Aiden McGeady M Ayr Utd b.1986

[paul_oshea]

not much time left!

been pretty quiet this year hasn't it?!

[Junior]

not much time left!

been pretty quiet this year hasn't it?!

Yeah its unlikely he will go anywhere unless Birmingham come back with a £13m -£15m type bid. They still havent made any real big signing this month despite much speculation.

[seanfhear]

not much time left!

been pretty quiet this year hasn't it?!

The banks have squandered all the dosh

Have you not heard !

[Junior]

So after pointing out that he migt be playing in a number 10 type roll, Mowbray reverted to a 4-4-2 last night! McGeady played wide left for the first half, wide right for the next 30 and then wandered a bit more central for the last 15.

I was really disappointed with his performance last night.

He had a great opening 15 minutes, fairly direct down the line, had the beating of the fullback and got a few crosses in/won a few corners. Also cut inside a few times leaving Miller for dead and dinking in a few dangerous balls.

However, after that he was poor.

The fullback and Liam Miller doubled up on him all game. They were persistently fouling him (in my view anyway) but it was quite 'clever' in that it was all arms and obstruction type fouls rather than downright malicious hacking - so the Hibs players rarely got punished, it was frustrating Aiden and he quickly went off the boil.

I reckon he had about 7 or 8 shots in the 90 minutes and I dont think one of them troubled the keeper!! a few daisy cutters that drifted wide, a few high and over the bar, one blocked by a defender and the best chance of all came in the 1st minute of the 2nd half, with the keeper to beat (although two defenders were quickly closing him down) and he calmly slotted it wide when he should have at least hit the target - not good enough.

His crosses became less effective, often hitting the first defender (he was not alone in this last night!) and on a few breaks up field he held on to the ball far too long eventually losing posession.

I suppose none of the above will seem that unusual to alot of posters on here who often quote 'no final ball', 'one trick pony', 'headless chicken' etc.etc. but last night sadly, he lived up to that type of reputation.

Many on here state he has to go to the EPL or La Liga to improve as a player and there are obvious reasons for that conclusion, however, surely he has to prove beyond doubt that he can leave the likes of Hibs defenders chasing his shadows with assists and goals. He didnt do that last night. Maybe a one off but in stronger squads you dont get too many chances to have games like that or you'll be warming the bench or in the reserves.

[geysir]

His crossing and shooting, which should and need to be improving, are in fact weakening.
His game is sadly becoming more littered with powder puff shots and weak crosses.
Something is going on.

[seanfhear]

Is Mowbray worse than Strachan. At the moment he is doing badly and considering Rangers financial woes, well its not good is it.

[geysir]

I'd more suspect that a curse has been put on Celtic this season.

Caldwell will probably turn out to be one the bargains of the season in the EPL.

[Superhoops]

His crossing and shooting, which should and need to be improving, are in fact weakening.
His game is sadly becoming more littered with powder puff shots and weak crosses.
Something is going on.

Simple - the hype is fading and the over rating is manifesting

[geysir]

That would be a simple analysis for simple folk

[Junior]

Is Mowbray worse than Strachan. At the moment he is doing badly and considering Rangers financial woes, well its not good is it.

I dont look for a managers head after a few months, as many celtic fans are doing already. However, nevermind Strachan, I heard last night that Celtics record under Mowbray is worse than John Barnes' record (remember him?)

Rangers are a poor side but Celtic are dropping points left, right and centre.

Mowbray will be given time. He's been given money afterall and the Board are not going to kneejerk after giving him a good few £m (by SPL standards) to spend in the transfer window.

Mowbray should be good for McGeady, in terms of allowing him to play in an attacking team but the fundamentals of Aidens game need serious and focussed attention.

[Maroon 7]

You would imagine that Mowbray and his footballing principles would have been good for McGeady but unfortunately Celtic have been a complete shambles under Mowbray this season. Trailing a near bankrupt Rangers team by 10 points is almost unforgivable. McGeady seems to have just fallen into the malaise surrounding the club at the moment. Nobody's really playing well, badly organised, team spirit looks poor, etc.

