Originally Posted by Luke Ginnell
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McCourt’s image concealed his genius. Sometimes that worked to his advantage, but occasionally it may have led some of his coaches to underestimate him – to their own cost. For others, however, there was never any doubt as to his quality. “Paddy is as gifted a footballer as I have ever seen,” said Gordon Strachan, the man who took McCourt to Scotland, in 2015. “Some players can see a pass, but not dribble. Others can dribble, but not see a pass. Paddy can do both. And, I have got to say, watching Paddy is one of the best things in football.”
After leaving Celtic in 2013, McCourt flitted around the Football League for a few seasons before returning to Ireland with Glenavon in 2016. Now 33, there are certainly some years left in Paddy, but at the time of writing he is without a club. Recent rumours linking him with League of Ireland champions Dundalk came to nothing, but the possibility of his return to the league will excite those who recall his glory years with Derry. Even in his 30s, McCourt would be one of the competition’s shining lights.
Simply put, Paddy McCourt had nearly everything required to be a world-class winger. With the ball at his feet, he was extravagantly talented, a showman in the mould of his compatriot George Best. Perhaps he was simply too much a product of the old school to succeed in the modern football landscape. Had he been born a decade earlier, his name might now be mentioned in the same breath as some greats of the game, at least in the UK and Ireland. As it is, Paddy never truly managed to rise consistently above the level of local hero status: the brilliant boy-next-door who thrilled and awed the few who were lucky enough to see him at his best.
It’s just a shame that his gifts never found a wider audience.