Aiden McGeady M Ayr Utd b.1986

[Maroon 7]

McGeady got the young player of the year award there this morning. Willo Flood got the goal of the season award as well.

A couple of months ago McGeady was hot favourite to win the main award but Celtic's dip in form has cost him as they fell behind Rangers in the title race.

[irishfan86]

A couple of months ago McGeady was hot favourite to win the main award but Celtic's dip in form has cost him as they fell behind Rangers in the title race.

I would say a large reason behind Celtic's dip was because of Aiden's dip.

As Aiden as gone, so has Celtic this year.

[youngirish]

Flood goal here, not great quality though

Flood's finish isn't spectacular, but the build up is impressive

Ffs it says a lot about the (lack of) quality in the SPL if that was the best goal they could find in the entire season. I've seen better goals scored in Sunday league.

[Razors left peg]

Ffs it says a lot about the (lack of) quality in the SPL if that was the best goal they could find in the entire season. I've seen better goals scored in Sunday league.

That must be some sunday league team!!!

[eirebhoy]

Poor performance last night by McGeady. He should have been rested earlier in the season.

[drinkfeckarse]

Yes but as per usual they doubled up on him all the time. In the first half particularly Whittaker came to Broadfoot's aid all the time. His final ball was poor though when he did get an opportunity to get it in. He beat Novo with ease at times in the second half but have to agree he's looking jaded.

Strachan got away with his gamble last night in taking Robson off but the boo's said it all. Robson was probably Celtics best player. The front 2 were a joke. Cuellar had Hesselink in his pocket. When Strachan goes the new managers first task should be removing Hesselinks £28k a week wages from the wage bill.

[drinkfeckarse]

Actually I suppose that post should be in the SPL discussion thread.

[lionelhutz]

Was very disappointed with McGeady last night. After reading here that he's finally delivering decent crosses, I was unpleasantly surprised to see him hit the first defender time after time with his crosses. Although he did put in one great cross for Samaras. But out of so many attempts, thats a poor return.

He doesn't seem to have much football intelligence. He picked the wrong option again and again last night. He passed to Wilson when he should have crossed, he ran at the defenders when he had no support and got dispossessed, he shot when there wasn't a hope he'd score. Very poor indeed

[eirebhoy]

Just take into account that that was McGeady off form. The McGeady of August - February is the one for the future. Last season he was in form only up until October so it's a big improvement.

[Superhoops]

Was very disappointed with McGeady last night. After reading here that he's finally delivering decent crosses, I was unpleasantly surprised to see him hit the first defender time after time with his crosses. Although he did put in one great cross for Samaras. But out of so many attempts, thats a poor return.

He doesn't seem to have much football intelligence. He picked the wrong option again and again last night. He passed to Wilson when he should have crossed, he ran at the defenders when he had no support and got dispossessed, he shot when there wasn't a hope he'd score. Very poor indeed

Watched my second ever SPL game last night. The football was a vast improvement on the game a week or so ago and (worryingly ) I must say I enjoyed it.

I was hoping to see McGeady playing well after the last disappointing performance against Rangers but I thought he was actually worse last night even though he did track back to cover a few times.

I agree 100% with the above assessment from lionelhutz. He may be jaded as suggested above but Rangers certainly had sussed out his limitations. Intelligent players can vary their game when the situation demands but last night, particularly in the second half when in the space of about 5 minutes he lost the ball three times by running directly at and into the defender losing the ball each time, you have to query if he can do it at the top level.

Rangers are not world beaters but are a fairly well organised team and if McGeady can be found out playing them he will certainly be found out at international level. It might also help if he beefed up a bit, just too easily knocked off the ball.

I hope I am wrong and when he plays for us that he rams this back down my throat but I cannot see what all the fuss is about with him, he is average at best.

[irishfan86]

A friend of mine watched the Old Firm game and talked to me about it (he's a Spurs fan), and told me that he hoped Ramos would go after McGeady.

He said he was very impressed with his play despite being double marked.

Although I love watching McGeady play, I don't think I've ever mentioned him to him, so he pointed this out to me without any prompting.

