Is there some secret mandate to make struggling Celtic striker Kasper Hogh feel better?
I'm not one to go overboard on criticism of players. At the end of the day, it doesn't benefit them to play poorly and it is never their intention.
But in professional sports, we do still have to recognise when someone is performing poorly, especially when there are other players behind them pushing for an opportunity.
For the most part, since joining Celtic, Hogh has been a very poor player. He missed a host of sitters in his debut, bounced back with a hat-trick in his second game, spent a couple of games offering some good hold-up play but then saw his confidence nose-dive. From there, he has offered very little.
On Sunday, during a narrow win over Kilmarnock, he saw a goal ruled out, meaning his goal drought stretched to three months, but he was much more involved and produced some better hold-up play, even taking on some shots, the sort of which he has been shying away from in recent weeks.
But some of the praise has gone overboard. Hogh was handed the sponsors' Man of the Match, which was outrageous, and I have seen some say that he was 'superb', with other similar adjectives used.
Why are we changing definitions to make Hogh feel better? He was better, yes, he was decent, yes, but he did nothing that was 'superb' or anything close to it. How often does a striker play superbly in a 1-0 game that he did not score or assist in?
It's not just about stats, and like I say, he did produce some good moments, but he didn't dominate nor win the game for Celtic. Camilo Durán has produced plenty of superb performances, but Hogh's current count stands at one, and that does not include Sunday.
Liam Scales backs 'unlucky' Hogh
Speaking after the game, match-winner Liam Scales, who should have won Man of the Match, said: “He’s been brilliant. He keeps doing the right things and eventually it will fall for him. He was so unlucky with his goal being ruled out. And he told me he was right behind me with the goal I scored! If I’d known that I might have left it!
“It will fall for him. He’s a goalscorer an a good player. His all round game was brilliant, he held the ball up really well.
“He’s just been unlucky. But his attitude has been brilliant. If he keeps doing the right things it will work out for him. He has an amazing attitude and that’s why I really believe he will be successful.”
I understand Scales has to back his teammate, and quite frankly, he should. But hardly any of that is true. He hasn't been brilliant. He has been downright poor, and he hasn't been unlucky, either.
This is professional sports. You can get unlucky in a game, maybe even two, but you don't get unlucky for three months.
That's poor, inefficient and ineffective performance. Hogh knows that. These are professional athletes who work day in, day out to maximise performance. His have been nowhere near it, and he knows it.
Other strikers would have already been declared a flop by now, especially had they arrived for £11million, but Hogh seems exempt. It seems to be because he is a good guy and he tries hard, but that's not enough.
I'm not calling for him to become a flop. In fact, in almost all cases, I believe players deserve more rope and that they should not be held to the standard of a fee or value they have absolutely no say in.
I want Hogh to do well, because I too think he is a good guy who is working hard to try to turn things around. But I do have a problem with issuing untrue analysis to make a player feel better. That doesn't belong at this level, and it is not afforded to other struggling players.
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