Yang Hyun-Jun insists he’s a happy Bhoy after using the collapse of a deadline-day move to Birmingham as fuel to kickstart his Celtic career.
The South Korean was a bit-part player under Brendan Rodgers and scheduled to leave last year in a £3million transfer.
However, Celtic were unable to source a replacement during a chaotic transfer window and he was forced to stay along with Daizen Maeda, who had teed up a switch to Wolfsburg.
Yang, 23, has emerged as an important member of the side under Martin O’Neill and scored twice in yesterday’s 3-1 comeback win over Motherwell. He even has his own fan club, The Yang Gang, and hopes to go from strength to strength with more than two years left on his contract.
‘Yeah, I’ve heard about the Yang Gang! It’s nice – I like it,’ he said. ‘It’s great to have people supporting you.
‘I am happy here. It’s true, I was very close to leaving – but it doesn’t matter any more. Just because that move didn’t happen doesn’t mean I was sad about it. It just motivated me to practise and prepare even harder here. You can see that in my performances.
Yang feels the love from his Celtic team-mates after scoring twice against Motherwell
Yang nets the first of his two goals in a 3-1 win at Celtic Park that lifted his team’s title hopes
Celtic boss Martin O’Neill has given Yang more confidence than he had under Brendan Rodgers
‘The goal is to win the title now. What has happened is in the past and I am only focusing on the present and what is to come. It has been difficult at times, but, if we can achieve our goal this season, it will be a massive boost to the club.
‘This is my third season. The first two seasons were hard. Maybe I didn’t play as much at times, but I feel it’s easier now. I am more confident with the language and can communicate a lot better.’
Yang does speak English but lacks the confidence to use it at times. He’s been making great inroads with his team-mates, even if the Scottish accent can be confusing.
‘It’s maybe easier to understand English with the international guys. Sometimes, it can be harder with the Scottish boys – especially Tony Ralston. I’m not sure about his Korean. I’ve been trying to teach him and he teaches me some Scottish phrases. I know some Scottish words – but mostly the bad words.’
O’Neill was effusive about Yang’s contribution against Motherwell and the admiration between them is a two-way street. ‘It’s a very big honour for me to play under Martin O’Neill,’ said Yang, ‘an extraordinary experience in my life. He’s very friendly, tries to communicate a lot with the players. He reached out to me and that boosted my confidence. I have felt that in my performances.’
He believes his two-goal display can offer another launchpad as the fight for the flag reaches fever pitch. ‘This gives me and the team a lot of confidence that we can take into the next game and the rest of the season. All the hard work is paying off and you can see the path we want to take.’
