A Rangers journalist has sprung to the defence of Celtic striker Kasper Høgh, insisting the club are failing to play to the record signing’s strengths.
The Dane endured a disappointing derby as Celtic suffered a 3-0 defeat at Ibrox. He has now failed to score in six of his seven appearances for the Hoops.
Høgh’s only goals came against Kilmarnock, with each finish arriving from close range.
That will have surprised nobody familiar with his game. Høgh is a penalty-box striker who comes alive when chances are created for him in dangerous areas.
He is not a natural target man, yet Martin O’Neill and his coaching staff have regularly asked him to perform that role. Instead of receiving service inside the box, he is being expected to compete for long passes, hold up the ball and bring others into play.
Johnny McFarlane, Newsquest’s head of sport and founding editor of the Rangers Review, believes Celtic’s problems run much deeper than the striker.
He said on the Terrace podcast: “I think the issues are deeper and exemplified by Kasper Høgh. Journalists in particular are going, ‘This guy’s not very good outside of the box.’
“I mean, literally screeds of articles, tactical analyses and podcasts were released before he signed saying, ‘This guy is a fox in the box. He’s a killer in the box. He doesn’t do much. The way he is provided chances by this very specific style of play at Bodø/Glimt, that is why he gets his goals.’
“So, if you try to replicate that and give him chances in the box, he will score. We saw against Kilmarnock, where there is delivery, he gets goals. He’s a clever runner in the box and he gets space for himself.
“I think it’s incredible that so many people are like, ‘Oh, Kasper Høgh doesn’t do much.’ Well, they’re not providing any chances for him.
“Did they scout this guy? To me, it’s almost like, who’s in charge of this? Who’s looking at the players? Is it Martin, Maloney or a scout?
“Why do they think Kasper Høgh is a good fit for the way they’re playing? Is this the way that they want to play? What’s going on?”
Høgh must produce more in a Celtic shirt, particularly given the expectations attached to his transfer fee. However, continually asking him to perform a role that does not suit his qualities is unlikely to deliver the required improvement.
It’s down to the coaching staff to solve this issue.
Celtic signed a penalty-box finisher. If they want to see the best of him, they must start creating the type of chances he was brought to the club to score.
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