Neil Lennon, now a first team coach at Celtic Park, relished the season he played alongside Naka. "I'd never heard of him but I'm so glad I got the chance to play alongside him. " said Neil, "You would put him up there with the likes of Lubo Moravcik in terms of being a great player and a great entertainer. He's a special talent. You have workers, like I was, but he always had the extra guile and craft."
"I felt I built an understanding with him right away." continued Lennon, "I could bounce passes off him to make space and create an opening. Naka has a great understanding of game situations, allied with wonderful ability. He's never been the quickest but he makes up for that in all other aspects with fitness and vision. His goalscoring record isn't bad either."
"Sublime is the word I would use to best describe him." said the Celtic coach "He's got soft feet and that great ability, like all terrific players, to buy himself space on a pitch. It can be hurly burly but he just says he'll play at his pace and pick a pass."
Shunsuke is worshipped by the support and every game at Celtic Park sees the home-based crowd augmented by fans who have travelled thousands of miles from Japan to see their hero in the flesh. But the shy Naka is a reluctant recipient of all this fan worship and he is as unassuming off the park as he is audacious on it. "He's a quiet, shy boy. Sometimes you don't even know he's in the room but you certainly know he's on the pitch, that's for sure." said Neil "He's not high profile because he doesn't always do interviews and people don't see his face all the time. But when he does go and Celtic fans get hold of his dvd, they'll think, 'What a player'. Everyone talks about his free-kicks but there is wonderful football. Look at the state of the Hampden pitch for the Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final against Dundee United yet he was magic on it."
"Naka always comes in with a smile on his face and I like to have a wee laugh and joke with him." continued Lennon. "I think because I was his captain he looks up to me a wee bit. He is very respectful and well-mannered. The gaffer has said he is the best player he has ever worked with - that is a fantastic tribute to him. You don't often know what he's thinking. He's a quiet boy and we speak through his interpreter Mokoto. I think he speaks more English than he cracks on, right enough! It's always a wee nod of the head and he understands what he's got to do. When the manager is giving out his instructions he just nods his head and carries it out to the letter."
Lenny also recalled sharing a bottle of Saki with Naka after Celtic clinched the title in an emotion filled night at Tannadice last May. "I remember the end of last season just before we played Dundee United." he said, "A Japanese lady, who was obviously fond of the team because Naka was playing, had sent me a really rare bottle of saki. It was to thank me for my time playing at Celtic and I kept hold of it. I stuck it into my bag and on the road up to Dundee I pulled Naka over on the bus and whispered, 'If we win tonight, me and you are drinking this'.
says Neil Lennon
"He was like, 'No, no, no' because one other time at a Christmas party we gave him some of that snus tobacco the Swedish boys used to take." he continued, "He sat slumped for five minutes and didn't move for half an hour. We had to get him a taxi home. To be fair, he did have a wee drink with me after the game but he doesn't trust me now."
The speculation continues as to his future but whatever happens at the end of the season Naka will have the best wishes of everyone at Celtic Park. "If Naka goes, he goes with our blessing. If he stays, it will give us all a huge lift." said Neil "If he gets a fourth league title he might want a fifth. You get greedy that way. I don't know what his private life is like and four years is a long time at one club in anyone's career. He has a young family and we take all that into consideration. Hopefully, if things go in our favour in the run-in he'll stay."