Christmas came early for Adam Idah at Tynecastle. The Hoops hitman wrapped up three points for Celtic – and then coined it in from angry Jambos.
Idah took great delight in ramming it back to the Tynecastle crowd with his double after getting pelters when warming up on the sidelines. The Irish striker was thrilled to come off the bench and banish the demons of his penalty miss at the ground in March – the last time Brendan Rodgers’ side suffered a domestic defeat. And he also saw the funny side when some morons lobbed coins in his direction while he was celebrating.
It might have been a different story if Idah had taken one on the head – especially as he was just back after suffering a brutal concussion that ruled him out of the Ireland international squad. But the big fella must have been feeling the festive spirit after his deadly double sent Celtic soaring at the top of the Premiership.
Idah said: “I definitely enjoyed it. They were giving me a bit when I was warming up so I thought I’d give a bit back. I could probably buy all my Christmas presents with the amount of coins on the pitch… But, look, it’s a bit of banter and I was happy to celebrate in front of both sets of fans. You want to make an impact. I was delighted to get the goals and three points. It was a good day overall.”
It took Celtic a while to get going in Gorgie but an explosive second half left Hearts broken. Idah played his part coming on to hammer home the advantage with a slick third goal and then an emphatic penalty after James Forrest was tripped. The frontman admitted that fluffed spot kick last season came to mind and he was determined to avoid a repeat.
Idah said: “It’s always tough when the break comes, you have people who are coming off long flights and the training is probably not up to speed. In the first half wasn’t great, it was a bit slow. But in the second half we came out and showed what we are all about.
“It turned out really good. It was nice to make amends (for the miss in March). It was in my head when I stepped up to take the penalty. I knew I wanted to score to put it right. Thankfully I did that and I was really pleased with the two goals. To get the three points was great.”
Idah certainly has a nose for goal with seven now for the season in just seven starts. His hooter might need a bit of attention though after taking a heft bang at Kilmarnock before the international break.
Idah was forced to sit out Ireland duty but he’s not going to let a busted beak hold him back against Brugge in the Champions League this week. He said: “I had a bad concussion. I think the nose is broken but I just need to wait until it settles down a bit as there is still a bit of swelling. I don’t know if I’ll get it fixed – I’m quite scared to be honest!
“It’s the first time I’ve ever broken it, so it was inevitable at some point. We’ll see how it goes. I managed to avoid the black eyes but it was tough breathing and sleeping, and I was getting bad headaches. But after a couple of days it was fine.”
Celtic were fine at Tynie as well. Eventually. The Jambos gave the Hoops a tough opening 45 minutes with some of the jet lagged Celts struggling to get up to speed. But they got the job done and once again the quality like Idah and Paulo Bernardo – who teed up the third – coming off the bench made a huge difference.
Idah admitted Celts are more than just a starting XI as everyone has a claim to get in the team. He said: “It does have an impact. With the squad we’ve got, everyone is capable of playing their part.
“I think that’s why we’ve been really good this season. It doesn’t really matter who starts the game, it’s about making an impact. Saturday showed the depth again. A couple of us spoke about it the other day, you could play anyone in the squad from the start.
“It’s probably the best problem for a manager to have. Everyone has been fantastic. It’s so good to have that with the amount of games we have and with Europe and everything. Like I say, it’s a great problem to have.
“Everyone is excited for every game. We know this period is going to be busy and it’s important for us to stick together. Everyone will be needed to play their part.”
Rodgers knows his squad will be vital over the coming weeks and months with 18 games in just 67 days coming up. He’ll need his side full tilt for Brugge on Wednesday but will need to manage his group through the testing period.
Rodgers said: “That’s my job. I’ve said it before, it’s a crime that I can’t play some of these players from the start. But they know over this period that they’ll get starts but it’s making an impact.
“Whether you start the game, come into the game, that’s the role that they play and sometimes they will do. So, it’s just trying to manage the minutes of the players to make the team energetic and to keep that intensity. And we’re going to need that over the coming months.”