Adam Idah

Dundee 1—2 Celtic

A James Forrest double gets us over the line. With four games remaining, Celtic, with a win over Hearts, can effectively win the league by beating Rangers at home in the penultimate match. This was a twitchy match. Like many others we could have been out of sight or left reeling in injury time when Mellon missed a free header at the back post.

The Dundee plan was exactly what we’ve come to expect. Sit in, hit longish balls towards the forwards, focus on Taylor and Liam Scales side of things were Celtic are vulnerable to cross balls and corners in particular.

Celtic do what we always do. Started well with seventy or eighty-percent possession, with a few half-chances. Nicholas Kuhn and Reo Hatate threatened. The latter hitting the post with a wonderful drop of the shoulder, in the second half, but his shot hit the inside of the post. With Celtic two ahead that would have settled the match. Hatate is not back to his best, but he always tries to make a forward pass. He was the best midfielder in Scotland last year. Kuhn has had teething problems with his teeth and weight loss. I’ve yet to see him play a good game. To me, he is an empty jersey as he was again today.

James Forrest—yes I used to slag him off, but even a blind Rangers supporter would recognise him as our best winger in a poor bunch—match winner. Brendan Rodgers said something along the lines of he was the best winger at the club. Play him, many of us have been saying so for weeks. Palma looks good enough for backup. Yang may prove a good buy next season or the season after, but it doesn’t look good. Kuhn (sigh) I don’t understand why he keeps starting. I’m waiting for him to prove me wrong.

Forrest has nothing left to prove. But he’s only 32. His first goal on the half-hour mark was a belter. Kyogo teed him up from the edge of the box. A ball fired into the Japanese striker. He spun away with the outside of his boot. Forrest took it first time on the volley and fired it in the net.

Around the hour mark, after Dundee had started the second half strongly and corner after corner created goal scoring opportunities for the Den’s men, Forrest robbed a defender on the edge of their box. He played a give-and-go with Hatate and got on the end of it. Ricki Lamie and Portales played like Laurel and Hardy and Forest nipped in and nutmegged the keeper. That looked like job done.

Forrest, of course, comes off for Palma. Kyogo off for Idah. But it was the loanee Norwich striker that brought Dundee roaring back and looking for an equaliser. Mo Sylla and Jordan McGhee headed past the post and straight at Joe Hart. The Celtic defence looked to have cleared—yet another—free kick. Portaless’s downward volley was nothing like Forrest’s, but it hit Idah and wrong-footed Joe Hart.

Hart found time to get a late booking for time wasting. He deserved it. But it would be interesting to see if the same rule was applied when we play home and away and keepers take an eternity and opposition players fall down.

Man of the match by a mile, James Forrest. I gave him the man of the match for his contribution against Aberdeen. Let’s hope he’s a certain starter for the remaining fixtures. We still lose too many goals. McGregor still looks off the pace, but he’s still far superior to Iwata. If we can get Maeda back and Forrest on the other side, we’d be full strength for the remaining four league fixtures and the cup final. We’ll win the league, not the cup. I’ve been saying that for a while. I hope I’m wrong and we win both. Maybe Kuhn will get a hat-trick in the Cup final. Let’s just get over the line. Hearts at home. Home win.

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Celtic 3—0 Saint Mirren

Zach Hemming had little or nothing to do in the first-half. Celtic had two enforced changes from the team that started against Rangers. Liam Scales has picked up an injury. I’m not particularly worried. He’s been on a downward slide. Nawrocki gets his chance and did OKish. I am worried about Maeda. We saw his value at Ibrox. It’s not so much the work he does with the ball, but his closing down, in that sense he is irreplaceable.

Yang got the nod. He took the wrong choice with a chance in under sixty seconds. He could have shot, but chopped back. His form has been up and down as it was here. The same could be said for Kuhn. He’d a disastrous start to his Celtic career and then had a few assists. I’d have preferred Forrest at Ibrox and Forrest now, which tells you everything you need to know of what I think of our wingers. But Kuhn made a few tentative passes and you wonder if he should have shot instead.

Most of our goal-scoring opportunities came from the right wing. After giving away the penalty that wasn’t a penalty last week, Alistair Johnson had a man-of-the-match performance with a hand in our two goals.  

Reo Hatate from the edge of the box and an attempted nutmeg inside the box were one of the few other first-half chances. O’Riley a sidefooted shot but didn’t look like scoring.

But it was Hatate’s genius that opened the scoring. A pass from Johnston and inside the crowded box, the Japanese international pinged it into the top corner to open the scoring and the floodgates of relief in the 53rd minute.

