For some players the weight of responsibility that comes with wearing the iconic number seven shirt for Celtic may be too much to bear, but former Celt Kris Commons, writing in his Daily Mail column today, believes the player he describes as “most lethal striker in the country” is the sort of natural finisher who may just to the shirt justice.
Commons feels comparisons with Henrik Larsson, Kenny Dalglish and Jinky Johnstone are too lofty at this time for Giorgos Giakoumakis, however, when it comes to having a goalscoring instinct, Commons believes Giakoumakis is up there with the likes of Gary Hooper and Leigh Griffiths when it comes to a natural touch in front of goal.
“Giakoumakis will almost certainly lead the line at Ibrox. Right now, he is the most lethal striker in the country.
“He is a deadly one-touch finisher and, in that particular area, Celtic fans are already drawing comparisons with Henrik Larsson. Giakoumakis clearly isn’t shy. You don’t take the No 7 jersey at a club like Celtic without the weight of expectation that comes with it.
“It’s the iconic jersey worn by Larsson, Kenny Dalglish and Jinky Johnstone. Giakoumakis isn’t in the same bracket at those three legends. But he’s a confident boy who is doing the business for Celtic right now. If he can provide the firepower to win a league title, fans will idolise him.
(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
“I played with a couple of really gifted, natural finishers in Gary Hooper and Leigh Griffiths. Giakoumakis is as good as either of them in front of goal. But he’s a different sort of player. He’s more physical than either Hooper or Griffiths. He’s built like an absolute tank and clearly loves getting stuck into defenders.
“Giakoumakis confidently stated a few weeks ago that Celtic would win the title and that they have the best squad in the league. If you’re going to make bold statements like that then you need to be backing it up on the pitch and he’s certainly doing that right now.”
Giakoumakis certainly had a tough start to his Celtic career, but since sacrificing a winter break with friends and family to focus on building up his fitness at Lennoxtown during the winter break, the Greek striker, who has also been recalled to his national team squad by new boss Gus Poyet, has been on fire in front of goal for Celtic as well as leading the line with a physicality Celtic have lacked for some time.
With twelve goals scored in 22 games, including two hat-tricks, Giakoumakis is showing the sort of goalscoring form that few would have expected last year.
As Celtic head into April and the looming three fixtures against theRangers which will determine the destination of a league title and a possible treble, you can guarantee our rivals won’t welcome playing against Celtic’s latest number seven. Meanwhile Giakoumakis will be aware any lingering doubts as to his ability to lead the line as a Celtic striker will be dispelled if he can transfer recent form into goals against theRangers. On current form you wouldn’t put it past him.
Niall J
