McGeady: 'I knew I had to get out' of Everton

Everton have had too many like him over the years.

Big Nev was clearly angered by the Angell comment and defended dear Brett to the hilt, noting that he may have not been gifted but he was dedicated to the Blue Cause unlike some higher paid so-called stars.

In my book, Brett Angell was made of the right stuff, even if he did not set GP alight!

Talented but lacks consistency but I wish him luck.

And before you jump in with the old, 'Would you take a pay cut?' – with the money he's on and the amount he must have in his bank, yes I would take a pay cut to as he says ' get out and play'.

Lazy, uninterested, over rated mercenary, not bothered who he plays for or where he goes, plenty for little is his motto. Good luck to him, umm I don't think he needs it.

None of us, not one of us, truly know the personality, the mentality or thinking of any our players, or indeed the inner workings of the club; how players perform in training, how they react to being injured or benched, the dialogue and expectations expressed between player and coaches, etc.

And yet – time and again – posters comment with authority on such matters, elevating some players to demigod status or casting others into the burning pits of eternal damnation.

What I do know as a couch spectator is that Aiden McGeady is clearly a talented footballer. At times, he is capable of things few other players can reproduce. At other times, you wonder if he is a novice to the game. Ergo, he lacks consistency.

By all accounts, Roberto Martinez had tracked him for a long time - even before he became Everton manager – and 2 years ago landed his man for a nominal fee.

He took a while to get fit and up to speed, only played sporadically when he showed glimpses of his talent, without ever convincing he merited a regular start.

He has subsequently missed opportunities to play through injury and simply got pushed down the pecking order as new players joined the club.

It happens. Every transfer is a gamble. With Aiden, it hasn't worked out for either him or the club. There is clearly a player in there, but – as I say – he doesn't deliver regularly enough to merit a place in our starting XI. That is no grounds to question his personality or morality, as some do so on this site.

I am not aware of Aiden ever 'dissing' Everton. He certainly doesn't do so in his reported comments here. Rather, he speaks of his frustration and desire to play, recognizing he needed to leave Everton to achieve that aim. This torpedoes recent allegations against him on this very site, that he is a 'con man', happy to sit out games and simply cash his cheque every week.

So from me Aiden, good luck lad. Sorry it didn't work out for you with us. I hope you get a good run in the side at Wednesday that secures your place for Ireland in the Euros.

There are plenty of so-called pro athletes, not just footballers, who sign a big contract and as soon as the ink is dry they are looking for a new club. You know that and if you think that's above anyone who pulls on a blue shirt, then you are too honest.

Wish him well nevertheless.

Waste of money; at times I forgot we had him.

And we toasted the Catholic-Proddy connection.

Good luck Aiden!

He can certainly cross a ball, and beat a full back, perhaps when it came down to it, he did not have the physicality or mental attitude for premiership football? By comparison, a fellow Irish international, Kevin Kilbane certainly did have those attributes and will mostly be remembered with fondness.

I suspect there are very few players who "sit in their hands" taking the wages, and I'm just sorry to see another player go from our club who never reached his full potential (to follow Naismith).

So he has gone to Sheffield Wednesday who will probably also go up and maybe match his salary but if not then he will return stating "I enjoyed my time there but I prefer Everton and will try to get into the first team."

After all, he didn't force us to buy him.

If you're not happy with him, save your ire for the our scouts and/or manager.

Unfortunately the main culprit for us in this regard, but unfortunately NOT the only one lads, is our "phenomenal" one.

For those who seem to know about how he turned down Celtic and Leeds etc, first of all he would probably have to take about 70% pay cut to play for Celtic in the environment that he couldn't wait to leave due the level of abuse he got for playing for Ireland instead of Scotland. Of course this doesn't compute for the anti-Aiden brigade because the man cares only for money, oh and chocolate of course.

If Leeds was an option then it was a choice between Wednesday and them and he chose the former. What's the argument here exactly?

If Aiden was playing a blinder week in week out in the reserves don't you think he would be selected for the first team? Sadly for him and Everton it seems to be too much hard work for him.
He gets the same pay no matter how much work he puts in but he needs to remember most players who leave Everton tend to fade away and get much lower salaries than our players.

