Aiden McGeady

[DeLorean]

Well I can't argue with that ;)

McGeady is our miracle though.

[Eminence Grise]

And there we part ways, DeL. Once, maybe, if we'd used him better. I'd be very happy to be proven wrong all the same.

[DeLorean]

You're too scared to dream. I hope SK isn't ��

[Eminence Grise]

I live by the motto dum spiro, spero (it was on a jumper I had as a teen - impressionable age and all that!). But hopes and dreams aren't exactly the same, though the outcomes may be. I don't mind who our next 10 is, as long as they're good, and we win.

[Eirambler]

Out of contract this summer and linked to Peterborough, who have been promoted to the Championship. A major salary drop coming for him whether he stays or goes, but he has made his money at this stage.

[Colbert Report]

Will he play for Sunderland in the playoffs?

[Eirambler]

I would expect him to, yes. He's been central to them getting this far, along with Charlie Wyke.

[Colbert Report]

If they get promoted, any chance he'll get another contract with Sunderland?

[Eirambler]

Potentially yes, but it would need to be on substantially reduced terms than what he was previously on.

[Colbert Report]

Read on Sky Sports that according to the Scottish Sun, McGeady waived an automatic one year contract extension to be able to play in this match here today, the second leg of the League 1 play-off against Lincoln City.

Seems like an interesting move. If he gets injured today, surely that's his career over with? I know he's made a pile of money but his agent can't be happy with this.

[seanfhear]

Read on Sky Sports that according to the Scottish Sun, McGeady waived an automatic one year contract extension to be able to play in this match here today, the second leg of the League 1 play-off against Lincoln City.

Seems like an interesting move. If he gets injured today, surely that's his career over with? I know he's made a pile of money but his agent can't be happy with this.
I assume that he would still be insured.

[Colbert Report]

He could be playing his way into a new contract with Sunderland. They were down 2-0 heading into this second leg, now it is 2-2 on aggregate largely because of McGeady.

[tommy_c12000]

McGeady playing well, 2 assists. 2-0 Sunderland at HT to even things up on aggregate. Lincoln like a deer in headlights, set up poorly from the start to defend what they have (had).

Scully barely in the game. In any case, I’m not overly excited by him. In and out of a league one team, 19 substitute appearances this year. Yes, he’s scored a few league one goals, he’s reasonable technically and is industrious. But he needs to prove himself at a higher level before senior international chance. He’s pretty average IMHO. Hopefully he gets to play championship next year one way or another

[Eirambler]

Playing his way into a move to a Championship club I'd say. It's not his fault Sunderland are doing a Sunderland.

Scully is very much a prospect, but today was not his day.

[Olé Olé]

Yeah, McGeady was a different class. Two gorgeous deliveries for his assists.

Tough day at the office for Scully. Sunderland were well on top in first half and Scully went off at half time so he couldn't benefit from the Sunderland second half dip. Though, the first half dominance may have had something to do with Sunderland being well on top in midfield. There was one stage in the first half when the ball was beginning to move out left for Lincoln and Scully was screaming for it on the right. The ball kept moving out left and eventually someone decided to try peg a ball across to Scully at the back post- it was so poorly executed it went out for a throw. Summed up his half.

[tetsujin1979]

1396120811891736576

[Snapshot]

In his heyday he was accused of having the legs but no end-product. Now, it's vice versa.

[Grafter]

In his heyday he was accused of having the legs but no end-product. Now, it's vice versa.
In my opinion he was worth a half an hour against Luxembourg and I thought that before those games in March.

[Demesne Lad]

McGeady has been offered a contract extension at Sunderland. (Evening Chronicle).

[Yard of Pace]

McGeady has been offered a contract extension at Sunderland. (Evening Chronicle).

Plenty of Sunderland fans on the readytogo forum have stated their hope that McGeady would stay (as in, the only current player in the Sunderland squad they feel it is worth retaining).

I still think it absolutely criminal (man) that McGeady wasn't utilised in order to try to avoid a morale-sapping home defeat against Luxembourg. If the general consensus is that he's a cut above the English third division (checks out), and our squad contains third division players...for me that's the manager not doing the job. And I was a huge supporter of Kenny.

Would we have created more chances against Luxembourg with McGeady on the pitch? For me, it's as simple as that.

[Fixer82]

He was essentially put out to pasture.
‘Too old. Not the future’ I imagine was Kenny’s thinking

[DeLorean]

Plenty of Sunderland fans on the readytogo forum have stated their hope that McGeady would stay (as in, the only current player in the Sunderland squad they feel it is worth retaining).

I still think it absolutely criminal (man) that McGeady wasn't utilised in order to try to avoid a morale-sapping home defeat against Luxembourg. If the general consensus is that he's a cut above the English third division (checks out), and our squad contains third division players...for me that's the manager not doing the job. And I was a huge supporter of Kenny.

Would we have created more chances against Luxembourg with McGeady on the pitch? For me, it's as simple as that.

