Adam Idah changed Celtic history. He arrived at the club on loan during Brendan Rodgers’ first season back in January 2024. Philippe Clement had not only stabilised the wreck Michael Beale left Newco in, he hunted Celtic down, went top of the league and made his side favourites for the title.
A week in the door Adam scored with two penalties against Hibs, to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 1-2 win in the 92nd minute. At Motherwell two weeks later and he again scored twice, his second to give Celtic the lead on 94 minutes.
He will be better remembered for his Scottish Cup Final winning goal against Newco in May 2024, and our third goal in a 3-3 draw at Ibrox the month earlier, but the goals at Hibs and Motherwell were just as crucial in picking a Celtic team off the canvas and making us champions again. We would have won neither without him.
The club spent £9m to take Adam permanently from the Norwich City bench to Glasgow. It was a decision based on a small sample size (the fee was due to Brendan Rodgers publicly naming Adam as his No. 1 target early in the window). A statistical error was made; always check the sample size.
I doubt anyone is motivated to explain why Nicolas Kuhn was allowed to leave without backfill secured. Signings are notoriously difficult for all clubs and all know not to make assumptions, which is why Kuhn’s sale is so unusual. A bit of bloody mindedness was involved. Contrast with Adam’s departure. Adam could have gone earlier in the window but was kept until backfill was secured.
Two weeks late, but Royal Antwerp eventually got their backfill for Michel-Ange Balikwisha (24), who joined Celtic last night. The right-footed (predominantly) left-winger has been at Antwerp for four years and I expect will see some action on Sunday. Celtic have scouted for a long time, so he will surely fit what we need.
Michel-Ange played the same role in Belgium as Jota played at Celtic, and Daizen Maeda has played in Jota’s absence. Brendan likes to swap out both wingers during games, so I can see scope for at least five in the squad.
Welcome to Celtic, Michel-Ange.
Our Europa League draw:
Roma (home), 5th in Italy last season
Feyenoord (away), 3rd in Netherlands last season
Braga (home), 4th in Portugal last season
Red Star (away), Serbia champions last season
Sturm Graz (home), Austria champions last season
Midtjylland (away), Denmark runners up last season
Utrecht (home), 4th in Netherlands last season
Bologna (away), 9th in Italy last season
There are easier games in the Champions League than any of them, but there’s lots we can achieve with that draw.
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Adam Idah was on his way to Italy on a loan with an option to buy for £3.5 million.
He jumped at Celtic once he heard we were interested and we neglected to include an option – one which had already been negotiated with Udinese.
Adam wins us a double and his price tag goes up. It ain’t rocket science.
Thanks for some big goals Adam and best of luck.
TEN MEN WON THE LEAGUE on 29TH AUGUST 2025 1:07 PM
‘It was a decision based on a small sample size (the fee was due to Brendan Rodgers publicly naming Adam as his No. 1 target early in the window). A statistical error was made; always check the sample size.’
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Another embarrassing post by yourself P67. You’re fooling no one with this guff.
A competent transfer negotiator would have had a fixed fee option incorporated into the deal at the end of the loan period. We don’t have anyone competent running our transfer business so that never materialised.
Adam had a successful loan period and Norwich (rightly) could ask for the moon. We ended up paying it due to our incompetence. Nothing to do with BR.
……
Memory serves (or maybe not) that Norwich wouldn’t agree to an optional sign on fee , again from memory we did have a sign on fee clause for Jota and CCV , maybe we just clean forgot with Adam after a really heavy lunch.
HH
ERATIC on 29TH AUGUST 2025 1:19 PM
£1.5 m bid for Yang
Think he’s worth more than that to be honest ?
———-
Somebody will post “ I’ll drive him to the airport masell “
Who ever said we don’t blame Rodgers?
Listen, the game itself is built on the idea that the manager takes the fall. That the manager cops the flak. That the manager is the guy who swings on the end of the rope if things go wrong.
I’ve given Rodgers it tight COUNTLESS times on the blog (my own one not this one) and don’t believe that we’re watching the same guy we did before. But to pretend that Rodgers has had backing and has squandered it when actually he hasn’t spent one penny of whatever his “transfer budgets” were in any given year is an atrocious lie.