[DeLorean]

Managers are only good for individual players if they are good for the club. Mowbray may have a footballing philosophy but it is not an effective one. West Brom were relegated last season without any fight whatsoever, having finished above Hull & Stoke the previous season in the Championship. He was getting praised for believing in playing good football despite not getting results. I'm sorry but West Brom weren't good to watch, they may have been trying to do the right things but were not capable of it, at Premier League level anyway. How Celtic fans were moaning about Strachan was completely beyond me, his job was easily as impressive as O'Neill's considering the players he had. It's a results business, Celtic don't have the players to play beautiful football all the time and Strachan knew it, unfortunately Mowbray doesn't.

[TrapAPony]

His crossing and shooting, which should and need to be improving, are in fact weakening.
His game is sadly becoming more littered with powder puff shots and weak crosses.
Something is going on.

McGeady is an extremely overrated player.

[DeLorean]

McGeady is an extremely overrated player.

What an insightful contribution.

To be honest I don't know how anybody can say he's overrated until he plays at a higher level. He's been the best player in Scotland over the past few seasons, he can't do much more than that. I thought he was getting better and better for Ireland until he was dropped for Lawrence.

[Superhoops]

What an insightful contribution.

To be honest I don't know how anybody can say he's overrated until he plays at a higher level. He's been the best player in Scotland over the past few seasons, he can't do much more than that. I thought he was getting better and better for Ireland until he was dropped for Lawrence.

Best player in Scotland doesn't mean much. International football is a higher level than SPL and he has hardly sparkled when playing for us.

[yapster]

As I've said he is a one-trick pony. His crossing & shooting is diabolical at this stage of his devolopment as a footballer.

[SilkCut]

His crossing and shooting, which should and need to be improving, are in fact weakening.
His game is sadly becoming more littered with powder puff shots and weak crosses.
Something is going on.

He has gotten lazy, probably gotten bored aswell. Look at the type of players he is playing against (and with) he has all the talent he could wish for but has become too comfortable at Celtic. He knows that 50% of his best is still 40% better than most in the SPL. To say he has not proved he can leave SPL defenders for dead is a fallacy, he has been doing it for years. I imagine he looks at the players around him and thinks "what the fu#k happened here?" remember he grew up with players like Larsson, Sutton and Lennon all at Celtic all good players, throw in Nakamura, Petrov and young guys like Maloney (not the same player since Villa) and Miller (was very good once) there would have been a much more confident atmosphere. Now he is looking at Scott MacDonald (still has not scored at international level) and Georgios Samaras (Terrible in the EPL) as the stars of the team. Throw in the opposition he is playing against all either half decent young players, older journeymen, ex-Eircom league and players who couldn't make it in the championship. The SPL has fallen so far it is ridiculous, even Rangers have no "Marquee" players. He needs to move this year, probably won't happen until the summer but it needs to happen. Celtic have been very unfair in the valuation they put on him, he has been very loyal and should be rewarded with a move for a realistic price. I wonder do they pay him what a 15m pound player would normally earn?
He is still young enough to fulfill his potential, don't write him off just yet. That said, if he signs another long term contract at Celtic one would have to doubt his ambition.

[EastTerracer]

A poor game this morning from Aiden. He did have a very good first half of the season for Celtic (accepting that the SPL is not the highest standard he could be playing at). In the last few games he seems to be off form and, as SilkCut says above, I think the changing personnel in the team is not helping him. He has gone from a young lad playing amongst senior players to being the centre-point of Tony Mowbray's team. He looks to be trying much too hard to beat every player. I think he'll stay at Celtic for the rest of the season but expect to see him in the Premier League next season.

[seanfhear]

Aiden and all the Celtic players need to get as far away from Mowbray as they can.

Will Mowbray get much longer?

[Junior]

Aiden and all the Celtic players need to get as far away from Mowbray as they can.

Will Mowbray get much longer?

Its not the normal practice of a Board of Directors to allow their manager to go off willy nilly spending millions on new players if they intend to give him the boot.

Even if we have a disastrous season (i.e. didnt at least finish second, which I really dont think will happen) Mowbray would still be around next summer (and beyond I think but I wont stick my neck out that far).

Rangers have a slim squad, wont be strengthening, have their best two players (certainly in terms of goasl) in Miller & Boyd out injured at the moment - they will hit a bad patch. Celtic just have to have picked it up a few gears to close the gap when they do.