Main » 2008 » December » 17 » McGeady handed Celtic suspension
11:21:07 PM
McGeady handed Celtic suspension

 

McGeady has scored some important goals for Celtic

Celtic midfielder Aiden McGeady has been fined two weeks' wages and suspended for the next two games for a breach of club discipline.

McGeady was reported to have clashed with manager Gordon Strachan following the 1-1 draw with Hearts on Saturday.

Celtic said in a statement: "Gordon's decision has the full support of the Celtic board of directors."

McGeady's agent David Holbrook said he was disappointed and told BBC Sport that the 22-year-old would appeal.

Reports claim that relations between the pair are at an all-time low after an argument in the dressing-room following Saturday's draw with Hearts.

Holbrook said: "I can confirm that Aiden has been fined by the club and suspended. He's shocked, disappointed and I can say he will be appealing.

"He feels that the action is completely unjustified."

McGeady's agent said he hoped the problems between the midfielder and Strachan could be resolved.

Holbrook said that the Republic of Ireland international would be disappointed to miss the Old Firm derby at Ibrox on 27 December.

"He wants to play in that game and every Celtic game," Holbrook added.

"He remains 110% Celtic; he's supported them and loves them.

"But there's a difference between how Aiden feels he's been treated by the club's hierarchy as opposed to his relationship with the club at large.

"He's as disappointed as the fans that he won't be turning out for the Old Firm game."

Holbrook would not be drawn on whether McGeady would now consider his long-term future at Celtic.

"Let's just say we intend to appeal the decision and see what the panel decides."
MY SPORT: DEBATE

The return to Celtic from Aston Villa of Shaun Maloney has increased the competition for the wide berths with the Scottish champions this season.

Strachan has at times left McGeady, who has also been hampered by injury, out of his starting line-up.

Earlier in the week, Holbrook had denied knowledge of any bust-up between the pair.

Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell urged McGeady to accept his punishment and try to force his way back into the side.

"There is a management team in charge - Aiden McGeady is not in charge," said Gemmell.
Aiden McGeady
McGeady has struggled for form and fitness this season

"They have rules for players for on and off the park. It will dissuade other players from doing the same thing. Now Aiden has got to take his punishment.

"He's still a young man, so maybe it's a lesson learned for the future. If he has the guts and the backbone then he will take his punishment and then come back - but if he doesn't then he might have to think about moving.

"We had lots of bust-ups under Jock Stein, but they were always seven-day wonders."

Gemmell added: "Most of the Lisbon Lions at one time or another would have an argument with Jock after a game or at training. But it was always thrashed out, and we moved on."

News of McGeady's censure came on the same day Celtic completed the signing of winger Niall McGinn from Derry City for a fee in the region of £200,000.

McGinn, who was recently named the Eircom League young player of the year, made his Northern Ireland debut in last month's 2-0 defeat by Hungary.

The winger will officially join the Parkhead club on 1 January.

Category: SPL News | Views: 1207 | Added by: cfc_mikee_cfc | Rating: 0.0/0
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No one in scotland thniks the spl is better or equal to the epl. However, everyone in europe is of the opinion that your league is over rated. Then Geordie boy said: I never said it [the EPL] is the best league in the world but can you name one better apart from perhaps la liga? There [sic] 2 best teams Real Madrid and Barca are not as strong as our top 4 these days so perhaps we are. Bigchipsuk seems to think the SPL is [better or equal to the epl]. Geordie Boy, I have never compared the SPL to the EPL, and there is no way that I would. There are 42 teams in the Scottish League, in a country with a population of 5.1 million. There are 92 teams in the English League (just over twice as many as Scotland), in a country with a population of 51 million (10 times that of Scotland). London alone has a population of around 7.2 million (40% more than the whole of Scotland).So for a better comparison, imagine if a league was formed with the top 42 teams just from three quarters of the London population area. How much better than the Scottish League would that be? Arsenal & Spurs would likely be the top two every year, with the same 3 or 4 behind them, and then a load of mediocre also-rans. Pretty much like the SPL really. And that's with the English teams getting 10 or more times as much money as their Scottish counterparts!I am however a little concerned by your statement about Derby County You think that a team with an income last season of more than a320M would fail to beat half of the sides in the SPL. So by your reckoning even the likes of Motherwell, Aberdeen, Dundee Utd & Hibs would beat a a320M financed club from the EPL!Oh, and as for the constant assertions by English fans that Celtic would be no better than a mid-table team in the EPL, here is Celtic's COMPETITIVE record against English teams:Played 14 Won 7 Drawn 4 Lost 3This gives a conceptual points total of 25 points from 14 games, which is equivalent pro-rata to 68 points from a 38 game season. Last season that would have put Celtic in 5th place in the EPL. And that is WITHOUT the huge cash injection that all the English teams enjoyed.What's more, the quoted record for Celtic against English teams obviously only includes games against the top English sides (i.e. those who have qualified for the European competitions, as that is where those games were played), and it is thus probably fair to conclude that Celtic's record would be even better were we to include games against the EPL's lesser sides.Therefore, whilst I do not believe that Celtic would win the EPL next season were they to gain entry, I do believe that they would comfortably achieve an upper mid-table finish, while they acclimatised to the new environment and worked out how best to spend all that money. Then with the far higher quality of players that they would undoubtably be able to attract in the EPL environment, I am confident that there would be five serious challengers for the EPL's 4 Champions League spots within 2-3 years. And within 5 years I think Celtic would attain at least a top 2 finish, becoming regular challengers for the title (with periodic wins thereof) within 7-10 years.

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