When Hyeongyu Oh netted Celtic’s final two goals of the 2022/23 Premiership season, he was on a real high.
It had been a pretty good first six months in Glasgow for the South Korean. Since his January switch from Suwon Samsung Bluewings, he had managed seven goals in 21 matches. Considering all but three of those appearances had been as a sub, it was an impressive start.
While Kyogo Furuhashi was always likely to be the main man at Celtic, Oh was proving himself as a good back-up option. Not too many people had much to say about Giorgos Giakoumakis.
It’s interesting then how the perception of Oh and Giakoumakis’ departure the same month he arrived has changed in the months since.
To be fair to the detractors, Oh hasn’t scored since that double against the Dons. Given that the Trophy Day clash was in May, that’s a fair time to go without a goal at club or international level, even including friendlies.
The 22-year-old is certainly going through a tougher period at present. To be fair to him, he hasn’t started a single match under Brendan Rodgers. But even his performances as a sub haven’t quite been where they were at under Ange Postecoglou.
After our recent loss to Lazio, I was a little surprised to see a thread on a popular Celtic forum calling out the striker for his poor performances. The overwhelming consensus seemed to be that he was a massive downgrade on Giakoumakis.
While I fear that may be a tad harsh, it is hard to argue, right now, that Oh is offering as much as the Greek was this time last year.
In October 2022, Giakoumakis netted five goals. That total included a dramatic late winner against St. Johnstone, a vital equaliser in a game we won at Hearts and a close-range finish in the UEFA Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk.
It was a huge contribution during a period when Kyogo was a little off the boil. Thankfully, this season so far he has been firing. If he wasn’t then we may have been in some trouble.
Oh, by contrast, needs to get that swagger back. It may just take one goal. Let’s hope it comes sooner rather than later before supporter perception changes further.
In other news, the Liam Scales hype continues after brilliant Celtic rise
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