 Much has been made of there being lots of rain over Dundee. No conspiracy. Just Scottish weather and bad groundkeeping. The assumption being, Dundee wanted to avoid defeat by employing a rain maker. Someone explain that to me. All our games are must-win now. We take it for granted that is going to happen. But I get nervous, pre-match. We’ve seen what happened this season and it’s not been good enough.  

We’ve had high winds over Paradise making it harder to judge passes. A twelfth man. With Saint Mirren and all other teams coming to sit in, including Rangers, we know what to expect. Long throws were their primary weapon. In the main we dealt well, with them. Carter-Vickers brings composure to our defence and allows us to pass from the back.  But corners present the same challenge. But Saint Mirren’s first, and only corner, didn’t come until the 89th minute and we were 3—0 up.  

Kyogo’s goal, fifteen minutes into the second-half, settled the game. Again it was Johnstone with the assist. A delightful ball over the top took out Gogic. Kyogo from almost inside the six-yard box headed home.

Celtic upped a gear. Greg Taylor, strangely reluctant to shoot, with Hemming saving awkwardly with his knees locked together. Yang getting into a muddle in front of goal, again.  Hatate’s effort swinging past the post.

Obviously a quiz question in later years, both teams made six substations. We weren’t really sure how that worked. Something about a head knock.

Adam Idah got a late goal in the 89th minute. Luis Palma should have scored but fluffed it. His rebounded shot hit by Paula Bernardo. The ball looped into the air and easily knocked over the line by the Norwich loanee. Every point counts. Every goal counts as we know from the recent past. We weren’t as ruthless as we could have been, but after a wind-strewn first-half, most everyone would have settled for a three goal, full-time lead. Let’s hope it doesn’t snow on Hampden next Saturday.

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Hearts 2—0 Celtic.

No Kyogo. No McGregor. What we have got is the—unexpected—chance to go top of the league again. Not taken. I’m of the generation when ten-men-won-the league. I remember it well, the Jungle bounced and Parkhead rocked when Murdo’s strike hit the back of the net.

This is yet another game we could and should have won, but didn’t, which is a worrying and familiar pattern for a damp-squib of a season. Hearts have beaten us twice this season. Celtic have been dominant in all areas of the park when playing them, except goals scored and conceded.

Brendan Rodgers rightly had a shout about the match officials. John Beaton on VAR and referee, Robertson. Matt O’Riley had the ball in the net. Adam Idah had the ball in the net. Lawrence Shankland had the ball in the net twice, but only one counted. Idah misses a penalty. Grant scores a penalty.

Who is next up for taking penalties for Celtic? Rangers may be 90% certain they’ll get a penalty, but they’re over 95% certain they’ll score from it. Celtic are 50/50.

Idah is the latest culprit. The game had started much as we expected. Celtic dominating the ball. Hearts filing back into a defensive shell. Hoiking the ball forward when caught out. Hoping for corners and free kicks to take them up the park. Long throws and corners, perhaps a wonder strike to get a goal. Tame penalty. The title race could be in Idah’s miss.

Equally, it could come down to Yang’s sending off a minute later. Yang had a good cameo against Dundee. Our wingers have not performed well this season, both individually and collectively. He’s the latest to step up and get a start. His ability to go past players gives him a real chance. His sending off, as Rodgers reminds us, unmerited. He did lift his boot into Cochrane’s face on the touchline. I can say the usual things about it not being malicious. A booking—probably. A red card? Not in my book, but after the referee was told to check it by VAR it seems a 99% certainty. What happened to the referee’s discretionary powers?  

Celtic were lucky not to be a goal down before the break. Iwata was brought in to stabilise the back four. To allow McGregor, perhaps, to be moved forward. Quite simply, he’s another that doesn’t look good enough. He was caught on the ball in the middle of the park, with a simple pass available. Beni Baningime slides in to take the ball. Alan Forrest played in Shankland inside the box. Shankland scores, only for the goal to be brought off and disallowed because he was marginally offside.

Iwata is not to blame for the penalty just before half time. VAR got it wrong. The referee got it wrong. Rodgers got it right. Both Alistair Johnson and Iwata went for a header inside the box with Stephen Kingsley. Johnson got to it but not convincingly. It barely made it outside the box. It came back into the box and Hearts had a corner. VAR asked the referee to check for handball. It had hit Iwata’s arm and hand as he jumped and jostled with his own player, but it was unintentional and should not have been given. Both VAR and the referee are culpable here. Call it conspiracy. Call it bad luck. The effect is the same a goal down at half time.

