Aiden McGeady

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Originally Posted by Billsthoughts

:rolleyes:
Whatever year they got to the second round. Irrelevant what year they done this. As you well know. Fact is they didnt set the world on fire when they did.
Fact is qualifying from group stage of champions league does not a great club make.

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Earlier you implied that Liverpool (who won the competition) were an also ran team. Rangers knocked out Porto (a team who won the competition previously and went on to win a domestic double that season I believe) and Celtic have knocked out some decent teams en route to the second stage. Whilst it's not particularly difficult for one of the teams thart perenially qualify for the competition from the top European leagues to get to the knockout stage, it takes a decent team from the lower echelon of leagues in Europe to do so consistently (which Scottish teams seem to be getting better at).

All of this is going off topic a bit though. All I'm really trying to say is that whilst the Scottish league is quite poor IMO, the achievement of Celtic and Rangers getting past the group stages of Europe shouldn't be knocked. They've always gone out to teams of vastly superior quality to them (and to most of the teams in the EPL). Besides, if they weren't getting through the group stages you'd probably be saying that you'd only be impressed if they were getting out of them.

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Originally Posted by Plastic Paddy

If I wanted you banned I could have done it before now with this or this. I regard you as a minor irritation - like a lump of chewing gum on the sole of my shoe - rather than anything more substantial.

:ball: PP

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HA Ha...do you have a file on me or what....sad ...

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Originally Posted by jmurphyc

Earlier you implied that Liverpool (who won the competition) were an also ran team.......................

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No I simply pointed out that they havent challenged for the Premiership in a long time. Yet they have got to two finals of Champions League and won one of them. The implication being its hard to do well in the premiership even given Liverpools resources. People were implying that Celtic are a cut above the average Premiership teams because they have qualified out of the group stages of Champions League. I doubt they would come anywhere near the Champions League spot if they were competing in the Premiership. At the end of the day champions league is a knockout tournament.

Aiden's probably saving himself for a Spanish league club (maybe you can confirm this BigmanCas ;)).

Personally don't think that moving to a Premiership club would be a good move for Aiden as the Premiership has little room for players that like to play as Aiden does. Only the top teams can afford to have a player of McGeady's type in the team and Aiden's not good enough for these teams.

One example. Bolton had a Swedish player at the start of the season called Christian Wilhelmsson. Wilhelmsson would be a very similar player to McGeady but he never got his game for Boton. He moved to Deportivo La Coruna during the transfer window and he's really done well down in Spain. I watched him play against Barcelona at the weekend and he was one if not the best player on the park.

Moral of the story is that it's probably better for McGeady to stay put as he's a first team player with Celtic rather than moving to a club like Bolton that won't give him a game. If he moves to the Premiership I think he'll turn into a reserve team player as I don't think he has enough in his game to establish himself as a top Premiership player.

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Originally Posted by ifk101

Aiden's probably saving himself for a Spanish league club (maybe you can confirm this BigmanCas ;)).

Personally don't think that moving to a Premiership club would be a good move for Aiden as the Premiership has little room for players that like to play as Aiden does. Only the top teams can afford to have a player of McGeady's type in the team and Aiden's not good enough for these teams.

One example. Bolton had a Swedish player at the start of the season called Christian Wilhelmsson. Wilhelmsson would be a very similar player to McGeady but he never got his game for Boton. He moved to Deportivo La Coruna during the transfer window and he's really done well down in Spain. I watched him play against Barcelona at the weekend and he was one if not the best player on the park.

Moral of the story is that it's probably better for McGeady to stay put as he's a first team player with Celtic rather than moving to a club like Bolton that won't give him a game. If he moves to the Premiership I think he'll turn into a reserve team player as I don't think he has enough in his game to establish himself as a top Premiership player.

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You know nothing!! Bill go away!!

:D
your a gas man BMC.

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Originally Posted by BigmanCas

You know nothing!! Bill go away!!

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But you said in Feb of this year, prior to the Barcelona games and I quote

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Originally Posted by BigmanCas

I think later in my career I would like to play in Spain. Every player has aspirations to play in the best league.

The top four in the English Premier League are top quality but La Liga is so competitive, anybody can beat anyone else. You sometimes see the bottom teams beating the top ones, which doesn't happen in most leagues.

You have the top teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia and Villarreal but outside of that there are plenty of good teams as well.

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Just on the point of how good or bad Celtic are, 5 or 6 years ago I'd have said they were a top 6 EPL team under O'Neill. Now, despite doing better in Europe (only marginally - they still win at home lose away all the time) I honestly think they'd only just about stay in the EPL, their considerable home advantage notwithsanding. They are carrying several sub standard players IMHO, Hesselink, Cauldwell and a few others esp. in central midfield.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Just on the point of how good or bad Celtic are, 5 or 6 years ago I'd have said they were a top 6 EPL team under O'Neill. Now, despite doing better in Europe (only marginally - they still win at home lose away all the time) I honestly think they'd only just about stay in the EPL, their considerable home advantage notwithsanding. They are carrying several sub standard players IMHO, Hesselink, Cauldwell and a few others esp. in central midfield.

