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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.