Having established himself in the side over the last four games, Tony Watt is being compared very favourably by Charlton fans with previous striking successes, most notably, Clive Mendonca. Whilst I am desperate to see a fellow Scot do well for us, it's very early days to be getting that excited about a 21 year-old with three Charlton goals under his belt. We have had another Scottish striker from Coatbridge, Chris Iwelumo, not a bad example for Tony to aim to surpass for starters (10 in 46).
His record since joining us is 3 goals from 10 appearances, although we should not forget that for five of the first six games he was a sub and got less than a half. Indeed, Watt's record in league football reflects his relative youth at all five clubs he has turned out for. He has made a total of 79 first team appearances for Airdrie (15), Celtic (25), Lierse (16), Standard Liege (13) and Charlton (10). At all of the clubs he has had to establish himself and he was in and out of the side initially and used as a sub. This was the case at Celtic in particular and at Standard to a lesser extent where competition for places would have been higher.
It's not unreasonable to say that Tony Watt might just get more settled in four months at the Valley than any of his previous clubs and may just have found the magic ingredient alongside Igor Vetokele. If he stays a first pick until the end of the season he will have played for us more than anyone other than Celtic where he spent three years.
Watt also has a good habit of scoring braces. His double on Saturday was the fifth time he has managed it. Pretty impressive as those goals account for 10 of his 25 goals to date. Our excitement over Watt may be a little premature and it may be influenced by our chronic shortage of a proper two man strike-force at this level since our promotion seasons just prior to the turn of the century. However, we are not alone in this regard. Watt was highly rated when he arrived at Celtic and this excellent video captured the mood and the global impression Watt made after scoring against Barcelona. Maybe a new song for Watt!
I should also say that Watt's performances in Charlton colours have been much more than just about him scoring. He has been a consummate team player and has helped Igor re-start his goal-scoring too. In spite of his reputation for being lazy or difficult, we appear to have seen none of that. He's been up for the fans, home and away and has said all the right things when being interviewed. Maybe Tony's grown-up a big or we might be taking a bit more care of him?
All eyes on Big Tony tomorrow night then to see if he can keep his run of form going.
That video is hilarious.
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