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I think Scott Brown and Hartley would do well in the EPL. I agree that Donati would probably struggle, and I wouldn't argue with your assessment of Hesselink and Caldwell.

Out of Celtic's team, here are the players I think would do well in the Premiership:

--------------Boruc------

Hinkel---O'Dea?----McManus---Naylor?

Naka---Brown---Hartley---McGeady

------MacDonald----New Striker---


Add a new striker (target man?), and another central defender plus a left back and you've got a top ten Premiership team at worst, at best they'd be competing for UEFA Cup spots.

The SPL is rated joint 6th in European performances this year (that also includes the usual Uefa first round knock out for the SFA Cup runners up).

An improvement from last year when the EPL was rated the 9th strongest league.

I thought McGeady played really well against Rangers. Most of the things he tried came off. Good to see Duff, Keane, Reid, Given and Carr were in the crowd too to see McGeady at his best.

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Sunderland, Newcastle vie for McGeady


April 30, 2008

Sunderland manager Roy Keane and Newcastle United counterpart Kevin Keegan are leading the race for Celtic and Republic of Ireland star Aiden McGeady, according to reports.

McGeady has enjoyed an exceptional season, lifting both the outright and Young Player of the Year awards at the Scottish Footballers’ Association’s annual awards ceremony last week.

The 22-year-old’s level of form has seen him linked with a move to the Barclays Premier League, and both Sunderland and Newcastle are keen to bring him to the north-east.

Both clubs could be attractive to McGeady, given that he would not have to travel too far from his family in Glasgow.

Reports in the United Kingdom on Wednesday suggest that an offer of £10m could be enough to prise him away from Parkhead before the start of next season.

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Don't know where this is from, robbed from forum.football365.com

I dont think Celtic would turn down a bid of £10 Million for him.

Id love to see him play in the premiership every week, I think Sunderland would be a good move for him.

Guaranteed starter, and a manager who would have faith in his abilities, as well as keeping him in line.

makes little sense for either newcastle or sunderland to buy him, neither of them need a left winger. newcastle have duff and nzogbia. sunderland spend a fortune on richardson last summer. its crap based on keegan living in glasgow (he didnt go to any celtic games during that time) and keane being irish. i can see him ending up at spurs if they dont get capel.

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Originally Posted by eekers

makes little sense for either newcastle or sunderland to buy him, neither of them need a left winger. newcastle have duff and nzogbia. sunderland spend a fortune on richardson last summer. its crap based on keegan living in glasgow (he didnt go to any celtic games during that time) and keane being irish. i can see him ending up at spurs if they dont get capel.

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While I would agree that Newcastle seems a bit unlikely, beyond Richardson and Edwards, Sunderland don't have much wing cover.

Currently Murphy is their cover in that position, and while he's done well enough, I'd say McGeady is leaps and bounds ahead of him overall and would thus be a smart signing for them.

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Originally Posted by irishfan86

While I would agree that Newcastle seems a bit unlikely, beyond Richardson and Edwards, Sunderland don't have much wing cover.

Currently Murphy is their cover in that position, and while he's done well enough, I'd say McGeady is leaps and bounds ahead of him overall and would thus be a smart signing for them.

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He will stay at Celtic for another season and will then move to a top four premiership club. Mark my words!!!!!

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Originally Posted by irishfan86

I think Scott Brown and Hartley would do well in the EPL. I agree that Donati would probably struggle, and I wouldn't argue with your assessment of Hesselink and Caldwell.

Out of Celtic's team, here are the players I think would do well in the Premiership:

--------------Boruc------

Hinkel---O'Dea?----McManus---Naylor?

Naka---Brown---Hartley---McGeady

------MacDonald----New Striker---


Add a new striker (target man?), and another central defender plus a left back and you've got a top ten Premiership team at worst, at best they'd be competing for UEFA Cup spots.

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You've got to be kidding me with these 3. Naylor would be by far the worst left back in the premiership - he's much worse than Kilbane.

Hartley doesn't have a clue in central midfield, he'd be completely over ran and outplayed by every midfield in England and as for MacDonald, i'd rate David Connolly a much higher quality player than him and he's the 7th best striker at Sunderland.

Please note folks. When Trapp was asked which players he likes in the current squad - He smiled and said 'Mc Geady'...'I fancy Mc Geady as a footballer... Good to see a man with a bit of sense. Bill maybe you might wake up and take some notice (albeit your not the only one)!!