The idea that Rodgers is the one responsible for weakening this team is another piece of arrant nonsense which anyone who looks at it for two seconds can recognise immediately.
As to Kuhn; I thought it was a fab signing then and now, and you know what? Rodgers is the pro. This idea that he will reject good players because they aren’t his signings is laughable. He’ll work with good players if that’s what he’s given. If he’s given dross then no manager can make players better.
If they don’t fit the style of play then there’s no point signing them … I mean Rodgers is not perfect, we can all agree that we’ve seen very little actual tactical variation from him in a while and so maybe there’s a case for saying that he should be more flexible and find a way to work some of these guys into the team … but if they’re not good enough then you’re asking a manager to bet his own rep on guys he knows can’t cut it and no manager in the game is going to do that. No manager.
One of the problems that we clearly have here at this club is the lack of synergy. The football department seems to be factionalised, the upper echelon aren’t fast enough at closing deals for whatever reason and there’s just no evidence that all the pieces work together well.
Who’s to blame? Hell, blame everybody. Nobody emerges from this window without having to take a long hard look in the mirror. But it’s clear that the whole model is dysfunctional, and that, I’m afraid starts at the top because it’s up to them to show us a strategy which works.
And the most important function of the machine – its only function if we’re being blunt – should be to back the guy in the dugout. If the board thinks he’s the WRONG guy they have a mechanism for changing that, if they’ve got the guts. But their role is to support that guy otherwise … and that has failed lamentably and blaming Rodgers for that is just not on.
EKBhoy on 29th August 2025 1:29 pm
Memory serves (or maybe not) that Norwich wouldn’t agree to an optional sign on fee.
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Its what those working against BR from within the club would like you to believe regards Adam, but as others have alluded to on here, an option to buy was available to other suitors.
Think our football this season has been a bit platitudinous .
Note: Not to be associated with the Duck bill variety !🥴
” A bit of bloody mindedness was involved. ”
Too right Paul . Bloody minded megelomania . That Peter Lawwell tsk, tsk .
That is who you meant isn’t it ……?
eratic:
Hahaha that was good :)
larkin1907
Indeed which was why it was targeted forty five years ago this month in August 1980.
In the worst ever act of terrorism in peace time Italy the bombing of Bologna Railway Satation killed 85 and injured scores of others. Carried out by fascists with links to the P2 Masonic Lodge and part of a secret NATO operation named Gladio. All part of a long running post war project, (which also involved the US Mafia in the late 1940s) to keep the Communist Party out of power in Italy. And also despite the fact that between 1945 and 1980 Italy had some forty different coalition governments none of which ever involved the Communist Party, a Party (like that in France) with a huge membership and massive electoral support. I do not know if I will be in Bologna when we play there, might be, but I do hope that any Celtic supporters that do make that trip, some who may well arrive by rail, are aware of the backdrop to our visit there, and the fact that while some of the actual fascist perpetrators were jailed, some of those involved have still not been forced to face justice for their part in that atrocity.
Any y’all been to Belgrade?
Local fans are a bit nuts from what I can gather; hardcore righties, nationalists.
But the city looks nice and the reviews are pretty great.
Season Ticket direct debit zooms out of the bank on the morning of the wrong tournament draw.
SNAFU CSC
Id sell Yang in a heartbeat. A summer which sees Kwon, Yang, Lagerbielke and Tilio moved on is to be welcomed in that respect. These players certainly got nowhere near Idah’s contribution in a Celtic shirt. Take the £1.5 million and go get Breum.
FFS
Cheer up.. it’s Friday 🫣😂
We are struggling to score goals against every side at the moment. Domestically and once Europe. Many of the EL sides will be short of a few things as well but one thing you always need are creative players and goalscorers – even of you leak goals.
We are not even as good as Hibs at the moment in the last third.
So why would you be confident?
We need another winger at least, two strikers (one main one) and cover at left and rb. Are we seriously going to continue with Big Tony at RB? He’s done well to last as long but we need better back up.
We wont get all of that and yet its not unreasonable.
We will once again go into the season Ill prepared.
Rodgers needs to start to adapt. Engels should play more than not and Reo – and anybody else that is living on past glories – needs rested.
Celtic Mac:
Great – if grim – little bit of history there mate.
