£11m Price Tag Shouldn’t Guarantee Kasper Høgh A Celtic Starting Place.

The cost of a player should never guarantee them a place in Celtic’s starting XI for the big games.

Right now, that conversation has to be had about Kasper Høgh.

This isn’t me writing the guy off. Far from it.

Celtic invested heavily in Høgh because they clearly believe he can become an important player, and I’m certainly not suggesting we’ve seen enough to make any definitive judgement on him.

What I am questioning is whether Celtic are currently weakening themselves simply to accommodate him.

Because before Høgh returned, Camillo Duran was absolutely flying through the middle.

Then Høgh comes back and suddenly Duran — Celtic’s most dangerous attacking player — is being pushed into a wide position to maintain the same 4-3-3 formation.

I have an article going up on The Celtic Blog at 2pm today regarding the refusal to budge on the same old 4-3-3 formation.

Celtic can’t keep forcing players into a system

This ties directly into something we discussed on the Bhoycie Bus after the weekend.

Celtic appear obsessed with fitting players into a predetermined formation rather than building a formation around the players actually available.

As we discussed on the show, previous Celtic managers have changed systems when necessary. The problem now is that 4-3-3 almost seems institutionalised.

Players arrive and rather than asking where can we get the best from him?, it feels like the question is where can we squeeze him into our 4-3-3?

Duran is a perfect example.

If his best football has come centrally, why move him?

Høgh costing £11million doesn’t automatically mean everyone else should shuffle around to accommodate him.

Sometimes football has to be simpler than that.

Pick your most effective players in their most effective positions.

Is Høgh actually fully fit?

There’s another element here which shouldn’t be ignored.

Høgh’s fitness has been the subject of plenty of discussion. At one stage, rumours circulated suggesting his injury could keep him sidelined for as long as four months.

Clearly, he’s returned considerably quicker than that.

Great news — provided he’s genuinely ready.

Watching him at the moment, though, I do wonder.

His influence seems to fade as games progress and his overall play currently looks clumsy.

There was one moment at Ibrox which hasn’t really received much attention where Høgh appeared to have an opportunity to potentially break clear after chasing the ball down, only to lose his footing.

That moment alone proves nothing.

Combine it with the lack of involvement and the way his contribution appears to diminish, however, and it’s reasonable to ask whether we’re watching a player who is still trying to regain full match sharpness.

There’s a big difference between being medically fit and being completely match fit.

The Bhoycie Bus discussion touched upon fitness elsewhere in the squad too, with the fact some summer arrivals still aren’t fully up to speed in mid-September highlighting how damaging disrupted preparation can be.

So has Høgh been rushed?

I don’t know.

But it’s worth asking.

Duran shouldn’t pay the price

This is ultimately where I land.

My preference wouldn’t actually be dropping Høgh.

Martin O’Neill has spoken himself about Celtic being capable of adapting.

If Høgh and Duran are two of our biggest attacking threats, find a way of getting both into areas where they can hurt teams.

Don’t stick Duran out wide because Celtic simply must play 4-3-3.

If Martin insists on that formation, then the players selected need to actually suit the positions they’re being asked to occupy.

If the system absolutely cannot be changed, though?

Then I’m sorry, but the difficult decision might be Høgh.

Transfer fees cannot pick teams.

An £11million player sitting on the bench might look uncomfortable, but that’s still preferable to weakening two positions just so Celtic can say their record signing is starting.

Get Høgh completely fit. Get him sharp. Let him earn the shirt.

Because Duran had earned his.

And Celtic shouldn’t be moving the man who was on fire just to accommodate the man who cost £11million.