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Originally Posted by BigmanCas

Please note folks. When Trapp was asked which players he likes in the current squad - He smiled and said 'Mc Geady'...'I fancy Mc Geady as a footballer... Good to see a man with a bit of sense. Bill maybe you might wake up and take some notice (albeit your not the only one)!!

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I fancy him as a footballer as well.
Just dont think he has EVER done it for Ireland.

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Originally Posted by Billsthoughts

An also ran EPL team would still be a few steps up from Scotlands second team.

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eh, have a look at celtics recent record in euro competition against english teams and come back to us if you stand by that claim

also, how many of the english teams in the uefa cup got to the final this year and how many scottish?

usual anti SPL V EPL propaganda

Cardiff are in the Cup Final so therefore they must be better than every other team in it. By your logic. :rolleyes: And Stuttgart88 said much the same thing. Why not qoute his post?

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Originally Posted by jbyrne

eh, have a look at celtics recent record in euro competition against english teams and come back to us if you stand by that claim

also, how many of the english teams in the uefa cup got to the final this year and how many scottish?

usual anti SPL V EPL propaganda

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Yeah good one. How many SPL teams made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League again? Let's put it this way every English team in the Champions League did better than Celtic and that's usually the case every year.

Aren't Rangers only in the UEFA Cup again because they weren't good enough to progress through the qualification stages of the Chamoions League? The Uefa Cup is the Carling Cup of Europe. Even Bolton didn't take it seriously, they'd probably have won it if they did.

The SPL is a rubbish league just have a look at the quality of players that ply their trade in it. Even the outstanding players in the SPL (Petrov, Maloney) are at best average EPL footballers. The good players often are shown to be Championship standard only.

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Originally Posted by youngirish

Yeah good one. How many SPL teams made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League again? Let's put it this way every English team in the Champions League did better than Celtic and that's usually the case every year.

Aren't Rangers only in the UEFA Cup again because they weren't good enough to progress through the qualification stages of the Chamoions League? The Uefa Cup is the Carling Cup of Europe. Even Bolton didn't take it seriously, they'd probably have won it if they did.

The SPL is a rubbish league just have a look at the quality of players that ply their trade in it. Even the outstanding players in the SPL (Petrov, Maloney) are at best average EPL footballers. The good players often are shown to be Championship standard only.

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the comparison being made by billsthoughts was "An also ran EPL team would still be a few steps up from Scotlands second team". there was no reference to the the huge spending top of the table EPL teams who reached the champions lge semis. only a fool would say that the top scottish clubs are as the top EPL teams but they are at least on a par with most of the others.

maloney was never seen as "an outstanding" SPL player. sure he left celtic due to lack of opportunity to play there

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Originally Posted by Billsthoughts

Cardiff are in the Cup Final so therefore they must be better than every other team in it. By your logic. :rolleyes: And Stuttgart88 said much the same thing. Why not qoute his post?

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not at all. all it means is that they are better than the teams they beat. by beating man utd, blackburn and liverpool in european football over the last few years celtic have shown that they can / could live with much of the EPL. different thing entirely

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Originally Posted by BigmanCas

He will stay at Celtic for another season and will then move to a top four premiership club. Mark my words!!!!!

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Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool wouldn't touch him. Your dillusional.

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Originally Posted by jbyrne

. only a fool would say that the top scottish clubs are as the top EPL teams but they are at least on a par with most of the others.

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Originally Posted by jbyrne

not at all. all it means is that they are better than the teams they beat. by beating man utd, blackburn and liverpool in european football over the last few years celtic have shown that they can / could live with much of the EPL. different thing entirely

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contradicting yourself there?
Easy get your team up for one off games. Which was my point. Doubt they would do it on a consistant basis. They dont have the financial muscle to compete with any of even the second tier of English clubs. They dont even have the financial clout that sunderland who narrowly missed out on relegation would have. Would be interesting to see what a few years of mid table mediocrity (at best) in the premiership would do for a support raised on regularly competing for honours.

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Originally Posted by youngirish

Aren't Rangers only in the UEFA Cup again because they weren't good enough to progress through the qualification stages of the Chamoions League? The Uefa Cup is the Carling Cup of Europe. Even Bolton didn't take it seriously, they'd probably have won it if they did.

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I agree that the UEFA Cup is generally an afterthought for most teams who are looking to progress to aq high level but it can act as the catalyst for greater things sometimes and to say Bolton would have won it had they wanted to is ridiculous. Everton and Tottenham who have far more talented players than Bolton both went out, and they were both taking it quite seriously and did their best to win their ties. Bolton took a 0-0 draw to Lisbon before fielding a weakened side, so they might not have even got past that round with their full team. The UEFA Cup can be an important competition for the lesser lights of the bigger nations and for the second tier of nations in Europe.

