Adam Idah F. Celtic b.2001

[John83]

speak for yourself.

I'm not doing any moderating action, so I'm not going back and reading over that, but it'd be nice if we could be less ****ing awful as a forum with the "Irish player has a minor achievement" "That achievement isn't worth a toss" "You're just biased against my favourite player, who will be world class next year" "He's playing in Scotland/League2/the U21s for a reason" "Yer a big wally and your ma smells" kind of ****e that goes on at times. It's just snippy BS. Lots of us are guilty of contributing to some of it at times. Let's just chill. Idah scored. Let's hope it keeps happening a lot.

[SkStu]

I'm not doing any moderating action, so I'm not going back and reading over that, but it'd be nice if we could be less ****ing awful as a forum with the "Irish player has a minor achievement" "That achievement isn't worth a toss" "You're just biased against my favourite player, who will be world class next year" "He's playing in Scotland/League2/the U21s for a reason" "Yer a big wally and your ma smells" kind of ****e that goes on at times. It's just snippy BS. Lots of us are guilty of contributing to some of it at times. Let's just chill. Idah scored. Let's hope it keeps happening a lot.

Sorry - I was talking about the sexual tension. Hard to get the punctuation right when you are typing with one hand.

[nigel-harps1954]

Sorry - I was talking about the sexual tension. Hard to get the punctuation right when you are typing with one hand.

Questions need asked of this post.

[John83]

They really don't.

[Snapshot]

Imho John, an early reprimand for Snapshot would be more appropriate. It has been normal practice to update goals or appearances for any Irish international player on this site since it began. Against good teams or bad teams, it doesn’t matter.

Stu deserved better than the childish sneer in response. The post was worth making.
A reprimand for what, Stuttgart88? An opinion about standards in the SPFL Championship? About Adam Idah’s career choices? How have I infringed “normal practice”. Childish sneer? What post was worth making?

[CraftyToePoke]

Sorry - I was talking about the sexual tension. Hard to get the punctuation right when you are typing with one hand.

Which hand Stuart ?

[John83]

Ireland’s Adam Idah says he can ‘step up a gear’ after notching three goals in two games [extra.ie (https://extra.ie/2024/09/24/sport/soccernews/adam-idah-celtic-goals)]
Direct quotes from Idah:

‘I was delighted with the two goals, but I was probably still a bit annoyed with my performance in the end,’ he said.
‘I thought I probably could have got more goals, that’s the frustrating thing. I know I got two, but there are other things that I’m not really happy about, so it’s a bit of a strange moment for me right now.’
‘I didn’t do much in pre-season. Before anyone jumps on that, that wasn’t me chucking it or anything, it was just how we trained down at Norwich. It’s not as intense down there as it is here. We’re at a big club and we want to be on it.’
‘So, when I came to Celtic, I was probably a week behind, and now I’m getting the minutes in I’m starting to get goals.
‘I feel good now and I’m probably not far behind. I just need to keep sticking with it and I’ll get there.’
‘It was a tough game.’
‘To be fair to them, they came at us really sharp and probably blew us away a bit.

[Razors left peg]

Hes actually had a pretty poor start to the season so hopefully the last week will kick things on for him. He wasnt looking as sharp as last season and his touch wasnt great, we seen it for Ireland too. It was a weird off season for him, he wanted out of Norwich and there was the incident where he didnt turn up for a preseason trip, so it might be taking him a few weeks to get up to speed. Hopefully now with the games coming thick and fast with Europe and League he'll be getting plenty of game time and if his form is anything like last season Id expect plenty of goals this side of Christmas

[Eirambler]

You could see in his games for Celtic coming up to the international break, and then in the Ireland games, that he wasn't fully match fit. I know he said he wasn't chucking it, but it does look like he wasn't giving 100% in pre season at Norwich. He obviously wanted to go but it has ended up holding him back a bit for the last few weeks.

[Acornvilla]

At least himself and Evan will be considerably more match fit by the time next next internationals roll around and the squad will generally be in a better place along with Cullen being back you'd imagine. Great to see him scoring two games in a row no matter the level

[pineapple stu]

Comes in with 25 minutes to go against St Johnstone with his side 4-0 up to score a late sixth.

