Brendan Rodgers is usually a calm and collected figure, no matter what the result is. Following the loss against bottom-placed St Johnstone at the weekend, the Celtic manager made his feelings quite clear though, calling out the players for having gotten 'comfortable' and hinting at potential changes in the summer transfer window.
There were no standouts for Celtic on the day, as they failed to find a way past the second-worst defensive team in the league. But even then, there were those who struggled more than the others.
Nicolas Kuhn is one such player. Celtic's talisman in the first half of the season, the German winger has looked like a shell of that in recent weeks. He was taken off at half-time against St Johnstone. And this is not the first time that that has happened recently.
As reported by the Daily Record, Scott Allan reckons that Rodgers' outburst in the aftermath of the loss was directed at one player in particular. He said while speaking on Sportscene:
"I think he's (Rodgers) done it for the benefit of the group in terms of the games coming up and going into next season.
"I think he is trying to put the scaries on them a little bit.
"But in terms of individuals, I think (Nicolas) Kuhn could be in for a bit of criticism from Brendan Rodgers.
"I think he is wanting more (from him).
"Opposition players are starting to work him out a little bit and he hasn't had the same effect in the side."
Brendan Rodgers' rant might've been directed at one Celtic player
It is safe to say that Kuhn needs to be doing a lot better than what we have seen from him in recent weeks. The frustrating part is the fact that he is capable of so much more, as we have seen in the first half of the season.
Kuhn was scoring and assisting for fun a few months ago. And those performances were coming against top-level teams like RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich.
So, Celtic fans have been left scratching their heads, thinking about what has happened to Kuhn's form out of nowhere. One has to wonder whether the transfer rumours have had an effect on his focus. Newcastle United, Everton and more teams are believed to be keeping an eye on him ahead of the summer window.