he said. “There has been many Polish goalkeepers playing in Scotland so I would see highlights of some games.
“I wouldn't say Artur is a friend. But we've seen each other a few times and I know him. I'm always curious about Polish goalkeepers and what they're doing. I watch all of them.
“Boruc was a big hero in Glasgow to the Celtic fans. I hope I can be the same to Rangers' fans.”
Gostomski added: “I have some family in Dundee. After the Second World War, my father's uncle left Poland and moved to Scotland.
“He made his own family and after some years I met him. My cousin David is my age and he played football in Dundee.
“When we met we were only 10 so it was a long time ago. They know I'm here so we'll probably meet each other soon. Dundee isn't so far away.”
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