Celtic eased to a 3-0 win over Hibs to extend their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table over Aberdeen to nine points this weekend.
Brendan Rodgers’ team had to fend off a couple of early scares as Hibs set their stall out early at Celtic Park with a couple of early chances.
However, Kasper Schemeichel was the Bhoys’ saviour and as soon as Arne Engels’ 6th-minute goal hit the back of the Hibs net, there was really only going to be one winner.
But it was the removal of Nicolas Kuhn at half-time that had Celtic fans talking, maybe even worried about a potential injury, as the Hoops boss took off his most lethal goal threat against Hibs.
And here, Rodgers explains exactly why with some amazing praise for Celtic winger, James Forrest.
Brendan Rodgers hails James Forrest as ‘the best’ he’s ever worked with at Celtic after Hibs win
Explaining the Kuhn substitution, Rodgers told the Daily Record, “We were losing too many balls on the right side so to push them back you have to retain the ball. James is probably the best I’ve EVER worked with in my career at retaining the ball on the side.
“People will say it’s maturity but no, he was doing it when I was here the first time in 2016. He’s the best player at receiving the ball when it’s tight and keeping that. That allows you to sustain attacks.
“We gave it away too often in the first half. James’ press for the third goal was fantastic and it was a brilliant finish. Kyogo takes a wonderful first touch then delays before the finish.
How many times Nicolas Kuhn has been subbed by Brendan Rodgers and the impact on Celtic’s results
Nicolas Kuhn has been in electric form for Celtic this season scoring 11 goals and creating 11 assists in 21 appearances.
The Celtic winger is even in Germany manager, Julian Naggelsman’s thoughts as the 24-year-old continues to hit the headlines.
However, to see Kuhn removed from a game is an unusual step by Brendan Rodgers because it’s not something Celtic fans see too often.
It worked because Forrest made an immediate impact with his superb assist for Kyogo Furuhashi’s goal, Celtic’s third.
So here, 67 Hail Hail decided to take a look at how many times Kuhn has been taken off and what impact, if any it had on Celtic’s results this season.
Subbed on 71st minute in Celtic’s win over Slovan Bratislava. No impact as result remained the same.
Subbed on 74th-minute as Celtic hammered RB Leipzig. Kuhn has already turned the game of its head as the winger destroyed the Bundesliga side.
Taken off in eight Scottish Premiership fixtures against the likes of Hearts, Rangers, Hibs and Kilmarnock. No suprise to say that it was Kuhn’s influence in all games that helped Celtic remain unbeaten.
The point is, this is the first time Nicolas Kuhn has been subbed off because a fault was spotted in his performance by the Celtic manager.
Let’s hope the message is taken onboard as Celtic have a huge fixture against Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday night and Rodgers will need the winger firing on all cylinders.
