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I was talking to a good friend of mine last night who spent the summer coaching Tottenham's academy sides and doing a bit of scouting for them. I asked him who the best player in the youth set up was and within a split second he said Terry Dixon. He said that he is an absolute animal and will be as good as Rooney without any doubt.
I also asked him about Mark Yeates. He said hes quite a useful player, but too small and feels it very unlikely that he will cut it at Spurs.
The funny thing about it is Mcgeady would walk into the Scottish team and at present they are a better team than we are.He has to be in the team imo.
Cant agree with this. I'd certainly put Finnan and Dunne ahead of him and probably Keane too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Condex
I think our defence is sound. We have good wide players and good forwards in Keane & Doyle, the latter who seems to be getting better & better.
Central midfield is a problem. If this gets sorted we have the bones of a good team who on any given day can compete with any second seeded team.
It's not doom & gloom. It's pretty depressing that the FAI doesn't know how to contact Andy Reid but that's an administrative issue.
I can't believe how much Duff has fallen under Mourinho. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by cavan_fan
I'm not too worried about Duff. I thought he was fine in Germany and if he had any help at all inside him or ahead of him he'd have been far more dangerous. I thought his performance was completely mis-assessed by many.
If, let's say, McGeady had had exactly the same game people would have said he was busy on the ball, hard to dispossess, tracked back well and all in all was encouraging but had too much to do by himself. Because it's Duff we say he didn't beat 3 men every time he got it and therefore wasn't good. That's not pointed at you eb, but that's generally how his game was perceived in my opinion.
macgeady and duff must start both games if fit , we have to get 6 points and its our flair attacking players who will help us to go this, not defenders played out of position in midfield
Aiden McGeady scored the winner against Falkirk
Celtic midfielder Aiden McGeady is being pushed hard by manager Gordon Strachan's relentless drive to turn him into an all-round player.
He said: "The manager always wants to make me work hard and be constantly aware of things.
"I didn't know what defence was about until he taught me about tracking back and heading but it's all a learning experience and I feel better for it.
"I'm feeling more responsibility. I'm not the young guy any more."
The 20-year-old Republic of Ireland international is currently winning the battle with Shaun Maloney and Derek Riordan for the position on the left-hand side of the Celtic's four-man midfield.
And he vindicated his selection against Falkirk with the only goal of the game which keeps the champions at the top of the Premier League table.
"It's expected of me now to make this sort of impact and I thrive on it," he added.
McGeady then laughed off claims by his former team mate John Hartson over the weekend that he is worth £20m.
He said: "The fitness coaches teased me about that. It is nice to get praised but you don't take it too seriously or get wound up about it."
I agree. It's just disappointing that the player once voted best left winger in the world is already being written off by many at the age of 27. Although maybe cavan_fan was just talking about form.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Playing McGeady can only be good for Duff.
Just to clarify and in case Duffer is reading this in bed.
We have only 2 world class players, Given and Duff. Unfortunately since about the turn of the year, Duff has not played well. I still think in a few months hell be back playing to his best but on form this (calendar) year I'd put him behind Given, Dunne and Robbie
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
He seems to be a fairly grounded young lad which is pretty encouraging. Good to see he's willing to learn and not getting carried away with himself...
He has a diary on icons.com which he updates fairly regularly. Here's his latest entry from last Friday.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Ogba
Quote:
I'm feeling good after two games that went really well for us. In the first of those, against Rangers, we played really well as a team and then, against Copenhagen in the Champions League, we clicked really well to win 1-0. That game meant a lot to us because it is especially good when playing in European competition for it all to come together. We played a lot of good football on the night and got the three points we needed.
There was a lot of pressure on us after losing our first Champions League game, against Manchester United, and I thought we responded really well by controlling the game against Copenhagen throughout.
We had the majority of possession and I can only recall Copenhagen having one clear attempt on goal, with a shot from outside the box. Copenhagen are a decent team - they are Danish champions and have good players - and although they didn¹t play that well on the night, or didn't get the chance to do so, they drew their first game against Benfica, so that shows they have the capability to match the major names in the competition.
Every game in the Champions League is crucial and that is true of our next two fixtures, home, and then away to Benfica. If we get a win against them at Celtic Park, in just over a fortnight¹s time, it would put us in a great position in the group.
