Alan Gow said he would not lose sleep over being branded a “disgrace” by Swindon on the day he completed his move to Motherwell.

Swindon director Jeremy Wray accused the 27-year-old of only being interested in money after claiming he asked for more cash at the last minute after they thought terms had been agreed.

However, Gow hit back at those claims and is adamant he never agreed any deal with the League One club.

He said: “I heard that they had a bit of a go at me but I never agreed to go to Swindon, I never agreed any terms.

“I said I would go down and have a look at the place, I went down and I wasn’t happy with the deal.

“I came back home and that’s life.

“I never agreed to go to the club in the first place so it’s up to them what they want to write in the press.

“I’m sure it won’t affect me, I’ll still sleep well tonight.”

Gow was also targeted by St Mirren and linked with Kilmarnock before signing an initial six-month contract with Motherwell after passing a medical earlier today.

“It’s good to sort my future out and hopefully I can get back playing as soon as possible,” he said.

“I’ve just been keeping myself fit and waiting to sign somewhere eventually. I’m just looking forward to playing now.

“I spoke to a few clubs. But I’ve probably made a few moves that I shouldn’t have and this time I wanted to take my time making a decision and find somewhere that suited me.”

Gow began his career with local club Clydebank before spells with Airdrie and Falkirk eventually led to a dream move to Rangers.

However, he made just two cup appearances during his spell with the Glasgow giants and went out on loan to Blackpool and Norwich.

A move to Plymouth followed but he was released in the summer after spending the second half of the season farmed out to Hibernian.

Despite a frustrating few years, Gow insists he has no regrets about the path his career has taken.

“I started off playing for Clydebank and never really did much before so everything I’ve done has been a great achievement for me,” he said.

“I’m never going to complain about things that didn’t work out.

“I’ve no regrets, I would still make the same moves I made before.”

As for his short-term deal at Motherwell, he admitted: “I don’t really know where it can take me.

“I’ll just take one step at a time.

“I need to come back and play and show everybody that I can be fit for a season at least.

“I’ve signed a six-month contract and I need to prove to the management that I can get myself into the team and stay there.”

Wigan have accepted an offer from Birmingham for Charles N’Zogbia after the Blues matched the Latics’ valuation.

The French winger has been linked with a move away from the DW Stadium all summer and Birmingham boss Alex McLeish heightened the speculation yesterday by revealing his club had put in a new bid.

N’Zogbia is now set to talk to the Midlands outfit after Wigan today confirmed they have accepted a “much-improved” offer for the 24-year-old.

A short statement on club website read: “Wigan Athletic can confirm that they have accepted a much-improved offer from Birmingham City for France winger Charles N’Zogbia, which has now met the club’s valuation.

“The player has now been given permission to speak with Birmingham.”

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez yesterday criticised his Birmingham counterpart McLeish for going public over his club’s interest in the player – and claimed the Blues’ offer at that point was less than one they rejected earlier in the summer.

The Spaniard said: “We had a couple of offers in May and now the offer is less than the one we had in May and then they go public in the press. It doesn’t look serious to me.

“The valuation is very clear. If the team matches it he can speak with them. Until that happens he is a Wigan Athletic player.

“The transfer window brings you that distraction but when you get other managers talking about your players, that is really disappointing – to unsettle players and the press with no substance behind it.

“I don’t know the reason behind it, whether it is to get the fans’ hopes high in your football club, I don’t know.

“Charles has had a difficult few days and it is our fault. We should not allow the transfer window to be open when the competition is ongoing.

“I don’t think it is respectful to the league or the fans and it needs to be considered by the authorities.”

N’Zogbia, who made his France debut earlier this month in Les Bleus’ friendly defeat in Norway, started out in English football at Newcastle following his 2004 move from Le Havre.

He moved to Wigan in January 2009 after falling out of favour at St James’ Park and was voted player of the season by players and fans at the DW Stadium last term.

Blackburn are not expecting the sale of the club to be completed before the end of the transfer window, manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed.

