The close season always brings the inevitable lull in Celtic news. It also gives players a chance to return home and visit family and friends and relax.
And when that happens, just like when they go on international duty, players tend to say more to the press and let loose their opinions on the game or their time at Celtic.
That is exactly what Nicolas Kuhn has done. The German winger joined in January in a £3m move from Rapid Vienna.
And whilst Kuhn dropped in and out of the team, he still managed to pick up the first major honours of his career with a league title and Scottish Cup win.
Now that Kuhn is on holiday, he has shared what he really thought of his first few months at Celtic and took a superb dig at Rangers for celebrating the 3-3 draw with the Bhoys at Ibrox.
Kuhn’s ‘indescribable’ Celtic moment
The German winger had a decent start to his Celtic career with a debut goal in the 1-1 Pittodrie draw at Aberdeen.
But it wasn’t until he experienced the heat of the Glasgow Derby that Kuhn started to appreciate just how big it is to win trophies at Celtic.
Kuhn said
, “In my first derby against Rangers, I was in the starting XI. We played away at Ibrox. In the first 10 minutes of a game like that, you can hardly breathe.
“But we quickly took a 2-0 lead. The atmosphere at that moment was indescribable.
“You had to be there to understand it. It ended 3-3 and afterwards, they celebrated as if they were already champions.
“But after that, we dominated the league, played great games and got all the points we could. And then there was the derby at Celtic Park.
“Suddenly you’re playing with 60,000 fans behind you and not 50,000 against you. We scored two goals, Rangers got a red card and we brought the result over the finish line.
“That was the big step towards the title. The Scottish Cup Final win was crazy. You can’t really explain what happens in the stadium.
“When you lift the trophy in front of 50,000 people, those are memories that will last forever.”
With three goals and three assists in his first 18 games for Celtic, the potential is there for Kuhn to develop even further at the club.
The former Rapid Vienna winger now knows what it takes to succeed in Paradise and with three undefeated appearances against Rangers, Kuhn also understands the deep rivalry that exists between both clubs in Glasgow.
Now that he has fully settled in at Celtic, I would expect Kuhn to kick on and develop into the player that convinced Brendan Rodgers to shell out £3m on him in January.