Aiden McGeady M Ayr Utd b.1986

[superfrank]

I know you probably haven't watched Celtic regularly but he's been doing that for most of this season.

Surely he'll be on the way to Player of the Year then or at least Young Player if that's the case. He was really outstanding. He did a lot more than Nakamura. I finally saw what all the fuss was about.

[eirebhoy]

BigmanCas I've deleted your last post because that's the 3rd time now you've posted the same video. If you posted it in this thread already I don't understand why you felt the need to post it again.

Surely he'll be on the way to Player of the Year then or at least Young Player if that's the case. He was really outstanding. He did a lot more than Nakamura. I finally saw what all the fuss was about.

Nakamura is the reason Celtic have scored 10 goals in the last 2 games. Easily the most influential player in the team. Saying he did a lot more than Naka is like saying Kaka did a lot more than Pirlo. It's impossible to judge. They're not comparable and Naka's game is about the simple things like Pirlo.

Anyway, McGeady will get SPL POTY, no doubt.

[BigmanCas]

Sorry Eirebhoy. I am just amazed by it!!

[sligobhoy67]

BigmanCas I've deleted your last post because that's the 3rd time now you've posted the same video. If you posted it in this thread already I don't understand why you felt the need to post it again.


Nakamura is the reason Celtic have scored 10 goals in the last 2 games. Easily the most influential player in the team. Saying he did a lot more than Naka is like saying Kaka did a lot more than Pirlo. It's impossible to judge. They're not comparable and Naka's game is about the simple things like Pirlo.

Anyway, McGeady will get SPL POTY, no doubt.

should not will - there are many the would never give it to him for bigotted reasons

[eirebhoy]

Article on this actually.

Frankly, there doesn't seem much point in even opening the polling booths. Ballot papers are not required.

Just be done with it and give Aiden McGeady the player of the year awards now, both Scottish Football Writers' Association and that of his fellow professionals. It's shootie-in.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/scotland/7239472.stm

[eirebhoy]

But it is an open secret around Parkhead that, during those formative years with the club from the age of 15, he could be frustratingly unreceptive to coaching. Gordon Strachan, like Martin O'Neill before him, has often found it difficult to elicit the desired response from McGeady in the matter of tactical awareness and conforming to the team ethic.

This has almost certainly been attributable to a great extent to the player's own aversion to playing as what may be termed an old-fashioned winger. McGeady has said often enough in public that he has always regarded himself as a creative central midfielder, with an undisguised disdain for the widespread perception of him as an orthodox wide man of limited variation.

McGeady reveals thrilling proof of his emergence as a mature talent

At 21, McGeady remains an innovator. One of his former youth coaches bristled at The Herald's suggestion that he had had a significant role to play in McGeady's development. "The only one who coached Aiden McGeady was God," he smiled.

As a teenager, McGeady used to coach the coaches, showing them the latest tricks he had added to his repertoire every week. Now, those same coaches are seeking to pass on the same skills to the next generation.

The Celtic youngsters following in the footsteps of McGeady

[eirebhoy]

Great to see articles like this in foreign papers.

http://www3.elmundodeportivo.es/mund...007&SUBORDRE=3


translated with babelfish and edited a bit to make it readable:

McGeady, an ‘M’ with Maradona and Messi

Aiden McGeady is a blonde version of the imperial Diego and Leo, but - for now - without the media exposure of the Barcelona and ex-Barcelona cracks that he admires.

Scots attacker himself, who nevertheless defended the colours of Ireland, explains, "I was just three months old when Maradona won the World Cup-86, but he always fascinated me. I studied him and I spent hours on the tapes that I had collected. I went out and practised with a golf ball and a tennis ball, and it is fantastic, because then you control the ball better. " He says quietly with no sign of bigheadedness that he has been able to have 500 touches with the tennis ball followed by 200 with golf, alternating also both feet.

McGeady loves the way that Maradona had to get past his opponents, as now does Messi. The way he likes to play, his technique is much more than just trickery. Slipping in that apart from him only Ronaldinho is fully capable of do something well (indicating Aiden) his father John, (ex- Sheffield United), using a little wit and enjoyment, to paraphrase the man himself, Johan Cruyff.

McGeady has been compared with Cristiano Ronaldo (ManU) for his explosiveness and months after appearing on the scene with Celtic, in a match against Milan in Champions dating back to April 2004, a portion of the fans dubbed him 'Aidendinho' an allusion to '10 ', Barcelona.

From small matches combined with the team at his school, of course Catholic, with the club, "always playing on Saturday and Sunday, so I became hardened." And now, according to his coach Gordon Strachan, a professional of physical preparation, particularly strengthening his upper body.

