CELTIC have scored a miserly two goals in their past four games.
Both have been claimed by midfielder Mika Baur in the 1-0 Premiership win over St Johnstone in Perth – his first strike for the champions – and in the 3-1 Europa League flop against Ferencvaros at Parkhead.
The £6.8million summer recruit is not known for his goalscoring achievements and netted only four – one a penalty-kick – all last season as he helped SC Paderborn to promotion to the Bundesliga.
Mystifying, the £17million striking double-act of Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran have failed to contribute in the past five outings, including the 2-1 victory over St Mirren in Paisley where Liam Scales and Yang Hyun-jun were the marksmen.
The Dane and the Colombian, who are both in their country’s squads during the international break, fired blanks in the crucial back-to-back derby encounters when it was hoped they would step up to the plate.
Hogh thumped in a memorable first-half hat-trick as Martin O’Neill’s side enjoyed a 5-1 romp over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in the second game of the new campaign.
Worryingly, he has not added to those strikes in his last seven outings after missing games against Falkirk (2-1), Aberdeen (3-0) and St Mirren following injury in the 5-1 Champions League qualifying shocker against LASK in Austria.
HIGH AND MIGHTY…Kasper Hogh rises to head past helpless keeper Max Stryjek as the Dane claims the first of his hat-trick in Celtic’s 5-1 triumph at Kilmarnock.
It looks as though Celtic’s record £11million-plus purchase from Bodo/Glimt has become a problem Bhoy for O’Neill.
Hogh was a massive disappointment in the all-Glasgow confrontation at Ibrox and was hooked just after the hour mark with evergreen James Forrest getting the nod to take over.
O’Neill left the frontman out of his two subsequent starting line-ups for the Europa League opener against Ferencvaros and the league encounter in the second of the derby double-header at Parkhead at the weekend.
The 6ft-plus attack-leader came on at the interval on both occasions, replacing Oliver Sorensen against the Hungarians and taking over from Luke McCowan against Derek McInnes’ visitors.
In the same game, Duran, who had looked on fire with six goals in five games, was removed from the action with 23 minutes still to play as O’Neill put on Sebastian Tounekti.
With the hosts desperate for an equaliser, such a substitution would have been queried not so long ago.
There wasn’t even a murmur from the 60,000 onlookers as the £6million buy from Qarabag traipsed off the pitch to be replaced by the Tunisian international winger, who has collected a mere six goals in 13 months at the club following his £5.2million switch from Hammarby IF.
PICK IT OUT…Camilo Duran capitalises on a blunder by Scott Bain as he rolls in the first of a double in Celtic’s 2-1 win over Falkirk at Parkhead.
Hogh and Duran appear to have morphed into bit-part players after looking as though they would lead the silverware charge.
There has been a lot of hoo-ha said and written about the Dane. His hold-up play has been questioned and even his role as a target man.
The one thing that is blindingly obvious about Hogh at the moment is that he is performing without a shred of confidence, an invaluable quality for any player, but, in particular, for a forward whose main function is to put the ball in the opposition’s net as often as possible.
He kicked off his rampant three-goal blast against Killie when he rose supremely at the back post to power in a header from a left-wing cross from Arne Engels in the opening minutes of the game.
The same player had similar opportunities to score against Ferencavros and Rangers at Parkhead and fluffed them both.
The deliveries came from the right on those occasions and Hogh, with time and space, mistimed his leap, the ball flew over this head and the chances were gone.
DOUBLE-TAKE…Kasper Hogh fails to get on the end of right-wing crosses against Ferencavros and Rangers (below) as he fires blanks in the defeats at Parkhead.
If he makes contact with either of those crosses, we’re looking at an entirely different narrative.
Duran? He looks sullen at times, but there can be no argument he is not playing in his favoured position when he is stuck on the flanks.
How does Martin O’Neill manage to fuse the considerable talents of both players in the same forward line? That’s another multi-million pund jigsaw puzzle for the 74-year-old Irishman to solve in the coming weeks and months.
Hogh is with Denmark for their Nations League games against Norway, Portugal and Wales with the opener in Oslo on Thursday.
Duran has made his first step up to this level and is with Colombia for their friendlies against Mexico, Paraguay and Peru and is standing by to make his debut in Baltimore, USA, on Sunday.
Impressive performances from the Celtic pair could see them returning to Glasgow brimming with rekindled self-belief.
We’ll get a chance to judge for ourselves during the midday kick-off against Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday October 11 when the Premiership restarts.
ALEX GORDON
WANT TO KNOW A SECRET? Celtic Confidential is the stunning book that brings the exclusive inside stories behind the headlines. Who was the tycoon who would have ruined Celtic? What really happened the night Kenny Dalglish quit the club? The real story behind Mo Johnston’s sensational move to Ibrox. All is revealed in Alex Gordon’s sixteenth Celtic book which is available NOW. Order a copy and get £5 OFF the cover price of £25. Just click SHOP HERE and your book will be on its way. Enjoy the revelations!
