Should Kieron Bowie be Scotland's Number Nine?
Kai Watson 
If anyone wasn’t paying attention to the fact that Kieron Bowie scored two in the opening game of the season against Dundee then put on a stellar performance away in Belgrade against Partizan, then they certainly were paying attention last Thursday.
Here at Free Bets, our resident Scottish football expert is Kai Watson, who takes an in depth look at Bowie below.
After being 2-0 down from the first-leg of the Conference League tie, Partizan took advantage of some questionable goalkeeping by Jordan Smith and found themselves 2-0 up at Easter Road at half-time, 2-2 on aggregate.
Step up Kieron Bowie, on the hour mark with the ball bouncing over his head, he outmuscled his marker, turned as the ball bounced then unleashed a powerful, looping effort from 35-yards out which smashed off of the post and left the goalkeeper with no chance.
That goal deserves all the praise in the world, it genuinely does, because it’s one of the goals of the season so far. That’s not all his game was about though and that’s what has impressed me the most.
He’s the perfect lone striker, in my opinion, he can do it all, hold the ball up, carry it on his own, can create for others and is excellent at getting shots away.
He showed all of this against Partizan and was incredibly unlucky not to have a second goal after curling an effort just side of the post from the edge of the box. This was the game that introduced a lot of people to his style and presence but, if you had been paying attention to Hibs at the end of the season, you could have predicted this.
He had a really tough season through injuries which could have completely derailed his development but, if anything, he seems to have come back even more determined to prove himself. He played three matches (69 minutes) and scored one goal before picking up a really bad hamstring injury, the first serious injury of his career.
This kept him out from 1st September until 25th January when he came back into the team. He was never a guaranteed starter but his performances and data highlighted his potential.
In 18 total appearances, he scored six goals and got one assist, with only five of those appearances being from the start and only playing 742 minutes in total. This meant that he averaged a goal contribution every 106 minutes which is incredibly impressive at any level. He also scored those goals from an xG of just 2.96 (via Wyscout) which, in layman's terms, means he scored three more goals than he should have, by xG logic at least!
Just to further add to those impressive stats, his conversion rate was 37.50%, meaning for every three shots, he was scoring at least once, he was also in the top percentile for goals Per90 amongst strikers in the league. The base stats may not seem great but the underlying data is excellent.
That and his performances for Scotland U21s (probably) led to Bowie getting a Scotland call up in the summer, which many fans questioned. He made his debut against Lichtenstein but only played twelve minutes. Since then, he’s been the main man at striker for Hibs, although he was rested at the weekend, and has looked better than ever.
Steve Clarke was questioned for even having him involved in the Scotland squad in June and after his performance last Thursday, many were asking ‘should Kieron Bowie be Scotland’s first choice striker?
Currently, I think yes. As previously mentioned, I think he has all the tools you need to be an impactful lone striker and could link really well with the likes of Doak, McGinn and McTominay. If he doesn’t get selected and start against Denmark I, for one, will be very disappointed.
Kai Watson on Freebets
Kai is our expert in Scotland and with us every week of the season, bringing you his opinion pieces across our news section.
Then as we head into every weekend, you can find Kai's Scottish football tips on site, as he previews five games for us and delivers his best bets for you.
