Aiden McGeady

[EastTerracer]

It's a bit strange seeing Aiden wearing red - pic taken from the Spartak website.

http://new.spartak.com/img/player/big/5010.jpg

[The Fly]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0914/1224278824164.html

[Charlie Darwin]

It's a bit strange seeing Aiden wearing red - pic taken from the Spartak website.

http://new.spartak.com/img/player/big/5010.jpg
If I didn't know better I'd think another Old Firm player had defect to Middlesbrough.

[ped_ped]

Any word on whether he's in the squad for tonight?

[Charlie Darwin]

He's in the starting line-up: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/matches/season=2011/live/index.html?matchday=1&day=2&match=2002819

[geysir]

I have been watching the wrong game these last 5 minutes.

[Noelys Guitar]

Watching the whole game. He is doing OK. One great ball through to the Spartak Center Forward but he has also given the ball away a couple of times needlessly. Overall he looks comfortable. The left back for Marseille is one Mr G. Heinze

[geysir]

The Politburo are there in the VIP section.

[Charlie Darwin]

I have been watching the wrong game these last 5 minutes.
The Bayern match?

[geysir]

Yeah, you too?
I finally copped on when I heard Altintorp

[geysir]

The guy who I thought was McGeady was doing okay

[Noelys Guitar]

0-0 H-T. Looks like McGeady is under orders not to venture too far forward. The left winger for Spartak has gotten forward a lot more than McGeady in the first half. McGeady has cut inside a few times and opened up a lot of room for himself. I feel that is his best weapon. Houllier is bull****ting as the studio guest on French TV chatting with some beautiful French girl. Miles better than Sky!

Link here http://www.vipfast.net/ch1.html
Geysir has been at the Sherry again!

[geysir]

I´m sure his girlfriend would have a different opinion.

[Noelys Guitar]

What a run from McGEady. Half the lenght of the pitch and a good ball to his left. Spartak should have done bettet there. Best bit of skill by anyone the whole game so far. This is a really good game

[geysir]

Some reflex save by Mandanda.
Spartak can win this.

[Noelys Guitar]

Taiwo for Marseille is some player. True world class. McGeady has to contend with Heinze (now center half) and Taiwo (now left Back).

[geysir]

Marseilles should have had this game wrapped up.

[geysir]

McGeady started that move for the goal with the deft flick from the kick out :)

[Noelys Guitar]

LOL...It always happens to me as well. 0-1 spartak

[geysir]

McGeady leaves the stage, Spartak are shoring up.

[geysir]

Stranzl comes on for Spartak,
is he the same Stranzl that Trap had that famous rant about, when at Bayern?

[Noelys Guitar]

How was there only one goal in that game. Could have been 4-4. McGeady (and hismanager) must be happy. Good to see McGeady moving into the center of midfield to pick up the ball at run at the Marseille defense.

[geysir]

I´d agree, McGeady is warming to the task, nothing too spectacular, but finding his niche in the team.

[Charlie Darwin]

Highlights coming up on RTE.

[geysir]

I thought it was a great strike for the goal, but now I see that it was an og. oops

[tommy_c12000]

No clip of McGeady in highlights.....disappointing considering i stayed up late to watch it....

[The Fly]

Stranzl comes on for Spartak,
is he the same Stranzl that Trap had that famous rant about, when at Bayern?

No.....you're thinking of Thomas Strunz.

[geysir]

Struntz, that's him, and it fit the rhyme better:)

[Noelys Guitar]

Very happy with McGeady's performance against some serious, serious opposition in Heinze (turned inside out once) and Tawio(turned him but the brillance of an exceptional player got back to deny McGeady). Great move for McGeady as far as I'm concerned. And although Valery Karpin the Spartak manager is playing McGeady on the right wing he is definetely telling him to cut inside ala Trap and pick up the ball in midfield when there is an opportunity.

[The Fly]

http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/mcgeady-is-still-smiling-after-second-spartak-start-2339816.html


AIDEN MCGEADY was celebrating today after helping Spartak Moscow to a win away to Marseille on his Champions League debut for the Russian side. McGeady impressed by setting up one of the goals for Spartak in a 2-1 win over Saturn on his league debut last weekend and last night the former Celtic man clocked up his second successive start, playing on the right of midfield as Spartak won 1-0 in France, an own goal from Marseille defender César Azpilicueta 11 minutes from time the only goal of the night as Spartak ended a dismal run of games in France, winning there for the first time in 11 games.

McGeady was substituted with seven minutes to go but the Ireland man will be happy with his display and his contribution to the win.
He can now take a break for a few days as Spartak are not in action again until Monday, when they are away to Spartak Nalchik in the Russian league, with Nalchik currently two places ahead of McGeady's club in the league table. Spartak coach Valeri Karpin later said that Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Dykan was the main man for his side, Karpin awarding his keeping a rating of 11 out of 10. "I'm a perfectionist and our play wasn't great; we weren't at 100pc. My instructions were particularly defensive because half my players were involved in a competition of this scale for the first time. Later on we started to play when the game opened up a little more," Karpin said.

