Aiden McGeady

[Charlie Darwin]

Yeah, I was going to say you can see it clearly in the video. Judging by Karpin's reaction, Aiden must have given him the old Glasgow one-fingered salute.

[geysir]

He looked fairly nonplussed after scoring the pressure penalty.
That Nigerian defender was very poor for both goals.

[Crosby87]

That was funny. Thanks for posting the vids dude.
McGeady will be certain to score a few in '14 Quals surrounded by youngsters. And it will come quicker than anyone knows.

[bennocelt]

Read here that Karpin ordered him to take it:
http://greenscene.me/2010/10/late-mcgeady-penalty-gives-spartak-2-1-victory/


Yeah it looked like that from the vid

[Scooby Doo]

He's a bit of a 'fans favourite' by the sounds of the vid. Around 2.03 the PA announcer shouts 'Aiden!' to which the crowd respond, 'MCGEADY!' :D

[geysir]

That would be a normal enough response by home fans anywhere to the PA naming the goal scorer, especially a last minute winner.
But certainly his popularity with the fans is evident by the rise in noise levels whenever he gets on the ball.

[paul_oshea]

Aidan, Aidan you, penalty spot.

Aidan to the defender, ya that was me see i hit it from my gut....

Why can he cross the ball properly for spartak? are the balls harder there due to the cold or something?

[seanfhear]

Aidan, Aidan you, penalty spot.

Aidan to the defender, ya that was me see i hit it from my gut....

Why can he cross the ball properly for spartak? are the balls harder there due to the cold or something?
We should put Aiden and the balls in the freezer before our games. I am a genius I tell ya.

[geysir]

Why can he cross the ball properly for spartak? are the balls harder there due to the cold or something?
He did send a similar cross in the game against Russia but we had no one attacking the ball, Doyle's effort was weak and obviously the defending was better.

[tommy_c12000]

Delighted for McGeady. He looks to be thriving in Russia. Great assist with the run and cross, and held his nerve well with the peno.

[ken foree]

wonderful. spartak cult hero! well done aiden.

[AlaskaFox]

In case anyone was wondering, McGeady did not celebrate Halloween:
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&langpair=ru|en&u=http://www.championat.ru/football/_russiapl/news-641246.html&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhjiVO-VZUQk6-azsGO42FqogHGr2Q
:D

[AlaskaFox]

However, in a badly translated interview, he admitted that the Rostov game wasn't his best at the club. Outside of the goal and the assist, he didn't do much, and felt he was much better against Zenit.
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&langpair=ru|en&u=http://news.sport-express.ru/2010-10-31/397261/&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhgVC17TEnSJcs5GunwGkVBnMWm_4w
(That article has the same Halloween quote)

[elroy]

How does the Russian league work, as in timing etc? Do they take a break for a few months in the winter? Just wondering how it may affect his fitness for our games.

[AlaskaFox]

It's a summer season like the League of Ireland. March-November.

[AlaskaFox]

He's 20th on the assists chart, even though he's only played 7 league games:
http://www.sports.ru/tags/1363803.html?type=bombardiers&s=goal_passes&d=1&season=165

[AlaskaFox]

Starting now against Chelsea.

[AlaskaFox]

Brilliant:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/nov/03/chelsea-spartak-moscow-champions-league

"Keeping one eye on the bigger picture: "Come on Aiden McGeady," writes Ronan O'Nosurname. "A good performance tonight and he can go back top of the Trapattoni Index (http://greenscene.me/trapattoni-index/)!" I notice goalscoring genius Adam Rooney, of Caley Thistle fame, tops the list. But he's only got a rating of 7.6. Is the Index broken? Rooney's been knocking them in for fun for the last season and a bit, hasn't he? Surely his rating should be nudging 11 at least. I'll be keeping an eye on that thing, I'm not sure I trust its raging anti Inverness, Nairn, and Badenoch & Strathspey bias."

[tricky_colour]

Yep just realised, and I though there were no Irish playing anywhere tonight.
I look forward to seeing him destroying Chelsea.
Rare that I get to see him play outside of Ireland matches, which are usually only web streams.