David Yallop’s book In God’s Name is a hell of a read, and the sections on P2 and its master Licio Gelli is extraordinary stuff, and yep the CIA had their handprints all over a lot of it. The Bologna bombing features heavily in that book, as did the murder in London of Roberto Calvi, and the bizarre story of Michele Sindona.
Bologna is a hallowed place due to that atrocity. That was the other trip I was thinking of making for this series of games.
VINNIETHEDOG on 29TH AUGUST 2025 1:19 PM
I think the first game is huge…beat Roma and I’d virtually say qualified…lose and uphill battle with pressure as Feyenoord away is a toughie
……
Pretty sure the sequence of games is still to be agreed , usually to avoid too many games in the one city in the same might …. But take your point we need to start well regardless of who we get
James Forest @ 1.32
I agree
(Never thought I would say that)
67ECW
Brendan Rodgers Ate My Hamster :0)))
The manager (& players) have to accept his share of responsibility for events but the common denominator isn’t managers or players.
The vibe destroyers in the boardroom though…
Paul67
If in doubt blame Brendan
FFS. Get of the fence and say you would like him sacked
But constant nipping is child’s play
For clarity – my view is back him. Doesn’t mean he is unsalable but back him or fire him
67ECW
Regarding the huns being a pot 1 team , even their media chums shouldn’t make too much of that one because it hardly reflects their current quality .
As far as I’m concerned ,the only pot they belong in is the one underneath the bed .
Entertaining even titillating article Pablo but, respectfully, it hints in parts more than it delivers.
You’re persuaded by analysis and analytics. Got it.
When I read “it was based on a small sample size” I assume it means the search for a striker wasn’t sufficiently broad?
But I dont know. Pray tell.
Brendan going public on his desire for Adam?
Didn’t know that. Happy to accept it is true and, that it was a factor in Norwich’s negotiating stance.
Was this the cause of the rift?
Did Brendan go off process (narrow search) and off message?
“Never let people know what you are thinking”
(Vito Corleone)
Did that then weaken Celtic’s negotiating position?
Re Kuhn and a “bit of bloody mindedness was involved”
By who?
BTW, just borrowing that bloody mindedness analogy for a second … and applying it to the pursuit of Balikwisha.
Assuming the player was always happy with the financial package on offer … and the blocker to the sale was the club?
Couldn’t Celtic have offered … say … €500k more if the sale went through before 01 August?
My point?
Such a tactic might have not made ANY difference to Antwerp.
But, there just MIGHT have been a “bloody minded” person on their board who would have said.
“Sod this waiting for a replacement lark. Sell him now for a few extra euros!”
67 European Cup Winners:
Hehe the odd word of sense does tend to come from me from on occasion!
(It’s all the words I use, it’s like the old broken clock! Bound to be right at least some of the time!)
Unsalable. Infallible
67ECW.
The good news just keeps on coming – Kasper Dollberg has no tattoos
BSR
Does Dermot inspect the naked torsos personally or does he get Peter to do it ?
Yang?
Total waste of a jersey…dud…can’t go past his man…disappears in games…we’re a man down when he plays…We need to get rid of as soon as…I would drive him to the airport myself.
“£1.5 m bid for Yang
Think he’s worth more than that to be honest ?”
£1.5m represents a small loss on Yang . A small loss for a dead loss seems reasonable to me .
Although £1.3 for Tilio who contributed nothing seems a bit bizarre by comparison .
Sometimes I feel P68 thinks we all have the memories of goldfish, or maybe, he has ?
Questioning why Kuhn was sold without backfill, ignores the fact that we sold Jota in the summer of 23 without a replacement. It ignores the fact we sold MoR last summer without a replacement in the door. It ignores that fact we sold Kyogo in January of this year without backfill lined up.
Selling once our asking price has been met regardless of replacements is what we do regularly.
james forrest
Some events never leave you. Bologna is one of them, Piper Alpha, now the subject of a BBC documentary series another. Was in London on 7/7 another series of atrocities which could have been prevented had not Blair, and Special Branch took their eye off the prime instigator and organiser.
