Imagine being Celtic’s No 9?
That thought jumped up last Sunday at Tynecastle as Adam Idah prepared to take a penalty kick. It may not be the most cherished of Celtic numbers – Johnstone, Dalglish and Larsson wore 7 – but there’s a weight to Idah’s new shirt, responsibility, honour, centrality of role.
As Idah stepped up the perception chimed with the tension inevitable in this situation, the theatre of it all.
It was enhanced because of what had happened the day before at Rangers and what this game meant to Celtic in a genuinely tight title race. Rangers losing at home to Motherwell turned this into an opportunity for Celtic. Victory would have taken Brendan Rodgers’s team back to the top of the Scottish Premiership.
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Probably due to drama, we often attach more significance to chances late in a game than early on. But they all matter and this one for Idah came in minute 13.
If your correspondent’s eyes are working, he had touched the ball just once to that point. It was in the eighth minute, a fleeting touch at that, from a long pass from defence by Cameron Carter-Vickers. The ball had pinged around Idah. The game was fast, Hearts were lively. The play flowed as Idah held his position.
Hearts should not have had a penalty awarded against them, but they did. So here was Idah, on his fifth start since his unforeseen January loan move from Norwich City, with the chance to score his sixth Celtic goal – and with just his second touch?
It seemed likely, but Idah, perhaps revealing a lack of previous involvement, struck a soft shot straight at Hearts keeper Zander Clark. It lacked conviction.
Still, there was enough time to rectify this, except that three minutes later Celtic were down to 10 men when, in another questionable decision, Yang Hyun-jun, was shown a red card for a high boot. 11 v 10 for 75 minutes or so, the game now had a different face.
Idah did his bit, he occupied two Hearts central defenders, but just before half-time Hearts were the beneficiaries of another dubious penalty award – and they converted theirs. On a day of VAR interventions, Hearts then had a good-looking second disallowed for most minimal of offside decisions.
Although Celtic came again in the second half with their 10 men and Idah had a couple of shots saved, Hearts did get their second goal and Idah’s last action on the final whistle was to make plain his discontent to the referee. It was his first defeat in a Celtic jersey.
Rodgers was clearly disappointed, but his post-match comment on Idah’s penalty was that he “needed to lift it a bit more”. There was no anger. Rodgers knows his new No 9 has done his fair share of lifting since his arrival.
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Idah has hit the ground scoring, as demonstrated by his two goals at Motherwell the previous Sunday, which kept Celtic close to Rangers. There had been two on his full debut, across Edinburgh at Hibs, two penalty kicks in fact. It meant that as Celtic prepared for Hearts, Rodgers was discussing Idah’s impact, which has been sufficient for Kyogo Furuhashi to be moved to the bench.
Celtic, Rodgers and the vast fanbase have endured a frustrated relationship this season and January’s slow transfer window did not ease feelings. Idah, announced at 10.29pm on transfer deadline day, was caught up in an angry sea of divided opinion. “Norwich City’s third-choice striker” was the label pinned on someone approaching his 23rd birthday.
Mark Lawwell resigned as head of recruitment last week around the same time Rodgers mentioned his personal role in getting Idah to Parkhead. There were other clubs in England’s Championship eager but Norwich were reluctant to loan Idah to a rival.
“The agent knew I liked him as a young player,” Rodgers said. “When he told me he was available it excited me. The storyline or negativity about his being third-choice striker at Norwich, for me that wasn’t the case. I know the potential there with him. He’s come in and really enjoyed it.”
That Idah is fit and being selected is not unconnected to his happiness in Scotland. A change of scene, of priorities, can also help – Mikey Johnston is experiencing a similar upturn having left Celtic for West Brom in the Championship.
Idah has endured some horrible misfortune since announcing himself with a hat-trick in the FA Cup at 18 in January 2020. That was three days after his Premier League debut. A bad knee injury kept Idah out for the bulk of 2022.
It has meant Idah’s young career has mirrored Norwich City’s stop-start, relegation-promotion-relegation-stasis recent history. Daniel Farke, Dean Smith, David Wagner – Idah was on to his third club manager in three years before opting for a new challenge at Celtic.
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He still has a long-term contract at Carrow Road, even though there is some scepticism in Norfolk about a player with 17 goals in 115 appearances. But 76 – 66 per cent – of those appearances have been from the bench and of the starts only 12 have been 90-minute long.
This season has been a continuation of a theme. It began with Idah scoring a 90th-minute winner at home to Hull City. But he did not get on to the pitch until the 86th minute. He was replacing Ashley Barnes, the 33-year-old signed from Burnley, not a confidence-booster for the Corkman.
The following Saturday Idah got three minutes, then 10 the week after. In the fourth Championship game of the season he was again a substitute, called on after 14 minutes and replaced after 85. He had just scored.
These can sound like excuses but a player needs rhythm, managerial trust and, most of all, minutes. Idah is starting to get all three and even though Celtic lost at Hearts and he was part of the defeat, he was also committed, energetic and his link-up play was good.
The benefits to Ireland of a rejuvenated forward are as obvious as Idah’s attributes.
In Glasgow he looks like a Celtic player already, their No 9. When that was put to Cameron Carter-Vickers afterwards, he said of Idah: “Yeah, I mean, he is.
“He is actually quite funny. He makes the boys laugh and is a great character.”
On Sunday it is Livingston at Parkhead in the last eight of the Scottish Cup. Rodgers re-iterated his desire to win it. There is a league title to scrap for.
It’s a big three months for Celtic, Rodgers and Idah. He arrived to the sound of angst; he could have hero-status by May.
