Kris Boyd has jumped to the defence of Celtic striker Kasper Høgh after Martin O’Neill called on his club-record signing to take greater responsibility in front of goal.
9th September 2026; McDiarmid Park, Perth, Scotland: Scottish Premiership Football, St Johnstone versus Celtic; Kasper Hogh of Celtic tries to rouse the fans
The £11million summer arrival started Wednesday night’s 1-0 victory over St Johnstone but was unable to add to the hat-trick he scored against Kilmarnock earlier this season.
Høgh has now failed to score in his other five Celtic appearances, with O’Neill suggesting after the win in Perth that the Dane needed to do more to create opportunities for himself.
Asked by Sky Sports whether Høgh had been involved enough during the first half, O’Neill responded: “I didn’t think it was the fact, for instance, Seb (Tounekti) was getting wide and causing problems. You can’t just put the ball on a plate for people. They have to make room for themselves to try and score a goal.
“Either you whip things across the box, or you try and chip a few things. At the end of it all, you know, I said to the boys in the dressing room that I’m 74 years of age and I think I could have scored a goal at some stage or another. That’s a major exaggeration.”
Boyd, though, believes some of the responsibility lies with Celtic’s wide players and the quality and timing of the service being provided to Høgh.
The former Rangers striker suggested O’Neill may come to a different conclusion after reviewing the match, highlighting Sebastian Tounekti’s decision-making in particular.
Boyd continued: “When you look at Kasper Hogh there’s one thing about him and that’s that he never stops moving, he’s always on the go. Until he’s maybe done it two or three times. Because as soon as a winger goes touch, touch, touch… as a striker you know the space is getting tighter and tighter.
“You want that ball early so as soon as you have wingers who are touch, touch, touch then as a striker you go ‘Do you know what? I’m not moving any more’. And that’s what Martin O’Neill is talking about there – you had to put it on a sixpence for him.
“When you take touch, touch, touch then that’s what happens. As a striker you get frustrated.
“Martin played on the wing. I bet the first thing he was told is to get it out his feet and get that ball into the box. If the striker isn’t there then you can have a go at them. But when your wingers are taking touch, touch, touch…”
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