Adam Idah F. Celtic b.2001

[tetsujin1979]

Jota is supposed to be returning to Celtic as part of the Kyogo move to Rennes

[joey B]

2 goals for him at Villa Park!

[yurt]

Both finishes you wouldn't associate with a striker who hadn't scored in 14.

One a very quick reaction to sort his feet out to finish a deflection. The second needed smart movement from Idah and he finished superbly under pressure from the keeper.

[seanfhear]

Back in England ! !

[irishfan86]

Both well taken goals. His hold up play and use of his body to bully defenders also notable. If he can evolve his game to play like he is today on a regular basis we have a player.

[tetsujin1979]

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[Olé Olé]

Both well taken goals. His hold up play and use of his body to bully defenders also notable. If he can evolve his game to play like he is today on a regular basis we have a player.

This is the point about Idah. He has qualities that a) aren't common but b) tend to develop a little later in players. We see glimpses of them from time to time.

[Eirambler]

Two good finishes to be fair. Can't do anything against Ross County and St Mirren among others and then scores two away against Villa, the man remains a mystery.

[Eirambler]

Handy one for him against Real Madrid or Bayern Munich next.

[Razors left peg]

Two good finishes to be fair. Can't do anything against Ross County and St Mirren among others and then scores two away against Villa, the man remains a mystery.

Maybe never getting 90 mins messes with a lads head. With Kyogo gone hopefully he'll get the confidence from being 1st choice.

[Eirambler]

Possibly part of it is that he struggles against the low block that most SPL teams play against Celtic because he can't use his pace to run away from defenders, so he actually ends up doing better against better teams where there's more space to run into. However neither of the goals last night particularly back that up and his Ireland performances to date haven't shown much sign of that either. Maybe he's just extremely inconsistent.

[pineapple stu]

His time at Norwich didn't suggest deep defences were particularly the problem either.

But let's see if the goals help his confidence a bit.

[tetsujin1979]

With three goals, Idah is now the joint third highest Irish goalscorer in the Champions League, alongside Ian Harte and Damien Duff, and only one behind Irwin on four.

[John83]

Great to see. Hopefully he'll take that confidence boost into a run of goals.

[Stuttgart88]

That game was crying out for Maeda last night. Yang just wasn't up to it. If Maeda was playing Idah could have scored more :)

I commented above that Celtic manage to get into positions to drill low balls across the box a lot (Kilmarnock game?) but Idah doesn't seem to have the knack of being right place/right time. Then against Young Boys it was Kyogo that failed in the same way. And ages ago I bemoaned Idah's inability to be in the right place for the easy (looking) finish, but that in itself is a talent - one that Ferguson seems to have.

That said, I think it often depends on a bit of luck too. The McGinn deflection for example. But what an athletic finish. And the second was a perfect centre forward's goal, and I think he showed great awareness to lift it over Martinez. He has in the past shown a good ability to lose his defender and get there first (crucial late goal vs. Motherwell away, SFA Cup Final...) so if he and Kuhn / Jota / Maeda are on the same wavelength he could thrive.

[Stuttgart88]

Both finishes you wouldn't associate with a striker who hadn't scored in 14.

One a very quick reaction to sort his feet out to finish a deflection. That's often what a down-on-his-luck striker needs: a snap reaction goal, rather than one that requires thought.

[pineapple stu]

Breaks his domestic duck against Motherwell this afternoon

[elatedscum]

Only 5 off the golden boot :P

[Stuttgart88]

Very good game in general today I think.

[Eirambler]

Yes he played well. Forced an own goal (after some very poor defending from Shane Blaney and the Motherwell back line in general), but he was a couple of inches offside in the build up. Then had a smart low shot tipped onto the post by the Motherwell keeper. Was taken off for the last 15.

Will be interesting to see if some centre forward competition for him is signed by the end of tomorrow. 10 points clear in the league and with a no hoper draw in the Champions League they may decide to hold fire until the summer.

