QuoteGood first half overall by him. He did well against West Ham and looks sharp here and has a goal to boot. Great to see.
Good first half overall by him. He did well against West Ham and looks sharp here and has a goal to boot. Great to see.
Well done to him.
Would like to see it from another angle.
Looks like a slightly heavy first touch
It was a shocker of a first touch to be honest (there’s angles from behind the goal where you really see it) but he got the ball in the net.Originally Posted by Fixer82
Also he just had a backpass played straight to him, back to goal, with just the keeper to beat. Took a touch (he had to) and Everton recovered. He might have done better.
I have to say though, he’s played really well overall. Good hold up play, winning frees and corners. And the fans love him.
Last edited by SkStu; 15/01/2022 at 3:18 PM.
Needs to work on the first touch and scoring ~ ~ he probably has everything else ~ a fine physical specimen with pace.
Man of the match for me. He was immense. I suspect he will get the official award. Wonderful
BBC MOTM, interviewed by Limerick man Conor McNamara for it. Nice to see
This has made my day. Hopefully the first of many huge performances from him.
Great to see. We've become used to a great deal of negative spin put against Irish players, their worth and their performances.
Let's finally celebrate an Irish player doing well and scoring at a very high level. The detractors will still be there, mouthing off of course, but I just don't care all the that much. I'm in too much of a good mood.
Last edited by Trequartista20; 15/01/2022 at 6:40 PM.
Terrific to see him get off the mark in the Premier League, particularly with a game-winning goal. Finally he has been given the time and service to show what he can do. And the fact that he could still finish in spite of an imperfect first touch (although shocking might be a bit of an overstatement SkStu) is even more encouraging. In fact, you could argue that it helped him, first by taking the ball away from the defender behind him; and second, by forcing him to finish instinctively rather than giving him a moment to think about scoring his first PL goal and possibly fluffing it.
I know some people are starting to feel that Idah may not live up to expectations, with a normal counter-argument that he's still young, as he isn't even 21 yet. But if we add up the minutes he's been afforded in his senior club career to date, it turns out that he has actually scored 7 goals in only 14.7 games, a strike rate of nearly 1 in 2, which is more impressive when you consider that a lot of his time has been garbage minutes at the end of games. I can still see him becoming our best striker quite soon, with only the possibility of somebody like Ferguson, Odubeko or Oko-Flex outshining him, which is a mouthwatering prospect
great to hear he had a stormer outside of the goal. hopefully that gives him some confidence to push on now for the season.
Another friend made the exact same argument and I don’t disagree! He did well to finish it, totally agree, and I should have been more clear about that in my post. Imperfect touch, a shocker of a touch… I say we are more in agreement than not LOL. I really like him by the way, just said what I saw.
As I said subsequently, he really did play excellently and deserved his MOTM. A great day for him!! Onwards and upwards!
Having watched the whole match, obviously it was great to see the goal. But the more encouraging thing was Idah’s play as a whole. He’s really learning to use his body well (some good defensive plays too), and starting to understand his exceptional physical strength and the value of body positioning.
I don’t know the specifics of things but I wonder if the managerial change is benefitting him in some way — if Dean Smith is helping optimize his game, or a new member of Smith’s staff who wasn’t there before — but Idah honestly looks like a different player. Perhaps he was just due to kick on but he really is now turning that promise into the real thing. Hopefully this is just the start of something special.
Jaysus Sam - I think you're one of the more informed posters here, but you don't half do extreme optimism!
I don't think it's hyper-critical to say that Idah's first touch in acres of space nearly cost him his goal, or that his one-on-one miss in the second half was as bad as you'll see. Let's also note an Everton side in disarray - 6 points from 39, which has got Benitez sacked.
It's great to see him getting game time, but one scrappy goal is long long way from forming half of a "mouthwatering" attacking partnership with one of three guys who've done nothing at senior level yet, one of whom isn't even sure if he wants to play for us!
Norwich - still on course to have the worst goalscoring record in English league history - have an easy-ish run of games coming up. Watford, Palace, Southampton, Brentford and Leeds in the next eight games (along with Wolves, Man City and Liverpool). Let's see how those go before setting him targets like yours!
https://forum.pinkun.com/index.php?/...idah/#comments
I enjoyed this thread, or most of it anyway. Many posters had been doubting him, it seems, but many seem delighted to have seen the improvement in the last two games. There seems to be a consensus that he is better partnered with Pukki for now and that the current management are putting a lot of effort into him and seeing the rewards.
I expect ten goals from those games, at least!Jaysus Sam - I think you're one of the more informed posters here, but you don't half do extreme optimism!
I don't think it's hyper-critical to say that Idah's first touch in acres of space nearly cost him his goal, or that his one-on-one miss in the second half was as bad as you'll see. Let's also note an Everton side in disarray - 6 points from 39, which has got Benitez sacked.
It's great to see him getting game time, but one scrappy goal is long long way from forming half of a "mouthwatering" attacking partnership with one of three guys who've done nothing at senior level yet, one of whom isn't even sure if he wants to play for us!
