Everyone seems to be talking about Nicolas Kuhn’s poor form

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The Celtic Star

·10 April 2025

Everyone seems to be talking about Nicolas Kuhn’s poor form

Former Celts have been considering the drop-off in form from Celtic’s German winger Nicolas Kuhn and have between the two of them come up with bizarre theories why the the former Rapid Vienna winger has had such an up and down season in the Hoops…

Nicolas Kuhn of Celtic fails to score under pressure from Stephen Duke-McKenna of St Johnstone. St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, McDiarmid Park, Perth, 06 April 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace/IMAGO Shutterstock

It’s probably a subject being discussed on supporters buses and in Celtic bars up and down the country and there will be many alternative theories, indeed I’ll thrown a few into the mix myself.

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Jim Duffy’s theory on Nicolas Kuhn

Speaking on Clyde Superscoreboard Jim Duffy reckons that Kuhn’s loss of form is perhaps related to the sale of Kyogo in the January window, Jota arriving and Daizen Maeda moving from the outside left position to play through the middle as the main striker in Brendan’s team.

Nicolas Kuhn of Celtic vies with Harry Milne of Hearts during theScottish Premiership match at Celtic Park on Saturday 29th March 2025. Photo Andy Buchanan/Shutterstock

While Peter Grant reckons that Nicolas Kuhn needs to lighten up a little and play the game with a smile on his face as these are actually the best days of his life.

“Who knows what he is worth or what he was worth,” Jim Duffy said on the long-running Glasgow radio phone-in show. “But, at the start of the season, he was scoring a ton of goals. He was playing really well. The strange thing for me. I don’t know if it is just coincidental. But he just doesn’t seem to have quite been near the same player since Jota came back.

Nicolas Kuhn of Celtic and Ridvan Yilmaz of theRangers during the Scottish Premiership match at Celtic Park, Celtic v theRangers, 16 March 2025. Photo O Rourke/Shutterstock

“I don’t know whether that’s Jota, he was the fans’ favourite sort of thing, it’s taken the light off him. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Jota has the world on fire at the same level. I know, by his own admission, he said it will be next season until he gets back to his best.

“Whether it’s because they are playing with him there, because when Maeda was playing in the wide area. Kuhn was certainly a lot, lot better, so I don’t know whether it’s the movement of Kyogo, and all these kinds of things. Different players now. I do agree, his form has dipped quite significantly. There is absolutely no doubt about that,” Duffy said.

Nicolas Kuhn scores past Manuel Neuer during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Smiles Better – Peter Grant’s View

Meanwhile speaking on the Go Radio Football Show, Peter Grant, the popular co-commentator on Celtic TV, put forward his alternative theory.

“I”m a big supporter of Nicolas Kuhn, but I think since theRangers game (Premier Sports League Cup final), he hasn’t played well as he did. There is no doubt in my mind to that. I think he needs to stand up to the plate. He needs a big performance with and without the ball to show people.

“I know he plays with that moody face, which drives me crazy, he plays with that moody face. You know what I am saying. Even when he has scored or made a fantastic pass, or whatever. Enjoy it, because it’s the best days of your life, and you maybe won’t have that support ever in your life again. For supporters who love you and are desperate for you to do well. All these things as a player.”

Jimmy Johnstone of Celtic during the 1967 European Cup Final win over Inter Milan on 25 May 1967 in Lisbon. Photo IMAGO.

Jimmy Johnstone and John Hughes

Wingers are notorious for blowing hot and cold, even Jimmy Johnstone had the occasional bad patch in the Hoops. One minute they are the big heroes and the next the fans are on their backs. Big Yogi was the same, he was either brilliant or abysmal, never anything in between. On their day these two were unplayable Celtic stars and up there at the top of any list of Celtic legends.

Celtic’s John Hughes celebrates

In more recent times James Forrest (another Celtic legend) has been the same, when he hits form then he is, as Brendan Rodgers recently said, the best winger at the club.

James Forrest is congratulated by teammate Virgil van Dijk after scoring the opening goal during the UEFA Champions League Group match between Celtic and Ajax at Celtic Park Stadium on October 22, 2013 (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Daizen Maeda is currently enjoying his own purple patch now he’s playing in his favoured position (not once did he moan). The idea that Nicolas Kuhn’s form has deteriorated since Daizen moved into the middle is a non-starter in my view.

Alistair Johnston of Celtic looks dejected as they applaud the Celtic fans after the final whistle. Final score Bayern Munich 1 Celtic 1 Agg. 3-2. Bayern Munich v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Knockout Round Play-offs, Second Leg, Football, Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany – 18 February 2025 Ulrich Gamel/Shutterstock

Perhaps a better explanation is the breakdown in our right flank with not only Kuhn but also Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels both being off the boil. Johnston more so than Engels and Kuhn in my view. This is certainly going to impact on Kuhn’s game if these two are not performing at their best.

Transfer speculation is another possible reason, his early season form and his performances in the Champions League, especially against RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich, has already attracted interest from Bundesliga sides. Newcastle United were also linked with a move for Kuhn. Although the stuff that makes the media can be incorrect, the player’s own agent will have a better handle on actual interest so the player will be well aware what’s happening.

Nicolas Kuhn with the Premier Sports Cup after Celtic’s victory over theRangers on 15 December 2024 at Hampden Park. Photo Kenny Ramsay

Brendan Rodgers will be looking at this, especially after what happened at Perth on Sunday, and may decide to start with James Forrest against Kilmarnock then give Nicolas Kuhn a half hour to prove himself worthy of a start in the post-split fixtures and the Scottish Cup semi-final .

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