[Razors left peg]

Thought he was very good today, played with a swagger. His movement was very good all game

[MylesNotMiley]

Since Kyogo left he seems to have a new found confidence and with Celtic not signing a striker yesterday, he should get more starts.

[Eirambler]

Yes, a big opportunity for him now. Anything in the Champions League is a bonus given the draw but he needs to go on a goalscoring run domestically for the rest of the season.

[rebelmusic]

Another goal, banger of a finish and although missed the first shot, it was his run that made it possible. I was starting to think that maybe he struggles against teams that park the bus...

I really hope this is all the beginning of a magic run of games for him

[Razors left peg]

Another goal, banger of a finish and although missed the first shot, it was his run that made it possible. I was starting to think that maybe he struggles against teams that park the bus...

I really hope this is all the beginning of a magic run of games for him

The 1st shot itself was good ingenuity I thought, instead of swiping with his left foot I think the way he stabbed at it with his right caught the keeper off guard a bit

[elatedscum]

Only 5 off the golden boot :P

Only 4 off the golden boot

[Acornvilla]

Great to see, bought himself some breathing space for the next while, but a real chance to go on the best scoring run of his life now.

[elatedscum]

Great to see, bought himself some breathing space for the next while, but a real chance to go on the best scoring run of his life now.

He's now scored as many goals for Celtic as he has throughout the rest of his short career.

21 goals for Celtic
17 goals for Norwich
4 goals for Ireland

[Razors left peg]

Idah was replaced by Johnny Kenny tonight who now seems to be the main back up for rest of season..... I think Idah will be playing a lot, Kenny looked miles off it I thought.

[Acornvilla]

Idah was replaced by Johnny Kenny tonight who now seems to be the main back up for rest of season..... I think Idah will be playing a lot, Kenny looked miles off it I thought.

I think it's a Championship club in the cup up next, so I hope Kenny gets a start, obviously going to be a big ask for him to make an impact now that the momentum from his excellent run in Europe is gone, has played about half an hours football in 6/7 weeks which wouldn't help.

[Eirambler]

Even taking account of it being the SPL, I would say every team in that league is arguably stronger than the three teams Shamrock Rovers beat in the Conference League. Certainly two of them anyway. So any minutes Kenny gets will be a good test for him to see if he has much or any potential at that level.

[Acornvilla]

Even taking account of it being the SPL, I would say every team in that league is arguably stronger than the three teams Shamrock Rovers beat in the Conference League. Certainly two of them anyway. So any minutes Kenny gets will be a good test for him to see if he has much or any potential at that level.

Very hard to compare, but I just checked the table and realized Hearts didn't even make it in to the top 24, I had just assumed they'd get through, the did have an awful start to the season thou tbf. Neither did the Turkish lads who squeezed past Pats and just signed Festy. Kenny scoring against Rapid definitely indicates he can finish chances against SPL level teams, his finishing was one of his weaknesses but really improved in his last 6 months. Would definitely worry about his lack of game time, and how he will really need to deliver in cameo's if he's to get anywhere, he won't get nearly as many chances as Idah has gotten to find a spot.

Vikingur who Rovers beat in the CL and Kenny scored twice against managed to come 19th in the end which is very impressive for them, would have seen them as a weaker side than the Breidablik ones Rovers got swept away by a few years ago.

[pineapple stu]

Back on the bench today. Slightly surprised by that - I know it's only a home Cup game against second tier Raith, but you'd think an ideal game for Idah if he seems to be a bit of a confidence player.

That said, he can always come on after an hour of course

[Eirambler]

He's their main striker now with Kyogo gone, so he'll start most games unless he's absolutely disastrous. So it makes sense to rest him against Raith I think. I think it's telling though that resting him didn't involve starting Kenny.

[tetsujin1979]

Celtic have a huge game midweek against Bayern Munich, probably rested for that

[pineapple stu]

Ah yeah, I'm only slightly surprised like - just the idea of keeping a run going if confidence is such an issue for him.

