Kasper Hogh has had a tough time of things at Celtic so far. The striker scored a hat-trick in his second game for the club but is yet to score another, and his performances have also suffered amid the lack of goals.
Hogh initially held the ball up well and offered a lot more than goals, but that side of his game has also been absent in recent weeks. It led to him being replaced at half-time during the Champions League defeat to Benfica last week, and he was dropped for Sunday's league clash with Hearts.
Celtic spent at least £11million on the striker, and there is more potential money tied up in add-ons. Needless to say, the Bhoys are expecting more from the frontman, especially having seen Camilo Durán hit the ground running.
Interestingly, Steffen Stenersen, a journalist who covers Bodo/Glimt, Hogh's former club, has provided some context to why the striker may not be showing the same kind of form he showed to gain Celtic's attention.
Speaking to Bold, he said: “Most key players who have left [Bodo/Glimt] have not worked. Hogh is the obvious example now. It immediately has something to do with the fact that they play in a system that they know very well, which they have played in for many years, and which has been set up around them as key players.
“There’s no reason to believe that these players wouldn’t be able to function in foreign football. But there’s something strange about it. There absolutely is.
“He was an important piece in Bodo/Glimt, and he remained so in the end. But he also struggled quite a bit in the beginning. So it’s not unnatural that it takes him a while at Celtic.
“He may be the type who needs time to adapt to new environments. I’m not surprised that he hasn’t taken off right away. It hasn’t been a straight line for Hogh in Bodo/Glimt.
“It could be a danger for other clubs to see that they have been out before and that they don’t work when they come out of Glimt. But at the same time, when they perform like that, it’s too simple to say that it doesn’t work with the Glimt players.”
No one at Celtic is giving up on Hogh yet, and there have been some positive signs, but here is also a reality to the situation and in a tough footballing environment, players who do not perform are not going to play. That has to be the case regardless of the fee paid.
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