Exactly how I feel. Kenny has been unlucky to the point he must be starting to feel like he's completely jinxed in this job, but he has to help himself too and McGeady's exclusion was just daft in our current situation.

[Colbert Report]

It wasn't posted on here but he signed a one year contract extension with Sunderland a few weeks back.

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aiden-mcgeady-sunderland-contract-extension-20954137

[Fixer82]

It wasn't posted on here but he signed a one year contract extension with Sunderland a few weeks back.

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aiden-mcgeady-sunderland-contract-extension-20954137


He's a big hit with the Sunderland faithful

[pineapple stu]

Another assist tonight. Seems in decent form as Sunderland go second. With one third of the last squad in League One and with us really struggling for goals (Oct games aside), it's strange that there's no place for him in the squad. I don't really want to have lots of third tier players in the squad, and McGeady frustrated the hell out of me down the years, but I think he's a better option than some who are getting in the team and it may be premature casting him aside.

[samhaydenjr]

Another assist tonight. Seems in decent form as Sunderland go second. With one third of the last squad in League One and with us really struggling for goals (Oct games aside), it's strange that there's no place for him in the squad. I don't really want to have lots of third tier players in the squad, and McGeady frustrated the hell out of me down the years, but I think he's a better option than some who are getting in the team and it may be premature casting him aside.

That would have been a fair point in 2018/19, when he was 32, dropped to League One with Sunderland, but was on fire. But at this point he's going to be nearly 37 when the qualifiers for Euro 2024 start and 38 when the tournament takes place and it looks like he won't play higher than League One again

[pineapple stu]

Yeah, he's getting on. But if he's good enough, he's old enough. We've been crying out for some creativity in recent games and if he'd been able to turn one of those poor results against Luxembourg/Azerbaijan/Qatar into a better result, it'd have been worth it for that extra bit of momentum for Kenny. He's 35 now and we've just made a hames of World Cup qualifying; I don't think the focus always has to be on the future at the expense of the now

And if Horgan can start games, then McGeady has to be worth a squad place...

[JR89]

I felt McGeady should have gotten a call up for the WC qualifiers. He was performing for Sunderland at the time and while we needed to bring youth through they also need experienced players playing alongside them. Was never really a fan of McGeady but was more down to he didn't fit in with how other managers want us to play. Would have slotted in nicely in the 3-4-2-1.

But I wouldn't be calling him up now unfortunately. We've got the nation's league before the Euros and a chance for another player to impress like Jamie McGrath has done in his last few games.

[Kingdom]

Was never really a fan of McGeady but was more down to he didn't fit in with how other managers want us to play.


While not trying to start a virtual scrap....you can't be bleedin' serious can you? I mean, there's a serious whack of fecal matter off that line in particular - sure it's in isolation to an otherwise fine post, but if it's brown, leaves a stain, and whiffs, then bull**** is bull****, no matter where it's deposited.

[TonyD]

Yeah, he's getting on. But if he's good enough, he's old enough.

He’s not ....good enough that is. Scored one great goal for Ireland, but other than that he always flattered to deceive for me. I think Kenny is right to look to younger players, like Ogbene.

[pineapple stu]

I agree he's always flattered to deceive, but our squad at the moment is the worst it's ever been, so the bar to be good enough is lower than it's ever been. Horgan and Ogbene are making a lesser impact in the same division. OK, the future is elsewhere for sure, but I think our paucity of options doesn't really allow us to discard players quite as casually as we've discarded McGeady. Bearing in mind the reason given was that he wasn't playing at a high enough level, but it's the level that a third of our squad find themselves playing now.

Probably as JR says, the World Cup campaign was the one to leave him in for, and then with the next Nations League starting in June and the Euro qualification in March 2023, that's definitely a bridge too far.

[third policeman]

I think McGeady suffered from the tendency in these islands to always play tricky technically gifted players on the wing. This was a curse for Aiden as his greatest weakness was crossing the ball. If he’d been born in Spain, he would probably have played in midfield as a 10 or 8. That’s where he’s playing now and is probably having more impact on games than he ever had when he played wide for us. Didn’t Wes start out as a winger, before somebody realised it was a total waste of an outstanding talent.

[TonyD]

I think McGeady suffered from the tendency in these islands to always play tricky technically gifted players on the wing. This was a curse for Aiden as his greatest weakness was crossing the ball. If he’d been born in Spain, he would probably have played in midfield as a 10 or 8. That’s where he’s playing now and is probably having more impact on games than he ever had when he played wide for us. Didn’t Wes start out as a winger, before somebody realised it was a total waste of an outstanding talent.

There may be something in that. For a winger he also seemed to suffer from a chronic inability to beat a man. Anyhow, I just can’t see him as a game changer for us, even as a short term option.

[Kingdom]

For a winger he also seemed to suffer from a chronic inability to beat a man.

Tony, that's totally inaccurate. Delivery on the run was his biggest weakness.

