I watched Celtic show distress signs - fears circle over star man but Rangers system change may be fatal

It was not the way manager Martin O’Neill would have wanted to start the Europa League campaign, nor prepare for Sunday’s Old Firm clash with Rangers.

Mark Atkinson was at Celtic Park for The Scotsman to cover proceedings and picks out three talking points:

Kasper Who?

We need to start talking about Kasper Hogh. Celtic splashed out a club record fee of £11 million for the 25-year-old striker and so far, the only returns are a hat-trick against Kilmarnock at the beginning of August.

His form has been so poor that the Dane wasn’t even in the starting XI against Ferencvaros after a powderpuff performance against Rangers at Ibrox. O’Neill introduced him at half-time as a strike pair with Camilo Duran, but his touch was poor, his passing errant and he failed to get a sniff at goal.

Hogh has played seven games this season, missing three due to injury. His form has dipped alarmingly since the opening weeks of the season.

There could be many reasons for this: fitness, as he was playing summer football with Bodo/Glimt prior to his Celtic transfer, not fitting into the system, low morale - or the fact that Celtic overpaid for a striker who despite scoring in the Champions League for his former club, wasn’t in-demand across the continent.

Hogh is a nice guy, a cheery interviewee, a smiling face that lifts spirits around Lennoxtown. That’s all fine and well, but Celtic need him to be scoring goals. It’s not happening right now and Celtic need more from him. And pronto.

Bravery on the ball

O’Neill discusses this in depth afterwards. It is clear that Celtic are slow and ponderous when building up from the back, and unable to swiftly and dynamically play through the pitch as they once did.

In the first half especially, Celtic Park groaned as many players turned backwards rather than play an incisive pass. Centre-half Liam Scales was the chief culprit. The only penetration came down the left, with Kieran Tierney and James Forrest linking well. In the centre, captain Callum McGregor dropped too deep to make an impact, and Oliver Sorensen and Mika Baur weren’t able to spin away and drive forward. Celtic miss a Reo Hatate-type who does that regularly.

As is often the case when morale is low, players take the safe option. Celtic need to show courage in their build-up play.

What does O’Neill do against Rangers?

O’Neill hinted in his post-match interview that the days of 4-3-3 might not be long for this world. Celtic have played that formation for many seasons now and the Northern Irishman - a disciple of 3-5-2 - is clearly losing patience with it.

The big question is: does O’Neill rip up the playbook now, or wait for the three-week international break?

Wilfried Nancy tried to implement tactical change on Celtic last season when he first arrived and the consequences were catastrophic. Now, O’Neill would probably do it with more nuance, but is an Old Firm match really the right time to do so? Perhaps he is inspired by Rangers manager Derek McInnes’ tactical switch last weekend by using left-back James Penrice as a midfielder.

The other question is whether Celtic are actually equipped to play 3-5-2. They have a heavy armoury of wingers who don’t track back well enough - yes, Haissem Hassan, we are looking at you - and they don’t seem like good fits to play as wing-backs. Central defence may also be an issue, with Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty and Liam Scales the best options (although Kieran Tierney could play as a three).

The midfield is well-stocked enough to do it, and Hogh and Duran could clearly benefit from being a strike pair. But with 48 hours left ahead of the derby, it would be a bold call to make such drastic changes against Rangers.