Martin O’Neill believes Kasper Høgh can score 20 or more goals this season, and I must admit that I admire the optimism.

At a time when Celtic supporters have had plenty of reasons to question what is happening on the pitch, a manager publicly backing his striker is no bad thing.

But I have a few questions. And, trusting my Ginger Witch instincts, I suspect I am not the only one wondering whether this particular prediction is a little ambitious under the current circumstances.

Twenty goals would be wonderful, but how exactly is Kasper Høgh supposed to score them if Celtic cannot decide how to play in a way that suits him, and if Camilo Durán increasingly looks like the preferred option through the middle?

There is the small matter of actually playing football, Martin.

Let me make one thing clear before anybody starts sharpening the knives. I am not questioning Høgh’s potential. Quite the opposite. I think he has the qualities to become an important player for Celtic, and I have already argued that he deserves patience.

A striker needs confidence, service and regular opportunities. Most importantly, he needs a team which understands how to create the conditions in which he can succeed. You cannot drop a striker into a team, wave a magic wand and expect goals to appear from nowhere.

Football does not work like that, despite what certain people in the stands, on social media and perhaps occasionally in the boardroom appear to believe.

Høgh has already shown what he can do. His first Celtic goals came in spectacular fashion with a hat-trick against Kilmarnock, exactly the sort of performance that makes supporters sit up and start imagining what might be possible.

But a hat-trick does not automatically turn into a 20-goal season. To reach that number, a striker needs consistency, minutes and chances.

And this is where my confidence begins to wobble.

Celtic have looked disjointed too often this season, and the problem is not simply that Høgh has failed to score in every game. The larger question is whether we are creating the right circumstances for him at all.

Are we providing the service he needs? Are we using his strengths intelligently? Are we building an attacking structure in which he knows where his chances are supposed to come from?

Or are we simply hoping somebody produces a moment of individual brilliance and rescues us again?

If it is the latter, then even Martin O’Neill’s optimism is going to struggle.

Then there is Camilo Durán, and this is where the issue becomes even more interesting.

Durán has increasingly looked comfortable playing through the middle, and that is obviously good news for Celtic. Competition should be good news. But it raises an equally obvious question for Høgh.

Where exactly does he fit?

If Durán continues to establish himself as the first choice through the centre, is Høgh going to start regularly enough to reach anything close to 20 goals?

Of course, substitutes can score. Some of the most important goals in football are scored by players arriving late from the bench. But asking somebody to score 20 while simultaneously reducing his minutes would require an extraordinary strike rate.

And why create that problem in the first place?

Celtic should have competition for places. Nobody should be guaranteed a starting position because of his reputation, transfer fee or anything else. Durán deserves the opportunity to flourish, and Høgh deserves the opportunity to respond.

But competition should improve the team. It should not leave the rest of us scratching our heads trying to work out how the pieces are supposed to fit together.

That part is on the manager.

It is also on everybody responsible for putting this squad together.

If you sign expensive attacking players with different strengths, you should have some idea how they are supposed to function within the same football team.

My own prediction? Right now, I would put Høgh somewhere around the ten-goal mark.

I hope I am wrong. I would be delighted to be wrong. Being wrong because a Celtic striker has gone on a ridiculous scoring run is hardly the worst punishment imaginable.

But I am judging what I see rather than what I would like to see.

If Høgh continues struggling for regular starts and Celtic continue failing to develop an attacking structure which gets the best out of him, then I simply cannot see where 20 goals come from.

Give him consistent minutes, quality service and a clearly defined role, and the calculation changes.

That is why I refuse to write him off. The potential is clearly there. The question is whether Celtic can help him realise it.

And this cannot simply become a debate about one striker.

Celtic need goals across the attacking line. We need Durán contributing, Høgh scoring, our wide players producing and midfielders arriving into dangerous areas.

We need an attacking system rather than an attacking hope.

There is, however, something I genuinely like about O’Neill making this prediction publicly. He believes in Høgh, and that matters.

Strikers are not machines. Confidence, trust and knowing the manager believes in you can change everything.

I have repeatedly argued that Høgh deserves support rather than being judged after every missed chance. He is adapting to a new club, new teammates, a new league and the enormous expectations that come with wearing the Celtic shirt.

Perhaps O’Neill sees something in training which makes him believe the best is still to come. Perhaps he intends to give Høgh the minutes required to prove it.

If so, I hope the football Celtic play begins to reflect that faith.

Because, Martin, I am perfectly happy to believe in Kasper Høgh. I want him to succeed. I want him scoring goals. I want him to become somebody Celtic supporters can rely on.

But belief alone will not produce 20 of them. A functioning attacking system might. Regular football might. Good service might. Playing to the striker’s strengths might.

My verdict is therefore fairly simple. O’Neill’s prediction is optimistic, mine is closer to ten, and Høgh’s actual potential may be higher than either number.

Now Celtic have to create the conditions which allow us to find out.

And if Kasper Høgh reaches 20 goals, I will happily eat my words. I might even season them with a little green-and-white magic.

But first, could somebody please explain to Celtic how to get the best out of the striker?

Because the goals are not going to score themselves.

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