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Irish Independent

Soccer

Celtic losing trust in Irish players ahead of new season

Young, green and talented – but they aren’t feeling the love at Parkhead

 

Celtic’s Adam Idah celebrates scoring during the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final against Rangers at Hampden Park last May. Photo: Craig Foy/Getty Images

Celtic’s Adam Idah celebrates scoring during the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final against Rangers at Hampden Park last May. Photo: Craig Foy/Getty Images

 

Aidan Fitzmaurice

Today at 02:30

As soon as Celtic get their act together and complete a deal to bring in Adam Idah permanently, after his successful loan spell last season, the PR machine at Parkhead will do their work.

The lines will be pumped out: that signing a current Ireland international strengthens the links between Celtic and this country; that it’s always been Idah’s dream to play for the team in green and white, since he was a barefoot boy in rags in the rain-drenched backstreets of Cork; and that in signing the player who downed Rangers in the final game of last season, ­Celtic are already one up on their main challengers for the Scottish league.

 

But PR and reality don’t always mix. Yes, it’s possible Brendan Rodgers will have three current Ireland players in his team when Celtic begin their Champions League campaign next month: Liam Scales at the back, Mikey Johnston out wide and Idah up front.

 

The jury is out on how much first-team football Johnston will actually see with Celtic in the coming season, though his status as a ‘home grown’ player in Uefa terminology adds to his squad value for the Champions League but, as of now, he’s not seen as a starter as they kick their league defence off today against Kilmarnock.

 

And for those with a keen eye on all things Celtic, it’s the Irish players from the club who will not be around for the coming season that says almost as much as flag-waving for marquee signings like Idah.

 

With little or no first-team contribution from youngsters like Rocco Vata, Bosun Lawal and Johnny Kenny, all three are in danger of following compatriots like Jonathan Afolabi and Luca Connell (and forgotten man James McCarthy, remarkably still with a year left on his contract there) into a black hole.

 

Vata, who recently turned 19, is predicted to have a big season … but in the yellow shirt of Watford instead of the green and white Hoops. He moved to Vicarage Road earlier this summer with Celtic only receiving ‘training compensation’ of £237,000.

 

Whatever about Idah being a poster boy to sell more Celtic merchandise in Ireland, Vata ticked so many boxes to make him a box office hit at Parkhead: Glasgow-born, father played for the club, schooled at the Celtic academy, grandmother from Donegal and plays for of Ireland. If artificial intelligence was asked to create the ideal Celtic player, Vata would be it.

 

And while Celtic showed faith in Vata by handing him a first team debut at 17, the ninth-youngest player in the club’s history, they didn’t show the love needed to the Vata family to persuade him to sign a new deal, hence the move to Watford.

 

Dubliner Lawal (21) may also have outgrown Celtic. Impressive on loan to Fleetwood Town last season, despite their relegation to the fourth tier, and hugely valuable for his ability to play in midfield or central defence, there were hints in pre-season that he had caught the eye of Rodgers and would be in the Celtic first team this term.

 

Having called him up to the senior Ireland squad in June, John O’Shea spoke in glowing terms of Lawal and hinted that a loan move, to a European club, would possibly come his way this season before he could cement a place in the Celtic team.

 

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Lawal did well, albeit as a substitute, in the first pre-season game against Ayr United. Rodgers talked up his “physical attributes and football ability”, but added that young players like him also need to show they have the “personality to come in and play for Celtic”. Lawal played twice in the three-game tour of the US, but was rarely referenced by Rodgers in his media dealings.

 

Lawal is more likely to be loaned out or even sold than to play against Kilmarnock today or in the Champions League.

 

Rodgers appears to have the same mindset towards the Dubliner that he had 12 months ago when it came to Scales — aware of the potential and the talent, just not fully trusting it. In pre-season last term, Rodgers was not convinced of Scales, who had been loaned out to Aberdeen and another loan deal was very much a possibility.

 

“He’s at the stage of his career where he’ll want to play,” Rodgers said then. “I need to assess his qualities and where he fits into the squad.”

 

The Wicklow native went on to play 34 league games on the way to a title success (only two outfield players, Greg Taylor and Matt O’Riley, played more) having finally won over his manager.

 

Has Rodgers adopted a negative view of Scales just because of his background (League of Ireland) and modest transfer fee, with a different perspective if Scales had cost £6m instead of £600,000?

 

It’s a similar scenario now with the home-grown Johnston, likely to be in the periphery, but potentially more active if Celtic had paid a few million for him.

 

Kenny has two years left on the contract he signed with Celtic in 2022. And he’s no closer to the Celtic first team today than he was on the day he moved from Sligo Rovers. He’s on loan to Shamrock Rovers, his second loan there, but Kenny has admitted to feeling the cold shoulder from his parent club.

 

“Very little interaction, last year I don’t think I heard once,” Kenny said earlier this year when asked about contact from Glasgow, though he added communication had improved after former Ireland and Celtic player Darren O’Dea moved from his coaching position into a role of loans manager.

 

“Interaction is minimal. I hope as I perform it gets better. If you’re not performing, why would they get in touch with you?”

 

Kenny admitted the bar was set high at Celtic and to get into the first team he needed to be better than Idah, who didn’t start every week in his loan spell last season. In reality, Kenny will need to leave Celtic to see his career progress.

 

Despite their historic links, Celtic do seem to have a lack of trust when it comes to Irish talent, a view that saw them lose Vata for a pittance.

 

A successful title defence and a European run for Scales, Johnston and Idah (assuming Johnston stays and Idah joins) will boost the national team.

 

Vata and Lawal are almost certain to get capped at senior level … they are just not likely to be Celtic players when they achieve that.