Last week we got the severely edited highlights of an interview that Nicholas Kühn did with one of his domestic media outlets. In that interview, he talked about how he wants to play in a top five league and represent his country. The media, of course, tried to make a song and dance about it, briefly trying to claim that he made a cryptic comment about his future. He did no such thing, of course.
But having watched him lately, I can tell you this: he’s still a ways short of being a top five league player on his current form.
You have to show up every week in those leagues, and you have to play against good teams, and you have to do it well. And I’m telling you – and it pains me to say this because he started this season brilliantly – but in certain games this season, he has looked one-note and miles off it.
What’s happened to his consistency lately? It’s dropped off a cliff, and getting substituted at half-time on Sunday will have been deeply shocking to him, but it’s a reminder that this club has higher standards than he is currently delivering. And it should be both a sobering and disciplining experience for him. He seriously needs to up his game. He seriously needs to start getting serious again.
Kühn was a runaway contender for Player of the Year in the first half of the campaign. In the second half of the campaign, he has been really disappointing. And that’s not simply because he’s been overshadowed by Daizen Maeda, who, as we all know, has been absolutely phenomenal and proved it again with a derby goal.
From now until the season ends, this guy is going to have to find a way to bring it better than he has in a while. When you get subbed in a major game, it has to hurt like hell, but he brought it on himself. He simply wasn’t at the races. And that requires that he knuckles down and works harder. It’s the only way that he’s going to change this narrative. It’s the only way that he’s going to fix this.
You’re still talking about a guy we all know has it.
We all know he can do it. That’s what makes watching him right now so incredibly frustrating. This is not the player we’ve been watching since the season kicked off, when he was just blowing teams away.
This is not the guy who almost single-handedly dismantled RB Leipzig at Celtic Park. And I like what he says about our club. He says all the right things. He doesn’t sound like a guy who’s banging the door down wanting a move or any of that stuff. He’s a hardworking, honest pro who right now seems to be happy where he is.
And that’s what makes this dramatic drop-off from him so difficult to understand. We know that on his day he is capable of absolutely roasting teams.
On his day, he would have been capable of dismantling that Ibrox defence single-handedly. So what exactly went so badly wrong that the manager couldn’t keep him on the pitch even one minute longer past the break?
It has to be said that the entire right side of the team was off it until Jota was moved out wide right. I thought that Alistair Johnston had quite easily his worst game in a Celtic shirt. He was not at the races, and he picked a singularly bad, bad game to turn in a performance like that. It didn’t help Kühn, but Kühn failing to take players on, failing to use that pace of his to full effect – that was bad and that hurt us.
It’s been a couple of days now since the game, and I’m still as frustrated as I was watching it. But Nicholas’ performance is easily what frustrated me the most in that first half, and I was not in the least bit surprised to see that the manager took him off.
I hate having to do this. I hate having to mention it again, but our failure to sign another central striker limits the manager’s options. If we’d had Maeda, Jota and Kühn all competing for the wide spaces at the start of the game, it might not have gone so badly. But playing Maeda through the middle has taken away exactly the kind of competition the manager wanted to create in signing Jota, and so you have someone like Nicholas who now knows that he’s basically undroppable.
And no player in this team should be undroppable now. That’s how you create the right conditions for success in the first place. You make inclusion in this side predicated on hard work and on players doing the right things. And right now, we have guys who are walking into the side week in, week out, and we’re being hurt by it.
His form has dipped lately but he’s definitely got it, I wonder if it’s connected to Jota coming back and getting all the adulation. Whatever it is, he needs to iron it out. He’s always said he wants to play for Germany and to do that he’ll most likely have to be in one of the top leagues but that’ll only happen if he’s a stand out at Celtic, the better he does here, the better the club he can join so he needs to get his consistency right.
It does seem like he’ll always cut inside and shoot but that’s unfair, his link up play is good with AJ, he can cross and he’s a rapid dribbler.
He needs his best because Yang is looking good and probably deserves to start the next game.
