Personal

Fullname: Aiden McGeady
aka: 'Aidenho'
Born: 4 April 1986
Birthplace: Glasgow
Signed: 20 April 2004
Left: 13 Aug 2010 (£9.5m(£9.5-11m to Spartak Moscow)
Position: Midfielder (attacking via central midfield or wings)
Debut: Hearts 1-1 Celtic, League, 24 April 2004 (and scored on debut)
Squad No.: 46
Internationals: Ireland
International Caps: (TBC at end of career goals)
International Goals: (TBC at end of career)

Summary

Nationality: Irish (Born in Scotland but plays for Republic of Ireland through his Donegal grandparents)

Signed on 20-04-2004

McGeady signed a 4 1/2 year deal in Feb 2007 [BBC]

Scored his first hat-trick in mid-week SPL game v Falkirk [Link]

Won Young Player of the Season in 2008 [BBC]

Signed for Spartak Moscow for £9.5M on 13-08-2010 [BBC]

Biog

Having attended and achieved good examination results at St.Ninians RC Secondary in Giffnock on the South Side of Glasgow, Aiden McGeady then burst onto the Celtic scene (scoring after just 17 mins in his debut against Hearts) and was lauded from the word go. There was no denying his precocious talent and for many he was the best young talent for many a year. Young and eager he was that talent which Celtic fans had all been yearning for.for, but Thingsthings hadn’t all worked out to plan over his time at the club.

Undoubtedly skilful with twists and turns down the wings, his end ball could be very poor. A good run and beating a few defenders and a poor cross or a lost ball at the next tackle meant it could all be in vain, and during the 2006-07 season after a fair start the support was surprisingly split down the middle over the player more so than any other over recent seasons. One extreme saying he was a one trick pony whilst the other side that he was a fine precocious talent and people should have patience with him.

The arrival of Shaun Maloney into the first team as a regular pushed McGeady behind in the pecking order, and after a fine season Maloney had cemented himself in the starting line-up. In some ways this was good for Aiden. Firstly it took the attention/pressure of him with another young player taking the limelight instead, and second as it gave him a kick in order to show that he had a lot still to learn and do.

National side
His most difficult decision was his decision to play for Ireland instead of Scotland. PilloriedPilloried by the Scottish press for this decision, they seem to ignore the fact that it was the Irish association would were willing to assist him when he was a teenager whilst the Scottish association didn’t at all. McGeady had said that he promised his grandfather that he would play for Ireland, and so there should have been no issue over this. Sadly this is Scotland, and he has beenbecame a big target for the boo boys from other clubs to get to him during matches. Would have liked if he chose to play for Scotland, but it's not as if he was opting to play for Ireland for the money!money!
2007-08
The 2007-08 season was a big turnaround. McGeady cemented his place in the team with many fine performances and goals, although still some work-in-progress. The support was fully united in praise for his performances in what was an otherwise difficult season for the club with a roller coaster set of results. Additionally, Shaun Maloney’s move to Aston Villa was a warning to McGeady that leaving Celtic for the EPL (which he admitted did attract him for later in his career) is not all as great as it seems. Gordon Strachan (manager) praised McGeady for the work he put in over the season for conditioning himself better for the long season. Gone are the neddy days.

To seal off a great season personally for McGeady, he was awarded the Player of the Season for 2008!!! A GIRIUY to all his critics.

However, his temper has got the better of him and referees sadly find him an easy target to book for silly tantrums which would be passed off if they were from other players.

2008-09
Not a vintage season for Celtic, and a bit of a step-back for McGeady. No denying his talent but with the squad tripping up continuously there was little he could do. Season will be remembered most for McGeady due to his spat with manager Gordon Strachan. A very publicised following out with the manager saw McGeady disciplined by the club for an outburst at a team post-match meeting. He was suspended from the squad from a few games, which created much debate amongst the fans, many supporting McGeady others backing the manager. The manager had made himself unpopular with some sections of the support, and in truth the debate wasn't really just a "McGeady v Strachan" wrangle and was used by different people to push their views on both to the hilt whether their points were relevant to the current events or not.

Most notably, one of the games he missed was a game v Rangers, but as Celtic won that game and did comfortably in the other games he was out, it appeared to backfire on McGeady, and the manager's cries that it was about disciplinary reasons seem to have won out at the end. There were plenty of stories flying about that McGeady and WGS didn't get on and effectively he was going to leave at the end of the season or earlier if possible (Jan window). McGeady stayed but the team didn't work well and he was no better than most. We lost the league and it was a poor season overall for all. A change of manager at the end of the season was the best thing for all, and likely McGeady was happy with this too. His dissent was the only public slating of the manager by the players (only departed players made any criticisms otherwise).

