FORGOTTEN HEROES: THE NAKA FACTOR

Our new series on Celtic greats who seem to have been unfairly forgotten about in the mists of time begins with the ‘Japanese Bhoy’ Shunsuke Nakamura. Thecomicsnob pays tribute to a great player:

When doing the ‘ON THIS DAY’ feature for the blog twitter feed (@The_Celtic_Blog) I noticed that a lot of important games from 2007 were coming up – and that lead me to think about a man who was pivotal for Celtic that year and most of the four years he was at the club – Japanese midfield genius Shunsuke Nakamura. A player who seems to have been forgotten about recently, which is a real shame as I would go as far as to say he was one of the best players Celtic have had in the last twenty years.

It’s hard to forget how much of a shambles Celtic were in by the time Naka played his first game for the club. The 2005-06 season had begun with the truly dreadful 5-0 defeat to Artmedia Bratislava followed by a 4-4 draw with Motherwell in our first SPL game and the first Japanese player to play in the SPL was about to be thrust into the middle of all this. His signing had came as a bit of a surprise as it’s not often Celtic show such foresight in the transfer window, in signing a Japanese playmaker from Reggina in Italy. But as we will see the gamble worked – which hasn’t always been the case with Celtic and Asian players. Naka made his debut in a 2-0 win over Dundee United, where his full range of passing abilities were on show. Shortly after he scored his first goal for Celtic against Dunfermline after a great run from midfield and scored the first of his trademark free-kicks in a 5-0 win over Motherwell. Naka’s first season at Celtic ended in success, as we won the SPL and the League Cup. However, the following season would prove to be Naka’s zenith, as he made his mark in both the league and in Europe.

The 2006-07 season for Naka must go down as one of the best individual performances from a Celtic player in many a long year. He scored on the opening day against Killie and went from strength to strength, including a hat-trick at Dundee United, a superb chip goal at home to Dundee United which deservedly won goal of the season, and of course the league clinching goal against Kilmarnock. In the Champions league however Naka really shined, with two memorable free-kick goals against Manchester United, the second of course clinching our place in the last 16 for the first time. Naka ended that season with 11 goals and deservedly won all the player of the year awards.

2007-08 was inevitably a bit quieter for Naka, as it he didn’t match the heroics of the previous season. However, he still contributed some vital goals, including a trademark free-kick against St. Mirren to earn a vital three points and the thunderbolt against Rangers in a 2-1 win which kickstarted the winning run which lead to a highly emotional league title win at Tannadice.

2008-09 was not a memorable season at all for Celtic, as the league title was thrown away in ignominious fashion after two goalless draws at the end of the season. Naka had a fairly productive season though, scoring nine goals, making him the third top goal scorer that season. He also provided the free-kick which lead to Darren O’Dea heading in the opening goal in the league cup final win against Rangers. Sadly, this proved to be Naka’s last season at Celtic, as he moved to Espanyol in Spain. That move didn’t work out for him, and he eventually moved back to Yokohama, his first club.

It’s a shame Naka has been forgotten about has he had a craft and guile which the current Celtic squad badly lack. The only player in midfield who comes close is James Forrest, and he still has a very long way to go before he reaches anywhere near the standards Naka set. Perhaps it was because he seemed a quiet unassuming guy, and never got a chance to properly say farewell to the support that this truly great player seems to have faded from people’s memories. Hopefully this article will bring back some memories of a brilliant player.