I was also pleased with the way the Old Firm game went last Saturday. Our opening goal came when Allan McGregor, the Rangers goalkeeper, saved my header and Thomas Gravesen, close to the Rangers goal-line, eased the ball into the net with his head. Even before Thomas got his touch, though, it was clear to me that the ball was definitely going in but I'd have done the same thing as him if I'd been in his position. I'm just a bit disappointed I didn't score.
I was happy also to play a part in our second goal in the 2-0 win. My pass to Kenny Miller set up the goal, which he scored with a fine shot. The manager is looking for me to do that a lot - one of my assets is to play that type of pass in behind a defence. Compared to last season the manager is asking me to do a lot more of that and I think I am managing to do so. It's a hard thing to practise – it's more to do with instinct in a match situation and about getting exactly the right weight of pass. If you over hit the ball even fractionally, the chance is gone.
On Saturday, against Rangers, I was holding on to the ball when I spotted Kenny, standing outside of a Rangers player - I think it was Barry Ferguson - so it was then a case of just holding on to the ball until it was exactly right to release it on to Kenny's run. It worked beautifully. On Tuesday, against Copenhagen, a similar pass from me again sent Kenny in on goal but on that occasion he was unlucky not to score, when the goalkeeper blocked his shot.
I enjoyed seeing a lot of the ball against Copenhagen and Rangers. It was completely different to the game against Manchester United, in our opening Champions League match. I could have counted on one hand the amount of times I got the ball at Old Trafford.
The way Copenhagen and Rangers played I got the chance to set up goals and get shots on target. I felt it was tougher to get on the ball against Manchester United. They were always shutting down the space and when I did get the ball I had my back to goal and there was somebody from their team on my back right away.
Celtic's Champions League record is a lot better at home than away from home and a lot of that has to do with the fans. In Europe especially they provide us with good backing. There is almost always a full house and a different type of atmosphere to normal League games. It was especially good to have several thousand Copenhagen fans there on Tuesday - they did a lot to make it a great atmosphere.
We are now away to Falkirk on Sunday and although this is a trip to a modest-sized ground that does not make one bit of difference to me. It is another game of football that we've got to go out and win.
Falkirk have done quite well in the Premierleague and play good football and it is always pretty tough to go there. Last year it was fairly even for the first half of our match there and we had to do well to get the couple of goals we needed to go on to win the game.
I'm pretty pleased too this week to know that I am in the Ireland squad again, for the matches with Cyprus and the Czech Republic. I would never take being selected for the national side for granted; in fact, I actually never expect it. So it is great every time it happens.
Apparantly McGeady is being linked with Spurs in tomorrow's papers. Whether he's worth it or not it'd take an 8 figure sum for Celtic to part with him as they simply don't sell players unless they want out. I wouldn't be suprised if Jol is after him as he's looking for a left winger and he seems to like his skillful players.
Good Stuff EB cheers for that, seems like a good lad...Hope he sticks with Celtic for a while yet though. I think a move to Spurs at this stage of his career could be disastrous. Follow the example of Petrov, stick with them for a few years, win a few things and then move when the time is right...
Yeah I think he shoudl stay at Celtic but I can understand why Jol would be after him.
he still has a lot to learn and celtic can offer chanpions league football , he would be unwise to move quite yet , he signed a four year deal a year ago so he is tied in at the moment anyway , i can't seehim wanting to leave his home town and family either
And as a wise man once said to me before, he is from Celtic.
I think despite what some people think of the SPL I'd be surprised if we didn't all agree that he'd be well advised to stay at Celtic.
he is on fire at the minute too , hopefully it will translate to the international arena on saturday and particularly wednesday , i remember when rooney burst on the scene against turkey he caused them so much trouble that day that they were always on the back foot , that is the kind of penetration aiden can deliver when on song
Spurs have been at one time or another linked with every half decent midfielder in England, and (according to soccerbase) have Didier Zokora, Edgar Davids, Teemu Tainio, Jermaine Jenas, Danny Murphy, Hossam Ghaly, Steed Malbranque, Reto Ziegler, Jamie O'Hara and Aaron Lennon on their books as recognised midfielder, with Mark Yeates and Wayne Routledge out on loan. For McGeady (hell, any midfielder!) to move there they'd have some job to get into the match day squad, not to mind the starting XI! McGeady is fine as it is at Celtic, the big move will come if he continues to improve as he has done over the last 18 months.