On Kenny, it wouldn't surprise me if Celtic weren't too worried about replacing Kyogo in the transfer window. Bit of a risk - but the league is close to won (13 points clear with 13 games to go) and they're not going to beat Bayern, so why waste money on a forward now when you can just buy one in the summer instead?

[Stuttgart88]

Jota prefers to play left side and Maeda is very comfortable in the middle, and suspended for the Bayern home leg. So there’s cover in both wide and central positions and it made sense to rest Idah.

Scales captain for last 30. Nice move.

[Stuttgart88]

Maeda has had his suspension reduced to a one match ban so is now free to play against Bayern. It’ll be interesting to see which 3 of Idah, Maeda, Kuhn and Jota start, and where.

[seanfhear]

Maeda has had his suspension reduced to a one match ban so is now free to play against Bayern. It’ll be interesting to see which 3 of Idah, Maeda, Kuhn and Jota start, and where.Maybe Rodgers would have rested Maeda in the last game, if he knew that he would be available for this game !

[Predator]

Aside from the moment where he was a bit late arriving into the box for a slick Celtic counter (Ronnie remarked on it), I thought Idah did ok for the most part considering he was up against one of the best CBs in the world. He won a few duels, laid it off and drew Upamecano out a couple of times allowing Celtic to get in behind.

[samhaydenjr]

Fifth in five games today. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/live/cq8k91vx3j2t - at this point, I think this is the worst Idah will be in his career - he'll either plateau at being a talented, but somewhat streaky forward at a reasonably high level, or he'll take another step up and become a genuine star. Remember, it's only in the last season and a half where he's been given a proper chance in terms of consistent time and I would call it a qualified success for him

[Olé Olé]

Fifth in five games today. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/live/cq8k91vx3j2t - at this point, I think this is the worst Idah will be in his career - he'll either plateau at being a talented, but somewhat streaky forward at a reasonably high level, or he'll take another step up and become a genuine star. Remember, it's only in the last season and a half where he's been given a proper chance in terms of consistent time and I would call it a qualified success for him

He could be either. It is crazy but he could be class or he could be just unreliable and then he won't receive game time at a certain level and end up moving downwards for regular minutes. I hope for the better. The range is wide.

[elatedscum]

Only 5 off the golden boot :P

Only 4 off the golden boot

Only 3 of the golden boot

[pineapple stu]

You know the other players get to score as well, yeah? :p

He's four off the top of the charts still. Which is a 25-year-old who'd never started a game higher than League Two before this season.

[elatedscum]

You know the other players get to score as well, yeah? :p

He's four off the top of the charts still. Which is a 25-year-old who'd never started a game higher than League Two before this season.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/scottish-premiership/top-scorers

BBC has Dalby on 11 and Idah on 8, transfermarkt too...

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/scottish-premiership/torschuetzenliste/pokalwettbewerb/SC1

[pineapple stu]

Hmmm - soccer way has him on 7. Maybe it hasn't updated for today's game

[Eirambler]

He's on 8 now.

As the only senior striker at the best team in the league by a mile he really should be going on to win that from here. I'm just not sure it would be that much of an achievement. Potentially his biggest challenge will end up being from his own teammates.

[tetsujin1979]

FWIW, with 13 goals he's Celtic third top scorer this season, behind Maeda(22) and Kuhn(17)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024%E2%80%9325_Celtic_F.C._season#Appearances_and _goals

[elatedscum]

FWIW, with 13 goals he's Celtic third top scorer this season, behind Maeda(22) and Kuhn(17)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024%E2%80%9325_Celtic_F.C._season#Appearances_and _goals

if he could get penalties off Engels he'd be doing well. Engels has scored 8 out of 9 this season, missing against Young Boys.

Celtic won 17 penalties last season for comparison.

[Eirambler]

Have Celtic decided that playing no striker at all is preferable to playing Idah tonight or am I misreading things?