The name Charlie Wyke will not be one known to many Celtic fans, and for good reason.
Wyke is 28, and a veteran of England’s League One.
His failure to reach greater heights in his career doubtless casts suspicion on the quality of this effort. If the club things this guy is an acceptable replacement for Edouard they better get serious and get real.
That’s an unacceptable swap. But … this is better than meets the eye.
I’ve said for years that we should be using the free transfer market better.
This is a free transfer deal, so in some ways I’m getting my wish.
Yet the choice of player is decidedly uninspiring and the fear that some on our board might view him as a replacement for Edouard is obviously a real one, and grounded in past behaviour from this club.
For all that, like I said, there are signs of life here … this isn’t as bad as I had feared.
Wyke has a good scoring record, that’s undeniable, and there will be obvious comparisons between him and Hooper, in particular, who we signed from the same league. Toney was also plying his trade in League One at the time we were linked with him.
Last season he scored 31 goals. I’ve watched all of them, on the YouTube video at the bottom of this clip, and in that video might well be the answer to the question of why we want him in the first place.
What you won’t find are many Odsonne Edouard type goals, where he cuts in, beats men with pure skill and scores.
He’s a penalty box player.
He scores a lot of his goals inside the six-yard box, many of them from crosses, including from corners and other set plays. He scores a very high number of his goals in the air. A team which plays wide and whips the ball into the box will have a lot of luck with this guy hovering in there. That’s clearly part of the thinking behind going for him.
At 6’2 he’s also a physical presence.
You know how long we’ve been screaming out for that? For a big guy who can keep hold of the ball and create a set-piece threat? Since Jan Venegoor left. I can’t think of a single forward we’ve signed since then who does that.
There are a lot of folk who watch football without properly understanding it, and some of them are managers.
We signed Klimala without the first clue of what we wanted him for.
The whole style of our play was different from what was needed to bring out his best.
No wonder he didn’t make it at Celtic Park.
Postecoglou appears to favour a direct attacking game using the wing … we’ve got one penalty box player at the club, Griffiths, and he’s never fit. This guy will do a fine job in the right system.
I don’t know who scouted this guy or whether it was for Lennon or if this was a Howe suggestion, but for once somebody knew what they were doing. What initially looked like a crazy decision, on the cheap, looks, when you see the way he plays, like somebody who finally decided to get what was needed instead of some project.
This is a better signing that it looks on paper.