[Fixer82]

Tony, that's totally inaccurate. Delivery on the run was his biggest weakness.

Absolutely. I often saw him beat a man and then attempt to beat him again. His crossing was his biggest weakness

[TonyD]

Tony, that's totally inaccurate. Delivery on the run was his biggest weakness.

Maybe I’m misremembering or doing him a disservice, but my memory of him is lots of fancy stopovers, then ends up passing backwards to a team mate.

[John83]

Maybe I’m misremembering or doing him a disservice, but my memory of him is lots of fancy stopovers, then ends up passing backwards to a team mate.
He was pretty decent for carrying the ball forward. The problem was the execution of the final ball: pass or cross or shot. Maybe later on he started passing back to try to lose the ball less often. He was frustrating to watch, but there's something to be said for a player who breaks lines with the ball.

[Fixer82]

He was pretty decent for carrying the ball forward. The problem was the execution of the final ball: pass or cross or shot. Maybe later on he started passing back to try to lose the ball less often. He was frustrating to watch, but there's something to be said for a player who breaks lines with the ball.

Let’s not forget he brought the ball quickly forward in the run up to Brady’s goal V Italy

[Kingdom]

Things got so bad with the disservice around these parts, that maybe in 2013/2014, I did a pretty long-winded examination of his contribution particularly around his Spartak days in the irish jersey. don't forget that in the 10/11/12 era, he was often the only 'flair' player, where we didn't exactly flood the box with advancing players.

McGeady's probably my favourite player of the post Kerr-era, and I'm definitely biased, but am not a Celtic fan. We wouldn't have qualified for EUro 2012 without him, and we wouldn't have been in the hunt late on in the other two campaigns without him either.

[seanfhear]

Absolutely. I often saw him beat a man and then attempt to beat him again. His crossing was his biggest weakness
And giving away the ball.

[Stuttgart88]

Let’s not forget he brought the ball quickly forward in the run up to Brady’s goal V ItalyHe did. I always liked him through the middle actually.

[Demesne Lad]

Back training on grass at the Academy of Light this week (Sunderland Echo, 15 Feb).

[Fixer82]

Possibly heading to Hibs.
I’d rather see him there than Fleetwood

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/8915238/aiden-mcgeady-return-scotland-premiership-celtic-hibs/

[third policeman]

Possibly heading to Hibs.
I’d rather see him there than Fleetwood

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/8915238/aiden-mcgeady-return-scotland-premiership-celtic-hibs/

Always felt that McGeady played nearly his entire career in the wrong position. Small technical players were almost always shoehorned into playing on the wing on the basis that trickery and physique made this their only possible position. Alas McGeady’s crossing ability was never quite good enough to make him a really top class winger, in a different footballing culture he could have been nurtured into becoming a really outstanding 8 or 10, which is where I assume he’d play at Hibs.

[Stuttgart88]

Anyone see the BBC interview with him recently (or at least I saw it on Twitter recently, maybe it was older).

Something like "how did you feel about being booed all the time?" and he answered "why do you think I was booed and not other Scots born players who played for other countries? X played for NI, Scott Arfield plays for Canada. But why do you think I was booed? Was it because of who I played for?"

[tetsujin1979]

it's on twitter
1528428224522293248

[Olé Olé]

Very good. Fair play to him. Drops in James McCarthy being the only other player to get that abuse and asks the interviewer rhetorically why that was.

[irishultra]

There was a probably a bit of an ego thing with Scotland and McGeady choosing Ireland. Canada aren't rivals and while Scotland and Ireland isn't a rivalry really, there is that undercurrent of 'we're better than them', especially back then when we were doing okay and Scotland were ****e. Canada are okay now but they're just not close enough nor is Arfield good enough to be bothered about

[Olé Olé]

There was a probably a bit of an ego thing with Scotland and McGeady choosing Ireland. Canada aren't rivals and while Scotland and Ireland isn't a rivalry really, there is that undercurrent of 'we're better than them', especially back then when we were doing okay and Scotland were ****e. Canada are okay now but they're just not close enough nor is Arfield good enough to be bothered about

I don't disagree and the lads he mentioned went for other countries because Scotland didn't pick them (Brian McLean and Scott Arfield had gaps between their last cap for Scotland at underage and B levels respectively before they switched). I don't think that is what McGeady is getting at though, I don't think...

[Snapshot]

For Ireland, he promised more than he delivered. He had the potential and skills to turn a match and did occasionally - but not often enough. The phrase "no end product" seemed to follow him around. I think the four years at Spartak Moscow were a mistake (maybe not financially). At a time when he should have been in the EPL he was in far away Russia getting mixed reviews. When he moved to Everton at 28 he flattered to deceive before tiptoeing down the leagues, culminating in his late flurry at Sunderland.

McGeady seems a very decent, affable person, has good media skills and unfairly soaked so much abuse from the land of his birth. But 96 caps flatters him imo. As good a player as he was/is I believe faulty career decisions stunted his potential.