The absence of Martin O’Neill from the dugout at Rugby Park this afternoon proved no impediment to Celtic whatsoever in their second William Hill Premiership match of the new season against Kilmarnock.
Having Kasper Høgh, the Parkhead club’s record £11.5m signing, up front ensured the legendary Northern Irishman, who is still recovering from the minor procedure he underwent in hospital this week, was not missed at all by the Scottish champions.
Høgh, who had drawn a blank on his debut against Dundee at home last Monday night, netted a hat-trick during the opening 35 minutes and helped the Scottish champions to romp to a 5-1 triumph and move to the top of the league table on goal difference.
O’Neill, who had met up with Callum McGregor and his team mates at the team hotel before they departed for the match and passed on a few instructions to his assistant Shaun Maloney, would have been buoyed no end by what he witnessed on television.
Here are five talking points from a one-sided encounter.
Høgh the hero
Kilmarnock had been woeful defensively in their opening Premiership match against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park last week and Neil McCann showed his displeasure with their dire display by making two changes to his backline.
Jamie Brandon and Johnly Yfeko came in and Ethan Schilte-Brown and Nicky Clescenco were relegated to the bench. Elsewhere, Erik Ring, who had been deployed at right-back in Perth, was pushed forward.
The minor surgery did not have the desired effect as the home side were cut open easily in just the second minute. Kieran Tierney unleashed Arne Engels down the left flank and the midfielder floated a chip to Høgh at the back post.
Kasper ghosted in, got in behind Michael Schjønning-Larsen and headed beyond Max Stryjek from a few yards out to open his account in Scotland.
He completed his first hat-trick since he fired in three for his former club Bødo/Glimt in a Europa League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel back in January before half-time.
The Danish internationalist did not have to work particularly hard for any of his goals. Greg Kiltie and his team mates will not enjoy watching them back. They were far too passive and their manager is sure to have directed a few choice words at them in the dressing room at half-time and full-time.
Still, the forward was in the right place at the right time every time an opportunity presented itself in the opposition box and he finished clinically on each occasion. He hit the woodwork in the second half and could have plundered even more. This outing will do wonders for his confidence.
Striker was a problem position and then some for Celtic last term. They had to play young Johnny Kenny and winger Daizen Maeda in attack at times due to their shortage of options in the crucial specialist berth. It is still early days and far greater tests lie ahead. But Høgh looks to be the solution.
Stryjek saint and sinner
Kilmarnock recovered pretty well from their awful start and could and really should have drawn level. Aaron Tshibola, King and Tyreece John-Jules all had good chances to equalise after slick attacking moves. But they failed to convert any of them.
Against a side like Celtic there is only going to be one outcome when there is a lack of ruthlessness in the final third. The Scottish champions came back in to proceedings after those scares and were soon dominating.
Polish keeper Stryjek kept his team in it for a while by producing fine saves from Engels, Benjamin Nygren, Høgh and Tierney.
The former Sunderland, Livingston and Wycombe Wanderers man, though, killed off what slim hopes his side had of staging a comeback in the third minute of a second half by passing the ball straight to the feet of Nygren. The Swede made no mistake.
Canny Camilo
Being played out wide in Celtic’s opening two league matches has prevented Camilo Duran, the Colombian striker who arrived in a £6m transfer from Qarabag last month from getting his name on the scoresheet.
But the 24-year-old still impressed greatly. He worked tirelessly during his time on the park, struck the crossbar with a powerful long-range attempt and was involved in two of his side’s goals. He did superbly to find Høgh at the third .
The South American appears to have a fantastic attitude and work rate and he received a warm round of applause from the travelling support when he made way for Sebastian Tounekti after an hour.
Beaming bunnet
When a new player scores three times in just his second game at a club it tends to endear him to their supporters and it has not taken long for the Celtic faithful to come up with a song with which to laud Høgh. After each of his goals, they chanted, “Høgh Høgh! Høgh!”
McCann, the former Rangers player and assistant manager, was also targeted by the occupants on the Chadwick Stand during the course of the 90 minutes. A late Schjønning-Larsen consolation strike silenced them briefly.
It would have been fitting if supporters of the Parkhead club had lauded Fergus McCann, the Scots-Canadian businessman who saved them from financial oblivion in 1994, as well.
But The Bunnet, who was watching alongside the current club directors in the Frank Beattie Stand, enjoyed seeing his boyhood heroes romp to such an emphatic victory nonetheless. Substitute Luke McCowan added a fifth late on.
Pitch battle
This was the first league fixture that Kilmarnock had played on grass since they took on St Mirren on May 7, 2014. The hosts prevailed that day thanks to a first half Kris Boyd strike and then ripped up their hallowed turf and put down an artificial 3G pitch.
The Ayrshire club’s hierarchy have spent £1.5m relaying their playing surface this summer and it has been money spent. The heavy rain which fell had no adverse impact on underfoot conditions.
Maloney predicted that his charges would be able to produce their natural passing game on it before kick-off and he was proved correct.
The change is positive for Scottish football and should ensure there are more entertaining top flight encounters for spectators to enjoy – but the Ayrshiremen have to start capitalising. They have let in nine goals in their last two games.
