IT did not take long for the nicknames to start.
Mini Messi. The new Ronaldo. Mallan-dona. When you score the sort of wonder goal that Stephen Mallan did recently then adulation and hyperbolic hero worship tend to follow soon after.
Mallan's strike for St Mirren against Dundee late last month was remarkable for a number of reasons. Firstly, for the simple reason that Scottish players simply don't score goals like that. Mallan achieved it in only his third ever start for St Mirren and just a month after making his debut off the substitutes bench. At just 18 years old, it was also his first ever goal in senior football. He will be well pushed to score a better one.
It went viral. Via Twitter, Facebook, You Tube and whatever other methods young people use to communicate with each other these days, footage from Dens Park was soon being watched by the rest of the UK, then across Europe and then the world, all accompanied by increasingly effusive assessments of Mallan's talent. Even now, a fortnight on, it remains compulsive viewing for him, too.
"I'm definitely not sick of watching it yet," he said after being revealed as the SPFL's Young Player of the Month. "I watch it every day. It's all over my news feed. I've watched it on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the rest. They say it's the most-watched clip online although probably half of the views have been from me and my family!
"My friends wind me up by saying I've got too big for my boots and they take the mickey a bit. Some people have been calling me Messi. I've also heard Mallan-dona. I just let it wash over me."
The goal was soundtracked by his manager's voice in his head. "The first thing that came into my head was to dribble and it paid off," he recalled. "All the way along I was looking for a pass and then I thought I'd shoot, because [caretaker manager] Gary Teale has been telling me to shoot more. I hit the shot and couldn't believe when I scored. Straight afterwards all the boys were talking about what a good goal it was but I couldn't remember it. They were saying I'd nutmegged three or four people along the way. It wasn't quite that good when I watched it back."
He was soon brought back down to earth. In his next game against Kilmarnock he conceded a penalty, while there was no respite from his daily chores. "I'm an under-20 players so I have to do all the duties," he revealed. "I clean the boots and lay out everything for the manager. So the Monday after that goal I was cleaning Calllum Ball and Adam Drury's boots."
The hope now is that this doesn't become the only thing he is ever remembered for."Because I've just come on to the scene, that goal has given me a name," added Mallan whose side face Aberdeen at home this afternoon. "Hopefully I can just keep playing well. I've come in early and had a high like that but I need to keep my feet on the ground. There are worse things to be known for than scoring spectacular goals but I hope the fans don't expect them every week!"
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