Adam Idah

We have to remember he was poor in Greece before tho but he got his first goal against Gibraltar which got his first goal monkey of his back.

Qualifying  for tournaments is all about having a good squad, Ferguson is not always going to be available throught injury/suspension nor is he going to be playing full 90 minutes in 2 or 3 match international windows either so Idah is a good option to replace Ferguson of the bench. 

We can expect Idah to be Ferguson because Ferguson just as that extra quality. If Idah can stay injury free I think he will mature into a good all round lone striker for us, he has good attributes there already and he is improving. He just needs to work on his body positioning and decision-making in the box to improve his goal scoring chances. He should look at some of Shearer's goals back in the day, especially the ones where he had his back to goal but he had a great quick turn and shot that got him a load of goals. There was a few times during the Dutch match where Idah had the ball in the box with his back to goal where if he had it in his second nature to turn and shoot as soon as he got the ball he would have had a few good goal scoring chances.

He put in a decent shift in both games and we can't fault him for that but he just lacks that quality.

Even in some of the previous games, he just doesn't really offer a goal threat to the opposition.

He put in a decent shift in both games and we can't fault him for that but he just lacks that quality.

Even in some of the previous games, he just doesn't really offer a goal threat to the opposition.

HE had a very good window, lads who are disputing that dont know their arse from their elbow imho. The lone striker role up against world class centre backs is one of the most difficult in football, he acquitted himself admirably, tremendous work rate and strength, challenged for everything and for me he has cemented that back up role to Ferguson.

Agree re the cojones to step up and take the peno, I can only imagine the reaction from some on here if he had missed it. Dont think he had a lot of opportunities to get strikes away over the two games, the one I remember vs France he was right not to take the low margin shot on his weaker side on. Generally I thought his decision making was better than Ogbene's over the two games. I like Cheo, who doesnt? but last night he had a great chance to put us 2-0 up, took a poor touch and the chance was gone - he had to hit that first time. On other occasions he let fly from near impossible angles or ran up blind allies. Some will still say he was far better than Adam, because flair or dribbling or something but he just wasnt!

I had Idah MotM last night tbh rather than Knight. Knight was great out of possession, he was everywhere, getting stuck in winning ball back etc which an Irish crowd love, but again like on Thursday night, he didnt really do much with the ball when he had it. I understand why he won it, but that's reflective of why we are where we are imo!

He scored 23 goals in 46 underage internationals for Ireland from U16 level up, 5 in 12 at U21 level. He has struggled with form/selection/injury for quite a while now, but looks to be regaining some confidence. He has a goal involvement every 65 minutes this season and he has scored 2 in his last 3 internationals.

 

Lads can continue saying stuff, it doesnt make it true. He needs to stay fit and get a seasons worth of consistent games under his belt, if he can do that he will prove he is a good striker and a good finisher imo! It's a big "if" tbf given his record, but I'd imagine we are all behind him! He's not Evan Ferguson, but he can still be a very important player for us.

He put in a decent shift in both games and we can't fault him for that but he just lacks that quality.

Even in some of the previous games, he just doesn't really offer a goal threat to the opposition.