We know he has talent. Tho it’s important, that ye also have tae be consistent. If ye don’t, it can quickly turn intae a real problem with confidence, as well as form. He’s better tae just put Sunday away and focus on his game for the remainder of this season.
He’s got a bit of flair but very very powder puff, very weak and too easily shrugged off the ball. Tends to do pretty much the same cut in all the time, but he can get better
Watching that first half unfold was dreadful and it was hugely obvious that Kuhn had to be replaced, as he was completely anonymous!
Whatever the reasons for that, he has to get back on it quickly.
Personally, I’d give him a spell on the sidelines because for me, he’s been largely ineffective since post Xmas. I didn’t think I’d be writing this but Yang fully deserves a start as he’s worked hard and has looked the better option of the two for the last 5-6 games.
Similarly, Johnston had one of the worst games I’ve seen of him in a Celtic jersey. Sevco worked hard to close down the effectiveness of our right flank, and it totally worked in the first 45.
Ralston, although not everyone’s cup of tea, should have came on!
I appreciate in the immediate aftermath of our defeat there were numerous comments from certain Celtic fans, (not on here) that were outrageous and downright obtuse, regarding our manager and some players. That reeks of a Sevco mentality!
Opinions are one thing, but always important to keep a sensible perspective too! Unfortunately that isn’t recognised by some fans.
We all have to eat a certain amount of humble pie till our next match comes around and it’s important that those players, who performed so dreadfully, have gotten that out of their systems, and realise that standards have to be at the top level, for EVERY game.
As I’ve previously said, players can have off days, they are human, but on derby days, those below par performances are magnified and scrutinised to a far greater level.
So, us Celtic fans, although still hugely frustrated and disappointed by Sunday’s events, will get behind the team, as we always do, on the next stage of bringing more silverware back to Paradise.
Keep the faith ! HH
Sensible comments Gerry.
Our manager has a LOT of thinking to do going forward not just a WEE bit and if I’m being totally honest he might be my biggest concern. The time for a wee bit of thinking was after the cup-final. Then after the Ibrox defeat it was time for a fair amount of thinking. If he thinks its a just a wee bit of thinking needed as to how to play them he’s dead wrong. Just like teams have worked out Man City, Rangers have worked us out and we need to change our style, strategy, tactics (and if necessary personnel) against them to give them a totally new set of problems which they haven’t prepared for.
Hopefully it was just his way of ensuring the hacks had nowhere to go with that line of questioning but Brendan has definitely got that arrogant attitude of its my way or the high way and right now his way has been found out by certain teams who have the players to combat it. Assuming we beat S tJohnstone in the semi I can assure Brendan that whichever team wins between Hearts and Aberdeen will spend the ensuing 5 weeks perfecting those same tactics just for the cup-final (and they will get a shot at a “dress-rehearsal” to see how their tactics are coming along in one of the final five league games). He needs to have plan B ready!
Great post woodyiom and my thoughts entirely as well…
Only one perhaps pedantic complaint – ‘Rangers’ don’t exist !!!
woodyiom, as much as I fully support BR, he’s certainly not exempt from criticism, and especially after our last few displays against them.
The way Sevco play in Europe and against teams like us, that are possession based and always trying to be on the front foot, suits them to a T ( when they get it right !)
So you are spot on, that tweaks and plan B’s, are essential to counteract that counter attacking style and high press!
Most possession based teams will undoubtedly have overload drills ( 3 v 2s & 2 v 1s) as their fundamentals in training.
However in the last three Sevco games, our players have been on the receiving end of overloads, and we’ve not quite found the dynamism or quality to work through it !
Aside from a plan B, desire, matched aggression, high energy and top technique are obvious requisites.
We have enough quality in our squad that are equipped with these attributes, but again ( and we go back to our board) continued investment is always required if some of the present players don’t fancy getting their “overalls” dirty in Derby games !!!
For me, Kyogo should have been replaced asap and he was missed on Sunday. Others may disagree but he always struck fear in their hearts, and came up with a crucial goal or two!!
