Aiden McGeady

[Kingdom]

He impressed in the Celtic leg against Celtic. Far from out of his depth. It was pretty much 50/50 possession between Celtic and Barca in the 2nd half of the 2nd leg and McGeady got a lot of the ball and did well.

My taking on that game was that the distribution of the ball by the celtic back 4 (particularily the full backs) and Donati (?) was shocking. McGeady never stood a chance.

Its the same with Ireland. We lack a centre half and a midfield player with the understanding to control the ball. Ironically the best display of this that I can remember is the Israel game away, yet its the game that cost us the World cup slot! Our ball retention up to the last 10 mins that night was magnificent.

[Maroon 7]

Yes. Did you see the match? Obviously not.

Yes I did see the match and he was probably Celtic's best player that night. How that equates to being out of his depth I'm not sure.

Celtic were working from minimal amounts of possession all night as Barcelona are so good at keeping the ball. Doesn't mean he was out of his depth though.

[Maroon 7]

http://www.snspix.com/cgi-bin/ThinFF...C=WM0000017697

Touching words by McGeady on a jersey he left for Tommy Burns outside Celtic Park.

[Slaney]

I'm pretty astounded at some of the comments in this thread.

McGeady is probably the most naturally gifted player we have, with Robbie Keane. He's still a young talent thats growing and developing, young players take time to become consistant and he has been this year. He's scored more goals, 9 in all competitions and he doesn't take any set plays. He's also added the much needed final product to his game, well over 20 assists in all competitions.
Ok, it's hard to deny the kid hasn't played well for Ireland yet but he will. In Denmark he played a role in every single goal we scored, thats when I really thought he would push on. It can't be ignored that he's been part of an Irish team that was lead by an incompetent manager and completely low on confidence.

The argument that he hasn't done it that top level is ridiculous. He has been Celtic's best performer in the Champions League, which some may say is a higher level than International football.

He has an endless amount of ability and I think we're lucky to have him.

[eekers]

I'm pretty astounded at some of the comments in this thread.

McGeady is probably the most naturally gifted player we have, with Robbie Keane.

don't get them started on keane!!

[Billsthoughts]

I'm pretty astounded at some of the comments in this thread.

I know...you would swear we were talking about a player who has led us to a few world cups or something the way some people are going on.

McGeady is probably the most naturally gifted player we have, with Robbie Keane.

Agreed.

Ok, it's hard to deny the kid hasn't played well for Ireland

Agreed.

yet but he will.

I think Id be leaning toward more hope than expectation at this stage.

In Denmark he played a role in every single goal we scored, thats when I really thought he would push on. It can't be ignored that he's been part of an Irish team that was lead by an incompetent manager and completely low on confidence.

Fair point but there was a complete lack of effort in two of his performances in particular that cant really be blamed on the manager.

The argument that he hasn't done it that top level is ridiculous. He has been Celtic's best performer in the Champions League, which some may say is a higher level than International football.

They havent really done much in the Champions league have they in fairness? If he is having a stormer of a season for Celtic and playing below that average level for Ireland than you have to look at the standard he is playing at with Celtic. If he was bringing his Celtic form to Ireland wiht him then it wouldnt be an issue.

He has an endless amount of ability and I think we're lucky to have him.

Agreed.....(your way to reasonable to be on the "Aidean MaGeady Thread")

[lionelhutz]

Razor - you're getting me all wrong here. I'm a big McGeady fan and an even bigger Celtic fan. All I'm saying is that if he leaves Celtic, which I think he might, I'd rather seem him go to Europe rather than play for a team like Newcastle or Middlebrough.

Ideally I'd love to see him at Sunderland! He should go to someone like Athletico Bilbao.

At least if he went there rather than another EPL team he wouldn't have to play against Bardsley who would almost certainly end his career!

[eirebhoy]

Fair point but there was a complete lack of effort in two of his performances in particular that cant really be blamed on the manager.

As I said before you're confusing a lack of confidence to lack of effort. If your confidence is rock bottom you don't want the ball. Playing him against the Czechs was incredibly silly. I know he just wanted the ground to eat him up after about 10 minutes.

[Billsthoughts]

no confusion here. maybe its yourself thats confused.