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Originally Posted by Billsthoughts

contradicting yourself there?
Easy get your team up for one off games. Which was my point. Doubt they would do it on a consistant basis. They dont have the financial muscle to compete with any of even the second tier of English clubs. They dont even have the financial clout that sunderland who narrowly missed out on relegation would have. Would be interesting to see what a few years of mid table mediocrity (at best) in the premiership would do for a support raised on regularly competing for honours.

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The reason they are financially worse off than many Premier League teams is TV rights.

As a result of TV rights, the Scottish Champions receive around a million pounds for winning the league. In the Premiership, the team that places last receives 20 million pounds...

A few years in the Premiership with that kind of money, and their massive home crowds, and they'd be one of the richest clubs in Europe.

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Originally Posted by Pike B

Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool wouldn't touch him. Your dillusional.

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Why????

Do you think Eboue, Pennant,Benayoun,Park, Nani,Kalou are all that much better than McGeady?

Do you think Eboue, Pennant,Benayoun,Park, Nani,Kalou are all that much better than McGeady?

You're forgeting that most potent of right wingers, Dirk Kuyt! McGeady wouldnt be fit to lace his clogs, or I mean boots...

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Originally Posted by Razors left peg

Why????

Do you think Eboue, Pennant,Benayoun,Park, Nani,Kalou are all that much better than McGeady?

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Yes, yes I do.

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Originally Posted by Pike B

Yes, yes I do.

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Well I think most people would disagree with you

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Originally Posted by Razors left peg

Well I think most people would disagree with you

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Based on what I've seen in Ireland games and a dozen or so games with Celtic I can see him in the Premiership alright, but to say top 4 teams will sign him is wishful thinking. More likely Villa, Blackburn or Newcastle.

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Originally Posted by Pike B

Based on what I've seen in Ireland games and a dozen or so games with Celtic I can see him in the Premiership alright, but to say top 4 teams will sign him is wishful thinking. More likely Villa, Blackburn or Newcastle.

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Out of the top 4 teams I think Liverpool would be probably the most realistic option at the moment.They go between Kuyt, Babel, Pennant and Benayoun for the 2 wing positions and I think they are crying out for a player like McGeady,I personally think hes better than all 4 of those players

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Originally Posted by Razors left peg

Out of the top 4 teams I think Liverpool would be probably the most realistic option at the moment.They go between Kuyt, Babel, Pennant and Benayoun for the 2 wing positions and I think they are crying out for a player like McGeady,I personally think hes better than all 4 of those players

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Intresting point, and as a Liverpool fan I've seen a lot of those players you mentioned. I'd put him level with Pennant, but poorer than Babel and Benayoun. Kuyt is not an actual winger and it's not fair to compare them to each other. We almost signed Duff awhile back and didn't. McGeady isn't better than Duff was back then so again, I don't see us signing him. Just my opinion.

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Originally Posted by Pike B

Intresting point, and as a Liverpool fan I've seen a lot of those players you mentioned. I'd put him level with Pennant, but poorer than Babel and Benayoun. Kuyt is not an actual winger and it's not fair to compare them to each other. We almost signed Duff awhile back and didn't. McGeady isn't better than Duff was back then so again, I don't see us signing him. Just my opinion.

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I know Kuyt isnt a winger but Liverpool play him there alot so there is a fair chance that they will be trying to buy a regular winger for that position. McGeadys performances in the last couple of seasons in the champions league and winning the player of the year award in Scotland this season would put him high on the list of candidates I think

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Originally Posted by Razors left peg

I know Kuyt isnt a winger but Liverpool play him there alot so there is a fair chance that they will be trying to buy a regular winger for that position. McGeadys performances in the last couple of seasons in the champions league and winning the player of the year award in Scotland this season would put him high on the list of candidates I think

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Hey, if we sign him great. I would love an Irishman to sign for us, it's been awhile since we had a few in our squad. The fact remains for me though, I just can't see it happening. I don't think he is held in high enough regard in England, or Europe for that matter. But who knows.

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Originally Posted by Pike B

Hey, if we sign him great. I would love an Irishman to sign for us, it's been awhile since we had a few in our squad. The fact remains for me though, I just can't see it happening. I don't think he is held in high enough regard in England, or Europe for that matter. But who knows.

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I actually think he will stay at Celtic this summer but after that I wouldnt rule it out that he could go to a top club, he definately has the talent

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Originally Posted by Razors left peg

I actually think he will stay at Celtic this summer but after that I wouldnt rule it out that he could go to a top club, he definately has the talent

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For Ireland's World Cup qualifiying sake, I hope your right!! We need a new hero..

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Originally Posted by Pike B

For Ireland's World Cup qualifiying sake, I hope your right!! We need a new hero..

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Think we can both agree on that!