THE INAMURA YAMADA SITUATION IS NOT GOING DOWN WELL IN JAPAN
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 10 minutes ago
- 3 min read
It’s a common stereotype in media and often in person, to perceive Japanese people as quiet, non-confrontational, and polite to a fault.
Indeed, many in Japan will, at the surface level show this kind of character outwardly. However, deep down they are just as prone to anger, frustration and indeed outrage as any of us.
Over the last few days, it seems even the alleged infinite patience of the Japanese has been tested by Celtic’s treatment of Shin Yamada and Hayato Inamura since they arrived at the club this summer.
Despite showing up pretty well in pre-season, both players currently appear frozen out of Brendan Rodgers’ first team plans.
Neither made it into Celtic’s Europa League squad. The manager has not displayed any animosity towards either player. On the contrary, he has praised their effort and commitment in training, whilst also making it clear that they are unlikely to get first team game time anytime soon.
Japanese Fans Upset at Celtic’s Inamura, Yamada Treatment
Social media can be a toxic place at the best of times, especially on subjects as irrationally emotive as sports.
In Japan though, where a veneer of politeness covers almost all interpersonal interactions, social media is something of a pressure valve, where people can speak their minds, safe in the knowledge that the same shroud of anonymity, often put to more nefarious uses in the UK and US, still applies.
And it’s fair to say that plenty of Japanese fans have not been happy with the whole Inamura Yamada situation.
“Why did Celtic bother signing them?” asked one user.
Another commenter went further. They added: “Between this and the whole Daizen Maeda situation, will any Japanese player want to go to Celtic again anytime soon?”
Whilst Kyogo was, and Daizen Maeda has undoubtedly been, a great success in their time at Celtic, fans are divided on Reo Hatate. He’s a player of undoubted talent but who, all too often in recent times, has allowed games to pass him by.
Then we have Yuki Kobayashi, who much like Inamura, Yamada now and Yosuke Ideguchi before them, never really got a run in the first team.
Tomoki Iwata is perhaps the most frustrating one. For me he had all the potential to be a natural successor to Callum McGregor, in time. Again though, he was sold before he really got a chance to prove himself.
It’s clear that Brendan Rodgers doesn’t rate Inamura, Yamada or Iwata as players suitable for the style of football he wants his Celtic team to play. A style that, I may add, is looking increasingly stale and lacking invention.
I don’t know what the solution to all this is, but Celtic’s reputation in Japan with the mismanagement this summer of Inamura, Yamada and the aborted exit of Daizen Maeda, is at an all-time low just now.
If we aren’t planning to go back into the Japanese market anytime soon, then maybe this isn’t an issue. However, I think to continue this way, and disregard the negativity towards Celtic that is building in Japan now, is unbelievably short-sighted.
Sure, it’s a hit and miss market for us, but as Kyogo, Daizen, and the legendary Shunsuke Nakamura have shown, when Celtic unearth talent in Japan, it’s usually someone very special.