Yang to start over Kuhn against Hibs is a real possibility

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The Celtic Star

·9 March 2025

Yang to start over Kuhn against Hibs is a real possibility

If I said a few months ago that Yang had a case for starting over Nicolas Kuhn, then I would have been widely ridiculed, and rightly so…

Yang scores. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

But the last few games have shown that the South Korean has grown as a player and is starting to show the ability that he no doubt possesses on a more regular basis.

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Nicolas Kuhn is the man in possession on merit

Don’t get me wrong, I still fully believe that Nicolas Kuhn is the man fully in possession of the wide right berth, but he’s struggled a bit since Munich, and could possibly be suffering effects from the knock that forced him off in that game.

Arne Engels and Nicolas Kuhn of Celtic FC react during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

It wouldn’t be the worse decision to bench Nicolas Kuhn today to give his aching limbs some more recovery time, and give the fresh fired up Yang a starting spot to reward him for his recent displays.

Yang’s great form and hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed

It would demonstrate to the South Korean that his hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed, and it give gives the German winger a respite and food for thought over the security of his place in the starting XI. It’s a win, win situation.

Yang scores. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Yang is a player in form at the minute and merits his chance. Having both him and Nicolas to choose from is a dilemma the manager won’t mind having. If today was a Scottish Premiership encounter, given the lead we have in the table, I would expect that Brendan Rodgers would rotate the squad and Yang would start. However with it being a knock-out cup tie the Celtic manager may go with what he regards as his strongest possible side.

Brendan’s squad rotation policy has served us so well

The squad rotation policy that had served us so well over the busy period with two games in a week has now ended and that also means that the necessity to make changes has been reduced. But on the other hand Yang impact in recent matches, especially last weekend at Paisley is hard to overlook?

Yang leads the celebrations. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Brendan will make the call

Brendan ultimately will make the call, and no-one will have any complaints, such is his impressive 100% win record in the Scottish Cup. What is also clear is that Yang has forced his way into the manager’s reckoning for a starting spot.

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