Kasper Høgh arrived to much fanfare in the summer for a record fee believed to be around £11 million pounds. Many people were excited about the prospect of Bodo/Glimt’s Champions League goalscorer arriving to play in the green and white of Celtic. However, from the beginning I was concerned for a number of reasons. Mainly the pressure. How many of Celtic’s big money transfers have been a total success? From Berkovic to Balikwisha, some players find it difficult to perform for Celtic after arriving for decent money. Add to that the pressure of being expected to be the main goalscorer right away and it becomes a challenge. If you don’t hit the ground running as a Celtic striker the pressure will start to build. We all know the characters in the media who are waiting to pile on that pressure should a new signing not deliver straight away. You simply don’t get time in Glasgow, but maybe he should.
We need to give him time
I can’t help but see the parallels with Adam Idah arriving at the club. Big money transfer fee and big expectation. Idah did relatively well during his loan spell but once the club spent £ 9million on him the pressure was on. Even scoring 20 goals during the 24-25 season wasn’t enough. The media opinion was that Celtic wasted £9 million on the Irishman. There are surely steps we can take to help make sure Kasper Høgh doesn’t go the same way as Idah. For starters, we can find a way to play to his strengths. I saw his first game live against Dundee and instantly got the fear. Celtic kept kicking it long to him to hold up or flick on just because he was tall. Anyone who watched his best bits on Youtube could see he was a penalty box striker who liked to get in behind defences, not unlike Erling Haaland’s style. If we can see that as a fan base then why can’t management?
The fact that the club would invest £11 million pounds in a goalscoring forward and not have a plan to play to his strengths is staggering. It’s almost like they are trying to find ways for him to be ineffective and lose confidence sometimes. You can see when the ball comes in the box he isn’t bursting a gut to get into the key positions like Kyogo would. Kasper Høgh should be coming alive in these scenarios but thats not what we’ve seen so far. A combination of the price tag and the start he has made means you can see the confidence fading. If it keeps going the way it’s going I think we could have another Adam Idah situation on our hands. Meaning a cut price exit from the club.
To combat that I would start with Duran and Mheuka through the middle. Then build Høgh up by bringing him off the bench. A couple of good cameos that result in a goal will help build his confidence back up. Right now he looks like he’s in the wrong movie. We have to analyse why he was a big hit at Bodo and find the way to get the best out of him moving forward. While we do that I think he should be on the bench, fighting for his position. However, I’m not sure Celtic will do that. I can see them continuing to play him the same way expecting a different outcome.
How will Celtic manage Høgh?
I don’t believe Celtic have a proper plan for helping integrate him better if he is indeed suffering from confidence issues. There will likely be a mentality of - he cost £11 million so he has to play. As we’ve seen with Tounekti and Balikwisha, spending decent money guarantees you nothing. We require some real strong man management from O’Neill to make him feel like he belongs at Celtic. Until he thinks that in his mind we are unlikely to see the best of the Dane. He is a record signing in a new country with new demands and expectations. We need to look at what we can do off the pitch to ensure he starts to deliver on it. I think the way Celtic handled the Idah decline doesn’t fill you with confidence that they will. The Danish forward needs a goal or two then things will hopefully begin to look a lot better. Let’s hope that happens in the next couple of matches. Or the knives will be out from the usual suspects.
All views expressed on Celtic DNA are personal opinions and are for commentary and discussion purposes only
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Martin O’Neill has confirmed that a key player that missed training ahead of huge Ferencvaros and Rangers games IS available for selection.
UPDATE : Martin O’Neill confirmed today that Camilo Duran is not injured and available for tomorrow night. He had to visit London to deal with a visa issue. Article below was written before this news came out.