Meanwhile, two other Irish players are in UEFA action tonight. Cillian Sheridan hopes to make his third European appearance of the season for CSKA Sofia when they take on Besiktas in Turkey. And Dutch-born midfielder Barry Maguire hopes to feature for FC Utrecht away to Napoli. Maguire, who has an Irish father, has been capped at U16 level by the Republic and recently expressed his desire to play for Ireland again after a spell with the Dutch national side.

[irishfan86]

I watched the game. I didn't think it was McGeady's best match overall (no different than his best performances for Ireland), but it was only his second match for them and it was away from home.

Spartak's keeper Dykan tried his best to make every save look like a blockbuster....I'm fairly confident he waited until the last minute before making dives to make things appear more dramatic.

11 out of 10 for showmanship perhaps Mr. Karpin.

It was an evenly matched game but it was a fortunate deflection that ended up being the difference.

[geysir]

Evenly matched game? Are you sure?
Marseilles 8 shots on target and 15 wide off target
Spartak 1 shot on target and 3 wides.

It was not as lop sided as those stats indicate, but Marseilles should have had that game wrapped up, what a miss with that header from 1m out to an empty goal.

[bennocelt]

Mcgeady starting
http://entertainmenow.net/channel1.php

[Razors left peg]

Its on ESPN too if anyone has it

[Charlie Darwin]

Already been booked for dissent and then went in for a risky 50/50 that left the other man worse off. The referee doesn't seem to be taking it any further though.

[geysir]

Hardly 50/50 though, it looked worse - 30/70 against McGeady. Fortunate not to be booked for it.

[Charlie Darwin]

Yeah he was definitely second favourite. Ha mae ge away wae tha stuff in Glasgow but not in Russia.

Awful penalty from Nalchik too. Guy never looked confident.

[geysir]

He did well I thought, though I only saw the 2nd half and 1st half highlights.
Max speed 30.2km/h.
Is that a 6 second 50m? Not bad while controlling a ball with your foot at the same time.

[bennocelt]

Not a bad match by Mcgeady, did very well considering the service he was getting from central mid, or rather lack of it. Always tracking back, and trying 100%. Lucky to be still on the pitch, but well done to the ref, who had a good game. Mcgeady played it like a man for a ball that was there to be won. Fans like that stuff anyway.
The Spartak Moscow manager is a moron, imagine he was going to take off Mcgeady before the second goal. He def was worth keeping on.

[McGeady10]

I've been one of McGeadys biggest fans and defended him a lot through the years. Over his last year to 18 months at Celtic I kept away from the board as I knew he'd be getting stick and I couldn't justify defending him. He stayed too long at Celtic and got into some really bad habits both on the pitch (playing in a sub standard league against dreadful opposition) and off the pitch (spending far too much time out in nightclubs up to no good) that I began to question his commitment to his career.

When the move to Russia was first touted McGeady basically said absolutely not but eventually agreed to go to Moscow to see what it was like. When he went there he focussed on the football and made his move for sound footbalilng reasons. Sure he's probably being very well paid however he's not an overly flash spender and has looked after his money so I think he should be applauded for chosing to up sticks and head to Russia to develop.

I know he's taken his girlfriend over with him and I just hope he can settle in his personal life over there cause if he does he can come back to the UK in 2 years or so a much more rounded footballer and person.

Good luck to Aiden and to Spartak!

[Kingdom]

If he comes back as a more rounded footballer (i.e. crossing more accurately and scoring more goals) I'd hope the big continental clubs will come looking for him.

[AlaskaFox]

GreenScene posted about him again. The legend Andrei Kanchelskis was full of praise for him:
http://greenscene.me/2010/09/kanchelskis-mcgeady-can-be-massive/

There's a highlights clip at the end too. He gets the cross in for one of the goals. Love the way the Russians say his name.

[amaccann]

I have a funny feeling it's all gonna work out a for McGeady; I always got the sense that there's a certain ... attitude, viewpoint or prejudice that dogs SPL->EPL transfers. Maybe it's hype, expectation or just the reality of the SPL's massive inferiority. So instead of going straight to an EPL team where he could flop after not getting used to the game and shaking off the SPL-wonderboy tag, I think that maybe Moscow is a more circuitous way of getting into the EPL. A few years in a better league - though I fully admit I know nothing about Russian football - in competitive European games, and all with no baggage attached (bar the transfer fee), we could see McGeady eventually stroll into the EPL a fully rounded player, having been given the time and headspace to mature his game. At least that's the hope.

[Charlie Darwin]

It's interesting what he says about Kombarov - since McGeady's come in he seems to be playing better. An on-fire McGeady and Duff playing for us would stretch any team's midfield and give Whelan and Andrews/whoever a bit more room to play football. Wishful thinking maybe haha

[Closed Account]

Just scored his first for Spartak Moskva.

[Maroon 7]

Not doing too badly so far. That's 1 goal and 2 assists in his first 4 games I think.

[Noelys Guitar]

What was his goal like?

[Closed Account]

What was his goal like?
I read somewhere that he chest/bellied it in at the back post. They all count

[Charlie Darwin]

The old "Glasgow beer gut"

[carloz]

http://greenscene.me/2010/09/mcgeady-nets-first-goal-for-spartak/

Article and link to the goal here. Scored off his belly but he will take it