Rovers are in discussions with Indian businessman Ahsan Ali Syed over a proposed £300million takeover and yesterday released a statement confirming they had held “a cordial and productive meeting” with representatives of the Bahrain-based lawyer’s investment firm Western Gulf Advisory.

Despite Syed’s wish to complete the buyout before the transfer deadline on August 31 – so as to allow some of the initial £80-100million he has pledged for new players to be spent – Allardyce said today that having spoken with Blackburn chairman John Williams, he does not see a deal being finalised that soon.

The manager acknowledges that exciting times could lay ahead for the Lancashire outfit, but is not letting himself get carried away – and insists he will remain grounded even if he suddenly finds himself with a lot of money to spend.

“I have to persuade the new owners – if it happens – that we have got to do it relatively slowly, not ‘bang, bang, bang, bang’,” Allardyce said

“That is a little too quick to turn a football club round to being successful. You try and do it as quick as you possibly can, but you want to do it by making sure you sign the quality of player at the right price.

“Even though we might have millions and millions to spend, we still have to negotiate the right price and not over-spend for a player that is not worth the money.

“If he goes and plays at Ewood Park, we have paid £10million or £20million for him and the fans see him on the pitch and say that he is not worth it, then straight away you are going to have a negative response to the money we have spent.

“That is the sort of thing you have got to try to avoid, but if we can avoid that, it could bring great success to Blackburn Rovers over the next few years.”

Syed claims he does not want to buy the club for its business potential but to fuel his “passion” for football, something Allardyce hopes will become apparent if the deal goes through.

“It will be interesting to meet him,” Allardyce said.

“It was interesting that someone with the apparent wealth that he has got wants to enjoy owning a football club.

“I think that is the key word – if he wants to enjoy it, then that is fantastic.”

Allardyce – who is looking for a new striker to bolster his attacking options – said he had been informed by Williams that the takeover might not be complete until the end of September, and stressed that Blackburn’s transfer policy would not be changing for the time being.

“If it becomes a reality, that would be obviously very, very exciting, but at the moment it is still in the process of negotiation,” Allardyce said.

“While in that process, the speculation in the press by the prospective new owner is very exciting for us all, but until it actually goes through, then for myself, the players and every member of staff here, it is about focusing on what we have to do (in their next Premier League match) against Birmingham City, and what we can do in terms of perhaps securing a striker before the end of the window.

“The chairman says to me it would be almost impossible to think that any of that money might be available before the end of this window.

“So we continue down the same line as we have all summer, and bring in another frontman if we can find him.”

Former Manchester City striker Benjani Mwaruwari has been training with Rovers with a view to securing a contract, someone Allardyce feels could be a “good signing” for the club if he can prove his fitness.

Meanwhile, David Dunn – who limped out of the 1-0 victory over Everton last weekend with a groin problem – is likely to miss Saturday’s trip to Birmingham, but Allardyce hopes to have both him and fellow midfielder Vince Grella back for next week’s Carling Cup encounter with Norwich.

Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov has urged the club to give Kevin MacDonald the chance to replace Martin O’Neill as manager on a full-time basis.

MacDonald took over as caretaker manager following O’Neill’s shock resignation and made the perfect start with a 3-0 thrashing of West Ham.

The Scot has previously suggested that he is not a big enough name to take the job permanently, but Lerner suggested MacDonald is in the running, having given him the green light to stay in charge for Thursday’s Europa League clash with Rapid Vienna.

Full Time Result betting has Rapid Vienna at 3.00 to win the first-leg, with Villa 2.15 and the draw 3.40.

And Petrov, who scored Villa’s second goal in a commanding opening-day performance against the hapless Hammers, revealed the players are right behind him.

“The way he prepared us for the game showed us that he wants to hold onto that job – and I hope we can help him take that job,” said Petrov.

“We are behind him. He has been at the club a long time, done a great job with the youth and he has the opportunity to do it now.

“I said to him before the game, ‘you try and hold onto that job’.

“He knows it’s hard. Expectations are high and people want success and they talk about big names – but he has the opportunity and he is really determined to stay there.

“We played really well, we showed what we can do and if it keeps going that way there is no reason why he cannot make his own name.”