Would not surprise me in the least if the CIA were linked to the bombing, certainly it would have been consistent with US post war policy. First, based on ‘The Long Telegram’ sent by George Kennan from Moscow in 1946 creating a policy of “containing” the Soviet Union and secondly to prevent any Communist Party anywhere else from gaining power not least in Italy. Hence 10.25 am August 2nd Bologna Rail Station…
Andiamo Avanti
Celtic Mac:
Blair looks haunted, doesn’t he? Anytime you see him these days.
I always get the feeling that if a door slammed during a live interview you’d see him jump a foot in the air.
A criminal, bottom line. Should be The Hague. So much of what ails us right now can be traced to his door, including Brexit. The state of the Middle East is his lasting legacy, that and his place in Hell.
“Adam could have gone earlier in the window but was kept until backfill was secured” This to my mind is ambiguous: Surely it refers to Idah leaving Norwich rather than leaving Celtic. Theres been no notice of a replacement striker at Celtic as far as I know and not mentioned in CQN.
Kuhn’s form dropped precipitously because he heard there were clubs in a better league after him. It’s never good to hold on to players who want to move.
Players don’t seem to be developing these days, has BR lost his mojo? Arne Engels, Adam Idah, Paulo Bernardo. And Daizen and Reo seem to keep making the same mistakes again and again.
Brendan doesn’t negotiate transfer fees as much as you’d like this to be the case, Paul. Look at your incompetent friends in the boardroom.
Martin giving another bizarre presser today; “If you are open and honest with people there can’t be any breakdown in relationships.”
Ask a lot of married couples whether they believe that one.
I don’t know if it’s deliberate or not, but he seems to have no interest in saving himself at all.
Interesting stuff from the DR if true….
“Brendan Rodgers insists Adam Idah won’t be allowed to quit Celtic – until a replacement is signed.”
scullybhoy on 29th August 2025 9:02 am
Parkheadcumsalford on 29th August 2025 8:56 am
Will we ever really improve while playing in the SPFL? Will class players want to face the old 10 man defence every game?
I agree, it is a real obstacle.
*I said pretty much the same yesterday plus corrupt officials
James Forrest…I see you mention David Yallop’s book In God’s Name. There is another intriguing book, a novel,which exposes a lot of the darker side of the Vatican. Written by Malachi Martin, an Irish, Jesuit ordained priest who worked in the Vatican and indeed travelled with Paul VI to the middle east. It covers the period from the closing stages of WWII to the mid eighties. Although it is classed as a novel, the lines between fact and fiction are extremely blurred. From Mussolini, Liberation Theology, Poland’s Solidarity movement, John Paul I, John Paul II, P2, and Roberto Calvi and the Banco Ambrosiano. It’s over 800 pages, so not a pamphlet. However, it is a great read…
james forrest
Thanks for the heads up on David Yallop’s ‘In God’s Name’
Will need to find a hard copy but meantime have found it online.
Dont know if you use the ‘Internet Archive’ in your own research (also known as ‘Archive.Org’) but I would recommend it to you and anyone else interested in print, audio and media resources. It is a non for profit US digital library of books, movies, articles, tv series and software sources etc. A bona fide digital library. The copy of the book referred to on their site is from ‘West Dunbartonshire Libraries’, do not know how they got that copy, not unless the CIA has a agent out there on the Rock…
Yesterday the following comment was posted, I didnae want to answer it among the james, NOT Jamesie, forrest/saint stivs turmoil last night so here it is now if anyone is interested, Celtic FC nearing the end of the years in the wilderness.
Bhoyjoebelfast on 28th August 2025 5:39 pm
CELTICMAC
Hugh Maxwell…. Bobby Craig and Paddy Turner as well.
*There used to be a column in Not The View, I think, titled “they shamed the hoops” well none of the above 3 can be called that, they were just in the right place but at the wrong time
First up Bobby Craig, I was in the Celtic end the night he played his first game and that was after coming off a train at Glasgow Central around hauf four as we had just signed him fae Blackburn Rovers for an estimated 15k, which was a tidy wee sum at the time.
