Aiden McGeady recalls Shunsuke Nakamura’s Celtic spell and Gordon Strachan rant

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Aiden McGeady recalled how Shunsuke Nakamura was subjected to rants from Gordon Strachan when he hadn’t played well.

McGeady was appearing on Go Radio to discuss Celtic’s end of season run-in and eventually spoke about his former teammate Nakamura after he returned to Glasgow for Japan’s international friendly against Scotland.

The two wingers were a joy to watch for very different reasons and while they were unable to link up while Nakamura was back, McGeady did have one story that involved Strachan and his translator.

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The Gordon Strachan moment Aiden McGeady never forgot

Former Ireland winger McGeady revealed how his teammate was often quiet and required his translator to help him get by at Lennoxtown.

As Nakamura couldn’t speak the language, his interpreter was often the one who was subjected the rants, including an iconic one from Strachan.

“Naka was very quiet actually, he kidded on he couldn’t speak English but I caught him reading the Sun loads of times,” recalled McGeady.

“But he was a wonderful player, and a really really down-to-earth guy as well.

“He always had his interpreter with him, 24 hours a day. But Gordon Strachan would shout at him [the translator] after a bad game!

“He would say ‘you were a joke today’. Tell him that.’”

Gordon Strachan on Shunsuke Nakamura

Despite being firm but fair, Strachan has always acknowledged how talented Nakamura was.

He will be eternally grateful for the last-minute winner against Kilmarnock to win the league in 2007 and remembers just how technically gifted the winger was and that he tried to build the team around him.

Speaking to Ice36 in 2023, he said: “He had a touch that came from heaven. He could see things and, because his first touch was so good, he had the ability to beat people with it or to then open up the pitch playing a wonderful pass because he created the angles for himself. Players couldn’t get near him – they would drop off him because he would make them look foolish.

“He scored some amazing goals too. The players absolutely loved him. The way that he trained and worked was so impressive. His English wasn’t the best but that didn’t stop him from building a connection with everyone that he met during his time at Celtic.”