Valakari backs ‘street footballer' Fowler to shine for St Johnstone

The 24-year-old Glaswegian was released by Johnstone Burgh in 2021, then spent a season with Beith Juniors before heading abroad for stints in Dubai and Australia to try to ignite his career. Fowler jumped at the opportunity of full-time football in his homeland when Queen's Park came calling last summer and, after bagging 19 goals in the first half of last term, he landed a move to Saints in January, midway through their surge towards the Championship title. The forward is already the top-scorer in the top flight with four goals in five league games, and boss Valakari said: 'He's a very confident player, and he has backed up that confidence through scoring goals. He's right to be very, very confident. 'Sometimes when you go through the academy path, you become like a neutral football player because you have a good football education. You know every situation, how you should behave, you know every moment how the game should have been played. Read more: 'But because Josh has not had that education, he has learned his own way. I would call it on the streets, and sometimes he just plays with his instincts. He plays this street football and that makes him so special because, as I said, he has not that background of the academy. 'It's our fault as coaches because we can make every player look exactly the same because how we want to play, but he still has this free spirit inside him, you know, and I really love that. 'If he keeps working hard, trying to score goals, playing as an old-fashioned centre-forward who runs defenders when the ball comes over the top, then he will continue to score goals. As a team we will create chances for him so believe he can sustain this and score many, many more goals.' Saints host Celtic on Wednesday for the first time since they beat Brendan Rodgers' Hoops side 1-0 in April 2025. 'They are a different team from when we beat them last and we are a different team,' said Valakari, whose side have since spent a season in the second tier. 'With Celtic, the winning culture is so deep in them but it's not all about the winning culture, it's also about the quality of the players as well. 'When you have that quality, and you build up this winning culture there, it's a dangerous combination. But we are here and we are here to compete.'