If Brendan hasn’t ( and I’m confident he has) thought long and hard about these recent Sevco defeats/performances, then his “arrogance” may well be his undoing !
In Brendan we ( still) trust ! HH
I’m a bit worried it wasn’t just an off day, but a physical weakness, a good few of our players are so easily dispossessed by a physical Rangers team. I can see exactly the same happening at Ibrox unless big changes are made, an extra body in midfield perhaps but we’d have to sacrifice one of the wide players
Who are ‘Rangers’ Dan !!!
Nicolas’ performance on Sunday was no surprise to me. He’s been well off it for months now and he’s never truly turned up in any game against them. He was reasonable in the cup-final (and definitely our best player – but that doesn’t say much!) and had his goal been the winner we might not be having this conversation – was them equalising immediately possibly a sliding doors moment for the 2nd half of his season?
For me he’s similar to wee Jamesy Forrest. Devasting when on fire but totally anonymous when not. Like Jamesy he seems to thrive in the European games and domestic games where the opposition sit back and give us time and space but also like Jamesy he shirks 50:50 tackles and really struggles when closely man-marked and on the end of some old-fashioned “get into them” stuff by opposition hammer throwers. Yes he’s not given enough protection by refs but that’s nothing new as far as our players are concerned and he must know by now that’s just the way it is here – at one point on Sunday he was simply hand-fended off by Yilmaz (I think it was) and he fell to the ground flailing his arms for a non-existent foul – that’s not gonna help his cause with our pathetic refs – he needs to man up and get in about his opponents and give them a dose of their own medicine.
He’s too one-footed and opposition players now know that he wants to come inside so they’re all showing him down the line and if AJ is strugglng (as he did on Sunday!) then Khun’s influence is hugely nullified.
Hopefully the two week break will do him some good and we’ll see the real Nicholas Khun back vs Hearts. If not its time to start Yang. He took more players on in his first 2mins on the pitch than Khum did in an entire half.
I think talks cheap James. I have watched his body language when he’s been hooked and it doesn’t strike me as someone whose all in. It looks like he throwing a strop to me and if am honest last Sunday he looked like he had chucked it from the get go. Like you it pains me to say it. Mind you the service from Johnston was crap from the start also. He was bang average (and that a compliment) all game not just in his distribution but in his positioning and all round game.
Kuhn looks unhappy most of the time.
Kuhn got banjoded what one would call a ‘dull yin’ right across his face by Jefte in The Glasgow Derby on 2nd January…
He has not been right since especially against them…
Who from foreign lands would wanna stick it out in this fuckin football backwater sticks to see fuck all done about it apart from a wee booking from a gutless Walsh and then Jefte substituted…
But job done and Sevco evil prevails and prevails well for them…
They have seen what works and it’s only gonna get worse and worse and worse for our probably more gifted technical football players but utter fuckin lightweights and wimps on the field of play…
Oh Broony we miss ye – Oh Broony we do !
Clach, as I’ve said in a few of my post match comments, we make no excuses that on Sunday, we were dreadful!
However, I still maintain that McLean’s performance, although the norm and predictable, was dreadful ! ( ably supported by Bro Beaton switching his VAR off when Maeda was assaulted!)
They are aware that they can tackle outwith the normal rules, with impunity. How many wayward challenges do Diomande and Raskin get away with before they are even spoken to, let alone booked ?
That we’ve gone soft in these fixtures is a concern, but any honest footballer would be concerned at a referee and officials that allow crude tackles against them, with no free kicks given !
So, for me there are mitigating factors !
We’ve combatted these “types of officiating” for decades, so it’s up to BR and his players, as a united collective, to bounce back and find a way !
HH
Agree Gerry – it was a clear tactic and the ref did nothing to protect either the players or the game. I have seen fouls like the one on Maeda been subject to a VAR red card review but not even a talking to from the ref!
