Martin O’Neill would love to have a striker of John Hartson’s ilk at Celtic right now, but his former player might have a few demands.

One of them would be for Hartson to play in a two-man striker role, something he did for large parts of his career, including in the colours of Celtic.

John Hartson urges Martin O’Neill to play Kasper Hogh regularly as a two

There have been calls by some Celtic supporters for O’Neill and his coaching staff to use Hogh and Camilo Duran together as out-and-out strikers.

But it hasn’t happened yet, and that’s where Hartson sympathised with the Denmark striker, who won’t be going on international duty during the November break.

What’s also interesting is that Hartson touched upon the minutes Hogh is playing, and how he thinks that is an issue.

Speaking on Not Another Football Podcast, with former Celtic duo Jackie McNamara and Simon Donnelly, Hartson was pretty clear on his thoughts about Hogh, and making the team more of an attacking threat.

“I always played two, and I feel the best way to play two is that 3-5-2,” said Hartson.  

“I think with Celtic now, you look at Hogh, and you look at Duran.  Hogh can’t get into games at the minute because he’s not playing regularly. He looks like a fish out of water when he’s not playing. 

“You can’t leave players out for three or four games and then expect them to come on and be up to speed and have momentum. And a striker’s all about that, really.

“And the way to play two up is to play five across the midfield, if you like, when you’re attacking. They’ve got to play, and I think Celtic are set up for that.

“I think Donovan on the right; he gets up and down. I think Tierney on the left. Three big centre-halves. You have Nygren, Baur, and McGregor. Central midfield players. Oxlade-Chamberlain, and one or two others to come in there. I think that’s the way.

“To get Hogh into the team on a regular basis, I think you have to look to play two up. I think we would be more of a threat that way as well.”

This is where Brendan Rodgers called out Celtic…

The road has been rough for O’Neill. During the previous international break, many were wondering if the legendary boss would stay on board.

Celtic and O’Neill did the right thing by keeping everything going, even if there have been many bumps in the road, and there are many bumps to go.

The simple reason for that is Celtic’s recruitment, once again, hasn’t helped those at Lennoxtown, even if they have done x, y and z wrong from a coaching perspective.

On the other hand, O’Neill is more than experienced and wise. This is where Brendan Rodgers called out Celtic. Called out those at the top for their nonsense, setting up to fail, and the club failed badly on the European stage.

This is where O’Neill, if he is saying anything at all about the board, is keeping everything in-house and being protective of people who are making his life much harder.