Lerner revealed he will wait to be guided on the managerial decision by MacDonald’s own view of the situation.

“There are those managers who like the show and the attention – and then there are those such as Kevin,” he said.

“I’m not going to say it is in Kevin’s hands now but much will depend on how Kevin feels, whether he thinks this might be right for him, if he is comfortable with the idea of being Villa’s manager.

“He is such a cool guy, he is popular with the players who really played for him and with the fans and the press. We will see how he feels when he wakes up from this and then we will look at the situation from there.”

Next Permanent Aston Villa manager betting:

Others available on website or on request.

View all Soccer betting

Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov has urged owner Randy Lerner to appoint Kevin MacDonald as the full-time replacement for Martin O’Neill.

MacDonald took over as caretaker manager after O’Neill’s shock resignation and he made the perfect start with a 3-0 destruction of West Ham.

The Scot, who briefly held the caretaker role at Leicester in 1994 before following Brian Little to Villa, has said he is not a big enough name for the job.

But Lerner suggested MacDonald is in the running, having given him the green light to stay in charge for Thursday’s Europa League clash with Rapid Vienna.

And Petrov, who scored Villa’s second goal in a commanding opening-day performance against the hapless Hammers, revealed the players are right behind him.

“The way he prepared us for the game showed us that he wants to hold onto that job – and I hope we can help him take that job,” said Petrov.

“We are behind him. He has been at the club a long time, done a great job with the youth and he has the opportunity to do it now.

“I said to him before the game, ‘you try and hold onto that job’.

“He knows it’s hard. Expectations are high and people want success and they talk about big names – but he has the opportunity and he is really determined to stay there.

“We played really well, we showed what we can do and if it keeps going that way there is no reason why he cannot make his own name.”

Lerner revealed he will wait to be guided on the managerial decision by MacDonald’s own view of the situation.

“There are those managers who like the show and the attention – and then there are those such as Kevin,” he said.

“I’m not going to say it is in Kevin’s hands now but much will depend on how Kevin feels, whether he thinks this might be right for him, if he is comfortable with the idea of being Villa’s manager.

“He is such a cool guy, he is popular with the players who really played for him and with the fans and the press. We will see how he feels when he wakes up from this and then we will look at the situation from there.”

MacDonald has held a number of posts at Villa, most recently as reserve-team coach. He awarded a first Premier League start to Marc Albrighton, the newly-capped England Under-21 winger, and it proved to be an inspired selection.

Albrighton had a major hand in all three Villa goals. Downing finished the first from close range, Petrov headed in the second and James Milner wrapped up the victory in style in what could be his final game for the club.

West Ham could not live with Ashley Young’s pace and movement, while Albrighton led Herita Ilunga a merry dance down the right wing all afternoon. On the other flank, Downing was in a different league to West Ham’s Kiwi debutant Winston Reid.

Petrov continued: “Every manager has a different style and Kev has a different vision on how we can play and we showed today we can be faster and play with more freedom.

“He always believes that the young players coming in are the future of the club and he’s been working with these kids for a long time.

“He (Albrighton) played like it was his 100th Premier League game. He was quick and confident and he tried to beat people and create chances for us. He did really well.”

Milner’s name was jeered before kick-off but he left the field to a standing ovation, although MacDonald was not confident the England international would still be around for the Vienna trip.

Manchester City are in negotiations over a deal for Milner which could see Stephen Ireland move in the opposite direction.

“The latest I heard, there was still a stalemate with Man City but that could change within hours,” MacDonald said after the game.

Just as Villa put the managerial upheaval to one side, so Milner refused to be fazed by all the transfer speculation swirling around his head.

Petrov said: “When you are a good player and teams want to pay £20million, £30million for you then you can do nothing about it.

“He is giving everything for he club like he always does. He’s a great pro and people should learn from him.

“He deserves the standing ovation because you don’t see many more honest players in the world coming out and playing like that with such heart.

“He was flattered by the reaction – and when you make the fans happy and see them behind you, it makes it even harder to leave.

“After Saturday he may even decide to stay.”