After the Papers at the weekend continued the speculation that Celtic Striker Scott McDonald would be the subject of an offer from Premiership under dogs Wigan the debate regarding the future of our top scorer in recent seasons has raged on unbounded. My own personal opinion is that even though I am not a fan of the antipodean hit-mans overall contribution to the team the player is a natural goal-scorer and I would prefer to hold onto him for that reason until a suitable replacement is found.
Frank McGarvey is a player who knows a good goalscorer when he sees one. Frank had the luxury of playing alongside some of Britain’s premier strikers from Dalgleish to McClair and he was no stranger to the back of the net himself. I did have to laugh at the headline that accompanied the article that stated that McDonald was “worth his weight in goals”!
McGarvey did make some good points that I agree with and others that are pretty unfounded. One comment that I did agree with is that Strikers who have ‘an eye for goal’ have a natural aptitude and this is not something that can be coached. “Guys like Scott have a natural ability, something that can’t be coached,” he explained. “He is very good on the ball, has great coordination in the opposition box. What I really like about him is that when he hits a shot he is totally relaxed.”
“Other players tense up in scoring situations. Not Scott. Like all good strikers, he has got total confidence in his own ability in front of goal. His finish against Rapid Vienna in the Europa League game this season was immense.”
Frank did sound a note of caution to the board in terms of debt reduction versus playing staff quality, and this is further compounded by the level of potential suitors that are looking at our squad “Isn’t it sad that teams like Wigan are coming to Celtic to steal their best players these days?” McGarvey lamented. “Celtic have to start investing in the team on the park more to keep the paying spectators in the stands happy.
“It is all very well keeping the debt down, but the club have to strike a balance between that and putting a good team on the park to keep people interested. McDonald cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to leave in January. Even fewer people will go to games if he is.”
This is where my agreement of McGarveys appraisal of McDonald ends.
“He [McDonald] has never established a partnership with anybody,” McGarvey reflected. “He has not exactly hit it off with Georgios Samaras. He needs somebody who can take some of the weight off his shoulders. There is tremendous pressure on him, and him alone, to score goals.
Not only does he need someone to take the weight of his shoulders – he needs someone to take the weight of him in general. Could it be that McDonald is central to the reason why he has failed to develop a partnership with any of the strikers he has played with?
“The best strikers usually have a foil, somebody to play off, like Kevin Keegan and John Toshack at Liverpool. I know Fortune has not scored often, but I think judgement should be reserved on him for the time being. He deserves a chance.
“When I was at Celtic, I had a plenty of help up front – great players like George McCluskey, Charlie Nicholas, Maurice Johnston and Brian McClair. I also had the likes of Davie Provan, Paul McStay, Roy Aitken and Tommy Burns creating chances for me. Scott has not had that luxury and he has still scored a commendable number of goals. Just imagine what he could do with a few better players up front alongside him and elsewhere throughout the team. It must be disheartening.”
Whilst I can see the logic in what Frank is saying in that most of the current crop of forward players would not get a sniff at the first team that Frank played in, how many times have Maloney and McGeady et al played in Skippy only for the linesman to raise his flag?
Regardless of all that however, it would be pointless to sell our best striker at this stage of the season, and I can think of players who are much higher up on the hit list than McDonald.
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt