AS a “fully-paid up member of the Centre Forwards Society”, Frank McAvennie could understand why Georgios Giakoumakis was handed responsibility for the penalty kick that Celtic were awarded late on against Livingston at the weekend.

The Greek striker, a £2.5m acquisition from Dutch club VVV-Venlo back in August, has struggled with injury since arriving in Glasgow and had only scored once in his first five appearances.

McAvennie, then, could appreciate that manager Ange Postecoglou was keen to help his countryman get his tally, and his confidence, up with another goal in the cinch Premiership match on Saturday.

But the former Scotland internationalist thought the poorly struck effort, which Livingston keeper Max Stryjek had little difficulty keeping out of his net, in the costly 0-0 draw was as bad a penalty as he had ever seen.

He was impressed that Postecoglou vowed to keep his summer signing on spot kicks for the Europa League encounter with Ferencvaros in Budapest on Thursday evening despite his costly injury-time miss at Parkhead.

However, the Celtic great, whose goals helped secure a historic league and cup double in their centenary year back in 1988, has urged him to restore Josip Juranovic to the important role for the foreseeable future.

“The manager came out and said after the Livingston game that he had put Giakoumakis on penalties,” he said. “He is sticking up for his players and that is what a manager should do.

“But Juranovic has taken two really important penalties and dispatched them with great authority so I really don’t know why Ange made the change. He should have stuck with the full-back.

“Listen, if it had gone in, nobody would care. But, of course, it didn’t. It was probably the worst penalty I have seen. In the 92nd minute, you have got to put your laces through it.

“It is not the time in the game to be doing something funny. Georgios tried to be far too clever with it. It was an awful attempt.”

McAvenne continued: “As a fully paid-up member of the Centre Forwards Society, I do get that Postecoglou was wanting Giakoumakis to get his goal tally up.

“But it was a lot of pressure to put on a boy who hasn’t taken a penalty at Celtic at that stage in the game. For that reason, I would have given it to Juranovic.

“I think Callum McGregor, the captain, should have stepped in, sorted it, taken it away from Giakoumakis and said: ‘No, Juranovic is taking it’. As I say, it seems strange to change it when Juranovic has done so well.”

The Croatian full-back, who has often played on the left since joining Celtic in a £2.5m transfer from Legia Warsaw in Poland despite his preferred position being on the right, has scored two penalties this season.

He put the Scottish side 2-0 ahead in the Europa League match against Real Betis in Spain back in September only for the host team to battle back and triumph 4-3 in a thriller.

He also sewed up all three points for the Glasgow club in their Premiership match against St Johnstone after Kyogo Furuhashi was brought down by Liam Gordon inside the away team’s area late on 

McAvennie feels that a spot kick taker who is doing the business from 12 yards out should always be allowed to carry on until he stops netting.  

He said: “If there is a penalty this week I can guarantee that Georgios will want to take it again. Centre forwards always want to take penalties to get their goals up. I am sure he will smash it if he does!

“But I think if you have a penalty taker who is scoring goals you stick with him until he misses a couple. Then you can make a change.

“Juranovic scored in a big game against Real Betis away. It was only his third match too. And he scored against St Johnstone. He has shown he is more than capable. I would go back to him.”

Playmaker Ryan Christie and striker Odsonne Edouard have taken the majority of penalties that Celtic have been awarded in the last couple of seasons and had a successful conversion rate.

But McAvennie knows from personal experience that defenders like Juranovic can be every bit as clinical from the spot as forwards are.

He played at West Ham with Ray Stewart – the Scotland right back who scored no fewer than 76 penalties for the London club between 1979 and 1991 – for many years.

“Every club I have ever been at had penalty takers,” he said. “When I was at West Ham it was Ray Stewart. He hardly ever missed one.

“Andy Walker was the designated penalty taker when I first joined Celtic and was very good at it as well. There was no argument about that.

“I took a few over the years. I was beaten to the Golden Boot in England in the 1985/86 season by Gary Lineker by just four goals and he had scored something like 14 penalties. He was a bit disappointing. But they were still goals.”

Despite not taking penalties, McAvennie scored 38 goals during the 1987/88 season and helped Billy McNeill’s men win the Premier Division and Scottish Cup double.

But he is better known now for being a regular on the popular Open Goal vodcast hosted by former Celtic youth player Simon Ferry and is set to appear in front of thousands of their fans in another show at the OVO Hydro next month.

“Derek (former Rangers midfielder Ferguson) and I do it and enjoy it,” he said. “It is a youngsters’ thing. When football fans meet us now we get told: ‘I love you on Open Goal!’ Never mind the 15 years of football we played!

“But it’s all good. I am really proud of the boys. They have done very well with it. The last Hydro show was good fun so hopefully people will want to come along to the next one.”