[eirebhoy]

Decent performance from McGeady last night. I liked the last 10 minutes when he just played 1 touch football. Pass and move. Excellent to watch and something we only really see from McGeady in friendlies or when the pressures off for some reason. Its like he feels he has to take on the opposition as much as possible.

[Razors left peg]

Decent performance from McGeady last night. I liked the last 10 minutes when he just played 1 touch football. Pass and move. Excellent to watch and something we only really see from McGeady in friendlies or when the pressures off for some reason. Its like he feels he has to take on the opposition as much as possible.

I think that will come with experience, alot of young players are like that

[BigmanCas]

For sure

[EAFC_rdfl]

Aiden has signed a new 5 year contract to stay at celtic. great news for celtic, im sure plenty on here won't be too happy. I still see him moving though, maybe even as soon as this time next year, the new contract means celtic will be able to demand a good fee. everyone wins!!

[Wolfie]

Aiden has signed a new 5 year contract to stay at celtic. great news for celtic, im sure plenty on here won't be too happy. I still see him moving though, maybe even as soon as this time next year, the new contract means celtic will be able to demand a good fee. everyone wins!!

Could end up the smart move. "A big fish in a small pond" element to this but there's nothing majorly wrong with performing well within a winning team.

Sunderland or Newcastle could have been the ruination of him at this stage of his career.

[eirebhoy]

McGeady scored 2 in a closed doors game against Morton yesterday. O'Dea came off the bench. Cillian Sheridan injured himself slightly in pre-season but should definitely play in a few of the friendlies as Strachan rates him very highly.

[eirebhoy]

McGeady:

"I'm just delighted to get this finalised. The discussions have been going on for a while now and it's great that we've all reached an agreement.

I always wanted to stay here. I'm a boyhood Celtic fan and there is the massive lure of playing in the Champions League every season. I think I have the right platform at Celtic to go on and progress as a player and that's what I'm hoping to do over the next few years.

Over the last 18 months, I think I've improved as a player but I've still got a long way to go. The challenge is to do it all again this season and be consistent. If I can do that, it would be a bigger achievement than last season.

I've still got a lot to learn and I want to work on every area of my game. I think I can improve my goal-scoring, tackling, heading, tracking back - the list could go on. I know I've still got a long way to go.

With the manager's guidance and the support of the players and coaching staff, I feel I can improve here. This is the right club for me."

[Qwerty]

He took the safe option and probably the best option for his Ireland career short term. A move to the Premiership could be the making of him but if he failed it could be bad for us.

[Junior]

Nothing safe about wanting to stay with a Celtic side going for 4 titles in a row and trying to improve on their recent Champions League performances, a regular 60k crowd who are not easy to please and have taken time to be convinced of McGeadys attributes (still plenty of moaners last year in the stands!) not to mention it is 'his' club and he obviously has no desire to go anywhere else at this stage

Plenty of recent examples of young starlets going south to england and looking $hite, Miller, Maloney etc....

He's had 1 great season and a few others with flashes of brilliance. In my opinion it was the smart thing to do not necessairly the easy one - god knows Im sure there would have been plenty more money on the table for him in England.

Onwards and upwards for the youngster this year - please god with some great performances in Georgia/Montenegro as well.......

[Scram]

Nothing safe about wanting to stay with a Celtic side going for 4 titles in a row and trying to improve on their recent Champions League performances, a regular 60k crowd who are not easy to please and have taken time to be convinced of McGeadys attributes (still plenty of moaners last year in the stands!) not to mention it is 'his' club and he obviously has no desire to go anywhere else at this stage

Plenty of recent examples of young starlets going south to england and looking $hite, Miller, Maloney etc....

He's had 1 great season and a few others with flashes of brilliance. In my opinion it was the smart thing to do not necessairly the easy one - god knows Im sure there would have been plenty more money on the table for him in England.

Onwards and upwards for the youngster this year - please god with some great performances in Georgia/Montenegro as well.......

Well said

[Diarmo]

What I like about McGeady's attitude is that he constantly admits he has room to improve. Compare that to the attitute of Stokes, Ireland etc., who seem to believe they're already superstars.