Big Idah thought the Celtic starting slot was his. He now has to fight for it again.

This morning, I did a piece on Daizen Maeda and asked whether he—not Kyogo—is the best striker we’ve had since Larsson.

But in discussing that, it’s important not to forget that we have another striker at the club right now. As I said, he has not let us down. But with Daizen now getting so many headlines, it’s high time Adam Idah grabbed the brass ring.

He’s had plenty of tough challenges in his career, and he’s had plenty at Celtic as well. But this is the biggest one he’ll face—unless we go out and sign another striker in the next window. This is his big challenge.

He probably thought he was going to be first choice, playing every week once Kyogo left, and it must be a bitter blow to find that he’s not.

But this is football. This is what players face all the time. And as tough as it is, he has to cope with it. He has to find a way to rise above it, to dig in his heels, to play through it. Things are harder than he expected. The guy in front of him is playing so well, so consistently, that he must wonder if he’ll ever get the position to himself.

And the honest answer? Probably not. Adam Idah has been brought here as a squad player. An expensive squad player, yes, but still just another member of the team. That has been the case since the day and hour he arrived.

Even if Maeda scores and scores, there will be games where Rodgers takes him out of the frontline. And it doesn’t matter what Idah does—there will be games where he’s taken out of the frontline too.

We don’t have a first-choice striker in the traditional sense. We have two very good forwards who we rotate. And all that matters in that scenario is what you do with the chances when you’re given them.

It’s up to each player to leave their mark, to make the manager’s job of rotating them difficult. And Maeda’s performances through the middle have been exceptional. The only way Idah gets that place and considers it his own is if he plays even better. That’s the harsh reality of life at a big club.

He will get more opportunities as the sole frontman. He might even get one tomorrow. But he has to take it. I don’t think he’s played badly, and I don’t think scoring goals is the be-all and end-all either. But Maeda has just been head and shoulders better when played through the middle.

That’s unfortunate for Idah, but the flip side is that Maeda can play multiple positions. That might be Idah’s best chance to get a run as the main striker—when Maeda is needed elsewhere.

There are 10 league games left and up to three cup games if we reach the final. That could mean as many as half a dozen opportunities before the season ends. He just has to take them. He just has to do more, to put the ball in the net or lay them on for others, to show the manager he deserves more game time.
T
he media have tried to stir this up, suggesting there’s disharmony in the squad or that Idah isn’t happy. Others have simply written him off.

Both are out of order, and both are wrong.

But life at Celtic under a manager like Rodgers is never going to get easier—it’s only going to get tougher and more competitive.

Players either rise to that or get buried under it.

I love the big guy. I’ve said it a million times.

He’s got class. He gives us a different dimension from Kyogo or Maeda, and there are games where he will absolutely be the best option.

I would have played him against Villa as the starting striker, even if Kyogo were still here. In the right kind of match, Idah offers something no one else in this team does. And on that night, he looked every inch a Premiership-level striker.

All he has to do now is keep his head in the game, ignore the white noise, and plough through. But when the chance comes, he has to take it. He has to impress the manager. He has to impress the fans. He has to look like a guy who means business and can deliver consistently.

It won’t be easy because Maeda is on exceptional form, no matter where he plays. But that could work in Idah’s favour too. The free run at the position he thought he’d get isn’t happening. If he thought Kyogo leaving meant the job was his by default, the manager will have dissuaded him of that notion pretty quickly.

But Maeda earned his place. Now Idah has to do the same.

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