Aiden McGeady M Ayr Utd b.1986

[The Fly]

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/...osik-1.1065494

[Junior]

I'd agree with edmundos summary. Solid if unspectacular. Did waste a few opportunities to get balls in the box but always made himself available and did some good work defensively. Was amazed at the amount of times the Spartak central midfield gave the ball away with relatively simple passes out wide being intercepted by the Chelsea midfield/defence. This often meant they couldn't get any momentum going (in the 2nd half particularly) in their own attacks and gave Chelsea the initiative in starting their own, with Spartak on the back foot. The Chelsea onslaught would probably have happened anyway but Spartak didn't help themselves.

Interestingly, McGeady got a decent enough chorus of boo's from the home support on his exit from the game.

[DannyInvincible]

Interestingly, McGeady got a decent enough chorus of boo's from the home support on his exit from the game.

Noticed that myself. What was the deal? Something to do with a Chelsea-Rangers solidarity thing?

[Junior]

I guess so. The little fenian b*****d

I doubt it overly concerned him though, nothing compared to what he has become accustomed.

[fu1ham]

Chelsea have long had a link with the Huns , plus have had gangs in the past associated with the BNP.

Yet another reason to hate them.

Duff fit again today apparently. Looking forward to seeing Clark as well . I'll boo Ireland for you all (Stephen that is, I'm not a Chelsea Headhunter).

[Charlie Darwin]

Injury time equaliser for Rubin Kazan seems to have confirmed Spartak won't make the CL spots this year.

http://www.soccerway.com/matches/201...moskva/889264/

[AlaskaFox]

McGeady played well though according to greenscene, plus highlights of the game
http://greenscene.me/2010/11/contine...vember-update/

[Closed Account 2]

Injury time equaliser for Rubin Kazan seems to have confirmed Spartak won't make the CL spots this year.

http://www.soccerway.com/matches/201...moskva/889264/

I don't know if that's true. All Russian teams have played 27 of 30 games, so there are 3 left (9 possible points). Rubin are in 3rd (last CL place, they go to play-offs) on 55 points and Spartak are in 4th on 47 points, so they trail by 8 points.

Spartak play: KS Samara(h), CSKA (a), Dinamo (a)
Rubin play: Dinamo (a), Zenit (h), Lokomotiv (a)

Both teams have Champions League commitments, although Rubin are hanging on by a thread in terms of making the knockouts. Spartak would need to win every game and hope Rubin lose all 3, it's unlikely but you never know.

Also Spartak should be ok for the UEFA Cup places, they are 4 points clear and I can't see both Nalchik and Lokomotiv overtaking them. Spartak are still in the Russian cup, playing Sibir Novosibirsk in the quarter finals when they resume in March 2011.

Noticed that myself. What was the deal? Something to do with a Chelsea-Rangers solidarity thing?

Could be, or could be just booing someone who they've heard of - I saw them play Roma in 2010 and Panucci and Riise were both booed (actually the latter was given ironic cheers for his own goal at the Liverpool game), Panucci was an ex-player for them - some of their fans just boo any player they recognise the name of, I'd be surprised if religion was more of a factor than an "Oooh I've heard his name before so I'll just boo him". Same was true the other way round Zhirkov was roundly booed by the Spartak fans due to him being Russian - I know some claim Spartak - CSKA (Zhirkov's ex club) is a big derby but in reality this is a pretty recent phenomenon and Loko or Zenit games are a big or bigger.

[Crosby87]

I wonder if this different schedule will be good for him.

[geysir]

McGeady in action now for Spartak V Marseilles in the CL.
On the 3min mark he got in a high tackle which floored Heinze and left him furious. Looks like its going to be a hectic game.

[Kingdom]

Wasted a great opportunity there a moment ago after beating Heinze. They have him on frees from the left with the right foot, peach of a cross there.

[Predator]

Has been playing fairly well so far, although he messed up a great opportunity to cross, instead attempting what seemed to be a very bad lob. Seems to be enjoying his football over there.
Fantastic finish for the Marseille goal, too.

[geysir]

You guys focus too much on the negatives. Fortunately the Spartak fans appreciate him.
He has had a couple of lovely crosses and some great moves.

[geysir]

The Celtic team that McGeady broke into was much better than Spartak are now and without Alex they look very ordinary.

[Kingdom]

Ha ha Geysir, wrong thread eh? They miss Alex big time, still though as introductions go, it's been good for McGeady. They'll go into the Europa League now, qualified for it next season, he gets a decent rest now and hopefully a decent pre-season in a couple of months.

Hopefully the new Spartak coach takes a shine to him, cause there's a big chance Karpin will get the shephard's hook now,

[AlaskaFox]

The UEFA player rater for the game is pretty interesting:
http://en.uclratings.uefa.com/Game/Play/2002891

Started off great, and then levelled off around 6.7 before dropping down to 6.1 in the second half, but still Spartak's second best player.

[Kingdom]

It's a tad unfair if you haven't watched the game. He's barely touched the ball in the second half. Got into good positions plenty of times and failed to receive the ball.

[geysir]

Ha ha Geysir, wrong thread eh?

If a tree falls in the middle of nowhere and all that, you would be there to notice it

[Kingdom]

If a tree falls in the middle of nowhere and all that, you would be there to notice it

Depends on the tree. That was rhetorical wasn't it?

[geysir]

Rhetorical? not at all. Just a reference to the event of my posting a McGeady thread reply in the wrong thread/forum.
That it would not have been recognised as happening, only for the fact that you were there to witness it for the 5 seconds it existed.