Calling Svengali Stu to judge that one!

[Razors left peg]

Comes in with 25 minutes to go against St Johnstone with his side 4-0 up to score a late sixth.

Calling Svengali Stu to judge that one!

It was a lovely finish to cap a brilliant team move.... so that should help the Cantankerous goals committee

[Acornvilla]

Scores 4 goals between 3 competitions in a week, you'll take it!

[John83]

Scores 4 goals between 3 competitions in a week, you'll take it!
Idah for the golden boot! ;)

[Razors left peg]

Idah for the golden boot! ;)

It's a Golden Welly in Scotland

[John83]

I meant the europe-wide one!

[Snapshot]

It was a lovely finish to cap a brilliant team move.... so that should help the Cantankerous goals committee
St Johnstone.

[samhaydenjr]

I wonder did Swedish football fans question the quality of opposition that Henrik Larsson faced when he was banging them in at Celtic, or Australian fans re Tom Rogic or Scott McDonald, or Japanese fans re half their forwards... you see where I'm going with this.

Look, Idah may not quite have hit the heights we hoped he would when he got that FA Cup hat-trick. But Celtic liked him enough after his loan spell to pay almost 10 million pounds for him and he's scoring every 65 minutes he's on the field for them. He took a while to register his first international goal but has since scored four in under 18 months, which means he's hit that mark at a younger age than Stapleton, Aldridge, Cascarino, Quinn, Doyle or Walters. That should be enough to make him a suitable back-up to Even Ferguson, at least

[Snapshot]

Interesting point, Sam.

Larsson was brilliant. It was a different Euro era for Celtic, being still relevant and, of course, certain of qualification. Some historic victories, especially at Anfield and Blackburn along with a UEFA Cup final loss in Portugal(?). Many other highlights I can't recall. It being a bygone era is underscored by the Blackburn-Celtic game(s) being dubbed The Battle of Britain! Larsson's goals also ensured Rangers didn't win ten-in-a-row. An absolute imperative!

I don't know how his fellow countrymen appraised Larsson's time in Glasgow tbh. Good question. I mean, weekly domestic drubbings of such as Partick Thistle, Hamilton Accies and Morton. I doubt the Swedes knew, understood or cared about the historic underpinnings of Scottish football.

Celtic now pose relatively little Euro threat but retain duopoly muscle which makes mush of SPFL domestic standards on a weekly basis. On Adam Idah, I wish him well. My unforgivable sin is I believe he should have avoided the SPFL trainwreck. On one thing we agree, he's no Henrik Larsson. More's the pity.

[pineapple stu]

. He took a while to register his first international goal but has since scored four in under 18 months, which means he's hit that mark at a younger age than Stapleton, Aldridge, Cascarino, Quinn, Doyle or Walters.
Stapleton, Aldridge, etc didn't have games against Gibraltar and Andorra to bump up their goals tally at that age. They had better options ahead of them and Ireland played fewer games then too.

The Henrik Larsson comparison is equally irrelevant. There was only 8 SPL players at the last Euros, all of whom were in the Scotland squad which had the worst record of any team at the Euros, and most of those 8 were on the bench too.

It's almost as if football has changed in the last 25 years.

Idah is what he is and that's not his fault; he certainly works very hard but ultimately is quite limited. He's well behind Ferguson, Parrott and Sammie in the forward options I think

[pixiehead]

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[Trequartista20]

Stapleton, Aldridge, etc didn't have games against Gibraltar and Andorra to bump up their goals tally at that age. They had better options ahead of them and Ireland played fewer games then too.

The Henrik Larsson comparison is equally irrelevant. There was only 8 SPL players at the last Euros, all of whom were in the Scotland squad which had the worst record of any team at the Euros, and most of those 8 were on the bench too.

It's almost as if football has changed in the last 25 years.

Idah is what he is and that's not his fault; he certainly works very hard but ultimately is quite limited. He's well behind Ferguson, Parrott and Sammie in the forward options I think

Four of Stapleton's ten international goals came against Luxembourg and Malta.

