QuoteMy take is that 8 goals and 2 assists in 14 appearances (subbed on in 9 of them) proves that he is above SPFL standard. A goal every 65' is impressive.Originally Posted by Snapshot
He was brilliant in that 1st half
Its really not that complicated!!!
My take is that 8 goals and 2 assists in 14 appearances (subbed on in 9 of them) proves that he is above SPFL standard. A goal every 65' is impressive.
He's done very well in Glasgow overall. Seems to have turned most of the support in his favour, and the rest of them I think just hate the fact that a third choice striker at Norwich now represents a significant upgrade for Celtic.
Normally I wouldn't favour an Irish player in England signing for Celtic. But in this case they'll have to pay in the region of £5m to get him. That's a significant sum by Celtic's standards and means that there's next to no chance of him being sidelined as they'll want (or need) a financial return on that investment in time. So I'd be happy enough in this case if they signed him permanently.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
It's relative to the standard of opposition. For the first time in his career Idah is scoring regularly. He's found his level. He struggled last week against the only SPFL opposition remotely close to Championship standard but was good against L2 level Kilmarnock last night. Warner can waffle all he wants to increase a transfer fee - but farming him out to Celtic was a damning declaration he saw no value in having Idah at Norwich for a promotion push.
Anois teacht an Earraigh / Beidh an lá dúl chun shíneadh,
Is tar eis na féil Bríde / Ardóigh mé mo sheol.
So you think one on hand he should have stayed at Norwich but on the other hand that his manager saw no value in him. How does that benefit anyone? That doesn’t sound like a smart proposition.
The loan to Celtic was great for him, has worked out better than anyone would have expected and I’d argue that his stats are showing he’s probably better than SPFL. He is scoring, he looks sharp, he’s contributing, he’s won a sceptical and demanding fan base over (mostly) and his mental health, I’d say, is miles away from where it was 4-5 months ago. All great things. This change of scenery was the right move at the right time. If he gets the next play in his career right, it’ll be the making of him.
I said he should have stayed at Norwich and proved Wagner wrong. He is scoring, looking sharp and contributing because the opposition is substantially inferior. Celtic fans are as fickle as fashion - one bad miss (like against Rangers) and he'll be rubbished.
Yes, all is "great" but not if quality is factored in. The elephant in the room.
If he gets the next play in his career right? That old line. Idah, Connolly, Parrot, O'Connor, Molumby. Kenny's Golden Generation.
Anois teacht an Earraigh / Beidh an lá dúl chun shíneadh,
Is tar eis na féil Bríde / Ardóigh mé mo sheol.
He also scored against that same opposition weeks earlier ten minutes after coming on though. Key goal at a vital time too.
He has done well there. He's in a better situation than he was arriving there, career wise, reputation and hopefully options wise too & you'd imagine confidence wise. Fair play to him for that.
Stephen Kenny Saviour, Leader, Winner, An Autobiography - In All Good Bookstores Now
I don't see much reason to be negative about his time in Scotland. I didn't like the move, but he's done pretty well with it. It's not like anyone is calling for him to start ahead of Ferguson or Szmodics. The praise is measured and appropriate.
Idah has never shown consistent goalscoring in his career until now. His record for Norwich was 17 in 115, many of those cup goals. The level in Scotland is lower, of course, but that guaranteed nothing. Look at Mikey Johnston, for example, who seems well able for Championship football but underwhelmed at Celtic. There's a lot to be said for knuckling down and making the grade where you are, but Idah tried that for years at Norwich and needed a change. I'd like to see him take that form back to the Championship now - at Norwich or elsewhere - but I'll take the positives.
Snapshot compared him with Connolly; I'd love to see Connolly have a spell like this, where he looks the part somewhere for longer than a month.
Are you angry at those players because their individual & collective career trajectories didn't match expectations ?
I'm sure they'd all like things to have gone better as much as the supporters would.
Or are you somehow angry at Kenny for it ?
I'm sure he'd like them to have amounted to more, quicker too.
Or are you just experiencing generalised directionless anger to an extent nobody is supposed to mention Idah who realised he wasn't getting in at Norwich ( & possibly because he's not good enough at this stage to do so & may never be, who knows ) and did something about it, took a pressure loan and did quite well ?
Stephen Kenny Saviour, Leader, Winner, An Autobiography - In All Good Bookstores Now
That's more or less a sanitised makeover of what I said but charmingly recalibrated for sensitive souls. Idah has done well but the alternative was unthinkable. That the standard is low may not guarantee success but it certainly helps (though not in Shane Duffy's case). David McGoldrick dropped to SPFA levels (English L1 and L2) following just 11 goals over two Championship seasons. He then scored 40-ish over the two terms. Much-maligned "non-player" Will Keane knocked in 30-plus in one L1 season.
I hope Idah takes the positives and invests them wisely but I remain sk-eptical, if that's allowed.
