Personal

Fullname: Aiden McGeady
aka: 'Aidenho'
Born: 4 April 1986
Birthplace: Glasgow
Signed: 20 April 2004
Position: Midfielder
Squad No.: 46
Internationals: Ireland
International Caps: (TBC at end of career goals)
International Goals: (TBC at end of career)

Summary

Nationality: Scottish but plays for Republic of Ireland through Irish 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]

Biog

Having attended and achieved good examination results at St.Ninians RC Secondary in Giffnock on the South Side of Glasgow Aiden McGeady burst onto the Celtic scene and was practically 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 special talent which Celtic fans had all yearned for. Things though hadn’t all worked out to plan. Undoubtedly skilful with twists and turns down the right wing, 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 surprising split down the middle over the guy 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 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 secondly 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 to date has been his decision to play for Ireland instead of Scotland. Pilloried 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 been a big target for the boo boys from other clubs to get to him during matches.

2007-08
The 2007-08 season was a big turnaround. McGeady cemented his place in the team with many fine performances and goals, although work has still to be done. The support also 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 has admitted does attract him later in his career) is not all as great as it seems. Gordon Strachan (manager) has praised McGeady for the work he has 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 was 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 seems to have won out at the end. There were plenty of stories flying about that McGeady and WGS didn't get on and effectively was going to leave at the end of the season or earlier if possible (Jan window). McGeady stayed but the team didn't work 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 a current players (only departed players made any criticisms otherwise).

2009-10
[...]

Playing Career

[...]

Honours with Celtic

[...]

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

Pictures

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

Song

• Aiden McGeady song
  

Articles

• Times article, 2005
  
• An Irish overview (2006) (Times)
  

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)