Vidar Riseth has backed Celtic's £11million record signing Kasper Hogh to avoid the fate that befell Tore Andre Flo at Rangers. The Norwegian striker Flo joined Rangers for £12million in 2000 — still Scottish football's most expensive transfer — but was branded a flop despite scoring 38 goals in 72 appearances, largely because Henrik Larsson was rewriting the record books across the city.
Riseth on the pressure
Riseth, a former Celtic player, said: "There’s going to be a pressure of course, but for him, I don't think that's going to be a problem at all. He's a strong man, strong in his head and I don't think that's going to be a problem."
He compared Hogh's situation to Flo's, where the Rangers striker was measured against Larsson. "When I played for Celtic we had Henrik Larsson. He scored over 40 goals and then when Tore-Andre Flo signed for Glasgow Rangers, he was the most expensive striker. Even if he scored 25 goals - that is quite impressive in one season - but when Henrik scores over 50 goals, you get the pressure on his shoulders! He said to me, ‘Even if I score two goals, Henrik scored four goals!’ So you don't have that for Kasper - because you don't have a striker in the Rangers who scored 50 goals, so that's good for him as well, I think!"
Different circumstances
Riseth believes the absence of a 50-goal-a-season Rangers striker means Hogh will not face the same direct comparison that undermined Flo. Hogh arrived at Celtic this summer as the club's record signing.