For a guy who doesn't watch the SPL that often to point him out as a player he'd like for his team say a lot to me. This guy knows his football too.

I know some of us can get on McGeady's back a bit, because we expect so much, but he was identified by Rangers as Celtic's main danger, and was marked by two athletic right backs that gave him very little space.....he still made some good runs with the ball and acted as an excellent outlet for Celtic at times.

Not the finished article just yet, but far from the dire player advertised by many on this forum.

[paul_oshea]

Was very disappointed with McGeady last night. After reading here that he's finally delivering decent crosses, I was unpleasantly surprised to see him hit the first defender time after time with his crosses. Although he did put in one great cross for Samaras. But out of so many attempts, thats a poor return.

He doesn't seem to have much football intelligence. He picked the wrong option again and again last night. He passed to Wilson when he should have crossed, he ran at the defenders when he had no support and got dispossessed, he shot when there wasn't a hope he'd score. Very poor indeed

is this to do with the pace of the game, as in the SPL would be a slower pace than international and therefore when under pressure in a game like that against rangers where the pace would be greater he wouldn't be up to it i.e. he needs more time to think?

Wheres BMC to give his objectivity?

[livehead1]

Watched the match and didn't have any real problems with McGeady's performance. Rangers doubled marked him; if he was playing in the Spurs team for example, opposing side would find it very difficult to allocate two men to him as Spurs have other quick attacking wingers, such as Lennon who would be provided with too much space. Celtic seemed over reliant on him at times and perhaps used him as an outlet with too much regularity. I fully believe he will go on to play at a higher level than the SPL and contrary to popular belief this may be when we see the very best out of him, playing and training with better players on better surfaces.

[eirebhoy]

is this to do with the pace of the game, as in the SPL would be a slower pace than international and therefore when under pressure in a game like that against rangers where the pace would be greater he wouldn't be up to it i.e. he needs more time to think?

What do you mean by pace exactly? I'd say international football would be a breath of fresh air for McGeady after being closed down so quickly by 2 players every week. He'll be coming up against much better players with Ireland but he'll get more time and space on the ball. The SPL is 100 mile an hour at the best of times.

[Wolfie]

Will be interesting to see if he holds out in Scotland for another year or makes the move in the summer.

[geysir]

The SPL is 100 mile an hour at the best of times.

Out of general interest.
Do the statistics prove that they cover more ground in an SPL game than in other games - internationals or EPL games?
Or, are we talking about the wrong type of running?

[eirebhoy]

internationals or EPL games?

Premiership is one of the fastest leagues in the world, if not the fastest. I'd say you'd need to be fitter playing in Britain than anywhere else. Someone like Donati has been a success at most Serie A clubs he's been with, playing as a deep lying playmaker. In Scotland he gets closed down so quickly and just can't get used to that.

[therock67]

Watched the match and didn't have any real problems with McGeady's performance. Rangers doubled marked him; if he was playing in the Spurs team for example, opposing side would find it very difficult to allocate two men to him as Spurs have other quick attacking wingers, such as Lennon who would be provided with too much space. Celtic seemed over reliant on him at times and perhaps used him as an outlet with too much regularity. I fully believe he will go on to play at a higher level than the SPL and contrary to popular belief this may be when we see the very best out of him, playing and training with better players on better surfaces.

Agreed with all that. He's being double marked all the time now and while it's affecting some of his performances it should be making room elsewhere on the pitch but Celtic aren't using that at the moment.

Still don't think he was that bad the other night either. Had a bad spell when it went 1-1 but overall he was fine, just not great. Funnily enough most of the Scottish papers seemed to give him 8 out of 10 and had him as Celtic's best player. Didn't see it like that myself but he certainly wasn't awful.

[therock67]

McGeady won the PFA Player of the Year and the PFA Young Player of the Year awards tonight.

[DmanDmythDledge]

Will be interesting to see if he holds out in Scotland for another year or makes the move in the summer.

I think he needs to move away from the SPL, only if he can get European football though. Being double marked the whole time is not doing him any good and he would be better off in a stronger side where the opposition won't have this luxury.