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Our striker situation in general isn't as good as it could be going into the March games. Idah has been unconvincing, Cannon is adjusting to a new club and hasn't scored since his move, Ferguson is struggling for minutes. The form pair are Robinson and Parrott, though it may well still be Ferguson that gets the nod this month.
He wasn’t great but again the “they scored three after he went off” needs context. Celtic were playing at a snail’s pace for 60 mins. McGregor was v quiet and Kuhn ineffective. At 2-3 St Mirren had a great shout for a penalty very late in the game, that bizarrely wasn’t even referred to VAR. then Celtic scored 2 very late. The introduction of Jota, McCowan and Yang transformed Celtic. It’s true that Maeda looks sharper in the middle but then again, he is Scotland’s standout player this season and by some distance.
The question is whether Idah’s presence on the pitch was the cause of their poor play up to his departure or was it other reasons. I’d say it was far more that McGregor just didn’t get into the game at all.
On for the last five minutes against Hibs today, and scores.
Started four of the last five from the bench, which is disappointing given he'd scored five in the previous five
The goal was a mirror image of Nunez’ goal for Liverpool yesterday.
It might be disappointing that he’s been starting from the bench recently but can anyone seriously argue that Maeda hasn’t warranted his starts, flanked by Jota and Kuhn?
Happy for him. It was an important goal for both him and the team.
Goal here at around the 4 minute mark
Good movement. The type of runs Ferguson scored a nice handful of goals off.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelmusic
The starting thing must be frustrating but, as was posted, you can't blame them for playing Maeda flanked by Kuhn and Jota. Idah will get games and he will get chances in those games. He needs to make the most of them like he did v Hibs but didn't do the previous weeks.
Interesting take from this Celtic fan site:
https://www.67hailhail.com/news/the-...-scottish-cup/
23 goals in 26 Celtic starts for Idah, and averaging a goal every 113 minutes.
'Nae bad' for a player who is often on the receiving end of so much over-the-top criticism (see the deranged Idah thread on a rival forum for confirmation).
Nice to see positivity from the folks watching him regularly.
I think it's a deranged forum rather than just a deranged thread!Quote:
Originally Posted by Trequartista20
I think Idah is a really decent striker, but he has never been prolific. He's ticking along nicely though and hopefully he'll soon be scoring more in Scotland. When you consider that Adam Rooney was banging in 20+ goals a season for Aberdeen a few years back, it's not an entirely unreasonable expectation.
In fairness he did well in their champions leagues run.
He had a lot of experience as that lone striker/ hold up player so it's not a shock that he needed to find his footing when it came to playing on a team that has 70% possession in most games. His off the ball play as well was more suited to a more heavily defensive team.
All in all he's had a solid season with a couple of blips but he's clearly developed his game and could really hit his stride in the next couple of years.
His big downfall in a green shirt has been not being able to hold up play. So hopefully his Champions League experience will make him more suitable to the Irish gameQuote:
Originally Posted by rebelmusic
Out-shone again by hie striker partners today unfortunately.
Came on at half-time with Celtic 2-0 down at home to Rangers (needing a win to seal the title). Celtic got it back to 2-2, but it was Maeda and Hatate with the goals and Jota/McCowan with the assists, and then Rangers won it in the last minute anyway.
Still without a single assist all season and the Villa game was the only game he opened the scoring for Celtic in. Otherwise seems to be a bit reliant on coming on against tiring poor defences. As Stutts has said, you can't argue against Maeda's form (18 goals in 19 games, plus four assists) - yet there has to be a feeling there was a chance for Idah to make his own name with a decent run of form this season, but it hasn't really happened.
A win wouldn't have sealed the title!
Oops - I thought this was the last game before the split, so five more rounds to go. But it's not. Getting confused with the Belgian split I think, which is after round 30.
Took his goal well. What was the finger to the lips about ?
was wondering that myself? I generally hate seeing that unless there's good reason, like getting abuse from opposition fans etcQuote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
Here's the explanation:
‘I’ve learned to deal with frustration’: Evan Ferguson happy to get back among the goals for Ireland – The Irish Times*
Meanwhile, in the actual mixed zone, Adam Idah explained his finger to the lips celebration after scoring the second Ireland goal as a response to online commentary rather than disappointment with Heimir Hallgrímsson for not starting either game against Bulgaria.
“I saw a lot of stuff online, mainly from some bloke called Pineapple on footdotie, so it was just telling people like him to shut-up, really,” said Idah. ”Obviously I was frustrated with the first game, but I came on today and did what I’ve been doing all season [at Celtic], so it was just to the people who were doubting me.
“To be fair it wasn’t a tough [conversation with Hallgrímsson]. I knew what I wanted to say and it was pretty easy for me to go in. I’ve had a good season, I’ve scored lots of goals, so it wasn’t that hard for me to go in and say it to him.
“He is a man himself, he understood me and he knew what I was talking about, and it wasn’t anything bad. He agreed with what I said, I agreed with some bits of what he said. He said to me, you just have to show yourself. He gave me the minutes today and I did that."