Naismith I had sympathy for and clearly best for him to move not playing. Beat of luck to him. McGeady - no sympathy. I don't know ins and outs like Jay says. I do know a talent like him should not be going to Sheffield Wednesday - that's a waste of his talent. He obviously went to Russia for money and to me has gone to Wednesday for monetary reasons not football reasons.

It might come out that McGeady was on the beer for the last six months but ToffeeWeb seems to be full of lads that seem to think they know a lot with no evidence to back it up.

Sadly, far, far removed from GP - or indeed the UK - these days and unable to get to any live games, more the pity.

There is nothing - genuinely! - I miss more living away from the UK than the craic of attending an Everton game, be it at GP or away.

However, he was still overweight when he came and I instantly thought can't see you making it here. And I still have no sympathy for him.

Waste of effort, talent and space. He's now at the level he deserves to be, which is below the Premier League.

Good riddance.

Lukaku is earning more than 75k a week.

It was reported in most media circles that Rom signed a five year deal worth 75 grand a week making him the clubs highest earner ever.

Aiden allowed me a great memory when he crossed the ball to Naismith who headed home, and my Blue friend (mate who played for Everton Academy in the youth FA Cup years ago) ordered a shot of Bushmills for him and Jameson's for me.
And we toasted the Catholic-Proddy connection.

So that's what you will remember about McGeady!

The former Celtic player ( presumably Catholic ) crossing the ball to a Rangers player ( presumably Protestant ) to score for Everton.!

Being shit at football didn't matter to Roberto, he liked him.

As Shane mentioned above, he took a lot of stick at Celtic from assorted Scottish fans for playing for Ireland and it says a lot for his personality that he persevered and built a career for himself in that toxic atmosphere. I was at the match v Norwich when he was paraded as our new signing and agree he did look overweight. Season in Russia had finished about 6 weeks previously, but who knows if this was down to a lack of professionalism, or an injury, or choice of clothing.

Some players just cannot reach the levels of physical strength to play in the Premier League on a regular basis. In Aiden's case, I think it has been a case of the harder he tries, the more often he breaks down with an injury. We all know of players we played with as teenagers, who we thought would make it, but didn't have the body to go with the talent. The arrival of Lennon and Deulofeu has pushed him further down the pecking order. His talent and physical attribute combination mix don't seem to match the requirement for Premier League. He has moved on and we will get some of his 50k approx salary paid. Hopefully he will do well at Wednesday and in the Euros for Ireland. We got him for next to nothing. He tried. We tried. It didn't work out. Move on. We should wish him the best. We gave him a contract for 5 years, so we honour that contract.

I haven't watched his YouTube reel but his goal v Leicester in 1st game of last season and his goal for Ireland away to Georgia spring to mind as worth a watch.

Interesting what Big Neville had to say about poor much maligned Brett Angel.

He has said that he wanted to be playing. As a professional footballer he should want to play...... FFS I'm a Plumber but I'd LOVE to play (only the two matters put pay to this........... my lack of ability and my pace which is akin to continental drift.......... OK 3 matters 'cos I suppose that at 58 my future prospects may be somewhat limited)

Aiden is neither the best nor worst player to pull on the sacred Royal Blue Jersey and men with less talent and far more determination have served us well.

Frankly, I hope that he reignites his passion for football, with Wednesday, with whoever or even with us. I'd hate to think that at my age he would suddenly realise that he had everything needed to be twice the player that he currently is.

Perhaps he should read my old school reports "Has ability in abundance, if only he would apply it". Apply your ability Aiden and enjoy the rest of your career.

Yes, that's what I'll remember about McGeedy. Honestly, what else was there to remember?!

The fact that moment happened between a Celtic player and a Rangers player for the good of Everton?? What's next? Peace in the Middle East? Jesus riding on his white horse out of the clouds??

Sublime moment John Lennon would have been proud of and a passage of play that microcosmically showed how fucking silly human beings can be with our petty grievances and we should all just go out, get along, and play footy!!

