Ange Postecoglou has bigged up the reaction Giorgos Giakoumakis has made to his gutting penalty miss against Livingston back in October.
The powerful Greek forward is shining in 2022 after coming through a period of real adversity during the first half of the campaign. Giorgos only bagged 1 goal before the new year in a league clash against St Johnstone. Instead, his first 5 months were plagued with injury woes and a late penalty miss against Livingston that was seriously costly at the time.
Giakoumakis was targeted for unfair criticism after the miss, which clearly dented his confidence. Even Celtic-supporting pundits were getting in on the act in what was a hugely-disappointing period for the striker [Glasgow Times].
However, his hattrick against Dundee yesterday made it 6 goals since the turn of the year. He’s also netted against Alloa, Hearts, and Raith Rovers respectively, whilst a positive Glasgow derby performance against Rangers had led to many opinions being turned around on him.
And Ange has been delighted with his man’s response to his penalty miss back in October. As quoted by the Daily Record, the Celtic boss said: “For Giorgos, in his pre-season he was injured most of the time. He has only really got going since the break. He is in the first couple of months of his Celtic career so of course there is more to come from him.
“I think most good strikers need a strong mentality. You know even the best strikers in the world are going to miss chances, how you respond to it is really important, he responded in a positive way.
“He didn’t have a great introduction to life here, he missed a penalty in the last minute (against Livingston). It would have been very easy for him to cower after that but he has risen to the challenge and done a good job for us.”
Giorgos Giakoumakis hitting the Celtic goal-trail at just the right time
It’s worth remembering that Giakoumakis hardly went into hiding back in October after his penalty miss against Livi. He didn’t decide to wait a few months before finally turning it on. He was simply luckless towards the end of 2021 when it came to his injury knocks.
Remember, the Greek forward impressed in cameo displays against the likes of Ferencvaros and Dundee respectively. Unfortunately, however, he just couldn’t get a run of games to his name. Not helped of course by the sensational form of Kyogo Furuhashi.
Things are now finally looking up for Giorgos though. He’s now the club’s number 1 striker given the injury to Furuhashi, and after finally being given a strong run of appearances, he’s proving to be worth his weight in goals.
It’s a reminder not to go judging players too quickly. That they simply need minutes on the part and a consistent run before we can truly give a verdict on their worth. Many had the pitchforks out far too early when it came to Giakoumakis, and those same people are now being shown up.
Had it not been for the Greek, we would likely be struggling badly in the title race at the moment. We certainly wouldn’t be top given how strong an outlet he’s proven to be this year.
It’s such a contrast to the first half of the season for him too. From not playing any part whatsoever in our title charge to carrying out a integral role – Giakoumakis has bounced back tremendously from his Livi disaster.
In other news, The brilliant role Josip Juranovic played in dramatic Celtic winner that deserves real credit
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