Ex-Celt Vidar Riseth has offered his advice on how Celtic should get the best out of Kasper Høgh.

He is certainly not the first person from outside the club to offer us that sort of guidance, and I suspect he will not be the last. But do you know what really bothers me about this whole situation?

It is not that former players, football pundits or people who know the game are discussing how Celtic should use our striker. That is perfectly reasonable.

What bothers me is that we seem to need these people to tell us things that Celtic should already know.

Seriously, what on earth is going on at Celtic?

We spent approximately £11 million bringing Kasper Høgh to Paradise. Eleven million.

That is not pocket money found underneath the sofa at Celtic Park. That is a substantial investment in a player whom we presumably identified, analysed, scouted and considered capable of improving our attacking options.

At least, I would like to think that was the process.

Surely, before committing that sort of money, somebody at Celtic had a clear understanding of what Høgh brings to the team, what his strengths are, how he likes to play and, most importantly, how we intended to use him.

Or was the plan simply to sign him, hand him a Celtic shirt and hope that everything would magically fall into place?

If so, perhaps we should add a fortune teller to the football recruitment department. It might save us a few million.

Let me make something absolutely clear. I have nothing against Vidar Riseth offering his opinion. Quite the opposite.

Former players often understand the characteristics of a footballer better than some of the people currently making decisions at clubs. They have played the game, understand different systems and can recognise what makes a striker effective.

Riseth believes Høgh benefited from a different style at Bodø/Glimt, with more crosses into the box, and that Celtic can also use his physical presence to occupy defenders and create space for others.

His contribution might be perfectly worthwhile.

However, I cannot escape one rather uncomfortable question: why does Celtic need somebody from outside the club to explain how best to utilise a player we have just spent £11 million signing?

Kasper Høgh did not arrive at Celtic as some mysterious footballing experiment.

He came with a reputation, a particular playing profile and a record that convinced the club to invest heavily in him. We knew what he had done before arriving in Glasgow. We knew his qualities, his movement, his ability in front of goal and the sort of service he needed.

So why does it sometimes look as though we are still trying to work out what to do with him?

I have said before that I understand Høgh’s frustration. I do.

When you arrive at a club like Celtic, you naturally want to make an immediate impression. You want to score goals, establish yourself and become an important part of the team.

But football is not quite as simple as putting a striker on the pitch and expecting him to perform miracles.

A striker needs a system that supports him. He needs intelligent movement around him, players who understand his runs, appropriate service and a team that knows how to exploit his strengths.

You cannot expect a centre-forward to produce his best football when the tactical arrangements around him are unclear or when he is repeatedly being asked to operate in circumstances that do not suit his game.

And this is precisely where I believe Celtic need to do some serious thinking.

We cannot keep spending significant money on players and then expect them to figure everything out themselves.

Recruitment and coaching must work together.

The scouting department identifies the player, the football management understands his characteristics, and the coaching staff develops a system that allows him to contribute.

It is not rocket science.

It is basic football management.

I would like to know whether Celtic actually had a clearly defined plan for Høgh before signing him.

Did we identify the role he would occupy? Did we consider how he would combine with Camilo Duran? Did we examine how his movement could create opportunities for the players around him? Did we have a tactical structure that would allow him to reproduce the qualities which made him such an attractive signing in the first place?

These are not unreasonable questions.

They are questions supporters should be entitled to ask.

And I am particularly interested in the relationship between Høgh and Duran.

There is potential there. Both players have qualities that could make them an effective attacking partnership, but potential means very little unless somebody knows how to turn it into something productive.

We need to see combinations, understanding and intelligent movement. We need to see a team playing to its strikers rather than expecting its strikers to compensate for everything the team gets wrong.

I do not expect Høgh to score every time he steps onto the pitch.

Nor do I expect an £11 million price tag to guarantee instant success. I understand that adapting to Scottish football, a different tactical environment and the expectations at Celtic takes time.

But I do expect Celtic to know what they are doing.

And there is a considerable difference between giving a player time to settle and looking as though we have no idea how to get the best out of him.

This situation says something about the wider problems at Celtic.

We have repeatedly seen discussions about recruitment, player development, tactical identity and the lack of a coherent footballing structure. We hear opinions from former players, journalists and people outside the club, all offering suggestions about what Celtic should be doing.

Fine. Let them talk.

Football is a game of opinions.

But surely the people employed by Celtic should already be having these conversations internally. Surely there should be a clear strategy connecting recruitment, coaching and first-team development.

Surely somebody should be accountable for ensuring that players are signed because they fit a footballing plan, rather than simply because they are available or considered good investments.

I am tired of seeing Celtic operate as though every problem needs to be discovered after it has already become a problem.

Kasper Høgh cost us £11 million.

That investment should have come with a footballing plan, not a collection of unanswered questions and a succession of outside recommendations.

So, by all means, let Vidar Riseth offer his advice. Let former players explain what they believe would make Høgh more effective.

I am happy to listen.

But I would much rather hear from the people inside Celtic Park explaining what their plan actually is.

Because, honestly, if we need outsiders to tell us how to use a striker we have just spent £11 million on, then perhaps the problem is not Kasper Høgh at all.

Perhaps the problem is the people who signed him, the people responsible for coaching him and the people who are supposed to be providing Celtic with a clear footballing direction.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a much bigger concern than one striker having a difficult time settling into Paradise.

Stop making excuses, stop experimenting without a clear purpose and start getting the best out of the players we have invested in.

Kasper Høgh deserves that. Celtic supporters deserve that. And £11 million certainly deserves that.

We did not spend that money to conduct a guessing game at Celtic Park.

We spent it to improve our football team.

Now, for goodness’ sake, let us see some evidence that we know how to do it.

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