Celtic winger Nicolas Kuhn has come under fire from club icon Chris Sutton, who has questioned the German’s attitude following a noticeable downturn in form.
Once seen as the Hoops' standout performer in the first half of the season, Kuhn’s influence has waned in recent weeks, culminating in a half-time substitution during last weekend’s shock 1-0 loss to bottom-placed St Johnstone.
Writing in his Daily Record column, Sutton did not hold back in his criticism of the 25-year-old, suggesting Kuhn has grown complacent after his strong start to life at Parkhead and the calibre of team looking at signing the player will have diminished as a consequence.
“You’re waiting for Celtic to go back up through the gears – but they can’t just assume it will happen,” Sutton said.
"That’s what seems to be going on with Nicolas Kuhn. You don’t want to single out players but there has been a huge drop-off with the German. It smacks to me as an attitude thing. He looks like a player who thought he’d cracked it and everything would just fall into place for him.
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"But you need to put in the word and we haven’t seen enough of it lately. Back in December there was talk about Newcastle United considering a bid and it was by no means a stretch of the imagination.
"He’d be lucky if Sunderland came in for him on recent form. You can bet teams like Newcastle would have been watching him back then. The thing is though, they will continue to watch and they won’t have been too impressed with his application of late."
Kuhn wasn’t the only player to draw criticism from Sutton. The pundit also called out several other underperforming stars, including defender Auston Trusty and January loan signing Jeffrey Schlupp.
“I look at Auston Trusty and he gives the impression he thinks he’s a player. That’s fine if you back it up, but you can’t waltz around and get too casual,” he said.
“Jeffrey Schlupp was sloppy against Saints and while I’m not going to join in with the bashing of Arne Engels, there is more needed from the midfielder, along with Reo Hatate.”
Sutton did offer some praise for in-form attacker Daizen Maeda, noting his consistent work rate and intensity. However, he warned that Celtic were overly reliant on the Japanese international and had paid the price for a “careless January transfer window.”
With just a handful of league games remaining and a golden opportunity to add more Scottish Cup silverware, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers will be eager to see Kuhn recapture the spark that once made him a key figure in the squad.
Whether the former Rapid Vienna star can respond to the criticism and reignite the form that saw him shine earlier in the season remains to be seen.
