Celtic star becomes 'constant concern' amid poor spell as pundit explains teammates can't dig him out forever
Dry spell for Hoops star continued against Kilmarnock despite unfortunate moment
The struggles of Celtic striker Kasper Hogh are becoming a ‘constant concern’ in the Hoops camp with the club too heavily reliant on goals from elsewhere.
That is according to pundit Michael Stewart, who had a ‘degree of sympathy’ for the Dane after he was denied his first goal since August in Sunday’s win over Kilmarnock. As VAR chalked off his first half effort, it meant his goalscoring drought extended to 16 games for club and country. Given the reaction of the home crowd at Celtic Park, it appears everyone is willing their record-breaking signing on to find the target.
However, Celtic didn’t spend £11m in the summer for a first half hat-trick at Rugby Park, which remains Hogh’s only goalscoring contribution. In recent weeks, fellow forward addition Camilo Duran has been on fire, midfielders Benjamin Nygren and Mika Baur have scored their fair share and even defender Liam Scales has chipped in - but Stewart reckons at some point Hogh will have to step up.
Why is Hogh’s drought is becoming a constant concern?
Speaking on Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club, the former Hearts captain said: “It's going to be a constant concern for Celtic with regards to Kasper Hogh and his performances. Even though they've got alternative that they can utilise in the meantime (for goals). But when you're spending that amount of money on a record signing and they're not performing, always going to be a major concern.”
The 25-year old wasn’t without his chances in their 1-0 victory at the weekend. In regards to the disallowed goal, he was unfortunate that teammate Baur was deemed to have won the ball illegally on the halfway line in the build-up. Shortly after, Hogh had a one-on-one with Killie goalkeeper Nico Mantl which was saved. Plus, he was standing right behind Scales for an easy finish when the Irishman bagged the winner.
Stewart has ‘degree of sympathy’ for disallowed goal
While discussing the foul that led up to Hogh’s chalked-off goal, Stewart explained why he thought the incident may have been to far back for VAR to revisit. He added: “I've got a certain degree of sympathy for Celtic here - and for Mika Baur.
“I'm a bit conflicted with it because I want to see goals being scored. But then, technically, it probably is a foul. So I think the question you ask is probably a good one. Is that a high enough bar for it to be given? I think it's probably right on the cusp because he doesn't get the ball.”