At 15 he wanted to join the Celtic first team, but they said wait a little bit, and at 16 he said 'no' to Arsenal to avoid a 'one-on-one' with nostalgia for Glasgow. On the other hand, he went with Eire in the under-15 category, to debut with the full team in 2004. Being Irish his paternal grandfather 'defected' to his native Scotland, which made him stick to defend those colors in the lower teams.

Aiden has always had things very clear. If Messi, who because of his involvement in the Copa America enjoyed holidays, had participated in the Scottish stage last summer, he would have gone to see him live. And when he emphasized that with cuts and supersonic football is not enough to succeed, and perfected his touch style to put his incredible technique in the service of the team.

For example last Sunday, when McGeady made a 'roulette' in the opposition area with three defenders around him, and as if a string was attached to the ball crossed it to top scorer McDonald. A marvel of action, without nerve-Aiden not knowing how brilliant this was - and making it clear that Messi or 'El Kun' are not the only heirs of Diego Armando Maradona.

[Morbo]

Never knew he rejected the move to join Arsenal, poor move IMO, Arsenal is probably the best club in the world for a youngster to join in order to improve their game, nice article though, I don't get all the hostility towards McGeady, he is still very yound and has the potential to be a very good player for us

[eirebhoy]

A piece from an old Times interview with McGeady's father:

And then there is Aiden in a comically large Arsenal shirt in the company of Liam Brady, during a trip down to the Arsenal training ground when he was 11 or 12.

“This is when Arsenal wanted to sign him,” John says. “Liam Brady used to fly us down every five or six weeks and Aiden used to play for the Arsenal youth team. They treated us very, very well but I made it clear right from the start that Aiden was never going to England at the age of 16. Brady couldn’t believe it when we turned him down. He said, ‘We’ll change your mind’. I said, ‘No you won’t. Aiden’s not going to England.That’s it.’ No matter what financial carrot was dangled in front of him, he wasn’t leaving.

“I wouldn’t let Aiden go down to every Premiership club that wanted to have him down because I witnessed a number of incidents down there that I didn’t find particularly attractive. Quite a few parents were sending their sons down to clubs and picking up little presents and being sort of looked after for the weekend. Being wined and dined. That was never my bag and I never wanted to be involved.”

[paul_oshea]

fair play to the auld fella. Does anyone think of Wall Street when they read that?!

[BigmanCas]

Eirebhoy - Gleaning through the previous pages - have noticed some crafty editing??? Or am I just imagining things?

[eirebhoy]

I don't know what you're talking about so yes you must be imagining it. If you're talking about your deleted posts then you should already know the reason for those.

[eirebhoy]

Kerr:

"Aiden is a Celtic fan and a Celtic kid, so you can see him staying there for the rest of his career.

"He wants to stay and if the lad enjoys the environment and playing regularly then he might be happy enough.

"We are seeing a lot more of him for Celtic in Europe and his league performances have been exceptional.

"He was outstanding again last Sunday and also showed how good he was when he played against Brazil for Ireland last week.

"But when a player is with a Scottish club it is sometimes hard to measure just how good he is.

"It is only in the Champions League and international matches that you can really judge them.

"That is because the league in Scotland is not competitive enough on a regular basis.

"Although Larsson is hugely admired outside of Britain, a lot of that was based on his performances in international football and in European games at club level.

"Aiden just has to keep his head down and keep doing well for Celtic in Europe and for Ireland.

"That is enough at the moment because he is still young. Who knows where he can go in the future but he may have to leave Scotland to make a bigger name for himself.

"Aiden has come of age. He was quite young when he broke into the first team at Celtic and when he was first capped.

"Some of it is natural progression but there is a lot of pressure on him playing in the Celtic first team at his age, particularly when there was controversy surrounding him playing for Ireland.

"But he has handled that very well. He is a strong character. He is tough mentally and is toughening up physically which is helping him.

"Aiden is also becoming more consistent on a week in, week out basis. I knew he had the attitude to ignore other people and make a name for himself. He had to show that kind of character very early on when he chose Ireland over Scotland.

"I had dealings with him when he was 16 and 17 and he was very determined about what he wanted to do.

"I never had any doubts he was going to be a top, top player.

"Some of the criticism he got was off the wall and from people who didn't understand he was still a very young lad.

"He is still only 21 and is blossoming into a real player.

"Aiden had a great love for the game as a kid and he still does. He always wanted to train and loved doing it.

"He works hard at the game and loves watching matches which will have helped him.

"He is maturing as a player and his decision-making has improved. He knows when to release the ball and when to stay on it.

"The fact he has got physically stronger has helped him to be a bit more confident and to bring the required consistency into his game. I never had any doubts he would mature into a fine player.

"I gave him very little time on the pitch but that was only because he was so young.

"He was waiting on that physical development and maturity to come. Now it's there he has the world at his feet."

