HEERENVEEN PRIDE themselves on scouting out strikers. They have unearthed some of the finest forwards across the past two decades, with Ruud van Nistelrooy, John Dahl Tomasson and Alfonso Alaves all making breakthroughs at the modest club. Georgios Samaras, who has gobbled up goals with nine in five games for Celtic, was served up on a plate for the Dutch side, however.
"A friend of his family ran a restaurant in the town and contacted us to say Georgi was a player we really should have a look at," says Foppe de Hann, the manager who brought the Greek to Heerenveen at the age of 16. Then in the youth ranks with his
home side OFI Crete, there was no questioning the teenager's pedigree.
The son of Giannis Samaras, a 25-times capped Greek internationalist who enjoyed four years with Panathinaikos and had both played and managed OFI, his grandfather Georgios was a founder member of the South Melbourne soccer club before moving the family to Heraklion when Giannis was 12.
After De Hann organised a game between the under-16 sides of Heerenveen and OFI, there was no doubt in his mind that he must act on a Greek restaurateur's recommendation. "You could see from that game he was a real striker," says the Dutchman, who coached at Heerenven for a total of 16 years across two spells. "He already had the build of a man, could make goals as well as score goals and had running power. When we spoke with him we also realised right away he had a good head and it was clear he had to come to us."
The 16-year-old wasn't the only Samaras to sign up for the Dutch side in 2001. His father accompanied him to become the club's striker coach, a position he held for two years. By the time he left, his son had become what De Hann refers to a "bench hitter", an impact player who could make a telling contribution as a substitute. Three goals in the four sub outings for Heerenveen in 2003 created an impression his galloping, gangly approach might be best suited to late, short bursts. An impression that, until recent weeks, the 6ft 4in 23-year-old hadn't succeeded in shaking off.
Indeed, in standing at seven, Samaras's current run of consecutive games is the second longest he has enjoyed across his entire senior career. In the three months leading up to his ill-starred move to Manchester City in January 2006, he racked up 10 straight games. Otherwise, he has never been an automatic first choice, while his best goal tally for a season is 11. It is natural to assume the humungous step down from the English Premiership to the Scottish Premier League accounts for him beginning to look the part as a player. De Hann, though, believes there may be a little more to his goal-plundering pyrotechnics of late.
"I had more experienced forwards at Heerenven but I was aware that to progress Georgi would regularly have to feel the grass beneath his feet, have that contact with the crowd," he said. "He needs compliments, needs to feel wanted by team-mates and fans. But I left in 2004 so I wasn't able to help with that development." Neither was City manager Stuart Pearce. He is often quoted as having made Samaras, then uncapped, the most expensive Greek footballer in history by landing him in a £6m deal. The reported price tag caused jaws to drop across Holland, despite both Arsenal and Manchester United having previously been credited with an interest in his raw, but undoubted, talents. In reality, it appears the package was £2.5m, with a further £3.5m dependent on his and the club's performance. Pearce had faith in both, even if at the time he accepted Samaras was a risky signing.
"When I named him as someone I wanted to sign, the chairman's reaction was to say 'Who?' and it was a gamble, as it is with any player. But I believe that if Georgios stays on this learning curve and begins to show those flashes of brilliance consistently, in three or four years' time he will be worth more than we could afford to pay for him," the former England international said.
Samaras didn't do that, performing erratically, and at times haplessly. He lost his way following four goals in his first eight appearances for the Eastlands club. After Pearce gave way to Sven-Goran Eriksson in the summer of 2007, Samaras became a joke figure among the City support, earning the nickname 'Tragedy', as in 'Greek Tragedy'. Any problems never related to attitude or application. Both Pearce and Eriksson consistently praised his work ethic, his willingness to learn a consequence of a sound upbringing according to Dutch coach Eugene Gerard. A friend of the Samaras family, he coached Giannis at OFI and was convinced his son was destined to make the grade from his earliest days watching him as a schoolboy.
"He caught my eye straight away as he was miles ahead of the rest of his team-mates," Gerard has said. "He was too good to be on the same pitch as the rest of the boys. At 15, Georgios looked exactly the same as his father in terms of physique. But the difference between them was mentality. He always had all the physical attributes to succeed but unlike others his age was willing to make the sacrifices needed.
"Some are swayed by things in their personal life and don't give everything, others arrogant and believe they have done it all before they have done anything. But Georgios never fell into these traps. He came from a strong home and has always been a humble and quiet boy. He's still the same."
It is Samaras's personality – a thoroughly courteous one that sees him wish journalists "good day" at the end of press sit-ins that Strachan says "he hates because he doesn't want to be a star" – that leaves the Celtic manager comfortable in enthusing over what the accomplished performer is contributing to his team set-up. The Greek's transformation from bit-part player to mainstay has been dramatic. In his loan period across the second half of last season, he was very much understudy to Scott McDonald and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. Now the 20-times capped frontman is first pick among the three. Moreover, Strachan considers the player he acquired permanently for a £1.2m down payment in the summer to be currently "an unstoppable force that you have to let roll."
"He is a terrific guy, a sponge for knowledge," the Celtic manager says. "There have been some players I have worked with, not too many thankfully, that when you talk to them they look at you as if they don't know what you are on about. With others, the look says: 'fantastic, give me more'. He's like that.
"He likes his team-mates, which is a fantastic thing. He likes to please. His dad was a top footballer, so I think he's brought him up fantastically well. He is very respectful with everybody. You would be proud of him if he was your son."
Pride in Samaras for being their player grew exponentially from the Celtic support across September. The moment he began to warm up on his first match for Celtic, even before he completed a 5-1 trouncing of Kilmarnock in the cup in January with a sumptuous late strike only minutes after coming off the bench wearing orange boots, he acquired cult status. Yet, in a pre-season friendly at Celtic Park, it was notable how little the home supporters reacted to City fans taunting them with cries of "ha, ha, you've Samaras". Many appeared underwhelmed when the club announced they had tied up the striker on a three-year deal in July. Now the 'whelming' is of the 'over' variety.
The full article contains 1345 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