Kyogo came on at half time. Paulo Bernardo went off. Another loan signing that had failed to establish himself in the team. With both McGregor and Hatate out, he’ll never have a better opportunity. I wouldn’t keep him when the loan period is finished. No firm evidence suggests he’ll be a first-team regular. Talented but doesn’t do enough.  

Perhaps the only bright spot was Kyogo’s second-half cameo. We know he can do enough. He got on the end of an O’Riley pass, but man-of-the-match Zander Clark dealt with it easily enough. Kyogo also played in O’Riley. Clark made another save. None of them were of the top drawer variety, but they didn’t have to be. He denied Idah from close in, but Celtic’s second-half performance lacked belief. It also lacked players from the bench that could have come on and changed things.

Heart’s second and killer goal, ten minutes into the second half, was well-enough taken by Shankland inside the box.  Calem Nieuwenhof had stumbled and fell inside the box with Scales and Carter-Vickers in front of him. The ball came off his toe and went to Shankland. This is what bad luck looks like.

On Friday we didn’t expect to go top. On Sunday night, we didn’t. Rangers remain mediocre. We’re battling with a squad that’s not fit for purpose. I’ve got a feeling we’ll stumble over the line and win the league. Next up the Scottish Cup. We’ll not win the Cup, is my gut instinct. Nine games to win the league. We can win nine of them. We need to start scoring all of our penalties. Get a bit of luck. Get McGregor and, hopefully, Hatate fit. I don’t care about next season. I don’t care about Joe Hart leaving. I do care if O’Riley leaves this summer, as he surely will. But we’ll get top price for a brilliant player. None of these things concern me. We need a clear-out of players. But we need to win the league. Simple. Days like today happen. Let’s hope they’re the exception to the rule, rather than the rule itself.  

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Motherwell 1—3 Celtic

It was hardly the Helicopter Sunday of 20 years ago, but an Adam Idah double—his second goal coming in the 94th minute—with an even later 96th minute goal from Luis Palma added gloss to an unlikely win. Defeat would have left Rangers five points clear, with eleven games remaining. Celtic quite simply needed to win.

At the end of the first-half that seemed unlikely. Stuart Kettlewell and Motherwell had Celtic’s number. Sit in and let our defenders have the ball, retreat to the half-way line. Hit on the break. Mostly up the left-hand side. It’s worked for most Scottish teams such as Ross County, Hearts, Hibs and Kilmarnock are repeat offenders.

Motherwell got in the act. Celtic had more of the ball in the first-half, but few shots on goal. Motherwell looked the more dangerous team. Theo Blair thought he’d scored after two minutes. Beating the offside trap, running into space and chopping back with a back heel into the six-yard box and slotting past Joe Hart. VAR showed he was offside.

He wasn’t offside later in the half, playing in the channels between centre-backs but Nowrocki got a block in.  

Blair and Spittal combined down the right, with the latter misfiring when sighting goal. All Celtic offered was a tame Kyogo effort. But we looked to be going in at half-time with the game even.

Seventeen-year-old Lennon Millar (sign him?) spun away from McGregor marking him on the edge of the Celtic box. His cutback to Spittal was perfectly weighed to leave him with a one-hit strike from the edge of the box which curled into the corner of the net.

Rodgers made changes to the team at half-time. Loan signing Adam Idah is one of the few success stories. Kuhn looks like more money wasted. And it’s difficult to see him having a future at Celtic, but, of course, I hope I’m wrong. Up until now our loan and summer signings have been disastrous. None of them look ready to replace the old guard. We all know about the £80 million banked and it sickens us. Neglect of that scale has handed Rangers the advantage in a two-team race for Champions League riches.

Adam Idah’s first goal was every bit as good as Spittal’s, if not better. Greg Taylor had one of those games when he was picking out passes to Motherwell player’s feet. His cross into the box was more in hope than expectation. Idah got in between two defenders and steered it home.

Celtic dominated from then on. We know what to expect from Diazen Maeda. Faultless effort and backtracking work. His headed miss from inside the six-yard box after been teed up by Yang, was the kind only the Japanese international specialises in. When it seems easier to score, but he doesn’t.

Yang coming on for empty-jersey Kuhn made a difference on the right. And  it was from the right Alistair Johnson cut back from near the touchline. Idah still had to ghost in front of two defenders to stab it home. He was even sensible enough to take the ball into the corner in the 95th minute and run the clock down.

Luis Palma’s late-late goal was checked by VAR for offside. It wouldn’t have affected the result. But we know from previous seasons this title is going to the wire and we’re second favourites to win it. I’ve a sneaking suspicion we will (but not the Scottish).