[AlaskaFox]

Is there no Irish in the only other game, Croydon Athletic vs Sutton United in the Ryman Premier? :D

[tricky_colour]

Is there no Irish in the only other game, Croydon Athletic vs Sutton United in the Ryman Premier? :D

Don't think that will be on the telly somehow :)

[paul_oshea]

hows he doing?!

[AlaskaFox]

Crossing has been awful, but some good passing and some good tracking back.

[AlaskaFox]

From the Guardian liveblog:

80 min: McGeady makes his most direct run of the night, straight to the bench as he's replaced by Bazhenov.

[DannyInvincible]

From the bits I saw, he seemed unable to penetrate the Chelsea defence at all. Whilst playing on the left wing, he wasn't allowed to cut inside onto his right foot and was kept out on the line where he attempted to cross with his left foot, very poorly, it must be said. He was later moved over to the right wing where he didn't look like doing much either before being substituted. Never got running. Chelsea defence is very strong in fairness.

[tricky_colour]

That shot he had, that was never on, he could have laid it off to another player I think.

[Adrock]

great effort tracking back and helping the defence youve got to admire the lads work ethic:clap: I think hes been hurt by all the criticism that he gets for not doing his bit at the back

[Closed Account 2]

I was at the game in and around the Spartak fans, I made a point of watching him and I thought he had a solid if unspectacular game. He was always making runs and looking for the ball but as others have said he didnt really seem able to break the Chelsea flanks down. He rarely gave possesion away and was always passing inside or knocking it back or sideways, looking to keep the attacks flowing.

Also from a defensive point of view he tracked back well, at 1-0 he ran over to the corner of the Spartak box to clear a lose ball (the Spartak full back was totally absent). He seemed totally spent after about 65 mins though, he was puffing and weezing and looked very tired.

[Charlie Darwin]

Kombarov seemed to benefit more than McGeady from the decision to switch the wingers from the first game, although his shooting was still woeful when he came inside. I think McGeady does struggle when played on the left as he seems to always try and switch back to his left foot which nullifies his pace somewhat. He had Ivanovic stitched up on a few occasions but still checked back and gave him another go.

[geysir]

It's great when it comes off. Traditional wingers like Joey Haverty use to love turning the full back inside out a few times before sending in the cross.

[The Fly]

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/celtic/aiden-mcgeady-can-seize-chance-to-impress-english-clubs-against-chelsea-tonight-says-former-celtic-team-mate-jiri-jarosik-1.1065494

[Junior]

I'd agree with edmundos summary. Solid if unspectacular. Did waste a few opportunities to get balls in the box but always made himself available and did some good work defensively. Was amazed at the amount of times the Spartak central midfield gave the ball away with relatively simple passes out wide being intercepted by the Chelsea midfield/defence. This often meant they couldn't get any momentum going (in the 2nd half particularly) in their own attacks and gave Chelsea the initiative in starting their own, with Spartak on the back foot. The Chelsea onslaught would probably have happened anyway but Spartak didn't help themselves.

Interestingly, McGeady got a decent enough chorus of boo's from the home support on his exit from the game.

[DannyInvincible]

Interestingly, McGeady got a decent enough chorus of boo's from the home support on his exit from the game.

Noticed that myself. What was the deal? Something to do with a Chelsea-Rangers solidarity thing?

[Junior]

I guess so. The little fenian b*****d :bigsmile:

I doubt it overly concerned him though, nothing compared to what he has become accustomed.

[fu1ham]

Chelsea have long had a link with the Huns , plus have had gangs in the past associated with the BNP.

Yet another reason to hate them.

Duff fit again today apparently. Looking forward to seeing Clark as well . I'll boo Ireland for you all (Stephen that is, I'm not a Chelsea Headhunter).

