Whilst the back pages will be dominated by Leigh Griffiths’ hat-trick and the brilliance of Odsonne Edouard, two Celtic strikers will be hoping that their chance to shine is coming soon. Vakoun Bayo and Patryk Klimala will be itching for an opportunity to prove their worth to Celtic and the supporters.
Despite arriving amidst anticipation neither have been able to really impress and command a starting role at the club. Of course, the resurgence of Leigh Griffiths could be attributed to Klimala and Bayo pushing him in training but the fact of the matters is that we, as supporters, have very little to judge either of them on. The 22-year-old Ivorian is still trying to find his feet in Glasgow and will be hoping to put a run of injuries behind him.
Bayo is a player that I like, he has a raw element that almost seems erratic in the way that he moves and takes the ball. He appears to be a confident in the heading department as well as combative in the air. He is more of a target man than Edouard, who likes to come short, meaning he is suited to crosses into the box. His goals against Hearts proved his presence could be an attribute for Celtic to exploit. He has had chances in a Celtic jersey, probably more than his goal tally suggests but in rewatching the highlights from the Hearts win in August, it is clear that his movement causes problems for defenders.
4th March 2020; Vakoun Issouf Bayo of Celtic wraps up during the warm up
A dubious red card in the Europa League curtailed the progress that he had made to get into Neil Lennon’s reckoning before an injury ruled him out until after the winter break. Bayo was signed in January 2019, meaning he has been at Celtic for over a year already, yet has managed just 16 appearances. In that time he has scored twice (4 time if we include those that were given as own goals but are disputable) in his 364 minutes of action.
A player like Bayo definitely runs on instincts and sharpness, he needs to be in game situations with big defenders challenging him for everything on a regular basis in order to showcase his talents. Whilst with Edouard and Griffiths firing on all cylinders that doesn’t appear likely, Neil Lennon should look instead at bringing him on for 30 mins here and there before rewarding any progress with a potential start before the end the season.
As a different option, I feel Bayo would have been a sensible substitution versus Livingston, who’s yellow block appeared impenetrable at times. There were crosses from Forrest, Taylor and then Frimpong that were going amiss because there was no attacking presence there to challenge the defenders. Edouard did try when he was there but it isn’t his game, it may well be Bayo’s.
With another game pencilled in for the Tony Macaroni Arena post-split, the Celtic manager should consider Bayo an option there, even if it is to reduce the workload of Leigh Griffiths and Odsonne Edouard.
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