The mystified shouts of “whose that” had my da turning to me, when it was mentioned Bobby Craig and then told him that he had played for the Hi Hi and then Sheffield Wednesday, so it was recognised that he was a good player
He played well that night in a 2-2 tie against the reigning cup holders who would go on to retain it that season, so it all augured well for his future but the Winter of 1963, “when it felt like felt like the world would freeze, with John F. Kennedy, and The Beatles”, saw games cancelled and Bobby’s form seemed to take a serious hit as it was said his form could change from game to game, however IMHO the biggest blow to his Celtic career was when after James Edward had picked the side for the replay which included a mercurial wee winger Sir Bob changed it by dropping the wee mhan who had roasted the whole left side of the hun defence in the first game replacing him with an inside forward who had NEVER played at outside right in his whole career, and although Bobby had scored in the previous game to this, there was a gap of 11 days between the first game and the replay, a 6-0 win over Motherwell in the final League game of the season.
That replay will stay in my mind for ever, I was playing myself that night and on the return to the chapel hall to get changed we met with the news that we had lost 0-3, unknown to us it was 3 going on 10, our support drifted away after the 3rd goal with the hun support chanting that old boxing chant of “easy easy easy” as they literally toyed with us, it was that embarrassing that Bob Kelly stated he would rather they had filled the net than humiliate us, wtf and give up our biggest cup final score in the uk claim, oh and Bobby was made one of the scapegoats.
However, it was going to get worse as during the close season, aye we used tae have those, he was asked to sign a reduced contract for the next season and also found his wages for the close season slashed to £7 a week, a married man with four weans he refused to re-sign, so after 21 appearances and a prodigious 13 goals, Bobby was transferred to St Johnstone in August 1963 in a swap deal which saw Bobby Young, brother of Ian, who never played a first team game for us, head the other way.
Anyway, apart from being hard done by he like all of us was Celtic through and through and on moving over to Toronto to play for Toronto City he was instrumental in helping to establish the Toronto Celtic Supporters Association, a precursor to todays NAFCSC, he also set up and coached the Toronto Celtic in the Toronto and District League who my late brother played for and widnae hear a bad word about him.
Paddy Turner was an Irish international who joined us as Bobby was leaving, from Morton in May 1963, now the story doing the rounds at the time was we were actually after Morton’s alan mcgraw who at the time was the top goal scorer in the uk but allegedly the kinning park born and govan raised bluenose widnae sign for us, so we opted for his team mate Paddy instead.
Like Bobby Craig, Paddy was a cultured player and seemed to have settled well in Scotland producing some fine displays for the tail of the bank club., but NOT so the bhoys, he featured in a 3 losses in 4 weeks to the huns at the start of the season, as it was he also coincided with the emergence of Bobby Murdoch who also played in the inside right position, so he was in and out of the side only when Bobby wisnae available
Accordingly, after little more than one year and 14 games Paddy found himself playing predominantly reserve football through much of the 1963-64 season and at the end of the season he headed back across the Irish Sea to play for Glentoran, sold by Celtic for £1000, he had stated that for domestic reasons he would not be returning to Celtic Park for the 1964-65 season and Celtic therefore made his fee a nominal sum with a rider on any future transfers.
Hughie Maxwell, this was the signing that had my da shaking his heid and saying we had really lost the plot, not Bobby or Paddy but Hughie who also played in the inside right position, he was signed from Falkirk in November 1964 on the back of a scoring 7 goals in a game the season before and 4 that season, albeit all penalties.
He made his debut a day after his signing at home in the league to Dundee 2-0 in torrential conditions and he reportedly never got a touch of the ball, however, against his old club Falkirk a week later he netted within 10 second, his only other goal was against Partick Thistle a month later in a 4-2 league win.
Admittedly he joined us when we were at our lowest ebb ever, although we had beat the huns on the 33rd anniversary of Johnny Thompsons tragic accident 3-1 going on 5 or 6 it was another controversial loss in the LC final a hunden that sent us on a downward spiral where we lost 3 out of the next 4 games including Hughie’s aforementioned debut, we did win our next 3 but a loss to the pars at home would be Hughie’s last game until Jock played him twice when unfortunately for him we lost both games, 4-2 to Hibs at parkheid and 5-1 to the Pars at East End Park 4 days after beating them in Big Billy’s Bumper game.
That was the end of his Celtic career, he was on his bike to St Johnstone for £10,000 in the summer, if there was one silver lining, it was for us who on Hughie’s departure the cut-price £10k helped to fund payment for the great Joe McGoals, who would go on to be an incredibly prolific striker for Celtic.
So, Hughie Maxwell, played 8 scoring 2