[Charlie Darwin]

Injury time equaliser for Rubin Kazan seems to have confirmed Spartak won't make the CL spots this year.

http://www.soccerway.com/matches/2010/11/08/russia/premier-league/rubin-kazan/fk-spartak-moskva/889264/

[AlaskaFox]

McGeady played well though according to greenscene, plus highlights of the game
http://greenscene.me/2010/11/continental-irish-10-november-update/

[Closed Account 2]

Injury time equaliser for Rubin Kazan seems to have confirmed Spartak won't make the CL spots this year.

http://www.soccerway.com/matches/2010/11/08/russia/premier-league/rubin-kazan/fk-spartak-moskva/889264/

I don't know if that's true. All Russian teams have played 27 of 30 games, so there are 3 left (9 possible points). Rubin are in 3rd (last CL place, they go to play-offs) on 55 points and Spartak are in 4th on 47 points, so they trail by 8 points.

Spartak play: KS Samara(h), CSKA (a), Dinamo (a)
Rubin play: Dinamo (a), Zenit (h), Lokomotiv (a)

Both teams have Champions League commitments, although Rubin are hanging on by a thread in terms of making the knockouts. Spartak would need to win every game and hope Rubin lose all 3, it's unlikely but you never know.

Also Spartak should be ok for the UEFA Cup places, they are 4 points clear and I can't see both Nalchik and Lokomotiv overtaking them. Spartak are still in the Russian cup, playing Sibir Novosibirsk in the quarter finals when they resume in March 2011.


Noticed that myself. What was the deal? Something to do with a Chelsea-Rangers solidarity thing?

Could be, or could be just booing someone who they've heard of - I saw them play Roma in 2010 and Panucci and Riise were both booed (actually the latter was given ironic cheers for his own goal at the Liverpool game), Panucci was an ex-player for them - some of their fans just boo any player they recognise the name of, I'd be surprised if religion was more of a factor than an "Oooh I've heard his name before so I'll just boo him". Same was true the other way round Zhirkov was roundly booed by the Spartak fans due to him being Russian - I know some claim Spartak - CSKA (Zhirkov's ex club) is a big derby but in reality this is a pretty recent phenomenon and Loko or Zenit games are a big or bigger.

[Crosby87]

I wonder if this different schedule will be good for him.

[geysir]

McGeady in action now for Spartak V Marseilles in the CL.
On the 3min mark he got in a high tackle which floored Heinze and left him furious. Looks like its going to be a hectic game.

[Kingdom]

Wasted a great opportunity there a moment ago after beating Heinze. They have him on frees from the left with the right foot, peach of a cross there.

[Predator]

Has been playing fairly well so far, although he messed up a great opportunity to cross, instead attempting what seemed to be a very bad lob. Seems to be enjoying his football over there.
Fantastic finish for the Marseille goal, too.

[geysir]

You guys focus too much on the negatives. Fortunately the Spartak fans appreciate him.
He has had a couple of lovely crosses and some great moves.

[geysir]

The Celtic team that McGeady broke into was much better than Spartak are now and without Alex they look very ordinary.

[Kingdom]

Ha ha Geysir, wrong thread eh? They miss Alex big time, still though as introductions go, it's been good for McGeady. They'll go into the Europa League now, qualified for it next season, he gets a decent rest now and hopefully a decent pre-season in a couple of months.

Hopefully the new Spartak coach takes a shine to him, cause there's a big chance Karpin will get the shephard's hook now,

[AlaskaFox]

The UEFA player rater for the game is pretty interesting:
http://en.uclratings.uefa.com/Game/Play/2002891

Started off great, and then levelled off around 6.7 before dropping down to 6.1 in the second half, but still Spartak's second best player.

[Kingdom]

It's a tad unfair if you haven't watched the game. He's barely touched the ball in the second half. Got into good positions plenty of times and failed to receive the ball.

[geysir]

Ha ha Geysir, wrong thread eh?

If a tree falls in the middle of nowhere and all that, you would be there to notice it :)

[Kingdom]

If a tree falls in the middle of nowhere and all that, you would be there to notice it :)

Depends on the tree. That was rhetorical wasn't it?

[geysir]

Rhetorical? not at all. Just a reference to the event of my posting a McGeady thread reply in the wrong thread/forum.
That it would not have been recognised as happening, only for the fact that you were there to witness it for the 5 seconds it existed.