TOMAS CVANCARA, CELTIC AND THE LESSONS OF CHRIS SUTTON
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 2 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Day 21 of the transfer window, and while it’s not confirmed yet, and, knowing Celtic, we can’t be 100% certain until the player is unveiled officially, it looks like we may finally have a striker coming in.
That man appears to be Tomas Cvancara. Celtic will reportedly take the Czech center forward on loan until the end of the season from Borussia Monchengladbach, with an option to make the move permanent in the summer for around £5 million.
After a promising start to his career first with Jablonec and later Sparta Prague in his homeland, Cvancara has hit a bit of a career buffer in Germany. There are also rumors of unrest behind the scenes, with the player’s attitude apparently called into question by other, senior Monchengladbach players.
He will also, if he comes to Celtic, have to succeed where a number of other strikers have already failed: providing the goals and link-up play lost just over a year ago when Kyogo Furuhashi left the club.
Kyogo Comparisons Unfair, But Tomas Cvancara Celtic Mission is Clear
Cvancara spent the first half of this season on loan at Turkish side Antalyaspor but only managed 7 appearances and a single, solitary goal. In that respect, his recent fortunes aren’t that different from Kyogo.
However, this is where the comparisons end. At 6”3 and with a decidedly more physical approach to the game, Cvancara is a totally different kind of player. However, if he can recover the form that saw him score 19 goals in 39 games for Sparta Prague back in season 2022-23, and earn international recognition for Czechia then it just might make the difference to Celtic’s flagging title defense.
Is he as good as Kyogo was during his peak under Ange Postecoglou at Celtic? No, I don’t think he is.
However, I think Tomas Cvancara is the kind of player Celtic need right now. He’s a Martin O’Neill type of player. A big, powerful center-forward in the manner of Chris Sutton. If any manager can get the best out of the player, and iron out is reputed attitude problem, then it is Martin O’Neill.
Again, Cvancara has a long way to go to come anywhere near the level of a player like Chris Sutton. However, the two have a comparable pre-Celtic career trajectory.
Sutton’s tally of 47 goals in 130 games for Blackburn Rovers is a similar ratio to Cvancara’s best season with Sparta Prague. However, much like Cvancara now, Sutton also joined Celtic under a cloud back in the summer of 2000.
A big money move to Chelsea was an unmitigated disaster, with the Englishman only scoring one goal during the 1999-2000 season, before making his fateful move to Celtic Park.
We are about to sign another young striker, with a point to prove, under very similar circumstances.
Tomas Cvancara is no Chris Sutton, and he’s no Kyogo either. However, he’s joining a team in need of a goalscoring hero, and he’ll have the chance to work under a manager with plenty of previous form for helping players who have lost their way get back on track.
Maybe, just maybe, Martin O’Neill has one more rejuvenation project left in him before he says his final managerial goodbye to Celtic this summer...