Famously, eight of Aldridge's nineteen international goals came against Latvia. Also well-documented is his taking 20 matches to register his first goal - in a friendly against Tunisia. He scored three against Turkey and two against Malta - his second and third favourite opponents.

Those teams were absolutely regarded as minnows in those days, and in some cases still are.

Similarly, Cascarino won caps against Malta, Albania, Liechtenstein etc.

Ireland have generally played around ten matches a year since the mid 80s, so I'm not sure how it can be claimed playing more matches now than ever before. The most matches Ireland have ever played in a single calendar year is 14 in 2011 - thirteen years ago, and incidentally at a time when Doyle and Walters were regulars in the squad.

https://www.the42.ie/an-in-depth-look-at-whether-the-2020s-are-the-worst-ever-period-for-irish-football-6485515-Sep2024/

If idah is 'well behind' Parrot, someone must have forgotten to tell Ireland's management team. During the last international idah played in both matches, despite not being fully fit. Parrot saw no game time at all.

Since coming back from his knee injury, Idah has played in all 15 Ireland matches he has been available for, starting the majority (eight).

[pineapple stu]

Those games were not comparable to Gibraltar and Andorra - of those games you mention we beat Malta 1-0 and Luxembourg 2-1 (and 2-0 in the other qualifier). The 8-0 was a freak result, as evidenced by the fact it's still our record win. The back-pass rule helped sides like that keep the score down (again, two 2-0 wins over Malta in 1990 qualifying, and they made plentiful use of the backpass rule).

Latvia were not Gibraltar/Andorra either; they were clearly a step up who regularly won 3/4 games in qualifying. They beat Austria at home and the North away in the 1998 group for example (plus Liechtenstein home and away).

Tunisia were beaten by Cameroon in the final play-off round for Italia 90 qualifying, when Africa had only two qualification spots. Clearly not minnows.

Stapleton scored 20 goals, not 10.

In 1986 we played 7 matches. 8 matches in 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1995 (obviously more in the years we reached major finals). 6 games in 1998. We played 8 games in half a year in 2020, 12 games in 2021, and 10 games a year every year since then. So definitely playing more games than in the Stapleton/Quinn/Aldridge era.

I think the lack of minutes for Parrott was commented on after the last window. And his form then also has him ahead for me. He's a starter in a better league, whereas Idah is a bench option still. I think Parrott is starting to show a good knack for being in the right place at the right time to get a tap-in, whereas Idah has always struggled with that. And the move to Celtic and a new coach may change that of course.

Bottom line though - the sort of stats sam quoted don't have any consideration of whether they're meaningful or just coincidental. They're irrelevant.

[Olé Olé]

I wonder did Swedish football fans question the quality of opposition that Henrik Larsson faced when he was banging them in at Celtic, or Australian fans re Tom Rogic or Scott McDonald, or Japanese fans re half their forwards... you see where I'm going with this.

Look, Idah may not quite have hit the heights we hoped he would when he got that FA Cup hat-trick. But Celtic liked him enough after his loan spell to pay almost 10 million pounds for him and he's scoring every 65 minutes he's on the field for them. He took a while to register his first international goal but has since scored four in under 18 months, which means he's hit that mark at a younger age than Stapleton, Aldridge, Cascarino, Quinn, Doyle or Walters. That should be enough to make him a suitable back-up to Even Ferguson, at least

Don't know what the questions were but Australian fans found few answers in Scott McDonald's 26 goalless caps.

[pineapple stu]

Don't know what the questions were but Australian fans found few answers in Scott McDonald's 26 goalless caps.
To add to that - on the "Japanese fans we half their forwards" bit, Kyogo was left out of Japan's 2022 World Cup and 2024 Asian Cup squads. Hatate was left out of the World Cup squad.

