Adam Idah forced me to choke on my own words but Celtic mood shift makes things fascinating – Hugh Keevins

I could be sarcastic and claim my mockery of Adam Idah here last week inspired him to score twice against Aston Villa on Wednesday night in the Champions League.

But the only honest course of action is to be a big boy, own up to my own mistake and be as good as my word. I said Idah was a contender for the Brass Neck of the Season award for claiming ownership of the goal that beat Young Boys at Celtic Park 10 days ago. That much, at least, was accurate.

There were people waiting at bus stops outside of the ground that night who had as much of a claim on that goal as Adam did. But I said I'd take it all back if he scored at Villa Park – and Idah was outstanding in the execution of his two goals against Unai Emerey's side. And the place to take it all back is at the beginning of this column, rather than attempt to hide it away as an after-thought somewhere near the end.

Being forced to choke on your own words occasionally is an occupational hazard in this business. I have always lived by the idea that I will move on from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm.

Idah's direction of travel must be from one success to another at Motherwell on Sunday with no mention of Kyogo's name being used to compare the Irishman unfavourably to the Japanese. Because Motherwell are more important to Brendan Rodgers' team than this month’s clash with Bayern Munich.

The Champions League knockout stage is, for Celtic, about a glamorous farewell to the competition. An overdose of bravado will provoke supporters to condemn, and contradict, that opinion, but I cling to the old-fashioned ways and ask for realism to be presented in defence of my stance.

A mood shift has taken place, meanwhile, in the Premiership where the outcome of the