John Fallon: Celtic's Greek gamble Giorgos Giakoumakis might just pay off

That Giorgos Giakoumakis was recruited on deadline day from a side relegated in the Dutch Eredivisie has only heightened the sense of foreboding.

Giorgos Giakoumakis

Celtic fans concerned about already getting left behind by Rangers for a second season on the spin will observe more in hope than expectation the debut of their new striker Giorgos Giakoumakis Thursday night.

Neither the Greek’s name nor his purchase price of just €2.8m has inspired the Bhoys faithful, fearful of their Old Firm rivals prospering further after denying Celtic a 10th title in a row last season.

That Giakoumakis was recruited on deadline day from a side relegated in the Dutch Eredivisie has only heightened the sense of foreboding.

If Albian Ajeti, a €6m signing from West Ham United last year, became the latest striker to struggle for goals at Parkhead, then surely the burden of spearheading their revival is too much for an untested journeyman?

Far more experienced predecessors, such as Tony Cascarino, tried and failed. Liam Brady insisted that his record signing and compatriot couldn’t handle the pressure of being the Bhoys’ main man following his move from Aston Villa in 1991.

Approaching his 27th birthday, Celtic have not landed one of Europe’s precocious forwards in Giakoumakis.

But the counterpoint view is that they’re snaring a bargain; perhaps Ange Postecoglou, born in Greece himself, has been shrewd in acquiring someone hitting his stride after years of being underappreciated at clubs in his homeland and in Poland.

That latter argument is supported by last season’s exploits. His stats, particularly given the limitations of his team VVV Venlo, were stunning.

Let’s start with the highline numbers.

Giakoumakis claimed the top tier’s Golden Boot, his 26-goal haul lifting him seven clear of his nearest challenger, Dutch international Steven Berghuis.

Ajax accumulated 102 goals in their march to the title, yet Dusan Tadic, in eighth spot with 14 goals, was the closest anyone from the champions came to challenging Giakoumakis’ crown.

His goal return over 30 appearances was an average of one every 99 minutes.

As Venlo notched a mere 43 goals over the season, Giakoumakis accounted for 60% of their overall tally.

Of the 17 games he scored in, the Crete native was on the winning side only five times.

Pictures of his goal celebrations frequently portrayed him racing back to the halfway line, ball in hand, eager to accelerate his side’s comeback crusade.

Among his collection were a hat-trick on his debut 12 months ago and a pair of four-goal hauls two weeks apart in January.

An analysis of those finishes illustrates the marksman’s traits.

Against ADO Den Haag, his four consisted of two penalties, a header, along with the type of close-range strike that the late Gerd Müller specialised in.

Then Vitesse Arnhem were undone by a hat-trick of Giakoumakis headers, sandwiched in between with a deft chip from the edge of the box.

Further evidence of diversity from his repertoire came with a sumptuous bicycle-kick against Groningen.

But, for all the variety in his execution, a constant pattern to the end product was evident; Giakoumakis required one touch, maximum two, to score.

Players with such execution are a rarified commodity. Not alone are strikers with the intuition to foresee the passages of play coming their way but possessing the composure to complete the job. Take a bow, Robbie Keane.

Ireland’s greatest goalscorer, of course, delivered in the World Cup and the Premier League, whereas the reputation of Giakoumakis is hampered by the habitat he’s come from.

England’s Premier League was his first choice of destination — with Norwich City and Brighton and Hove Albion registering interest — but the track record of exports who went before him caused hesitancy.

Long gone are the days when Ruud van Nistelrooy and Luis Suárez hit the ground running for Manchester United and Liverpool, respectively.

Instead, the list is dominated by the likes of Vincent Janssen, Ryan Babel, and Memphis Depay — attackers unable to transport their prowess to a higher level and swiftly disposed of.

None of them, however, underwent the transformation Giakoumakis did in the past 12 months.

If strugglers VVV Venlo could revive a player previously considered no more than bog-standard in the Greek league, then there’s more in his locker to extract.

Such was the stance adopted by Stan Valckx, Venlo’s head of recruitment, even if his first viewing of Giakoumakis came in a sports bar in March 2020.

On loan from AEK Athens to Gornik Zabrze, the player’s agent invited Valckx to a game in Poland. That was the plan until the guest was turned away from the match venue as the perils of the pandemic began to hit.

Valckx had to make do with watching his target on a gigantic screen at a nearby hostelry; the Dutchman even treating himself to a nightcap, content he’d seen enough to meet the €250,000 asking price.

A debut hat-trick brought early vindication, although joy gave way to despair seven games into the season. Ajax’s 13-0 victory at the Stadium De Koel was a record scoreline in the league’s history, leaving Giakoumakis sunk, head in hands, at full-time.

“In Greece, there would have been a riot after defeat so heavy but our fans turned up at the stadium afterwards to support us,” he told ElfVoetbal.

Fast-forward to the Amsterdam Arena in May and Giakoumakis, by then confirmed top scorer and Greece’s established first-choice striker, embraced Tadic as they agreed to swap shirts following the return fixture.

If he turns out to be a one-season wonder, then what a season it was.

Yet maybe, just maybe, a low-key League Cup tie against Raith Rovers could signal the starting point of Celtic arresting Paradise Lost.

To stream or not to stream? That is the next question

Georgie Kelly’s stunning equaliser for Bohemians against Derry City on Tuesday night exemplified all that is good about streaming League of Ireland but the discussion on its future will occur without the emotion such moments generate.

Derry City goalkeeper Nathan Gartside concedes a third goal, scored by Bohemians' Georgie Kelly, during the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division match. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

It took a global pandemic — and the absence of crowds — for a unified portal to be established last season whereby consumers could pay to watch League of Ireland teams on a subscription basis.

That continued into this season but the gradual phasing out of restricted capacities will leave the FAI and clubs with a decision to make for the 2022 season.

Even when there were no supporters permitted, then FAI chief executive Gary Owens described the uptake of the service as “disappointingly low”.

Upfront costs were a factor also but as capacity returns to 100%, and consequently increased ticket revenue, clubs will have to analyse the viability of offering a product to viewers, both home and abroad.

Clearly, there are variances in demand to watch teams across the league’s 20 clubs but the notion of bearing an average cost of €2,000 per top-flight match, against a charge of €1 pay-per-view, is impractical.

With the Government’s Covid-19 relief subvention petering out, the parties will have to find a solution applying the economic reality of market forces.

Zack Elbouzedi takes a road less travelled

After being frozen out at English League One club Lincoln City, Zack Elbouzedi has broken the ice in Stockholm by taking AIK top of the league.

Then Republic of Ireland U21 manager Stephen Kenny with Zack Elbouzedi after the European Championship qualifier against Sweden at Tallaght Stadium. Picutre: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

The winger’s move to Sweden in July was one of the surprise Irish transfers of the window but his wanderlust has been vindicated by the impact he’s made in eight appearances.

AIK were fifth in the Allsvenskan when their Irish import arrived but have gone unbeaten since to hit the summit.

Alongside Swedish internationals Seb Larsson and Mikael Lustig, the 23-year-old has hit the ground running, his power and pace on either flank now a central plank of their attacking policy.

Elbouzedi was named man-of-the-match in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over IFK Göteborg, delighting the 9,000 fans at the Friends Arena and amusing those watching on television for fixing his hair midway through a dribble. On this form, the 23-year-old must be in the frame for an Ireland call-up from his former U21 manager Stephen Kenny.

His career path, though, is the lesson his peers can learn from. Several are stuck in the same situation he found himself in — out of favour and out of ideas in the lower divisions, struggling to see a future beyond the goldfish bowl of the UK circuit.

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