[Fixer82]

i think Idah suffers a bit by being a big lad. I see him as a poacher in and around the box. But for Ireland he's given the role of lone frontman who has to try to hold up the ball. And he's really not strong in that area. Unfortunately, the way we are at the moment I don't think there's room for a poacher who excels in the box

[Stuttgart88]

Anyone with half a brain can see what type of player he is. Although Idah was off the pace and lacking match fitness for the England game the strategy seemed to be to lump it up to him frequently. This wouldn't have worked even if he was match fit. He didn't once read the flight of the ball right and Guehi was first to it every time. I honestly think JOS just sees a big black lad and thinks he's the next Emile Heskey. I have zero confidence in JOS as a coach or a strategist or even in his ability to recognise his players' key attributes. That's why I'm really underwhelmed by the reliance HH has on JOS, seemingly under pressure from Canham. I was quite positive about HH's appointment but I want to see him become his own man pretty damn soon.

[Stuttgart88]

It was a lovely finish to cap a brilliant team move.... so that should help the Cantankerous goals committeeThe finish was very similar to Michael Thomas' famous goal at Anfield in 1989. Not quite the same order of magnitude but similar in how he dug it out from his feet and guided it inside the post with a soft push with his next touch. "It's up for grabs now, Idah!!!.....to make it 6 against St. Johnstone"

[Snapshot]

Anyone with half a brain can see what type of player he is. Although Idah was off the pace and lacking match fitness for the England game the strategy seemed to be to lump it up to him frequently. This wouldn't have worked even if he was match fit. He didn't once read the flight of the ball right and Guehi was first to it every time. I honestly think JOS just sees a big black lad and thinks he's the next Emile Heskey. I have zero confidence in JOS as a coach or a strategist or even in his ability to recognise his players' key attributes. That's why I'm really underwhelmed by the reliance HH has on JOS, seemingly under pressure from Canham. I was quite positive about HH's appointment but I want to see him become his own man pretty damn soon.
Mudder-a-jazus. John O'Shea is now to blame for Idah's ineptitude at international level. Also, your comment about what JOS "just sees" isn't too clever.

[Stuttgart88]

I don't really care what you think, so hey...

[Stuttgart88]

On reflection, I'll admit the second part.

I think O'Shea totally and utterly mistook what Idah can bring to the team. I rated Idah's performance vs England as utterly terrible but a big mitigant is how we hit long high balls to him. That's not his game. And I do blame JOS for that. He was de facto in charge for that game and it was clearly a tactic. I'm beyond exasperated by the whole HH, JOS and Canham thing.

[Razors left peg]

Jesus you see very stupid things over the years on here, but the suggestion that todays minnows are worse than the minnows of past years is really an incredible line of thinking. The mental gymnastics required to consistently find new ways to criticize some players would almost be impressive if they werent so mind-bendingly ludicrous.

[CraftyToePoke]

Jesus you see very stupid things over the years on here, but the suggestion that todays minnows are worse than the minnows of past years is really an incredible line of thinking. The mental gymnastics required to consistently find new ways to criticize some players would almost be impressive if they werent so mind-bendingly ludicrous.

Isn't it desperate form. Really awful form.
I don't think lousy describes it, I don't know what describes it.

[CraftyToePoke]

& then to drag the back pass rule into it. Its like self inflicted minor brain injuries to even read it & give any time at all to such glass quarter full & leaking, needless absolute misery.

If I were to find myself seeking such lengths to draw any scrap of enjoyment out of a chosen pass time, interest or obsession & then burdening others with such, I think I would reevaluate if it is in fact right for me and perhaps I have made a mistake.

[John83]

Mod warning: stay on topic and cut out the personal ****e. Accusing O'Shea of racism based on some tenuous speculation is bang out of order too.

[John83]

Idah made it on as a sub as Celtic got thumped by Dortmund.
https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/champions-league/celtic-get-devastating-champions-league-wake-up-call-as-they-are-thumped-by-rampant-dortmund/a416983937.html
Just the one mention here:

The Celtic fans kept singing and their team kept trying to reward them. Hatate came closer from 22 yards and fellow sub Adam Idah could only head Valle’s cross into the arms of Gregor Kobel from close range.

[elatedscum]

Movement was good to be in the right place. The miss was poor. Awkward header into an open goal from a yard out. Only managed to head it directly back across the goal towards the keeper who was able to reach back and grab it on the line.

