KYOGO CELTIC MOVE MAKES SENSE: GET IT DONE!
- By LIAM McBRIDE
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
There's been a lot of debate over the past 24 hours or so as to whether a Kyogo Celtic return is the right move, for us or the player.
However, ACSOM's own Liam McBride thinks its a no-brainer, and here's why.
“As a child, my hero was Ronaldinho and swimmers like Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps, but that all changed once I started playing with David Villa and Andres Iniesta. Much of my education came from playing with Iniesta and Villa…
They are spectacular players and have been an absolute treasure for my football development. I have been compared with a few players like Shunsuke Nakamura, Hidetoshi Nakata and Keisuke Honda. All three were great players and are legends in Japan. But I want to carve my own name in the history books. I don’t want to be the new anyone.”
Kyogo Celtic Return: Sometimes its Better to Go with What You Know
These were Kyogo’s words as he secured a move to Celtic in the summer of 2021. His desire to carve his name in the history books was certainly granted. He led the Celtic line for three and a half seasons; winning three straight league titles, two Scottish Cups and two League Cups. Across 171 appearances, the striker netted 85 times, including eight derby day goals, five strikes at Hampden, and a further eight on the European stage.
He joined at a time when a depleted Celtic aimed to fill the boots of an exiting Odsonne Edouard. A then recently appointed Ange Postecoglou confidently stated, “I think he will add something special to our squad and I am sure the way he plays will excite our supporters. We look forward to welcoming him at Celtic.”
He made his debut as a left-sided forward, coming on for the last few minutes in an opening day defeat at Tynecastle. His first start came in a 4-2 away win against Jablonec in the third round of Europa League Qualification. This time, he started as a striker and netted his first goal. 16 minutes in, makeshift centre back Nir Bitton ran into space and played a pass to the Japanese's feet. With a quick flick, he darted past the Jablonec back four and chipped a helpless Jan Hanus. It was a glimpse of what was to come. Later that week, he maintained his place and netted his first of three hat tricks for the Green and White.
Kyogo’s Celtic peak was undoubtedly under the guidance of Ange Postecoglou. In many ways, he was engineered for “Ange-ball”. His movement, speed and engine made him the perfect fit at number nine.
He was making a name for himself in the East End of Glasgow and on the 19th of December 2021, he had arguably his most influential game in a Celtic shirt. Sitting five points behind in the title race, Celtic teed off against Hibernian at Hampden for the first piece of major silverware. The Hoops were looking to reclaim the trophy that they had lifted four consecutive times from 2016/17 to 2019/20.
Postecoglou’s men fell behind after 51 minutes. A Martin Boyle corner was headed home by Paul Hanlon. Josip Juranovic desperately tried to clear on the goalline but came up short. Just seconds after, Celtic resumed. Tom Rogic kicked off to Nir Bitton, who played out wide to Greg Taylor. The fullback then found Callum McGregor, who lobbed a ball over the top for Kyogo.
With one touch with his left and a blistering finish, the Summer signing levelled the game in a flash.15 minutes later, Rogic from a quick free kick lobbed the ball over the Hibs defence and Kyogo ran in behind before expertly lobbing Matt Macey. In the words of commentator Rory Hamilton: a star was born.
Injury would plague the rest of Kyogo’s debut season but the following campaign would be when he reached his peak. He scored 34 goals across the course, with three cup final strike and a colossal late equaliser at Ibrox to ensure a nine-point lead remained heading into 2023.
However, Ange Postecoglou’s tenure, like all things in football, came to an end and Brendan Rodgers returned to the club for a second time. Kyogo never flourished under his guidance to the same extent as in the previous seasons. There were big game goals as always, but his consistency wavered and his confidence seemed to drop.
The first reason for this was the exit of Jota. At the start of Rodgers’ second tenure, he played Luis Palma outside and Daizen Maeda on the right. Palma looked to consistently cut inside, while Maeda looked uncomfortable unless there was space against quality opposition. Simply, the cutbacks were no longer there. Due to this, opposition defences could focus more on nullifying Kyogo, without having to worry as much about the flanks.
Plus, Rodgers aimed to use the Japanese striker in a different way, sometimes instructing him to drop deep and link the play, with Matt O’Riley as the late runner. He is an all round quality footballer who performed this role well; however, it wasn’t extracting the maximum from him.
By the Summer of 2024, Kyogo handed in a transfer request. While there were some positive performances in his last six months, his head seemed elsewhere at times. He wasn’t the usual bubbly personality the Celtic faithful had come to expect.
So, he secured a move to Rennes in January, for a fee in the region of £10 million. He would last just six months in a disastrous period, before joining Birmingham for the same fee in the summer. Although, his spell in the English Championship hasn’t gone much better.
With this in mind, the Scottish Sun reports that he is “set for a sensational return to Celtic” on a six-month loan deal. It has received mixed reactions on social media. Understandably, some have argued that the Scottish Champions are becoming too reliant on previous successes, with Kyogo set to add to the list of Kieran Tierney, Jota and Martin O’Neill from a managerial perspective. Namely, it doesn’t represent forward-thinking.
Yet, with where Celtic are right now, it’s exactly what the doctor orders. Simply, he will improve the team drastically, who are crying out for a clinical striker. Besides, it will add real pace to the frontline, with Maeda able to play beside him on the left. A major summer awaits, however, in the here and now, they need to do all they can to ensure the league title returns to Paradise.
Furthermore, O’Neill’s style of play will be more freeing than Rodgers. Based on what we saw in the previous eight-game spell, the Hoops will look to get forward and cross to the striker earlier. He won’t need to worry about dropping deep as a false nine; he will focus on being a striker and a striker solely.
Nevertheless, you can’t escape the fact that his confidence will have dropped. In the past year of football, he has scored just one goal. Yet, the 73-year-old has shown throughout his career that he knows how to get strikers ticking. Johnny Kenny, who failed to find the net once during Nancy’s tenure, scored four times under O’Neill’s guidance.
Sure, it’s a short-term fix for a long-term problem, yet the Celtic hierarchy’s previous incompetence has left them with no other choice. It makes sense, they should be ensuring it happens. If they manage, all of a sudden the squad looks that bit stronger.
