Aiden McGeady

Aiden McGeady

Personal information
Full name	Aiden McGeady
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	Celtic
Number	46
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 May 2008

Aiden McGeady (born April 4,1986 in Glasgow) is a professional footballer, who currently plays for Celtic F.C.. Although born and raised in Scotland to Scottish parents, he represents the Republic of Ireland at the international level. He plays as an attacking midfielder/winger.

Professional career

As a youth McGeady was one of the most sought-after starlets in Europe and turned down moves to Arsenal F.C. and Manchester United F.C. at age 16, choosing to play for his boyhood heroes Celtic. McGeady made his senior debut for Celtic in 2004 (when he was 18) during a Scottish Premier League match against Hearts, and has named man of the match. He has worn the same squad number, 46, since his debut.

He made his UEFA Champions League debut the next season in a game against Serie A giants AC Milan. He was named man of the match, putting on a display older than his years and earning applause from AC Milan players such as Paolo Maldini at the end of the game.

Since then, McGeady's career at Celtic has flourished particularly under their current manager, Gordon Strachan, the first sign of a more complete McGeady became apparent during his man of the match display against Rangers on 23 September, 2006. Having already scored against Rangers, McGeady turned in a more creative performance, including a defence-splitting pass which set up Kenny Miller to score Celtic's second goal of the game. McGeady's season was hampered by a persistent knee injury, but he played a significant role in Celtic's second title winning season under Gordon Strachan, contributing 5 goals and 7 assists.

The 2007/08 season has seen a lot more consistency added to McGeady's game which has often earning him praise from the media.

This has been underlined by his match winning displays throughout the season and the young winger's performances in the Champions League, being named man of the match against Benfica, a match in which he scored the winning goal, and setting up Massimo Donati's last-minute winner in the match against Shakhtar Donetsk, a goal which put Celtic into the final 16 of the tournament for the second year running. In the first leg of Celtic's final 16 knockout tie against Barcelona, McGeady was involved in both of their goals, playing a significant part in Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink's opener, and providing the cross for Barry Robson's goal. Prior to the match he was praised by Barcelona's Argentine youngster Lionel Messi McGeady was also praised by Messi's fellow Barcelona player, Sylvinho, who stated that the young winger should move to Spain . Fulsome praise came from Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, who declared that McGeady was "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.

Throughout most of the second half of the SPL season opposing teams would often have two or three defenders marking McGeady, but he continued to dazzle. One of his most devastating performances came against Aberdeen, scoring a goal and contributing three assists, memorably setting up a second goal for striker Scott McDonald. After starting off the move in his own half, McGeady collected the ball from Lee Naylor, ran into the box and performed a wonderful bit of skill before clipping the ball into the area for McDonald to head into the back of the net. He continued to provide goals for his team, most importantly Scott McDonald's equalising goal against rivals Rangers, a match that Celtic went on to win 3-2. A win which proved to be crucial in Celtic's successful defence of their title.

McGeady was often praised throughout the season by his fellow professionals and he was awarded the SPFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year on April 20, 2008, only the second player ever to receive both awards in the same season, as voted by his fellow players.

He contributed 7 SPL goals and 19 assists, as Celtic won the SPL, winning three titles in a row for the first time since Jock Stein was manager and was one of five players who scored a hat-trick in the 2007-08 season.

International career

McGeady played for Scotland Schools while at Queen's Park. He then joined Celtic who had recently introduced a policy of not allowing their youths to play for their school teams. At the time Scotland had a rule, which has since been changed, that should a young player not play for their school team they would not be considered for a call-up to Scotland Schools selects. The Republic of Ireland, who had no such rule, instructed Packie Bonner, who knew of McGeady's Irish lineage, to invite McGeady to play for the Republic of Ireland Under-15 Schoolboys team, and he has since gone on to be a full Republic of Ireland international. Tommy Burns, Celtic's former Head of Youth Development and First team Coach, stated that McGeady's father wanted him to play for Scotland but, despite his father's urgings, McGeady still decided to play for the Republic of Ireland. McGeady was even named in a Scotland under-16 squad but, despite attempts to persuade him to do so by the likes of then Scotland head coach Berti Vogts, the player declined to represent the Scots. McGeady made his full début for the Republic of Ireland in June 2004 against Jamaica, and he has since gone on to win 18 caps for his country. He was recently singled out for praise by the new Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni. and by his international captain, Robbie Keane.

Skills

McGeady is known for his quick feet and trickery. He regularly uses tricks such as the double step over, Rivelino feint and his own McGeady 360 spin, which he first did at the age of 13 and is now taught to youth players at Celtic. McGeady has stated that he loves to watch and learn from players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.

Speculation

In the past 8 months McGeady been linked with big money moves to clubs such as Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle, Manchester City and Spanish sides Espanyol and Sevilla. McGeady has expressed a desire to one day play in La Liga, but has reiterated his intentions to remain at Celtic for the time being. He put an end to the transfer speculation surrounding him by signing a new 5 year deal with Celtic on July 17th 2008 .

Statistics

Last updated May 6 2008

Season	Club	Competition	Apps	Goals	Assists
2003/04	Celtic	Scottish Premier League	4	1	1
2004/05	Celtic	Scottish Premier League	27	4	7
2005/06	Celtic	Scottish Premier League	20	4	5
2006/07	Celtic	Scottish Premier League	34	5	7
2007/08	Celtic	Scottish Premier League	34	7	19
Total			119	21	40

Honours

• Celtic
• Scottish Premier League (2006, 2007, 2008)
• Scottish League Cup (2006)
• Scottish Cup (2005, 2007)

Awards

Since making his début, aged 18, McGeady has received the following awards:

• Celtic FC Young Player of the Year (2005, 2006, 2007)
• Celtic FC Player of the Year (2008)
• SPFA Players Player of the Year (2008)
• SPFA 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 (5)
• Scottish Premier League Young Player of the Month (6)

External links

• Aiden McGeady at Soccerbase
• Aiden McGeady Official Website at Icons.com
• Aiden McGeady Player Profile from Carling