2009-10
While 2008-09 was a disappointing campaign for Celtic it was still a damn sight better than the term that followed. With Gordon Strachan now departed it was hoped that McGeady would flourish under new manager Tony Mowbrary and his stated desire to play attacking, passing football.

Despite a promising start it was not to be. Prior to Christmas McGeady was undoubtedly one of Celtic's better performers - however that is damning with faint praise. In the early months of 2010 his form dipped and he yet again continued to frustrate with performances which frequently failed to do his obvious talent justice. No longer a promising youngster, McGeady was now at a stage of his career where youth was no longer an excuse for his inconsistency.

In August 2010 McGeady was sold to Spartak Moscow for £9.5M, making him the most expensive player ever to be sold from Scotland (to time of sale). Later reports (from Celtic TV & Russia) actually indicate the figure was actually £11m! We needed the cash as well as we were to be now two seasons without Champions League money. We couldn't say no. It was said that former Celtic manager Martin O'Neill resigned from Aston Villa on the back of lack of funds to buy players, of which included the opportunity to buy Aiden McGeady with whom he had been repeatedly linked to take down south.

Review

Aiden McGeady was a cracking prodigious talent. He was able to many a time bamboozle the opposition defence with turns and moves we'd not seen since Lubo. It was wonderful, and as a product of our youth system it was great to see a supporter play like he could at our club.

However, the difficult situation at Celtic with poor coaching undermined the ability he had. The abuse and pressures put on him for choosing Ireland over Scotland for the internationals hadn't helped. He seemed to split the support. Some ridiculously saw him as a one-trick pony, but many just saw a boy with great talent who could take on many defences yet then blow it all away with a powderpuff shot or a squandered pass. Additionally, his crossing was not as incisive as it should have been (the coaches should have worked harder with him on him). It was frustrating but when it worked out it was terrific.

Most critics needed to see the facts as the Herald newspaper wrote: "Last season (2009-10), for example, McGeady was joint first in the creation of goals in the SPL with 14 assists. Steven Davis of Rangers who spent most of the season playing wide with the champions, also created 14. McGeady scored seven goals to three by the Northern Irishman. Indeed, as far back as 2007, McGeady was the most prolific creator of chances in the league with 16. He was not a regular taker of set-pieces so statistics show he was the best at creating goals from open play."

That shows a player of quality and ability. With better management and better players he could have been a far superior player with us , but when his colleagues were poor (e.g. Samaras) then really it's hard to not be downhearted and let the head go down. In truth, the SPL alone is not a benchmark and even his staunchest supporter has to admit that the figures are actually a fraction of what his talent could have achieved.

One issue was off-field. Unfairly marked as a bit of a ned due to his hairstyle/looks/quirks etc, he was not a favourite with the more conservative in football (even within Celtic). The aforementioned spat with manager Gordon Strachan highlighted this tension, but in truth McGeady never really acted to put the club's name in the mud. He was no better or worse than any other young man and it was easy for critics to over play it (and they did). McGeady to his credit just got on with things.

He really had the ability to be a great player for us and achieve a lot. There are many great moments in his time that made us roar with delight and he turned many a defence inside out, but he hadn't done enough to rank with the greats. We had many great achievements whilst he was here but he was never the architect of those as say Larsson, Sutton, McStay or Lubo. He might have been so in time, however he still played his good part with the club and for that we will forever respect him.

We wish him the best.

Playing Career

Club	From	To	Fee	League		Scottish Cup		League cup		Other
Sp. Moscow	01/08/2010		£9.5m
Celtic	20/04/2004	01/08/2010	Youth	147 (38)	31	15 (6)	1	9 (4)	3	26 (6)	2
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals

Honours with Celtic

Scottish League

• 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08

Scottish Cup

• 2005, 2007,

Scottish League Cup

• 2005-06, 2008-09

Individual

• Celtic FC Young Player of the Year (2005, 2006, 2007)
• Celtic FC Fans Player of the Year (2008)
• Celtic FC Players' Player of the Year (2008, 2010)
• SPFA Players' Player of the Year (2008)
• SPFA Young Player of the Year (2008)
• BBC Sportsound Player of the Year (2008)
• Clydesdale Bank Young Player of the Year (2008)
• Scottish Premier League Player of the Month (5x)
• Scottish Premier League Young Player of the Month (6x)
• Eircom Republic of Ireland Young Player of the Year (2009)