Norwich - still on course to have the worst goalscoring record in English league history - have an easy-ish run of games coming up. Watford, Palace, Southampton, Brentford and Leeds in the next eight games (along with Wolves, Man City and Liverpool). Let's see how those go before setting him targets like yours!
Seriously, I know we've all been waiting on tenterhooks for one of the young strikers to be the next Robbie Keane and may be a little disappointed that there still isn't an obvious candidate, but that's probably because it's unlikely that one of them will be - but if we can get three of them capable of scoring 25-40 over their international careers, than that will be just as good - and that is still possible.
And while Connolly, Obafemi and Parrott seem to have moved backwards a little for now at least, it looks like Idah could still be one of those leading strikers - he's been working off scraps under Farke's system - Wikipedia says he's made 51 appearances but, as I noted, the minutes only add up to fewer than fifteen games. When he got full games, he played instead of Pukki and got little service - then Smith comes along, changes the system to play him and Pukki in the same team and 2/3 games in, he scores his first Premier League goal before his 21st birthday. While I exaggerated about ten goals in eight games, I don't think this will be his last league goal this season (unless he falls victim to the young Irish Striker Injury Curse). Not only that, I predict he'll score his first international goal in either the March friendlies or the Nations League.
And in relation to Idah, Connolly, Obafemi and Parrott together, they really do have plenty of time, especially when you consider when some of our best strikers scored their first top-flight goals:
John Aldridge - 27, going on 28
Tony Cascarino - 25, going on 26
Kevin Doyle - 22, going on 23
Jon Walters - 27
And as of now, Idah, Connolly and Obafemi have now scored more Premier League Goals (ten) before turning 22 than David Connolly, Daryl Murphy, Simon Cox and Andy Keogh did over their entire careers (six) and they amassed 133 Caps
So I think there's still plenty reason for optimism about our striking options over the next few years
Michael Reddy scored in the Premier League at 19. Josh McEachren played six Champions League games before his 18th birthday and is now at MK Dons. One-off landmarks don't mean anything.
In terms of goals per minute, would you not include Idah's international stats (0 goals in 830 minutes)?
And are you suggesting we have players capable of 25-40 international goals each? Well clear as our second highest scorer ever? There's nothing to justify that optimism. I think a look back at your posts on the Troy Parrott thread might help bring you back down to earth
One thing I will say is I suggested Idah/Connolly/Parrott shouldn't be in the March squads unless their club situations changed. Idah's has (assuming he continues to start), and Connolly's has too in fairness.
Let's see where all three careers go in the next 12 months, but I don't see the point in setting such targets as 40 international goals. It can only lead to disappointment
made bbc team of the week.
as an aside... there are some on this forum who just cant help themselves but to continually pour cold water on any kind of omptimism. they seem to think its their role. its getting to be a real bore tbh...
Last edited by jbyrne; 16/01/2022 at 9:03 PM.
There's "any kind of optimism" and there's the optimism we're seeing. 40 goal strikers, unbeaten Nations League campaign a viable target, etc
A bit of realism is very much needed at times in that context
If I was gambling, I'd bet one of Idah, Connolly, Parrott, Obafemi, Odubeko or Ferguson will score 25 goals for Ireland.Michael Reddy scored in the Premier League at 19. Josh McEachren played six Champions League games before his 18th birthday and is now at MK Dons. One-off landmarks don't mean anything.
In terms of goals per minute, would you not include Idah's international stats (0 goals in 830 minutes)?
And are you suggesting we have players capable of 25-40 international goals each? Well clear as our second highest scorer ever? There's nothing to justify that optimism. I think a look back at your posts on the Troy Parrott thread might help bring you back down to earth
One thing I will say is I suggested Idah/Connolly/Parrott shouldn't be in the March squads unless their club situations changed. Idah's has (assuming he continues to start), and Connolly's has too in fairness.
Let's see where all three careers go in the next 12 months, but I don't see the point in setting such targets as 40 international goals. It can only lead to disappointment
In order of probability: Ferguson, Idah, Connolly, Odubeko, Parrott, Obafemi. I'd guess 3/6 will score 10 goals for Ireland. There'll probably be a 7th contender who will emerge at about 24 as a genuine contender ala McGrath, Cullen, Ogbene etc. between Kayode, Afolabi, McAuley, Hale, Dean Williams, Danny Grant, Scully, Cannon, Carty etc etc - someone will bloom late.
There's also a decent crop of U19s now: Sinclair Armstrong, Johnny Kenny, Aido Emakhu, Calum Kavanagh, Cian Kavanagh, Luke Pearce - none strike you as being quite as good as those top 6 were/are but they're all good enough to be one talent jump away from real contenders. As for the 17s, it's Mark O'Mahony who's a natural goalscorer at Cork and Caden McLoughlin who is a great footballer but may end up in a different position in the long run if he doesn't get a bit more prolific.
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