Has the signing of Kasper Høgh paved the way for Kjetil Knutsen to be the next Celtic manager?
Could Kasper Høgh's move to Celtic be the catalyst to Kjetil Knutsen becoming our next manager?
Eric Knott Celtic, as a club, is notorious for it’s short-termism.
A long term strategy at the club is something that is considered alien to the current Celtic board.
Martin O’Neill’s appointment is a short term fix for a long term problem at the club.
I sincerely doubt that O’Neill will continue beyond the coming season.
He will be 76 by the time things wrap up for season 26/27.
Maybe the man will go beyond that, who knows?
The Celtic hierarchy cannot rely on a septuagenarian indefinitely to shield them from the reality of hiring a manager for the long-term.
Which is why I believe there is possibly a bit more to the Kasper Høgh move than meets the eye.
Since his signing was announced, a lot of people have speculated that this was a signing well out of the board’s comfort zone.
We still haven’t heard the end of the money spent on Arne Engels, and that caused enough meltdowns in the boardroom just under two years ago.
I have alluded to the fact that joined up thinking might actually be happening at Celtic at the moment, but I’m not quite ready to believe it is just yet.
But let’s just say that it is.
Let’s just believe that for a second that there was strategic maneuvering involved in the signing of Kasper Høgh.
The signing of Høgh has raised a lot of eyebrows in the footballing world.
Especially because Celtic managed to pull it off.
In an article in the Record today, Kasper Høgh discussed the effect that playing at Bodø/Glimt had on him.
He went into detail on the influence Bodø/Glimt as a club had on him.
How it calmed him down as a person, and re-ignited his belief in God.
From reading the article, it is clear that he was a bit of a loose cannon before he arrived in Norway.
But one thing you must understand is that Kjetil Knutsen is Bodø, and Bodø is Kjetil Knudsen.
For the past 8 years, Knutsen has been at the forefront of all Bodø/Glimt’s acheivements.
He has full autonomy over everything at the club.
Knutsen has developed Bodø into a force to be reckoned with in Europe.
His side took some serious scalps during their debut season in the 2025/26 Champions League.
Names like Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Manchester City were put to the sword by the Norwegian side.
Kasper Høgh scored against all of those sides in en-route to the last 16.
He even scored in a 3-0 first leg win over Sporting Lisbon, but Sporting went on to defeat them 5-0 in the second leg.
Under Knutsen’s coaching, Høgh became one of Bodø’s most prolific strikers.
He netted 54 times in 103 appearances in just two seasons.
Prior to that, Høgh had amassed only 20 goals in his entire career with a host of different Scandinavian clubs.
It would appear that even at £11 million, he was a bargain for Celtic.
Which is why his acquisition has raised so many eyebrows throughout Europe.
People are genuinely baffled as to how a club like Celtic – notorious for poor transfer dealings and negotiations – could pull off a move like this.
In reality, this is an anomaly when it comes to the way Celtic do their business.
So is there more to this than meets the eye?
Or is it just an anomaly?
The skeptic in me says that it is an anomaly, but the dreamer in me says it could be something else.
Could it be possible that Kasper Høgh is Kjetil Knutsen’s inside man when it comes to his next career move?
I’ll go one further and say this, could it be possible that Celtic have spoken to Knutsen already about taking up the role as Celtic manager a year from now, once Martin O’Neill calls it a day?
And that Knutsen sanctioned the sale of Høgh to Celtic on the basis that the player would be playing under him once again if he became the Celtic manager?
That would be construed as joined up thinking at Celtic, which is a rarity.
It would also be seen as long-term strategic thinking, which is something of an alien concept to the Celtic board.
But let’s be honest here, Celtic is the perfect club for Kjetil Knutsen to take his career to the next level.
Could Celtic, or more to the point – Dermot Desmond – be looking at the model that has worked for Bodø/Glimt under Kjetil Knutsen?
Bodø has an annual turnover of £50 million, half that of Celtic.
Yet look at what they’ve achieved with a turnover like that?
As I said earlier, Bodø/Glimt is Kjetil Knutsen, and Kjetil Knutsen is Bodø/Glimt.
What he has achieved with limited resources in comparison to a club like Celtic, is manna from heaven to the likes of someone like Dermot Desmond.
To all intents and purposes, he is the perfect fit for Celtic.
He can work within the constraints of a tight budget, and his ability to develop players is off the chart.
Just look at Kasper Høgh’s rapid rise under his coaching in the space of 2 years?
He is Dermot Desmond’s dream manager.
Not only that, his judgement when it comes to recruitment would be exactly what Celtic needs.
Knutsen would have no problem shopping in a market that fits Desmond’s archaic model.
His in depth knowledge of the Scandinavian market would ensure that.
There is no downside to bringing someone like Kjetil Knutsen to Celtic.
Knutsen earns about 15 million Norwegian Krone per year at Bodø, which equates to about £1.1 million per year.
Brendan Rodgers was on £3 million per year at Celtic.
Even if we matched that to bring Knutsen in, it would be a worthwhile investment.
The simple fact here is that Kjetil Knutsen fits our model perfectly.
But he is the kind of manager who would ensure he got the absolute best out of it, as he has shown at Bodø.
The big caveat here, though, is that he would have to be given full autonomy at the club.
That might just be something Desmond would be reluctant to allow.
However, based on his record at Bodø, giving Knutsen complete autonomy obviously works.
The results speak for themselves.
So, is Kasper Høgh’s acquisition the catalyst to paving the way for Kjetil Knutsen to become Celtic’s manager a year from now?
It would make perfect sense if it was.
But as we know, perfect sense and the Celtic board do not go hand in hand.
Once Knutsen gets the inside track from Kasper Høgh, which I’m sure he will, he’ll either run a mile, or embrace the challenge that managing Celtic presents.
I guess we’ll know a year from now.
One way or the other.
Key Takeaways
- Celtic’s current strategy lacks long-term vision, with Martin O’Neill serving as a short-term solution.
- The signing of Kasper Høgh suggests a potential shift in Celtic’s approach, raising eyebrows in the football community.
- Kjetil Knutsen has transformed Bodø/Glimt into a competitive force, demonstrating effective player development and management.
- There are speculations that Knutsen could be a candidate for Celtic’s managerial position in the future, especially if O’Neill departs.
- Knutsen’s experience and success at Bodø could align well with Celtic’s needs, making him a perfect fit for the club.
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Phillip Cooney 
Bhoycie 
I read or saw somewhere on the net that with Bodo, Kjutsen pockets 10% of every transfer. If true then he has just had a years salary in one fell swoop from Hogh’s deal. Hard to match that kinda deal.
2 players in and the club is wonderful why would any decent manager come to a club that at every window makes a complete fool of themselves scraping and scrounging money of any deal the guy will know how badly run we are and is not that thick to come here if approached dream on Eric.
I hope it does. He is a class act