KDS Honours
MOTM Winners 2006-07
12-Aug-06	Celtic 2 v 0 St Mirren	SPL
20-Aug-06	Inverness CT 1 V 1 Celtic	SPL
26-Aug-06	Celtic 2 v 1 Hibernian	SPL
Aug-06	Aug-06 Player of the Month
23-Sep-06	Celtic 2 v 0 Rangers	SPL
Sep-06	Sep-06 Player of the Month
01-Oct-06	Falkirk 0 v 1 Celtic	SPL
26-Nov-06	Hibernian 2 v 2 Celtic	SPL
02-Dec-06	Celtic 1 v 0 Aberdeen	SPL
10-Dec-06	Dunfermline 1 v 2 Celtic	SPL
11-Mar-07	Celtic 0 v 1 Rangers	SPL
31-Mar-07	Dundee Utd 1 v 1 Celtic	SPL
Mar-07	Mar-07 Player of the Month
07-Apr-07	Celtic 1 v 0 Motherwell	SPL
MOTM Winners 2007-08
15-Sep-07	Celtic 5 v 0 Inverness CT	SPL
31-Oct-07	Celtic 0 v 2 Hearts	CISLeague Cup
06-Nov-07	Celtic 1 v 0 Benfica	Champions League
Nov-07	Nov-07 Player of the Month
11-Dec-07	Celtic 4 v 0 Falkirk	SPL
22-Dec-07	Celtic 1 v 1 Hibernian	SPL
29-Dec-07	Celtic 3 v 0 Gretna	SPL
Dec-07	Dec-07 Player of the Month
10-Feb-08	Aberdeen 1 v 5 Celtic	SPL
Feb-08	Feb-08 Player of the Month
05-Apr-08	Celtic 0 v 1 Motherwell	SPL
2008	***KDS Player of the Year 2007-08***
MOTM Winners 2008-09
29-Oct-08	Kilmarnock 1-3 Celtic	CIS League Cup
24-Jan-09	Celtic 3-1 Hibernian	SPL
01-Feb-09	Inverness CT 0-0 Celtic	SPL
07-Feb-09	Celtic 2-1 Queens Park	Scottish Cup
22-Mar-09	Dundee United 2-0 Celtic	SPL
08-Apr-09	Celtic 4-0 Falkirk	SPL
MOTM Winners 2009-10
15-Aug-09	Aberdeen 1-3 Celtic	SPL
18-Aug-09	Celtic 0-2 Arsenal	CL 4th Qual Rd, 1st Leg
26-Aug-09	Arsenal 1-3 Celtic	CL 4th Qual Rd, 2nd Leg
Aug-09	Aug-09 Player of the Month
20-Sep-09	Celtic 2-1 Hearts	SPL
22-Nov-09	Dundee Utd 2-1 Celtic	SPL
28-Nov-09	Celtic 3-1 St Mirren	SPL
Nov-09	Nov-09 Joint Player of the Month
02-Dec-09	Celtic 2-0 Hapoel Tel Aviv	Europa League Match 5
12-Dec-09	Motherwell 2-3 Celtic	SPL
22-Dec-09	Hearts 2-1 Celtic	SPL
Dec-09	Dec-09 Player of the Month
03-Jan-10	Celtic 1-1 Rangers	SPL
13-Feb-10	Aberdeen 4-4 Celtic	SPL
24-Mar-10	St Mirren 4-0 Celtic	SPL
04-Apr-10	Hibernian 0-1 Celtic	SPL
17-Apr-10	Celtic 3-2 Hibernian	SPL
30-Apr-10	Apr-10 Player of the Month
01-May-10	Celtic 4-0 Motherwell	SPL
May-10	Joint Player of the Month for May '10

Pictures

• Aiden McGeady Pics
• Wallpaper (by Cartuja of KStreet forum)
  

Song

• Aiden McGeady song
  

Articles

• Miscellaneous Articles
  

Forums

• McGeady leaves Celtic (Aug 2010)
  

Quotes

Lionel Messi [Barcelona] yesterday paid his own accolade, saying: "I really like the way McGeady plays football. He is a natural talent who can create a brilliant piece of play in the blink of an eye." This came in the wake of Catalan sportspaper El Mundo Deportivo publishing a glowing tribute, which lauded the Republic of Ireland international as "a blond version of Messi and Diego Maradona", adding that a lack of media exposure is all that currently prevents him from achieving the same fame and renown enjoyed by Messi and his Argentinian predecessor.
(Source: Fifa, Feb 08)