Adam Idah makes Celtic start admission and reveals manager’s message.
Celtic’s second-half replacements’ significant influence against St Mirren in Paisley on Saturday night may have delighted manager Brendan Rodgers and the travelling supporters to no end. However, Adam Idah’s failure to capitalise on another start and score did not go unnoticed after a hard-fought 5-2 victory that moved the visitors closer to a fourth consecutive Scottish title.
Idah has scored 13 goals in all competitions, including three in the Champions League league phase, during the 2024/25 season, helping to justify the £8.5 million transfer fee paid to sign him from Norwich City in the summer. However, the Republic of Ireland international, who returned to his country today to promote Celtic’s friendly match against Cork City at the SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh on July 8, has yet to establish himself as an automatic first-team starter at Parkhead. Even with Kyogo Furuhashi leaving for Rennes in France in a £10 million deal in January.
Daizen Maeda, who took his personal tally for the season to 27 with a late effort at the SMiSA Stadium at the weekend, is probably ahead of him in the pecking order even though his preferred position is out on the wing.
Idah admitted that he eventually wants to be involved from kickoff every week. However, he praised the impact that Luke McCowan, Yang Hynu-jun, and Jota made when they came in against St Mirren, arguing that the squad’s strength is a major element in Celtic’s victory. “It was a difficult game at the weekend,” he informed me. “St Mirren are a really tough side. They were really physical, and the pitch wasn’t fantastic, so we definitely didn’t play our best football. The management was correct; the victory was a pivotal event in our season. “To get a result like that was fantastic for us. The first half was quite tough. To be fair to the boys that have come on in the second half, they did brilliant and won us the game.
“I believe that every footballer wants to play from the start of the game, and if you have the opportunity to do so, it is fantastic. But, as we’ve seen throughout the season, the starting XI changes frequently. “I think that’s why we’ve done so well.” We’ve had an excellent assortment of guys. I’ve said it before: whether I start the game or sit on the bench, I’ll give it my all. The 6ft 3in 24-year-old reiterated that he and all of his team mates will, despite moving 16 points clear of their nearest rivals Rangers in the William Hill Premiership on Saturday evening, continue to give everything in the coming weeks as they pursue a world record ninth domestic treble.
“The aim for the rest of the season is to do what we’ve been doing this whole time and try and win each and every game,” he said. “Take each game as it comes, hopefully finish the season on a high. But we haven’t thought that far ahead yet. We want to win every game and it’s been like that since the start of the season.
(Image: Craig Williamson – SNS Group)“Yes,Complacency is something to avoid, but I believe Celtic’s success stems from our desire to win every game. We’ve worked extremely hard all season. Idah went on to say, “We are really self-centred. We aren’t looking at the league table. We want to do what we want to do, which is to finish at the top of the table at the end of each day. So, yes, we focus on ourselves rather than everyone else. “To be fair, breaking the 100-point barrier is not even being discussed. Of course, you want to finish with as many points as possible. However, it is not particularly important. The primary goal is clearly to win trophies. Hopefully from now on we can win each and every game. That’ll be the main goal for us.
“The manager’s message is to do what we’ve been doing all season, work hard, stay focused, take each game as it comes and hopefully finish the season on a high.” Idah and his Celtic teammates are experiencing a rare midweek without a game this week. They face Hibernian in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-finals at home on Sunday, after losing in the league at Easter Road last month. Last season, the striker scored a last-minute winner against Rangers in the final and is determined to win the cup again in May. However, he knows his team will need to hit top form against opponents who moved into third position in the top division table over the weekend with an Edinburgh derby win over Hearts in Leith in order to book a semi-final place at Hampden.
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