As Adam Idah was pushed to the front of the celebrating Celtic players at Easter Road on Wednesday night, he gave off the air of a sober guest pushed into the middle of the dancefloor at a Scottish wedding. He didn’t really know what to do, or where to look.
His teammates soon filled him in, and he eventually led the delirious Celtic support behind the goal in their customary victory dance, one that seemed to have greater gusto than usual given the circumstances of the win, and the fact they didn’t get to perform it at Pittodrie a few days previously.
As well as learning the dance moves, Idah has been slowly learning what to expect from his teammates on the pitch since his arrival at the club last week, and there were signs of promise as he got himself on the end of the ball in some great goalscoring positions, even though he was rather wasteful on the night in his finishing.
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Thankfully for Celtic, he was deadly though from 12 yards, converting both the early and late penalties that ultimately earned the champions a precious victory, and Idah says there will be much more to come from both him and his new team after a potentially pivotal night in Edinburgh.
Even if he concedes that his dance moves still need a little bit of work.
“I think they need to teach me a bit more of that!” Idah said.
“It’s an amazing feeling. To get the goal and the three points was fantastic and to do it in front of the away fans was unbelievable so I’m delighted with it.
“It’s one of the best starts I’ve had. The main thing was to get the three points. It was a tough game but overall I’m proud of the lads and to get the three points topped it all off.
“It was unbelievable. Even just to score in front of the fans was such an amazing feeling. To see their reaction after getting a last-minute goal was fantastic for me and the lads.
“That shows the spirit in the changing room. Hopefully we can push on now and get three points on the board each and every week.
“Right now we take each game as it comes. This was a big game and a big three points. Hopefully we can push on now and get more wins.”
Idah doesn’t exactly come across as the type to get too ruffled, so it was perhaps no surprise that he was entrusted with taking those crucial spot kicks so early in his Celtic career.
His laidback nature certainly worked in his favour when he was forced to wait to hit the first of his penalty conversions due to the lengthy treatment being given to poleaxed teammate Alistair Johnston.
“To be fair, I’ve taken penalties my whole career so I didn’t think much of it,” he said.
“In the back of my head I was confident enough that I was going to score. Thankfully it hit the back of the net.
“It was a long time, but I’m pretty confident taking penalties. I knew which way I was going. It was a long wait, but I’m used to it.”
The same player talking a second penalty in a match against the same goalkeeper always throws up something of a poker match between the two, but Idah kept his cool as he revealed what was going through his head as he stood over his second spot kick.
“To go the other way!” he said.
“Like I say, at the back of my head I was confident I was going to score and that’s the mindset you have to have when you take penalties.
“Thankfully it did hit the back of the net, and we got the win.”
The Celtic support will now be looking for Idah to follow up his penalty double on his full debut by showing his goalscoring prowess from open play, and despite having not been renowned for being a prolific scorer in his short career to date, that is his next target as he eyes up the Scottish Cup tie against St Mirren on Sunday.
“Definitely,” he said.
“That was one of my aims when I joined the club. I wanted to score goals. That’s the most goals I’ve scored in a season. It drives me and motivates me to push on and get more goals, get wins and hopefully help the team.
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“Each and every game is massive. Obviously it’s the cup game at the weekend. All us boys know how important that is and we’re going to work hard for it and push on. We want to win each and every game.”
The crazy night in the capital rounded off a whirlwind week for Idah since his arrival at Celtic, and he is still trying to wrap his head around it all as he settles into his new surroundings.
“It’s been crazy, but it’s been fantastic,” he said.
“I’ve already settled in quite well here. All the boys in the changing room, the staff, the people in the city have all welcomed me in well and I’m loving life in Glasgow right now.”
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