Celtic striker Giorgos Giakoumakis could have gone into his shell and crumbled under the pressure.
After an inconspicuous start to his Celtic career, the Greek striker’s late missed penalty against Livingston in October cost his side more Premiership points.
And at that point lesser men might have hid.
But Ange Postecoglou knew from the minute he met Giakoumakis that he was made of sterner stuff.
When the Hoops gaffer signed him from lowly Dutch club VVV Venlo last summer, no one in Glasgow’s east end had heard of him.
And despite topping the scoring charts, Postecoglou admits he was taking a punt on a 26-year-old who had previously been shipped out by AEK Athens.
Fast forward five months from his spot-kick howler against Livi and Giakoumakis is now a fans’ favourite.
He’s the penalty-box poacher they’ve craved and after netting a hat-trick against Ross County last week, Hoops gaffer Postecoglou appears to be getting the best out of him.
That resulted in a recall to the Greece national squad after impressing boss Gus Poyet.
Postecoglou has revealed why he opted to chase Giakoumakis in the summer.
And he has praised the frontman’s mentality in bouncing back from an early Parkhead setback.
He said: “Sometimes in football these things are about timing and opportunity.
“People forget that we had to be pretty creative with how we brought players in last summer.
“It wasn’t a matter of going out there and spending money.
“We knew we had to do a lot of recruitment in one window.
“We had to look far and wide to get value for us and also ensure the players would fit into our system.
“Giorgos had a great season in Holland last year and that brought him to the attention of a lot of clubs, not just us.
“From our perspective when I looked at him – the type of player he was and then spoke to him and realised the type of person he was too – I thought he’d be a good fit for us.
“And it has worked out well for him so far. He had a disrupted time in the first few years of his professional career.
“Sometimes when that happens it just means they blossom a bit later and hit their peak later on.
“Hopefully his best years are well ahead of him, not just in the next couple.
“Giako had a really tough start at Celtic, a tough first half of the season.
“He came in really late, missed pre-season and had a couple of injury setbacks. So he never really got going.
“But since the break he’s obviously got himself fit and ready.
“When he missed the penalty against Livingston it wasn’t a great way to start his Celtic career.
“But what was important was how he reacted to that.
“Because that pressure was never going to change. That’s the expectation when you are a striker at this club and you have to embrace that responsibility.
“Giako wanted that and that’s why he is getting the rewards now.”
He’s got 12 goals in 22 games so far for the Hoops, despite a disrupted first campaign in Glasgow.
And Giakoumakis is hitting form at exactly the right time – the business end of the season with the Hoops going for a domestic Treble.
As well as the Greek’s confidence on the pitch, his manager has been equally as impressed with the forward’s
humility off the field.
He said: “Is he a confident type? Not many of these No.9s aren’t!
“I’ve met a few and they tend to have a bit about themselves. When you want to be a striker, you understand what comes along with it.
“You are not going to be anonymous if you’re scoring goals so I think he is confident.
“At the same time he is humble enough to know he still has a way to go.
“He still has to work hard to improve his football and improve himself.
“I think it’s more that he has a belief in himself rather than being over-confident in his own ability.
“If you’re going to play for this football club and do well then there is no doubt you’re going to get highlighted.
“Because you’re playing in front of 60,000 supporters, usually competing for honours, trophies and playing in European games.
“So you will get noticed.
“That’s part of the attraction in coming here. The pressures here mean you have to succeed. Giakoumakis is a great
example of that.”
He’s certainly caught the eye of Poyet and that’s why he was called up again by his country. He started in the 1-0 win over Romania on Friday and hopes to do so again in tomorrow’s clash with Montenegro.
Rather than be gutted at losing Giakoumakis for vital training time in the Premiership run-in, Postecoglou insists international recognition will make Giakoumakis even better.
The Parkhead gaffer said: “When the players get selected for their national team, it’s a reflection of their form for the club.
“He has been doing well for us and going away with the Greek team will help give him further confidence and belief in the way he is going about things.
“Like all the international players it will also do him good to get away from that constant club environment.
“Just to start thinking about different things for a couple of weeks.
“Hopefully that freshens them up and gets them ready for that final push with us.”
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