Aiden McGeady was, without a doubt, one of the most naturally gifted wingers Celtic had seen in the first team for a long time.
Beginning his career at Queens Park, McGeady tried to follow a career path in England. And after a trial at Arsenal failed to produce a move, the Glasgow-born winger signed for Celtic in 2004.
He made his debut at 18 years old and after spending six years at the club, he moved to Spartak Moscow in a £9.5m move that made him Scotland’s most expensive export at that time. [BBC]
He then moved on to Everton in 2014 and it was at that time he was being touted for a potential return to Celtic after he struggled to break into the first team. McGeady reveals why he struggled to make his mark at Goodison and why the potential return to Glasgow didn’t happen.
McGeady said [The Guardian], “I went there in the January and was supposed to get acclimatised for a few months, we finished fifth in the league.
“I had a really good pre-season and scored against Leicester in the first game of the season. Then, in what was a microcosm of my time at Everton, I was on the bench the following week because we were changing tactics to play Arsenal.
“I started the next game and set up a goal, then I was back on the bench. That was really the way it went until eventually I wasn’t even in the squad.”
But it was during this period that a potential return to Celtic was being spoken about. And whilst many fans will have loved to have seen the return of McGeady, the former Republic of Ireland international was determined to make his Goodison move work.
McGeady continued, “I still had this itch, I thought I could get back in at Everton. After that, the Celtic window probably closed.”
After a short spell at Hibs, the former Celtic winger is now out of the game for the moment. Where does he see himself going? 67 Hail Hail has previously discussed that the 37-year-old was undertaking a course where he was learning to become a Sporting Director.
And it seems that from this conversation, that is a path that McGeady plans to follow, McGeady said, “I like coaching and I think I would be selfish not to pass on my experience to others but I’m also interested in other parts of the game: recruitment, organising a club, managing people.
“I should have looked at these things a lot earlier in my career but I have played on for so long.”
McGeady has recently dabbled in some punditry work for Sky Sports. It is clear that from his appearances on the broadcasting giants platform, he has very good knowledge of the game and speaks a lot of sense.
It will be interesting to see how his future career pans out and it is one that I will certainly be looking to keep a close eye on in the coming months.
In other news, “I’m a fan and always have been” – Ex-Manchester United hero makes Celtic admission
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