Anto was a bit older than me but i played with and against him a few times as a teenager, he wasn't slow. he wasn't quick but he wasn't daryl murphy or bulked up kevin doyle slow (as opposed to early kevin doyle who had pace). he never really had a burst of pace but he was in dublin during the summer and by himself, worked with a sprinting coach, who did work on the mechanics of his sprinting. Sunderland were so impressed by the pace he had gained, that they hired the lad to work with all their players. I can imagine he probably lost a bit more pace as he gained weight, got injured or aged..
Technically, he was superb. He was an intelligent footballer too. More than anyone gave him credit for. It was all off field stuff that held him back. Similarly, he was a little unlucky with Trap I think. In his time in the SPL - age 21 to 25 seasons, he scored:
23 goals
20 goals
21 goals
7 goals (injured most season)
21 goals
Then his last season at Celtic, Delia moved him into the midfield where he scored 8.
Nowadays if a player was doing that year on year, he'd probably get more of a look in than he did even if it's only the SPL...
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