If the ball connects centimetre to the right on his head, the narrative is totally different. It’s Idah coming on with 15 mins left and scoring against Dortmund despite Celtic being outclassed.

Such is life

[tetsujin1979]

I've done some investigating, and I think the last time that two Republic of Ireland players scored in a single European Cup/Champions League (proper) game before Scales and Idah scored for Celtic against Slovan Bratislava was this first round tie between Athlone Town and Standard Liege in September 1983, Joey Salmon and Fran Hitchcock the goalscorers
https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/931--standard-liege-vs-athlone/

[Razors left peg]

Starts away to Atalanta today in Champions League

[Eirambler]

The good and the bad of playing in the Scottish Premiership today for Idah. Scores a handy enough goal by running across a poor quality SPL defender. But then gets hacked by a studs up tackle about five minutes later by another poor quality SPL defender, who is correctly sent off. Seems to have avoided a serious injury luckily enough.

[Stuttgart88]

I thought the movement was good and something I think he has added to his game. I know it's a lower level, but I still think at Norwich he lacked the instinct to be in the right place at the right time, but yesterday he timed his move perfectly to result in a simple tap in. Very similar to his crucial winner there last year. Might have had another but Kuhn got in his way.

[pineapple stu]

Seven touches away to Hearts this evening, but two of them ended in the back of the net. Efficient!

Scales back on the bench as Carter-Vickers was back. So his place in the pecking order seems clear for now unfortunately

[Stuttgart88]

..and he drew a solid save from Gordon with one of the others. I liked how he took the Bernardo pass deftly with his left before placing the shot with his right. All good players do that of course but it's still nice to see. Sometimes the little things matter.

And one of his other involvements was to lose the ball from which Hearts ran upfield and scored a worldie. Incident packed involvement all round.

His pen was emphatic.

Trusty looks solid now beside CCV but he did nearly cough up a goal at 0-2 when he played a daft pass inside his own box.

[pineapple stu]

Craig Gordon. Good Lord.

Had a look there and the combined age of the two keepers (Gordon and Schmeichel) was 79. Almost 80 in fact; Schmeichel was 38 this month and Gordon is 42 next month

[Stuttgart88]

Gordon was superb yesterday. Looks in great nick. Reflexes sharp as ever. Amazing considering he broke his leg a couple of years ago. He played for Scotland last week in Poland. Schmeichel still playing very well too.

[Eirambler]

Gordon one of the very few remaining active international footballers who was born the same year as me!

He would actually be one of the best players in the Scottish Premiership outside of the two Glasgow clubs at the moment. In general, outside of Celtic - who to be fair to them are going really well, Scottish domestic football is in as weak a place as I've seen it in a long time. Really only Aberdeen are showing anything, and even they took an absolute battering off Celtic recently.

[Stuttgart88]

Who is the Taylor(?) fella who played for St. Mirren yesterday, ex-Waterford?

[osarusan]

Yes, and didn't exactly stand out there either.

I remember him getting taken off early in a playoff match against Treaty about 2 years ago as he was all over the place.

Jonah Ayunga of St Mirren was with Sligo a few years ago as well. Wasn't amazing there (granted I think he was only 18 or 19 then) and last season I watched him regularly bully SPL defences (including the Celtic defence and score in a St Mirren win).

Then Alex Grieve from NZ who left St Mirren earler this season and signed for Bohs. I thought he'd do well but he hasn't scored at all I think.

Whether LOI is improving, or SPL is slipping, or a bit of both...the gap is much narrower than I'd imagined.

[Eirambler]

I doubt St Mirren players get paid much more than LoI Premier players, probably less in a lot of cases. They're a small club relying on income from other teams' away fans and TV money mainly.

[osarusan]

I doubt St Mirren players get paid much more than LoI Premier players, probably less in a lot of cases. They're a small club relying on income from other teams' away fans and TV money mainly.
Actually, they have capped the amount of away fans to one stand, and that includes Celtic and Rangers, who could fill the whole stadium if let.