Brendan Rodgers Praises Nicolas Kuhn’s Development

Brendan Rodgers was full of praise for Nicolas Kuhn post-match this afternoon, with the German winger netting the opener against Hibernian at Easter Road.

Kuhn had a frustrating start to life at Celtic after joining in January from Rapid Vienna, with the German failing to become a first-team starter week in and week out.

However, this season he has looked transformed, and Rodgers was quick to reveal the reasoning behind his stellar start to the season.

He said: (Celtic Way), “I just think it’s time, isn’t it? I think we all expect people to adapt straight away, you’d love them to, whether they’re managers, coaches, or supporters. You want them to be ready immediately, but he came into the club during a challenging period in January. He had issues around his fitness and Health, and everything else.

“He just landed in the middle of that difficult time, and it took him a little while. But he’s had a really good pre-season. He’s always been quick, one of the quickest players you’ll see, but I think now there’s more variety in his Game, coming inside and out.

“The big thing I told him when he arrived was that he needs to score goals. As a winger, you need to create and score, that’s your job. Similar to Matt O’Riley, you can’t go through six months and score your first goal in January like last season.

“It’s about these guys contributing and doing their job, and he’s doing his job very well. He’s a good guy, works hard, and we constantly remind him to get into the right positions, especially at the back post for crosses. He’s started the season well.”

Kuhn will certainly play a big part for Celtic this season, with his pace and dynamism out wide being electric at times.

Clearly, the area of his Game that needs improvement is his finishing, but with goals today against Hibernian and last weekend against Kilmarnock, he is showing that he has put in the hard work during pre-season in the United States and is already reaping the rewards so early in the season.