Anois teacht an Earraigh / Beidh an lá dúl chun shíneadh,
Is tar eis na féil Bríde / Ardóigh mé mo sheol.
It isn't though.
Try not to have one of your turns now, entertaining as they are.
Stephen Kenny Saviour, Leader, Winner, An Autobiography - In All Good Bookstores Now
I generally welcome scepticism, though it certainly needs a spoonful of sugar with some folks, and it can slide into negativity too. Let me recalibrate my sentiments for you.
Idah is one of a batch of players who I watched Kenny promote before they were ready (albeit in some cases there was little alternative), which was part of the reason Kenny's teams underperformed. Whether the marginal gains in experience and exposure across that cohort will be worth in the long run - I think it bought Bazunu for example some opportunities, but most of the others would have developed much the same regardless - the cost in terms of results and rankings I remain unconvinced. Idah is one I liked and hoped would come good. He's had a hard time with injuries, but he's also not quite made it at Norwich after years of trying. He's still far too young to write off, but I was a little concerned he might sink in Scotland and more or less end my hopes he'll make it as a big player for us. Right now, I think his Scottish adventure is weak evidence he'll come good, as are the 6 goals he scored in the Championship this year. I'm not very concerned because we have better players in his position, and he seems capable enough as a squad player for Ireland. I think that if the national team weren't an utter shambles - which is as more about feckless FAI youth development leaving the cupboard bare in the age ranges who should be at their career peaks now than it is about anything Kenny or any other manager did - Idah should just this season be at the point in his career to be winning his first caps. Much of this is subjective opinion, and many many disagree.
Scepticism is fine but dismissing what he has done is petty. I thought at the time of the move that this was a big move for him, a real chance to show what he's capable of. Yes it's a lower standard but he still had to deliver and if he didn't it'd have been calamatous for his career. The oppposite has happened though, he made an impact quickly with key goals at key times in what had become a very competitive title race. His goals at Motherwell were crucial, his goal at Ibrox was crucial. His penalties at Hibernian were crucial.
Room to improve? Yes, plenty. But he has passed the test that this sceptic had set for him. I hoped he'd do well but honestly only had moderate expectations.
Other sceptics were bigging up Oh's record. Idah has already surpassed Oh's record up there.
Something else about Idah has surprised me though: the type of player he is turning into. He really now is a big solid athletic unit, a real focal point number 9 and - this is important - he impacts games. I still think his touch and his awareness can improve but he has brought something to the team that they didn't have before and I do think without him they may be a few points short of where they are now.
On the impact piece, there have been Ireland games where he has gone missing. There have been other where he has started well and sought to bully defenders into submission at every opportunity. On the latter, he wasn't filled out but he was game.
He looks a little less filled out but even more game now. Allied with the uptick in confidence and there's more consistency in his hunger to bully and succeed in bullying.
His movement is also changing. Might be the Rodgers impact. He seems to be starting centrally as normal but more keen to pull wide and short and find dangerous spaces in between defenders and midfielders. Painful stuff to deal with.
The touch, awareness and also the finishing all need improvement and consistency. But there are green shoots on all three.
I feel like he needed a step down to find his confidence and groove - see what he is good at and maximize it, see what he is not good at and get away with it but identify it for the future; this move has delivered just that. A lot of 9s start at lower levels and work upwards (Ollie Watkins a good example but I've mentioned Giroud and Drogba before here too). Celtic is a much more glamorous move than League One.
I liked last night how he'd drop deep and with his back to goal he'd play a nice "around the corner" pass just inside the full back. When both Forrest and Maeda were alert to it they posed real danger. Oneof these flicks looked a bit heavy (the pass that led to Maeda squaring for Forrest's goal) but Maeda is so fast and physical it put him in a great position. Relevance for Ireland is that with players like Johnston and Ogbene in the team it could open things up for us.
He did try this once or twice too often though, once when he really should have turned into open space (Sutton commented on it on TV) and overall better international teams would plan and adapt for this - though of course that could free up alternatives.
If so, he deserves credit.
He has done as well as could be hoped, and the goals can only be a confidence boost.
Whether we know any more about him as a player than we did before the move reamins a question though.
At Stutts said, failure there would have been a calamity. The SPL is that kind of league - if you fail there after stepping down a level, it means you really are not good enough, but even if you succeed, the earlier doubts about you probably remain.
Unless you are Mikey Johnston who go better at the supposedly better level?
Its really not that complicated!!!
Unlike the championship teams will stick 10 or 11 players behind the ball when playing Celtic in the SPL. Players like Johnston look better at the higher level he's currently playing in because he's gonna get more space with the ball as teams aren't overly defensive.
Other skillful, tricky wingers have been fantastic for Celtic in the past so I dont think thats it.
The opposition that Celtic play against may be weaker but the pressure of playing for such a big club and the demands that brings is not for everyone.
Its really not that complicated!!!
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