[BigmanCas]

Kerr:

"Aiden is a Celtic fan and a Celtic kid, so you can see him staying there for the rest of his career.

"He wants to stay and if the lad enjoys the environment and playing regularly then he might be happy enough.

"We are seeing a lot more of him for Celtic in Europe and his league performances have been exceptional.

"He was outstanding again last Sunday and also showed how good he was when he played against Brazil for Ireland last week.

"But when a player is with a Scottish club it is sometimes hard to measure just how good he is.

"It is only in the Champions League and international matches that you can really judge them.

"That is because the league in Scotland is not competitive enough on a regular basis.

"Although Larsson is hugely admired outside of Britain, a lot of that was based on his performances in international football and in European games at club level.

"Aiden just has to keep his head down and keep doing well for Celtic in Europe and for Ireland.

"That is enough at the moment because he is still young. Who knows where he can go in the future but he may have to leave Scotland to make a bigger name for himself.

"Aiden has come of age. He was quite young when he broke into the first team at Celtic and when he was first capped.

"Some of it is natural progression but there is a lot of pressure on him playing in the Celtic first team at his age, particularly when there was controversy surrounding him playing for Ireland.

"But he has handled that very well. He is a strong character. He is tough mentally and is toughening up physically which is helping him.

"Aiden is also becoming more consistent on a week in, week out basis. I knew he had the attitude to ignore other people and make a name for himself. He had to show that kind of character very early on when he chose Ireland over Scotland.

"I had dealings with him when he was 16 and 17 and he was very determined about what he wanted to do.

"I never had any doubts he was going to be a top, top player.

"Some of the criticism he got was off the wall and from people who didn't understand he was still a very young lad.

"He is still only 21 and is blossoming into a real player.

"Aiden had a great love for the game as a kid and he still does. He always wanted to train and loved doing it.

"He works hard at the game and loves watching matches which will have helped him.

"He is maturing as a player and his decision-making has improved. He knows when to release the ball and when to stay on it.

"The fact he has got physically stronger has helped him to be a bit more confident and to bring the required consistency into his game. I never had any doubts he would mature into a fine player.

"I gave him very little time on the pitch but that was only because he was so young.

"He was waiting on that physical development and maturity to come. Now it's there he has the world at his feet."

Has these wise words come from Brian Kerr? If so, he is still a clown. He give him very little time on the pitch? Was that because he was too busy trying to make the worlds worst substitutions like taking Robbie Keane at 2-0 up and bringing on Kavanagh. Please don't quote Brian Kerr if at all possible. He was our worst EVER manager. If it is Brian Kerr - then sorry for the rant...

[jmurphyc]

Has these wise words come from Brian Kerr? If so, he is still a clown. He give him very little time on the pitch? Was that because he was too busy trying to make the worlds worst substitutions like taking Robbie Keane at 2-0 up and bringing on Kavanagh. Please don't quote Brian Kerr if at all possible. He was our worst EVER manager. If it is Brian Kerr - then sorry for the rant...

Where to start??? What exactly are you basing the assertion that he is our worst ever manager on? You think he's worse than Staunton? He's the only manager that has won us under-age titles in our history. Do you think you can offer more of an insight into football than he can?

[elroy]

Kerr our worst manager??? Far from it, yes he make a few mistakes in his only full campaign in charge but we werent a million miles off and bar a top notch goal by Henry and some misfortune against Israel we wouldve topped that group. In fairness McCarthy made alot more mistakes before he finally got it right. Kerrs campaign in charge was a massive success compared to Stans.

And as mentioned above, his success at underage level for us is unmatched in this country and perhaps even europe.

[BigmanCas]

Mr Murphy. Yes he had experience coming into the job so any comaparisons to Staunton end there. His annoying accent coupled with his negativity and inability to spot problems on the pitch during games were gutt wrenching and cringeworthy to say the least. The fact that he won an under 16 tournanment in Iceland or Scotland - and did well with a great team in Malyasia while a great achievement - means absolutely nothing and is irrelevant when I say he was OUR WORST INTERNATIONAL MANAGER SINCE BIG JACK.

[eirebhoy]

From my experience most Celtic fans can't stand Brian Kerr so BigmanCas's views are no surprise.

I don't see anything wrong in what Kerr said. He seems very positive about McGeady. He's the most knowledgeable and tactically astute manager we've ever had imo but Trap is obviously going to take that title.

"his annoying accent"

Jesus that's one thing that really annoys me. You're not allowed have a Dublin accent on Irish TV. Make sure you don't hear me so.

[jmurphyc]

I'm not even going to bother trying to argue. If you don't like Kerr fair enough but FFS...

EB, how come most Celtic fans don't like Kerr?

[kennedmc]

I wonder is that why BRady supposedly doesn't like McGeady?