Laidback Latapy still has the legs for the SPL

Now that Setanta have their feet well and truly under the SPL table, they have become bold enough to start dictating their terms to the league. Mostly, this has passed without controversy in Scotland, for one good reason - when the last broadcast deal ended, and the "SPL TV" channel failed to get off the ground, Setanta were left as the only game in town, with the 12 clubs in the top division happy to agree to just about anything so long as there was some money in it for them. In other words, they were not negotiating from a position of strength.

Televised Sunday football was the inevitable first step, and now live games on Monday nights are the new thing. There are grumbles about the impact on attendances (getting back from Aberdeen to Edinburgh at 10pm on a Monday night, for instance, is not the easiest journey in the world) but Monday nights are probably here to stay. If the SPL is to develop any kind of meaningful international audience, televised games are key.

Now, Falkirk is little more than an hour from Edinburgh, but the Hearts fans still had an unhappy trip back home last night. It seems the club are about to appoint their 7th coach in less than 2 years (there is no point in claiming the most senior role in the dugout at Hearts qualifies for the title of "manager") and it looks as though Romanov is now exacting his revenge on those players who defied him in public a couple of weeks ago. Gordon retained his place, and arguably Hartley was just rested, but Pressley had been jettisoned from the 1st team squad altogether, and has possibly lost the captaincy for good.

For all this turmoil, they would still have won the game, but for one man: Russell Latapy. At 38, and long after most people assumed he was spent as a player, the wee playmaker is by far the most influential player at Falkirk, having done more than anyone else to get them to the SPL and keep them there. His equaliser, in the 84th minute, was just reward for a battling home performance, and further vindicates the Falkirk manager's continued faith in his oldest player. At this rate, he could - like Teddy Sheringham - celebrate his 40th birthday still earning his living from the professional game. There's more than just the similarity in age, too. Like Sheringham, Latapy has something of a reputation as a playboy.

Latapy arrived in Scotland in 1998, signed by Alex McLeish for Hibernian on a free transfer from Porto. Hibs had been relegated the previous season, McLeish having arrived too late to avoid the inevitable. They had been flirting with disaster for a couple of years, but ironically had been one of the main movers in favour of breaking away from the Scottish Football League and setting up the SPL. The new division had come into existence without them. McLeish's job was to rebuild the squad and get them promoted again, quickly.

Hibs ended up storming the 1st Division Championship and bouncing straight back up. Once back in the top flight, they wasted no time in proving their worth, playing some pretty football as they did so. There were a number of influential players in the team - Kenny Miller and Franck Sauzee among them - but Latapy was key. Playing in a free role behind the strikers, he was vital to McLeish's stated ethos: "play it on the fucking carpet". Hibs banished route 1 football and passed almost everything through Latapy, once the team had realised that he very, very rarely gave the ball away, and he could deliver the killer ball. He liked to score a bit, too, averaging 10 goals a season.

Season 2000/1 was even better for the Hibees. Money problems meant they had to sell Miller to Rangers for £2m, but they continued their progress. Alongside the undoubted class of Latapy and Sauzee, other, more workmanlike players - like John O'Neill - were in the form of their lives, buoyed by confidence. Hibs ran Rangers close for 2nd place all season, only just slipping to 3rd in the final weeks. More importantly, they got to the final of the Scottish Cup - a competition they had not won for nearly a century. Surely this was their year. After months of contract negotiations, it was clear that Latapy would be leaving at the end of the season, and the Cup seemed such a fitting trophy to sign off with.

On the Wednesday night before the game, however, everything went wrong. Russell Latapy was arrested for drink driving. In his BMW with him were two girls he'd been out partying with - and Dwight Yorke, whose season at Old Trafford had finished a week earlier. So he decided to come up to Edinburgh to see his mate and go out on the town.

The story got out across Edinburgh, and Alex McLeish, faced with such blatant indiscipline just days before the biggest game of his managerial career, took the only option he felt open to him - he sacked Latapy, and banished him from the club. 3 days later, Hibs barely showed up against Celtic, and they got beat 3-0. They haven't got as close to the prize since.

Financially, Latapy was barely inconvenienced by the sacking, as he moved to Rangers on a Bosman just days later. But his fresh start in Glasgow didn't last long... in October McLeish was poached from Hibs to replace Dick Advocaat at Ibrox. Not surprisingly, given the previous, McLeish had limited trust in Latapy, and he played fewer games than he might have expected to. After limited success, he went out to Dundee Utd, before accepting a drop to the 1st Division with Falkirk.

The Falkirk manager, John Hughes, was a previous Hibs player himself, and recoginsed Latapy's qualities. Cutely, though, he hired him not just as player, but player-coach. It was not for his lifestyle advice - Latapy has smoked throughout his career, and is unashamed about it - but for his technical expertise. The enhanced responsibility revitalised Latapy, and he is now enjoying a rich period in his career. He tends to play a little deeper these days, but once again he is absolutely key to the way his team plays.

He even has the experience of going to a World Cup, with Trinidad & Tobago, even though he played very little in the finals themselves. This was his own fault, in a way - after persuading his friend to come out of retirement, T&T ended up playing with Yorke, and not Latapy, in the midfield playmaker role. But he probably wasn't too disappointed - Latapy had played a large role in getting the team there, and the fans back home recognised his contribution.

He has not led a blameless life, and he is arguably a poor role model in a country that has severe problems with underage smoking and drinking. But Latapy's enthusiasm for the game, and his sublime skills, have contributed much to Scottish football. He is one of those select players - like Gianfranco Zola - that even opposition fans can admit to liking.

When Falkirk were at Easter Road in September, the home fans applauded him, despite his acrimonious departure. Despite the fact that they were losing. Latapy raised his hands above his head and clapped them in return.

It is just a game, after all. And it's there to be enjoyed.

Falkirk 1-1 Hearts
Hibs 2-0 ICT
Aberdeen 2-1 Motherwell
St Mirren 1-3 Celtic
Rangers 2-0 Dunfermline
Dundee Utd 1-0 Kilmarnock