Chris Sutton takes aim at Martin O'Neill's approach with Kasper Hogh
Chris Sutton is not impressed with how Celtic boss Martin O'Neill is handling Kasper Hogh's apparent confidence crisis. The striker is in a rotten run of form having failed to score since his second game for the club all the way back in August.
The Dane looks shot shy and is also struggling tp produce the right kind of hold-up play that would make him valuable in any given team. He did look a little better during Wednesday night's draw with Dundee United, providing an assist, but on the hole, it was another performance that saw him not produce enough.
O'Neill, who continues to defend Hogh, dragged the striker off at half-time, and it's not the first time he has done that.
The Celtic boss said after the game: "You know, he, as I said to you, he played a part. I thought he worked exceptionally hard for us again.
"One or two things that he tried maybe didn't come off, but overall he's made the goal. That will give him a boost of confidence. Yeah, and you're right. So we put on two wide players and then I'm sure he probably was frustrated that he's sitting and not playing a part in the second half."
But former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has raised a valid point, posting on X: "Playing Kasper Hogh and hooking him off after 45 minutes isn’t helping him and isn’t helping Celtic and isn’t helping Camilo Duran..."
O'Neill continues to play Hogh in the hope he gets a goal, but he is repeatedly dragging him off at half-time, often feeling as though there are better options, One does have to wonder whether it would be better for the striker's confidence if he simply came off the bench, while Celtic still have the same problem withCamilo Durán.
Durán is scoring at will, now with 11 goals across all competitions, and he is having to play out of position on the right just to accommodate for the out of form Hogh, which makes no sense.
O'Neill is nowhere near as forgiving with other out of form players, and it's clear he needs to apply that same logic to Hogh, who has had plenty of chances when starting games.