Of course, I hate Rangers and I’m biased. We’re not great. But they’re simply mediocre. I’ve little doubt we can beat them home and away. It doesn’t seem that long ago when we beat Dundee United 9—0. Every game seemed not only winnable but a matter of guessing how many we’d score. Now every game seems lose-able. Brendan Rodgers was quick to reassure us he’d signed a three-year contract and he intended to honour it. Lose this title and he’ll have no say in the matter. Dereliction of duty in all things Celtic springs to mind. We’re on the ropes, but we can still land killer punches. It would be easier on the nerves if we didn’t keep doing it at extra-time of extra-time.     

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Hibs 1—2 Celtic

Adam Idah scores from the penalty spot early and late—very late in the game, the 91st minute—to give Celtic three points. In many ways this mirrored the second-half debacle at Pittodrie at Easter Road this evening, Joe Hart was as virtual spectator. In the second-half the home team pushed up and Celtic capitulated. We lost control of the game and almost lost the game.

Brendan Rodgers had some thinking to do after we dropped two points at Pittodrie. Celtic have both a poor record at Easter Road and a poor record with taking penalties. He made a couple of changes to the starting line-up. Some worked better than other.

Many of us thought Anthony Ralston would come in at left back for Alexandro Bernarbei. I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case because Ralston isn’t great on the right, but completely hopeless on the left. Rodgers proved prescient. Triantis clattered into and stuck the heid on Anthony Johnston in an aerial duel, in the first five minutes, wiping him out and clear penalty. Ralston came on at right back. Bernarbei’s composure and use of the ball meant that he’d probably his best game in a Celtic jersey.

Adam Idah scored from the penalty spot. Celtic dominate possession and create most of the chances. Daizen Maeda in for Palma looked the right call. The Japanese forwards runs in behind and his work rate were a welcome addition and made Beranabei’s job much easier. We’ll forgive Maeda for taking the wrong touch as he did with one ball over the top, because of this. We’ve even come to expect it.

Hibs had seen little of the ball but passed up the chance of the half. Twenty-four minutes in Jordan Obita goes down the left and whips in a cross. It bounces off Martin Boyle into the path of Elie Youan. He’s central and got to score. Liam Scales gets a touch to deny him an equaliser and it goes over the bar.

But Obita too easily shrugged off January addition Kuhn, who gets his first start in front of Abada. Nothing about his performance suggest an upgrade. When Abada came on with twenty minutes left he didn’t go great either. Ironically, the standout winger in green and white by a wide margin was Elie Youan, who missed that sitter. Most attacking threats came down Hib’s wide left.

Although Idah scored two penalties, but he also missed a few chances. Maeda, for example, set him up early in the second half with a whipped cross with which he hit the bar. Later, chasing a winner, he looked ponderous and made the wrong choice with the ball at his feet. Marshall also made a save with a through ball from Bernardo.

Hibs levelled on the hour mark. Like Aberdeen, they had pushed up and taken the game to Celtic. We are prone to losing goals from free kicks and corners. Joe Newell’s free-kick is headed down by Fish. Dylan Levitt on the edge of the box, hits a volley through a sea of bodies and into the corner for his first goal for the club and a Celtic sickner (again).  

Hib’s substitute Myziane Maolida almost scores immediately when he comes on. An acrobatic overhead effort saved be Joe Hart, followed by another shortly afterwards, more easily dealt with.

The game could go either way. Rodgers brings on Palma for Maeda. I’m not sure this makes the team better. Abada for Kuhn doesn’t weaken us. Kyogo coming on for Bernardo makes the difference.

Youan again gets away and Fish inside the box looks like scoring but the ball slides narrowly past Joe Hart’s post.

Heading to injury time, Idah makes a hash of a cut back. Kyogo gets a shot away, but it is easily saved by Marshall.  But VAR shows he went down under a challenge from Newell just inside the box. Cue the Norwich loanee to step up and win the game.

Phewwwwwwwwwwwwww. As Chris Sutton remarked, every game for Celtic is a tricky one now. We’re too easily bullied and St Mirren are a big, physical team on a small park. It will be interesting to see what team Celtic put out. I think we’ve found a penalty taker, but have we found a team that’s good enough to win week in and week out. Four points out of six is much better than two. But teams get at us too easily now. We’re there for the taking. We need to weather this storm. Perhaps the Norwich loanee will be the January signing that’s actually worked in our favour. For those two penalties alone, it has been great business because we’re going to the wire and it’s going to be thin margins. What now for Kyogo?

