Joe Hart gave his early assessment of Celtic’s new striker Hyeongyu Oh at his media conference yesterday afternoon. The South Korean striker who joined Celtic from Suwon Bluewings for around £2.5 million, has had a couple of appearances from the bench over the last week with the young striker hinting that he will look the part against Dundee United at Tannadice last weekend and then at Celtic Park against Livingston in midweek.
Oh has made two fleeting appearances from the bench as he looks to get up to speed with his fellow teammates and the Scottish game. From what has been on display already, he looks sharp and very eager to impose himself on the pitch, with his physical presence a welcome addition following the departure of Greek striker, Giorgos Giakoumakis.
It’s too early for the Celtic support to form opinions on Oh and everyone remains eager to learn about the player and see him get more minutes, perhaps coming on earlier against St Johnstone tomorrow.
The Celtic goalkeeper has acknowledged the way he plays and conducts himself in training and has revealed that himself and others have been chatting about how good the young centre-forward looks straight off the bat. Speaking via Celtic TV, he said “He is young, really enthusiastic, powerful and technically good,” Joe Hart said.
“Speaking to the boys, we are as much fans as everyone else when it comes to new signings. You sometimes take your teammate hat off and discuss people. I know people have mentioned how sharp he is.
“How tough he is to keep a hold of. Look, we don’t get a whole lot of time to train at the moment with the schedule, but I think he’s really going to bring something special to the club.
“Kyogo has been fantastic. But with the number of games and the opportunities he’s going to get, I think big Oh is going to be able to show his true colours and bring something to the table.”
Watch Joe Hart’s fascinating Media Conference ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Perth to play St Johnstone looking to restore a nine points lead at the top league looking down on theRangers who narrowly defeated Ross County at Ibrox this afternoon with a 2-1 victory.
Something we badly need in Scotland is the ability of a striker to hold up the ball and be aggressive – particularly in those games where we are playing against physically imposing sides and those that are determined to camp on their own goal line. Giakoumakis leaving definitely left us short in that department, so the introduction of Hyeon-Gyu Oh could not be more timely or needed in this year’s cinch Premiership title race.
Paul Gillespie
