Keep the Faith – Yang starting to prove he’s Celtic quality

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·9 febbraio 2025

Keep the Faith – Yang starting to prove he’s Celtic quality

I would regard myself as one of the more patient Celtic fans when it comes to judging our squad and I have been happy to defend some of our players who have previously been on the end of criticism like Greg Taylor, Adam Idah and Liam Scales…

Yang Hyun-Jun of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s fourth goal with teammates during the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

One player I was struggling to warm to however was Yang Hyun-Jun. I’m not going to lie and say I was his biggest fan in the past and I’ll admit there have been times that I have wondered if he possesses the quality to represent Celtic but I have to admit that my opinion on him is slowly starting to change.

OneFootball Video

The man from Busan

The man from Busan was signed by Celtic in the summer of 2023 and was handed a five-year contract which indicated that Celtic held a lot of belief in the young Korean talent. Since then he has gone on to make over 50 appearances for the club with the majority coming from the bench. Until recently I hadn’t saw enough from the young winger to make me believe that he had a bright future in Glasgow but recently my opinion on him has slowly started to change.

Daizen Maeda of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammate Yang Hyun-Jun during the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Yang tries too hard to make an impression

Only last week I was discussing Yang’s future with a friend of mine who was a lot more positive about the South Korean international than I was. As he said, he’s still young and looks the type who has the scope to develop further. He thought that one of his problems could be that during his short time he gets on the pitch during matches that he almost tries too hard to make an impression, to his own detriment, and that’s a point I fully agree with.

During this recent busy period, and with James Forrest having been on the sidelines with an injury picked up before Christmas, Yang has saw more opportunities to impress with Brendan Rodgers having to rotate his squad due to the high quantity of games we are currently enduring. The more game time he is getting the more he is starting to prove himself.

Continued on the next page…

READ THIS…Sandman’s Definitive Ratings – Celtic v Roy of the Rovers

Probably Yang’s best performance for Celtic

On Saturday evening against Raith Rovers I think was potentially one of his best in a Celtic jersey yet. He was starting to look a player around this time last year until he was harshly sent off against Heart’s for a high boot, something he never seemed to recover from. It seems however that he’s now back to that level once again and ready to justify both Brendan Rodgers and the clubs faith in him.

I thought he was excellent last night, claiming two assists before going on to get his own name on the score sheet in what was a fantastic first time finish.

READ THIS…Nine changes not a problem thanks to Celtic’s main man Daizen Maeda

Yang Hyun-Jun of Celtic scores his team’s fourth goal during the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Now I know the sceptics will say it’s only Raith Rovers, but no matter the opposition it was good to see the young Korean play at that level and a performance such as this will have done his confidence the world of good.

More than happy to have him as a back-up

Do I think he’s going to be pushing the likes of Nicolas Kühn, Daizen Maeda and Jota for a starting spot on the wing in the big games anytime soon? Well no, but at the same time I’m more than happy to have him as a back-up, someone who can be utilised on nights such as this and against the so called weaker teams in the Premiership when we need to give our big hitters a rest.

Let’s keep the faith in Yang

As I said earlier, Yang is still a young player finding his feet playing in a country half way across the world from where he has played all his football previously so let’s keep the faith in him and you never know, he could well go on to claim a regular starting spot sometime in the not too distant future.

Whether that’s maybe being a bit over optimistic I’m not sure but one thing I do know is that he is proving that he is more than capable of being an excellent squad player, one we can rely on to produce the goods when called upon, and that’s exactly the type of player we need right now.

Conall McGinty

🗣️ "That makes me very proud" Brendan Rodgers says he felt his Celtic side were 'outstanding' during their 5-0 Scottish Cup win over Raith Rovers 🍀
– sabato 8 febbraio 2025