Guys – If I was Brendan I’d be saying to the players…
Match them and fight them –
1) – Brick for Brick
2) – Boot for Boot
3) – Bottle for Bottle
4) – Blade for Blade
We would probably take a red card or two but right now they are bullying us all over the park…
It’s back to the bad old days like it was under the man with no surname (A guy called ‘Walter’)…
Would our lightweights have the balls and cadjones for such a fight –
We are currently lording it in what’s important (13 points ahead) and (us in the cup and them not) but that changes if they find a way to ‘beat the rest’
And sadly they eventually (probably sooner rather than later) will find a way…
And unless Brendan changes his pig headed tactical stance from them we will find ourselves in soapy bubble fuckin trouble for sure !
PortoJoe, spot on !
Although we know it’s expected, it should certainly not be accepted by anyone at our club !
The old statements from my day that “football is a man’s game” are still very pertinent, but only so, if both teams are being arbitrated by the same set of rules.
Even if these “honest officials” think they’re being subtle and saying that they’re letting the game flow and all the other associated bullshit they come out with, it’s complete garbage!
When I played the game I had no problem with the physicality and aggression of my opponent, but I would expect to be officiated fairly and even handedly. If I wasnt, then you would question the partiality of these refs, and probably end up getting booked or worse !
So I get and understand our fans calling for us to be more aggressive et al, but would our team be officiated fairly for doing so ?
Answers on the back of a penny black stamp !!!!
Again, I’m not making excuses for an inept display, just a degree of context!!!
That we have to mention these things, in these days of so called refereeing accountability, is an absolute disgrace, but no surprise !
Muir’s antics at Easter Road was enough evidence, if any were needed, that a cabal of refs are still not competent enough and certainly not trustworthy, in our eyes!!!
Until there is a complete overhaul of governance and officiating in this backwater, we will always be talking about this !
I really do wonder if our board EVER question this ? HH
Good comment Gerry, I’ve got to hand it to McLean it was one of the most subtle examples of biased refereeing I’ve seen in a long time. numerous cynical fouls committed by The Rangers players, no cards shown until near the end of the !st half. It was obvious that the Staunch management team had instructed their players to stick a few heavy tackles on Maeda to blunt his speed and there was absolutely no protection from the referee.Propper came on as a sub and his 1st involvement in the game was a heavy late tackle on Maeda that has put him out of the Japan team today. McLean with no early bookings making sure that no Sevco player would receive 2 yellow cards.
Our players for the 2nd game against them looked unprepared and we lost the game in the 1st half hour, to come back into the game and draw level but to still lose because of a mixture of missed chances and good goalkeeping from Butland, plus keystone cop defending was hard to take.
The Celtic Players better realise their holidays don’t start until the end of May, hopefully we’ll get a positive reaction, starting a week on Saturday against Hearts.
Our right side for the first half was very poor and what made it worse was that we continued to go right and not use the left side enough – when we did go down the left, Jota was more effective, taking the ball both outside and inside. Why we didn’t mix it up was beyond me.
Of course we were very poor by our standards, but I must admit after we scored our first I thought we would go on and win the game. The equaliser arrived and we had good control. Losing the game to a punt up the park was both schoolboy and a sucker punch. BR called out Trusty when we conceded soft goals against Dundee – I hope it’s been made very clear to CCV and AJ in particular that performances need to be better.
Hoping we have McGregor and Bernardo back after the break to give our midfield some relief.
Again, can’t disagree with any of that PortoJoe!!
Spot on micmac…imagine being a Celtic player going into these games, and realising after 5 mins that your opposite number has carte blanche to tackle with impunity !
It beggars belief, but in our crazy world, we’ve witnessed it for decades !!!
Shame on those, purporting to be acting on our behalf, allowing this to continue !!!
Kuhn will never get higher than us because he’s a shitebag
Probably won’t affect him too much if he’s a shitebag in other countries Jock…
But Scotland is one fuckin shithole where you canny be a shitebag for sure !
He was looking like the big annual sale too!