'Maeda & Kuhn's staggering return takes heat off Celtic strikers'

However unharmonious the notes have been between manager and some sections of the Celtic support lately, there's one area of the pitch where everyone's singing from the same hymn sheet.

The favourite song around the East End used to eulogise 'Jota on the wing'. Fears that the Portuguese playmaker would be greatly missed since his departure two summers ago have proven largely unfounded. Especially when you consider the contribution of the champions' current first-pick wide men.

Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda have scored 30 goals between them already. The calendar has only just flipped into a new year and Celtic are only two games beyond the Premiership's halfway point. It's a staggering return for players who'd more normally be associated with being providers.

Interestingly, Brendan Rodgers doesn't necessarily share that view. "That's their job, to create goals and to score them," he said when I asked him recently about the pair's impressive numbers. They've certainly responded to the challenge.

Maeda is having his best spell at the club since Ange Postecoglou brought him over three years ago. The Japan flying machine will probably push Kuhn hard for Scottish football's player of the year award.

Which begs the question: are the wingers having to score more because the strikers aren't? Or does the way Celtic play require the striker to be more selfless and create the space for others to flourish?

It won't have escaped anyone's notice Kyogo Furuhashi has been curiously quiet. In a Celtic team that have scored 84 goals across all competitions, Kyogo has contributed 10.

In his first two seasons under Postecoglou, he notched 16 and 14 respectively before Christmas. He still hit 20 last season and is halfway there this term. No crisis. Yet Furuhashi only properly sparks into life sporadically these days. He's not quite the force he was. Moves away have been mooted – to the Premier League previously and potentially to America's MLS now.

A big-game talisman, Kyogo would be difficult to replace, even with Adam Idah waiting for his chance. The Republic of Ireland striker has yet to live up to his £9m price tag but that 'first season' isn't always smooth. Just ask Kuhn.

The German's emergence as Celtic's main man has taken the heat – and spotlight – off the two recognised strikers. Idah and Kyogo between them only have two more goals than Kuhn.

The challenge for Idah is to rediscover the form he showed when Celtic won the title. His performance at Rugby Park that night was top notch. Kyogo's biggest challenge might be to figure out where his long-term future lies if – and it is only 'if' - this is to be his last season in Scotland.