Martin O'Neill fulsome in praise for Aiden McGeady

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Jay.. you never know he might turn out to be a gem.. but 10M is a lot of money for a Scottish player.. and if he turns out to be shite we are screwed.. i personally would love us to get Bentley for 10M.. if he sorted his attitude out.. under Oneil he could turn out to be a bragain!

Jay.P.A wrote:http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/8846452.stm



Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has reiterated his admiration for Celtic's Aiden McGeady, while carefully refusing to be drawn on his signing plans.

"I think Aiden McGeady has the ability to play in the Premier League, without question," said O'Neill.

"I had him as a kid at Celtic and played him without worrying too much about his youth.

"He played against AC Milan one night in the Champions League at Celtic Park and he was absolutely fantastic."

O'Neill was speaking in Dublin, where Villa will be based for a four-day training camp.

And he was quizzed about speculation linking him to the Republic of Ireland international trio of McGeady, Robbie Keane and Stephen Ireland.

"We have been linked with an awful lot of players and I would expect that because we are a top quality Premier League side," added O'Neill, who has admitted he is prepared to sell England midfielder James Milner.

"There's no point in me mentioning names but, without wanting to lose players of the calibre of Milner, we would want to try to recruit some players.

"But, as the chairman said at the back end of last season, it's probably going to be a case of having to sell to buy and that's something I'm delving into at the moment."

McGeady has three years of his contract to run at Celtic and Spartak Moscow were told the 24-year-old was not for sale when the Russians made an enquiry in early June.

And Aston Villa's fierce rivals Birmingham had an approach for the winger rejected in January.

However, Celtic boss Neil Lennon said last week that he thought the player was keen on a move away from Glasgow.

"Aiden hasn't said to me he wants to leave in so many words," revealed Lennon. "But that vibe came from his side of things."

Villa skipper Richard Dunne, an international team-mate of McGeady, is also a fan of the Celtic star.

"I haven't spoke to Aiden but he's been brilliant up there and probably the next step for him is the Premier League.

"Whether that's with us or not, I don't know."

Meanwhile, O'Neill has backed his former team Celtic to regain the Scottish Premier League title following back-to-back championship wins for Rangers.

Asked if he thought his former player Lennon could steer the club to success in his first season in charge, O'Neill answered: "I genuinely do.

"It seems to be auguring well, because Rangers are selling players and I saw Walter Smith saying he had a slight concern about letting players go and not getting anybody in.

"Celtic look pretty strong. They had a great back end to last season, in terms of league games. Neil has the backroom team he's asked for, so there's no reason he can't go on and take it ."

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So I reckon we'll get him then

villanfromluton wrote:Mal, while I agree with you on McGeady, I think Ireland would be a good signing. We need a goalscoring midfielder and he could be that player.

villanfromluton wrote:Mal, while I agree with you on McGeady, I think Ireland would be a good signing. We need a goalscoring midfielder and he could be that player.

Malachite wrote:


What do you base that on? not talking about your hunch or opinion, understand that, fair enough, but lets look at the facts, that blokes done naf all and yet for some strange Loch Ness monster type myth, Villa fans seem to think oohhh lets get Ireland he's good.....how, where, when did this happen that he established this reputation, he's been on the bench for a good part of the last couple of seasons.

Malachite wrote:
Lutes looks like Defour is on the market, Man Utd are in for him, Villa where linked a few years ago, he is proven in European football,

Malachite wrote:
We are also being linked with Flamini, another player that can't break through to first choice.

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Flamini was brilliant at Arsenal.. havent seen him play at all for Milan.. so not sure if he was a flash in the pan or just had a bad time at a club.. if he was to get his Arsenal form back.. 4-5M is a snip for him..

Jay.P.A wrote:

Sign him up if he's available! and then sign Rafael Van Der Vaart! Would be amazing if we got him, shows ambition and maybe an even bigger rise in ticket sales.

roadoftrinity wrote:

Jay.P.A wrote:

Sign him up if he's available! and then sign Rafael Van Der Vaart! Would be amazing if we got him, shows ambition and maybe an even bigger rise in ticket sales.

We wont sign either of them, we will sign Robbie Keane and probably someone like Jermain Jenas.

Oh, I can hardly contain my excitment for a next season.

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:
Just cus your Fridays not going well doesnt mean you feck everyone elses up too..

Celtic_Fan wrote:I was going to post this on the McGeady thread but don't have access so I'll post it here:

As a Celtic fan I’ve been having a read through your forum since Aiden McGeady has been linked with a move to Villa.

A number of people have made sweeping comments about McGeady being rubbish when in reality I suspect that they actually know very little about him. I guess the reason for the prejudice is the fact that he is playing in Scotland. While I accept that the SPL isn’t the best quality it is comparable with a number of other European Leagues. If Villa were linked with an £8-10M move for a highly rated 24 year old that played for Anderlecht in the Belgian League would there be so much opposition?

For what it’s worth I reckon that Aiden McGeady is the most naturally gifted player to come out of Scotland for a number of years (technically superior, more resilient and a better mentality to Shaun Maloney who he has been compared to on this forum) He is a great dribbler, has very quick feet, and despite people suggesting otherwise does have an end product. People who question his end product focus on the occasions when he fluffs a cross rather than the times when he puts in a great ball only to see the striker squander the chance. There was a game against Dundee United last season where Aiden laid on 4 gilt edged chances in the first half and the strikers spurned all of them.

His best position is as a left winger although he can play on the right. His strengths are his ability to beat most full-backs when one on one, and his ability to produce a trick to get the fans on their feet. His weakness is his lack of goals. When he cuts inside he is often off balance which results in a high proportion of shots missing the target.

In his first few seasons he was unplayable to such an extent that opponents now double up on McGeady in every game.

Last season was particularly hard for McGeady as he was often played out of position on the right hand side in a very poor Celtic side. He was the player that the team relied on to change the game and I think that the extra responsibility resulted in McGeady trying to win games single-handedly. Despite this he still scored 7 goals and laid on 14 for the worst collection of Celtic strikers in living memory. Had Robbie Keane been at Celtic all season I reckon that McGeady would have had at least 20 assists.

Aiden has begun to stagnate at Celtic and now is the right time for him and Celtic to part company. Aiden McGeady will be a success if he moves to the Premier League as the opposition will not be able to single him out for special treatment the way they do up here. Having had a look at some of the full-backs that he would be up against I’ve got no reason to see why he couldn’t get the better of the majority of them.

I can see why you might not want Villa to buy another winger but I reckon that if you sign him he’ll be good for 5 or 6 goals and 10 assists per season and will be a fan’s favourite by Christmas.

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Interesting read RoT.. but on the flip side ive heard Irish fans say he does feck all for them.. so everyone has a view.. just not inspired with addign another winger.. it doesnt chnage our system or being into play plan B for when shite teams are sitting back and we cant break them down..

Your right about Keane etc.. but i said this even last year we should take a risk.. what have we got to lose.. our team even now is stil a team that will challenge for 6th.. add Keane and it wont change anything.. take a risk and you never know...........