It is a harsh reality for Celtic fans to witness, but Kyogo Furuhashi is currently learning the hard way that the grass is rarely greener away from Parkhead.
Once the smiling, prolific talisman of Celtic, the Japanese striker’s career has stalled significantly since his surprise exit from Glasgow last January.
After a deeply frustrating and underwhelming spell in France with Rennes, Kyogo’s attempt to reignite his form at Birmingham City has turned into another miserable chapter.
While the Parkhead faithful are not exactly fussed about the fortunes of the English Championship club, seeing their former hero reduced to a fleeting, two-minute cameo against QPR on Wednesday night is a stark reminder of his decline.
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Celtic and Kyogo Furuhashi’s decline during the past 12 months
For a player who used to terrify Champions League defences, fighting for injury-time scraps is a massive fall from grace.
Birmingham manager Chris Davies previously summed up Kyogo’s slipping status with a blunt assessment after dropping him from the squad entirely against Charlton over the weekend by stating, “That’s just a selection.”
The cruel irony is that while Kyogo struggles for relevance, Martin O’Neill’s Celtic squad is battling its own well-documented striker crisis.
With ongoing MLS links offering a potential escape route from his Birmingham nightmare, his post-Celtic journey continues to look incredibly bleak.
Would Celtic have had so many striker issues had he stayed on? Many have tried to fill his void, and many still do, but only a second-half season spell from Daizen Maeda has managed to match the penalty-box star’s past magic.
Kyogo’s stats since leaving Celtic
Three goals in 35 appearances. That is the brutal statistical reality for Kyogo since trading the adulation of Celtic Park for a disastrous journey away from Glasgow.
The 31-year-old’s staggering drop-off across a miserable spell with Rennes and an equally bleak stint at Birmingham shows no sign of stopping.
What’s even worse is that, for some odd reason, he isn’t even being handed much game time, and that just doesn’t allow him to get back into rhythm so he can turn this nightmare around.
- Games played since leaving Celtic: 36
- Starts: 10
- Total minutes: 1,277 (Maeda has played 3,235 this season alone)
- Goals: 3
- Assists: 0
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