Celtic’s summer mess is now being splattered all over the pitch, as Wilfried Nancy struggles to win a game.
One of the men signed by Celtic during the 2025 summer transfer window was striker Shin Yamada.
The 25-year-old looked lively in pre-season, but under Brendan Rodgers and then Martin O’Neill, he was hardly seen when the campaign kicked off.
Amid the gloom of Celtic losing to Dundee United on Wednesday night, the fourth of Nancy’s nightmare reign, Yamada appeared from the bench in a Premiership game for the first time since October.
But now it’s time for Celtic’s under-fire coach to change all of that.
Could this formation be used at Celtic by Wilfried Nancy? Let us know how you would line up in the comments.
Wilfried Nancy needs to start Shin Yamada for Celtic’s clash against Aberdeen
Johnny Kenny was very poor against Dundee United, and he has come under fire for the big chances he missed in the first half.
Then you have Kelechi Iheanacho being injured again, so it should open the door for Yamada to earn a pretty rare start.
The Japanese international has only started one league game this term, against Livingston in August, when he played an hour during Celtic’s 3-0 win.
But given the rubbish Celtic are serving up top, surely Yamada can’t do any worse? This is despite Chris Sutton’s pretty harsh words.
“And what does that say about Shin Yamada?” Sutton told The Daily Record.
“You can maybe forgive him for being a little rusty due to a lack of game time, but the opportunities he missed at Tannadice only suggested he’s not going to cut it.”
This is beyond ridiculous from Sutton. By all means, criticise Kenny because he has played on a regular basis, but it’s not fair to do so with Yamada.
He needs regular minutes on the pitch, and a few starts, then let’s see what he is made of, and he might surprise a few people.
Yamada looks like a little pocket rocket, who can hold the ball up, which is Kenny’s issue, and he is lively when roaming around the final third.
You never know, Yamada might score the goals against Aberdeen to save Nancy’s job, but either way, some freshness is needed up top.
- Yamada’s games: 7
- Starts: 1
- Off the bench: 6
- Unused: 4
- Total minutes: 202
- Goals: 0
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