Celtic to Rangers, goal for Everton. Pass the Bushmills and the Jamesons for the Proddy-Catholic Everton friends down the bar!

gold... ;0)

Players sometimes need a run of games in the side to get up to speed, see how others play and form good partnerships with other team mates, from which to gain confidence and feel you belong in the team. There are many examples but players like McFadden and Bilyetc had good matches but then would be dropped or rotated, possibly through picking up slight knocks, so any significant progress they had made would be nullified and they go back to square one. Good luck to Aiden. He is probably better than we think he is

Sublime moment John Lennon would have been proud of and a passage of play that microcosmically showed how fucking silly human beings can be with our petty grievances and we should all just go out, get along, and play footy!

Yeah fucking silly as you put is right - So why bring it up then?
John Lennon !

You can speculate all you want, I know that's what he earned, you evidently don't. I was horrified by it, but it's kosher. Makes no odds to me whether you believe it or not.

He was never really good enough for us and his injuries didn't help. The main cock up as I see it was Everton offering him such a long deal. For a player who was a gamble a 4-5 year deal seems a bit ridiculous. Should have been 2 years plus say an option for another 2. (The deal for Gibson was also far too long given his injury record at the time.)

Good luck to Aiden I say and hope he does well for the greens in the summer. (Better he does the better chance we can sell permanently...I can see him being back I the summer tbh)

I doubt he'll be missed by anyone

There's no use being a world beater for 5% of any game and a ghost for the other 95%. He reminds me of the kid in the school playground who could do all the tricks and had all the skills, but couldn't reproduce it on a muddy pitch against big 'orrible 'ard case defenders....

I don't wish anyone bad... but I do wish him gone for good.

Trouble is Aiden, that all started on the pitch.

Delighted to see the back of this guy. After a blistering start to RM's first season, this guy walked in the door and it all began to change for the worse, with any luck his departure can be the catalyst to regaining some quality.

We've won 2 with clean sheets since he decided to go...

There's that bloke in the Guinness book of records that can do keepy-uppy for about 3 weeks - doesn't meant he's any good at football.

Aiden McGeady my arse.

You cant blame him for turning down offers which would half his pay cheque. I would too. You can argue footballers are greedy but when it comes to money they are not stupid either, esp with agents involved.

He was free and worth a punt but his high wages have been a massive barrier for him being able to move on. You in reality have to blame Martinez for a mmassive error of judgement as, to be honest, from Day 1, he has never ever looked good enough.

Sensible summary from Jay@21.

Wasn't too keen on us signing him in the first place as I had seen McGeadys promising young career (when he was earning rave reviews on the European stage for Celtic) slowly go downhill through a series of inconsistent, and at times abysmal, performances for club & country. Yet so many people could see the obvious talent this guy had. So when RM signed him I hoped it might be an opportunity for the player to prove his doubters wrong. Alas, no such luck.

I genuinely wish him well at SW and at the Euros. Don't be surprised to see him do well at both (or flop at both).
That's the MacGeady enigma for you.

Good luck to him, but id like to think that we're moving on as a couple from relying on taking punts on players like McGeady.

Why bring it up? Elementary answer - cause I thought it was neat...??

Have a great day Oliver!

TWO big clubs cannot be wrong. He sat on the bench and even trained with the kids for long periods of time in Russia. And now he has had to do it at Everton.

Aiden McGeady is such a waste of talent, but to be fair he doesn't have the work rate or desire or most importantly the pace to be consistently good in the EPL. Hopefully he has a good Euro's and get a permanent move to somewhere else.

I hate to think that he will return to sit around and pick up a huge salary.

However, that's not the issue. For McGeady to be on that amount of money would suggest to me that someone at the club has acted in a way that is incompetent beyond understanding.

Anyone who moans about my posts should look at how fit Pienaar is already after being back about a month. He's a lot older than McGeady and had bad injuries, but he has dedicated time to get fit, get back playing and earning his wages dispite being readied to leave at the end of the season.

McGeady is like Darren Gibson, simply put , they are not dedicated enough.

This is not a dig at paddys before anyone starts, Coleman and McCarthy are two of the most dedicated pros in the game.

Not so sure of the accuracy or the source of info but it makes interesting reading!!

http://www.celebritiesmoney.com/Everton-fc-players-salary-list-2015-they-don't-spend-aggressively-in-transfer-market/

http://www.tsmplug.com/football/teams/Everton-squad/

Jesus man!

He's never once bad mouthed the club. Fair enough if you don't like him as a player, but he doesn't deserve personal abuse.