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Aberdeen 1—1 Celtic

A draw is a disaster. Defeat is catastrophic. We don’t need any reminding of that. We live it. Substitute Nicolas Kuhn’s second-half equaliser, after coming off Nicky Devlin, was fortuitous. Results like this are music to the ears of Rangers fans. Managerless Aberdeen hasn’t beaten Celtic in eight years. It’s been over three years since they managed a draw like today’s disaster, which could easily have been a catastrophe.  

A VAR check even before the game started. When the game got underway, a passback to the Aberdeen keeper, and the ball hoisted up in the air towards the left. We’ve watched enough matches to know how this works. Try and get free kicks and corners around the box. Devlin can take a long throw and hit the big men coming up from the back.

Taylor is tiny and he hasn’t been great this season, while still comfortably holding onto the left-back slot. Alexandro Bernarbei is so small his name is bigger than him. Taylor’s injury has opened the way for the young Argentinian to play his way into the first team. And he’s fine, as he was here, when teams like Aberdeen hardly get a kick of the ball in the first half.

An early goal always helps. We’ve scored in the first minute of our last two matches. Palma had a goal chopped off in the first ten minutes, after an Abada shot had been palmed out by the keeper. But young Israeli should really have scored. The Honduran also clipped the bar and had two other significant chances to finish. But after his double penalty misses last week, he’s no longer scoring. And I wonder now who will take our penalties.

Liel Abada isn’t scoring either and Kyogo is going on one of those goalless runs. Norwich loanee striker, Adam Idah, coming on, made more room for Kyogo. But we go back to that debate of whether he’s better playing the number ten role, where he looked more effective today. His strike rate through the middle, of course, would suggest otherwise.

Other players need to chip in. Bernardo hit the bar in the first half, in which he dinked the ball over Roos. O’Riley had a couple of efforts. He hit the post in the second half, but on another day he would have scored. McGregor had a quiet game and barely a shot on goal.

The first half went much as many of us thought. Celtic dominated between seventy to eighty percent possession. Aberdeen, in contrat, a solitary touch in the Celtic box.

The second half went much as Aberdeen supporters could only have dreamed. Celtic were linked with Bojan Miovski. Chris Sutton came out with the usual cliché’s of a thankless task in the first-half as Mivoski had few touches and no chances. When his chance did come, Sutton predicted his track record suggests he would take it.

 Maik Nawrocki, like many of the other Celtic players, strolled the first half. He played in Kyogo with a beautiful ball over the top which nearly created a goal. He was also booked for a needless foul on Miovski and probably should have been sent off for another mistimed tackle near the touchline on the same player in the second-half. No great surprise he was substituted.

Cameron Carter-Vickers was missing today. And we missed him. Nawrocki isn’t as good on the ball, which is so important when building from the back when teams sit in (as every team in the Scottish League does). More importantly, I doubt whether Miovski would have scored today had the American been on the field.

Aberdeen pressed higher at the start of the second-half. Celtic lost composure and fifty-fifty battles. The Dons were dominating. Dante Polvara played a curled pass, and it was fifty-fifty between Nawrocki and Miovski. Carter Vickers would have got there first and he would have defended better. Miovski’s took Nawrocki into the box and his finish into the corner. This encapsulated one of the reasons we were looking to sign him. But it was only as good as Nawrocki allowed it to be. I’d have fancied Carter-Vickers in this one on one.

Celtic’s substitute did bring us back into the game. But the introduction of Tony Ralston at left back tells you all you need to know about where we are. I don’t think he’s good enough for right back. And he looked as if he’d been brought off the terracing to play left back. I do like his commitment and he’s fan, but he’s just not good enough.

Obviously, we miss Hatate. Where O’Riley is this season (well, perhaps not in the last two matches) Hatate was last season. The Japanese international is out for five to six weeks. I can’t believe I’m saying we lost the midfield battle in the second half. And we’ll certainly lose the league if this slide continues. You don’t need to be an ultra to know we had to strengthen in the Window. We’ve went back the way. Regressed.

Graham Shinnie is finished. Yet he could have hit the equaliser at the close of the match after Mivoski’s earlier finish had been called offside. Imagine if he had scored. Catastrophe. We’d be calling for the manager’s head. It saddens me greatly to say Rangers are back. And if they win the league (50/50 as we now stand) then they’ll have financial parity with Champions League cash. Over and over we are Celtic supporters and faithful forever, but we’re not mugs. Whether we win the league or lose it, I think this transfer window has shown Rodgers enough to know that he’ll be away in the summer.  

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