كتب : عمر عبد العزيز | الأحد، 17 فبراير 2013 - 18:42

Geddo’s biggest challenge

"He's had a great start but the big questions we're all going to ask are can he sustain it and can he adjust to life in England," said Hull boss Steve Bruce about Geddo’s start.

Geddo’s biggest challenge is not just to ‘prove himself’ or win a permanent contract in England by bagging some goals and that’s it.

This is a chance to lighten some of the gloom left by Egyptians in England and of all people, you can ask Bruce about it.

Yes Geddo has hit the ground running in England but he’s not a pioneer.

Mido scored twice on his Spurs debut while Amr Zaki was the Premier League top scorer during the early weeks of the 2008-2009 season, yet the duo ended it on a low note.

Now let’s recall what did Bruce say about his last Egyptian employee to hit two in two for Wigan five years ago.

“Amr is going to be a real fans favorite. Every supporter - whether you support Wigan or you support Man City - loves a trier who gives everything that he has got,” he said.

“And that is the one thing about Zaki he gives you every last drop he has got. So you can forgive everything, he might make a mistake or give the ball away and he does that at times.

“But I can't question his attitude.”

Of course Bruce did a lot more than question Zaki’s attitude when the goals stopped and by the time the Bulldozer trudged out of the DW Stadium with a load of criticism on his shoulders.

The Zaki-Wigan honeymoon ended because the goals stopped but that was just a marginal issue compared to the striker’s ‘attitude’ later in the season.

So like any other striker, Geddo must anticipate a normal dip in form and possibly a goal drought but then comes the big challenge for the Egypt forward.

Consistency – like Bruce said – is one big question on the pitch for the in-form forward, but there is another that is even more crucial for Geddo’s future.

Will he show enough discipline, commitment and professionalism when his name is not being chanted all over the KC Stadium?

Now the good example needs to be mentioned and I think Ahmed Elmohamady has been an Egyptian who impressed – not just on the pitch – lately, at least for Bruce.

At Sunderland, Elmohamady sometimes played well, sometimes watched full games from the bench and was even dumped out of the team’s squad when Martin O’Neill arrived.

Yet the full-back had never complained – not even a single groan – until being loaned out to Hull, recalled and then sent again to Yorkshire.

Let’s hope we don’t see Geddo warming the Ahli bench by this time next season, then we’ll know that Egypt have lost yet another decent goalscorer.

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