Garry O'Connor
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| Garry O'Connor | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Garry Lawrence O'Connor | |
| Date of birth | May 7, 1983 | |
| Place of birth | Unknown, Scotland | |
| Height | 1.85 m | |
| Position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Lokomotiv Moscow | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| Hibernian | ||
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
| 1999-2006 2006-present |
Hibernian Lokomotiv Moscow |
138 (46) 25 (8) |
| National team | ||
| 2002-present | Scotland | 8 (2) |
|
* Professional club appearances and goals |
||
Garry Lawrence O'Connor (born May 7, 1983) is a Scottish professional footballer who currently plays for Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Premier League. He is also a regular member of the Scotland squad.
Contents |
[edit] Early career in Scotland
Born in Edinburgh, O'Connor began his career with local club Hibernian, signing in May 1999. He made his initial breakthrough under manager Bobby Williamson in 2001. His excellent strike rate at such a young age caught the eye of then Scotland manager Berti Vogts and he won his first cap against South Korea in 2002.
Following a period in which he struggled to fulfill the promise he had initially shown, the arrival of manager Tony Mowbray at Hibs led to improved form for both O'Connor and the team as a whole. Hibs' impressive 2004-05 campaign (in which they finished third in the SPL) led to speculation that many of their talented young players would move abroad, or to the Old Firm. With O'Connor firmly establishing himself in the Hibs team, he won a recall to the Scotland squad and once again began to be linked with a move away from the club.
O'Connor had formed a formidable partnership with Derek Riordan at Hibernian.
He has been capped eight times by Scotland at International level, and scored his first goal for the Tartan Army in a 2-2 draw with Austria in August 2005.
| Season | Club | Games | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000/01 | Hibernian | 1 | 0 |
| 2001/02 | Peterhead (loan) | 4 | 1 |
| 2001/02 | Hibernian | 19 | 10 |
| 2002/03 | Hibernian | 24 | 6 |
| 2003/04 | Hibernian | 33 | 4 |
| 2004/05 | Hibernian | 35 | 13 |
| 2005/06 | Hibernian | 24 | 11 |
| 2006 | Lokomotiv Moscow | 25 | 8 |
[edit] Move to Moscow
On 26 February 2006, it was reported that O'Connor was set to join Lokomotiv Moscow for approximately £1.6 million. This offer was subsequently accepted by Hibernian, with Tony Mowbray conceding that the personal terms on offer (including a reputed weekly wage of £16,000) were "life-changing for Garry and his family". On 6 March it was announced that the transfer had been agreed (BBC).
On 22 March 2006, O'Connor scored for the first time for his new club, the opening goal in a 2-2 draw with Spartak Moscow in a Russian Cup tie. He opened the scoring for his side against Torpedo Moscow in a 4-1 win on 14 May. As of Round 17, he had scored 5 league goals and 1 cup goal in 18 matches he had played in (although only on the field for the full 90 minutes in 4 matches). In Moscow he has formed a formidable partnership with Russian international, Dmitry Sychev although Dramane Traore, the Mali international has threatened his position.
[edit] Controversy
After featuring in Scotland's 1-0 victory over France at Hampden Park on 7 October 2006, O'Connor and the rest of the team were given an evening off before reconvening ahead of the trip to Ukraine for another qualifying match. O'Connor failed to rejoin the squad and was axed from the travelling party by manager Walter Smith [1]. O'Connor subsequently issued an apology through his agent without revealing the exact cause of his failure to appear, while Smith's assistant Tommy Burns announced that O'Connor was unlikely to be frozen out of the squad permanently. O'Connor said that his wife was unhappy with life in Moscow and he had decided to stay with her rather than return to training.[2] It was later revealed that O'Connor left the squad as his sister Kerry, a recovering drug addict, had attempted to commit suicide. [3]
[edit] References
- ^ "Smith dismayed at absent O'Connor", BBC Sport website, October 9, 2006.
- ^ "O'Connor 'put family first'", Daily Telegraph website, October 14, 2006.
- ^ "Sister's suicide bid", Sunday Mail website, October 15, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Garry O'Connor career stats at Soccerbase
- (ru) Russian Premier League player statistics for 2006 season
| FC Lokomotiv Moscow - Current Squad |
|---|
|
5 Spahić | 6 Ivanović | 7 Izmailov | 8 Maminov | 9 O'Connor | 10 Loskov | 11 Sychev | 14 Pashinin | 15 Fininho | 16 Evseev | 17 Sennikov | 18 Starkov | 19 Traoré | 21 Poliakov | 22 Jakupović | 24 Zouaghi | 25 Kingston | 26 Had | 30 Asatiani | 37 Ryzhikov | 40 Samedov | 41 Gurenko | 46 Chichikov | 50 Asildarov | 55 Chelidze | 60 Zhilyaev | 63 Bilyaletdinov | 70 Getigezhev | 80 Gabulov | 99 Celsinho | Manager: Muslin |
