I’ve been saying since the weekend that no other player in Scottish football would have scored that winner at the weekend. They would not have had the presence, the intelligence or the positional awareness to get in front of that ball. They would not have been able to perform that feat under the kind of pressure Giakoumakis found himself under.
There is no other player in Scottish football who would have scored the incredible lob over the Hibs goalkeeper that won us last season’s League Cup. No-one but Kyogo Furuhashi would even have even attempted that in a major match far less pulled it off. His equaliser that day was equally astonishing, showing a quality that was awesome.
With the minutes ticking away at the weekend, the manager resisted the urge to stick Kyogo on. He knew what a lot of those demanding that change didn’t know. If you are looking for a guy to act on pure instinct and score in a packed penalty box Giakoumakis is the man. Kyogo can unlock a defence with more skill, but that’s a different talent.
We have seen Kyogo score in a penalty box with players all around him. Of course we have. But that six-yard box is where Giakoumakis lives and on a day like Saturday you knew it was going to take someone being in the perfect spot at the perfect moment and a little brute force rather than the threading of a difficult needle.
The manager knew that, which is why he didn’t turn to that solution.
Kyogo will play a major role in this team this season. We know that. He will score goals that will leave us gasping in amazement. He will score placed shots, tap ins, long range efforts. He has better first touch than any forward I’ve seen at Parkhead since the King of Kings himself, which is one of the ways in which the comparison stands up.
But there are days when his fluid style and grace on the ball won’t get the job done half as well as a big guy who throws himself at the ball with that predator’s eye.
It is great that we have two such different frontmen, both talented, both hungry for goals, both lethal in their ability to score them. It is the best strike-force we’ve had at the club since Hartson, Sutton and the King were teamed up and banging them away for fun.
Over the years, I’ve seen us go through so many forwards and even looking at their records before they signed you’d have been forgiven for being haunted by the question “where are his goals?” Kyogo has been consistent for years. Giakoumakis had a few bad years and then a spectacular one in Holland, which is when we came calling.
Both men have proven themselves in Celtic shirts, in different ways.
But there is no question that there is much, much more to come from them both.