Martin O’Neill was frustrated with Celtic’s attack after Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over St Johnstone, but Kasper Høgh’s performance needs some context.
O’Neill was critical of his side’s work inside the penalty area afterwards.
He said: “You can’t just put the ball on a plate for people. They have to make room for themselves in the box to try to score.”
The Celtic boss even joked: “I’m 74 and I think I could have scored a goal there.”
Høgh was not directly singled out, and O’Neill later acknowledged it was his first game back from injury, saying the forward had “done fine without getting a goal”.
There is another issue Celtic need to consider. Høgh is not naturally a target man.
His best work at Bodø/Glimt came as a penalty-box striker, attacking space, playing off the shoulder and getting himself into positions to finish moves.
At Celtic, there have already been spells where his size has led to him being used as a focal point for long balls, with the expectation that he will hold off centre-backs and bring others into play.
He can do elements of that job, but it is not what made him such an effective goalscorer in Norway.
The evidence since his arrival points in the same direction. Every one of Høgh’s Premiership shots so far has come from inside the penalty area. That is where Celtic should want him.
Rather than asking him to spend large periods wrestling with centre-halves with his back to goal, Celtic need to get the wingers beyond defenders and find Høgh facing the target.
Cut-backs, low crosses and balls across the six-yard box are far more likely to bring out his strengths.
Høgh also created chances inside the box for Haissem Hassan twice and Sebastian Tounekti once, showing he can still link play and bring others into dangerous areas rather than simply acting as a target man.
It was also Høgh’s first game back from injury, so Wednesday was hardly the right night to make a big judgement on him.
Celtic bought a penalty-box striker. The challenge now is making sure they use him like one.
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