WHY Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-gyu failed to make the grade

Indeed, the so-called ‘business end’ of the 2023/24 Scottish Premiership campaign for Brendan Rodgers’ side was fronted by the talismanic Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah, who arrived from Norwich City at the end of the January transfer window. Both played their part – particularly the latter – as the pair contributed well to secure a league and Scottish Cup double for the side, with Idah scoring the winner at Hampden Park a little over a month ago.

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Celtic have had many ‘forgotten men’ in seasons gone by. Maryan Shved, Marvin Compper and James McCarthy immediately spring to mind concerning this unfortunate tag. However, South Korea’s Oh Hyeon-Gyu – at least in the second half of last season – became the latest occupant of the phrase under Rodgers’ management.

Heavily linked with a permanent move away to Belgium and Genk, the striker’s future at the Scottish Premiership champions looks to have been determined by his second manager at the club. The former Samsung Suwon Bluewings attacker – signed by Rodgers’ predecessor Ange Postecoglou - has played under 45 minutes of football in 2024, with just 25 of those occurring after the Asia Cup.

Using StatsBomb radars and data metrics, The Celtic Way’s Ryan McGinlay analyses the club’s forgotten striker, as he edges closer to a permanent departure from his first European employers…

The simple statistics

Much like Sead Haksabanovic – who I wrote about last week –, it is important to list Oh’s simple numbers and statistics before going into his StatsBomb data metrics. Thankfully, we have more to work with concerning seasons, as Oh featured in both the 2022/23 season under Postecoglou, and then in 2023/24 under Rodgers.

Looking at his numbers from his debut season – arriving in January 2023 – the South Korea international managed seven goals in 21 appearances. Of those 21 games, he only started in a total of three, with his remaining 18 run-outs coming off of the bench.

Breaking his goalscoring duck versus St Mirren in the Scottish Cup, he would score against the same team at home, before scoring a late winner against Hibs at the same venue. He would complete the Edinburgh double, scoring the second goal against the 10-men of Hearts that sealed the Premiership title for Celtic. He ended the season well, scoring three goals in his last two league appearances, as headed into the summer in the best way possible.

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Last season, a calf injury – undisclosed to his manager until further aggravation – made him miss a couple of matches, before returning to play the majority of the games – again, mostly from the bench. Three starts in the first half of the season paint a clear picture of Oh’s position in the squad at that point, though he did score an important goal, a late winner against – you guessed it – St Mirren, before scoring a brace versus Aberdeen a couple of days later. Speaking of braces, his double against Hibs – another favourite team of his – was the last time Oh scored for Celtic back in December 2023.

Funnily enough, the last time Oh actually featured for the club was that late 1-1 draw against Kilmarnock at home, where Rodgers’ side squandered a lead late on thanks to David Watson’s late strike. Although Oh made the bench another three times, he would fail to take to the field, as Idah and Kyogo were preferred to the 23-year-old both up front and on the subs bench respectively.

Positioning

As displayed above, Oh almost exclusively played through the middle in both seasons, though he did on occasion play on the left and right-hand side concerning the centre-forward position. His lack of versatility may well be a reason why the forward has not played more games, though that is not necessarily his own fault, in truth.

The statistics

Although Oh only played half a season in 2020/23, he played near enough the same amount of minutes last campaign, thanks to his lack of game-time in 2024.

This may be why some of his statistics are slightly skewed, as his xG for both seasons was in the 99th percentile at 0.74 and 0.67 per 90 minutes, the same for his shots at around 4.5 per game and his touches in the box, ranging between 11-13 per full appearance. Good statistics on the face of it, but not enough of a data collection to fully analyse the player comprehensively. Keeping that firmly in mind, some of Oh’s statistics in these metrics have improved within the course of a season. Indeed, the striker has seen improvements in total pressures, aerial wins, dispossessions and total shots.

Unfortunately, Oh’s total xG has dropped under Rodgers, with negative changes occurring in xG per shot, goal conversion percentage, pressure regains, successful key passes and successful dribbles per game. Overall, some positive strides, but areas where improvements are required, though that probably will not be seen at Celtic.

Shot maps

Observing Oh’s shot maps from his two seasons at the club, many of his goals occurred on the left-hand side of the box, an area of strength concerning the striker’s finishing. Though he did take four shots outside of the box, the vast majority of his chances were in and around the penalty area.

This continued to be the case in the following season, though he still did try to attempt some shots from range. A more varied amount of penalty box chances from different areas, but the same amount of goals in his first full season at the club.

Summary

In conclusion, it looks as if Oh will be a victim of bad timing more than anything, with the manager who signed him leaving the club just a few months later in the shape of Postecoglou.

Despite showing some positive flashes when leading the line for Celtic – especially coming off of the bench – he never managed to get a full run in the team – for either manager. Rodgers seems to have made his mind up with the striker, hence the reports concerning the player with Genk. For all parties, you would estimate that this is a good move, and at the right time.

Now, the search goes on for who will replace him in the squad concerning forward players. Time will tell if that person will be Norwich City’s Idah…