DONG GOOK Lee.... it's Korean for Missimo! Top Gazette soccer brains have had the cuttings book and calculator out today and worked out that The Lion King has now played five hours and 13 minutes of football in England and not scored a goal. That's long enough to watch two thirds of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (the new tabloid SI unit of football time, just as football pitches and countries the size of Wales are official measurements of area), eat three full parmos or build a scale model of Ayresome Park from matchsticks.
Of course, that damning time tally includes several stints in the stiffs, one full half in the Premiership and a few brief cameos plus extra-time in the cp against West Brom. In the first team it adds up to barely 90 minutes (and certainly not 90 continuous minutes) yet in the hot-house world of football snap judgements that is more than enough for many to decide GD Lee is not up to the job. And don't confuse the issue by pointing to the fact that Yakubu has gone seven games - that's ten and a half hours, or a whole season for Robert Huth - without scoring.
He hit the post against Reading in his first outing, hit the upright again from the penalty spot in the shoot-out wit the Baggies then at Newcastle he was repeatedly brushed off the ball - once by Nobby Solano - and the optimism drained away to be replaced by cynicism.
The reality is that the frighteningly monikered 'Lazy Genius' is nowhere near ready for the Premiership. So far the nearest thing to an offensive threat has been posed by his badly bleached hair. He has come to a new country where he doesn't speak the lingo, a new culture that takes some getting used to and a completely different game with a far faster tempo and more physical approach so there should really be no surprise that he is struggling to make his mark. A few low key games in the stiffs won't help him bridge the gap, he will need a full pre-season to get up to the levels of athleticism needed to survive.
That he isn't ready is recognised by the bench. That is why in recent games Malcolm Christie, a man who is out of contract out in the summer and has never really been anything more than an enthusiastic worker, and towering defender Huth used as a makeshift targetman have been used ahead of him as substitutes. Against Watford at 3-1 up and in complete control in the Sun there would never have been a better time to give him a chance to show what he could do. That he got only a fleeting late outing speaks volumes.
With Christie lurking by the exit door and Maccarone finally shifted Boro are striker light. If Boro are to compete - and assuming Viduka stays - they will need a proven frontman who can step straight into the team next season and score goals. Lee has yet to show he is that man and so Boro need to start the search now. If the Korean finds his feet and comes back next season as anything more deadly than the new Malcolm Christie, a fourth choice workhorse, then that will be a big bonus - but you wouldn't like to think he is pencilled in for a starting position just yet.
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