The Celtic first-team has been the topic of discussion for various reasons this season.
Firstly, the decline in quality in the Celtic first-team is stark since the board sold off Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah and failed to replace them in a timely manner.
Secondly, the failure to strengthen the Celtic team for Brendan Rodgers in time for the Champions League play-off against Kairat Almaty sparked fan protests as anger over the handling of the squad and finances boiled over.
But there is one player who had impressed Pat Bonner in the Champions League against Bayern Munich who has now left the Hoops legend shocked at his stark decline since the draw in Germany.
Pat Bonner says Hyunjun Yang has ‘faded’ since ‘really good’ Celtic outing vs Bayern Munich
After hearing Yang was named in Celtic’s starting XI to face Partick Thistle on Sunday, Bonner admitted that the South Korean’s form since that night in Munich has alarmed him.
Bonner said on BBC Radio Scotland, “I watched him last year when he played the European game against Bayern Munich.
“And I thought he was really good. Really good. And I’m saying, ‘Wow, if this guy could get a number of games and keep playing, that might be the answer’. But then he faded away again.
“He faded away. And that consistency is always what you’re looking for from players. You have to trust players. You’ve got to pick them, put them in the team, and know that their ability is one thing, but can they actually perform.”
Hyunjun Yang told he must build ‘trust’ at Celtic again
Whilst Yang was looking to leave Celtic in the summer, Bonner thinks that he needs to start performing to gain the trust of manager Brendan Rodgers again.
Bonner continued, “And that’s the bit always with Yang, you’re never quite sure.
“And that’s why a manager might, when you start to put key players into your team, the ones you can trust will be down first, and then the rest, you start to make debate around them and discussion around and say, ‘What do you think? How’s he looking this week? Or is he okay? We’ll give him a start’.
“And then it doesn’t happen, and then you get disappointed. If it happens, will you trust him again and again.
“And the more he plays and the more he does it consistently, the more that trust will build up.”
Yang has been at Celtic for over two years now and has still failed to nail his place in the starting line-up.
Most fans believe that his time at the club is up. However, will his goal and performance against Thistle buy Yang more time?
It’s unlikely as Celtic fans have seen this movie once too often. Yang is likely to leave the club as soon as Rodgers can bring in an able replacement.
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