As said previously, there’s a fair degree of delusion in there. I’d prefer to see him let the performances do the talking and leaving no doubt online about his merits. Sounds like HH played the situation well.
(* with a minor edit :) )
Would I be right in saying that Adam may not have even made the squad if Sammie sz was fit?
I think he'd still have been in. Armstrong would probably have missed out.
Honestly... "All season".. The man didn't score any league goal in December or January but he's been doing this "all season"?Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Big fan of him but I can see why his form is so choppy if he's filling his own head with this kind of thing.
I wouldn't say he's the sharpest tool in the box
Is he checking out our forum? Not a good strategy
He took his goal v well, so just stick to that lad and do your best to get back into the Celtic team, before you feel poorly treated
That's a bit selective of you, he did score twice against villa in the Champions League in JanuaryQuote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
I'm not a fan of these comments at all - for the reasons you and Stutts point out (the delusion) - as well as the fact that there was a day when those "chats" with the manager didn't spill out into the public domain, which i think was a better thing overall. Maybe i'm a bit old school now but with players these days there's a stink of "crying to me mammy" when they air the laundry in public. This isnt the most egregious of instances but it still irks me a little bit. Despite what he says there, I reckon the "shush" was for HH.Quote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
He must be Diggs, says so himself.Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
Send him a chin up message there. Probably at an airport today, doom scrolling.
I wasn't being selective. I was reviewing his league form to check whether his form in domestic competition has been as patchy as I thought. Domestic competition should tend to provide a view on a player's form "all season."Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
So, not selective. If you're trying to pin me for being an Idah detractor you won't. There are plenty out there but I'm not one.
The fact is that he shows his quality in streaks and that implies there's a challenge with confidence. No wonder if he's running around shushing the Aviva for scoring a goal having scored 1 goal in his last 6 games before last night.
Parrott has been very goal shy recently too - none his 7, albeit Spurs x2, Ajax and Galatasaray in the opposition - but he was much more sensible addressing his lack of goals post match.
i guess he got asked if the shush was directed at HH and then felt like he needed to clarify/respond/elaborate on the whole situationQuote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2...OQzC/giphy.gifQuote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Have to say social media must be a nightmare for footballers. You know it's there, you're probably sent links from friends and relatives, it's so easy to look up, and it has to be hard to ignore.
Same. And this bit in particular: "He agreed with what I said, I agreed with some bits of what he said." The sense of entitlement is off the scale compared to what he deserves. I like him and I think there are mitigants to his lack of goals/assists - he gets dragged outside the box a lot to link play for example - but as of now I'd say he's not as good as, say, Giakoumakis (26 goals in 57 games, many from the bench) for example. GG was able to get himself into games by force of will.Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
I think the remarks were probably aimed more at Celtic forums though? If it was directed at HH then he's an idiot.
Id look at social media a bit like alcohol for footballers.... you can do it and feel like one of the lads or you can do whats best for your career and stay as far away from it as possible.
I have to say I didnt like the shushing thing from Idah yesterday. If he was getting booed by the crowd or something Id understand it, but if its just aimed at social media d1ckheads hes going to struggle mentally to cope. You could have a video of puppies, butterflies and sunshine and there would be complaints about something in the comment section. Listening to all the village idiots talking loudly on twitter is hard enough when the story is not about you and Im sure its difficult when there is constant negativity being talked, but as a footballer or any top level athlete you have to be able to make sacrifices and not just be a normal lad, social media doesnt mix with that.
This is my issue. His streaky form has to imply he can struggle mentally to cope because the bad streaks aren't down to the quality of opposition, dearth of supply or lack of minutes for CelticQuote:
Originally Posted by Razors left peg
You wonder if the manner of his departure from Norwich is connected in a way (didn't he refuse to go on an away pre-season trip when he wasn't given permission to talk to Celtic?)
I kinda like that he was prepared to knock the managers door and stand up for himself. It sounds like they were able to have a conversation, both talk honestly about things as they each saw it, each see try to see it from the others perspective. I've a lot of time for that sort of old school approach. I think it speaks to the charachter of both men.
Quote:
Originally Posted by backstothewall
Id agree with this fully, a player should have 100% confidence in himself and expect to play, even if from the outside others would disagree.... but in this case here if the finger to the lips was directed to the manager or even online critics then its not a great look for Idah.
I kind of don't mind his self-confidence here. Don't like his shushing celebration but don't mind what he said. I think every striker has to be a bit delusional sometimes when they're off form.
He took his goal well. That's the main thing.
He can shh all he wants if he's scoring goals imo :D
The Celtic forums are a cesspool and he's had a decent run of bad form so i have to assume that was his target. In fairness the venn diagram of Ireland and Celtic fans is fairly packed in the middle so it's a much of a muchness.
Social media and soccer players is a total nonsense though. Outside of some support for Rashford and his charitable excursions it's all been negativity and controversy for 15 years in my memory. Just delete the fricking apps Idah!
Sprung from the bench today. Setup a sitter that Forrest missed and had a really good headed shot from a corner that was saved. In fairness to Idah he looked like the only player that might do something in what was an embarrassing performance from Celtic
I thought he looked very good yesterday.
Have to blame those damn immitigants, don't we?Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88