How McGeady honoured debt to legend Burns
“To be honest, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today without his help,” said McGeady of the man who was a player and a manager at Celtic and, under Gordon Strachan, first team coach.
“On the last day of the season it was said that if we could do this for Tommy, it would be a fitting tribute,” McGeady revealed. “I was very close to Tommy, he was the one taking me aside and saying to me ‘do this, do that’. He was always a big help.
“I remember he said to me at the start of this season ‘This could be the season you win player of the year’. With his help, I’ve done that. I owe him an awful lot.
“He was always one to take me aside in training to practice on things I could improve on, like crossing and finishing. It’s funny, it only seems like a couple of months ago that he was on the training ground.”
People are generally inclined not to speak ill of the dead but, for Tommy Burns, the outpouring of affection from all sectors of the game could leave no-one in any doubt that he was held in genuine affection and high esteem.
“That definitely was the case with Tommy if you look at the tributes,” McGeady agreed. “I remember coming from the chapel, we were sort of in the cortege, behind it on the bus all the way to the cemetery. And Glasgow was just at a standstill. Both sides of the Old Firm, Celtic and Rangers fans, were out. I saw grown men cry. It was unbelievable really.
“Tommy had time for everyone. He was just one of those guys you meet who is a special person. I last saw him couple of months ago. He came to the training ground, he wasn’t looking his best but that was the thing, he just looked like nothing was bothering him. Clearly, things were not going well for him but he was still on the training ground having a laugh. It is still is difficult to get my head around.”
It was entirely fitting that Celtic should honour Burns’ memory with another title triumph, especially since the odds had appeared stacked against them in the run-in. For McGeady, it all added to the end-of-season roller-coaster of emotion.
“It’s tough to describe exactly how it has been because five or six weeks ago we were totally written off and people were calling for the manager to be sacked,” he noted. “To have such a quick turnaround and win the league and the fact that it was in Rangers’ hands and we stole it away from them makes it that bit sweeter.
“Our run after we lost to Motherwell at home was excellent. We won every single game for the rest of the season, coupled with the fact that teams did us favours when they played Rangers. It’s been an unbelievable season for us, especially the fact that we have won three in a row. It speaks volumes about the character of the squad. As for four on the trot — well, let us enjoy this one first.”
More immediately, McGeady is anxious to make an impression on Giovanni Trapattoni, so much so that he has linked up with the Irish squad for tomorrow’s friendly against Colombia despite carrying a persistent knock.
“It’s just below the knee cap,” he explained. “I don’t know the exact term for it, it’s basically the ligaments underneath my knee-cap. It gets quite sore and it has been bothering me for a few weeks. It’s only after games that it flares up. But I’ve trained since coming into Dublin so I am sure I am fine. I missed the training camp in Portugal and also the first game against Serbia the other night so I was quite eager to come in and show the manager what I am capable of.”
JUDGING from Trap’s frequent positive mentions of the winger, the manager already knows what to expect.
“You want to impress the new manager but the fact that he already knows about you and seems quite impressed by you is sort of half the battle won. Obviously I want to show what I can do because he hasn’t seen me at close quarters yet but it’s very encouraging that he sees me in his plans.”
Playing catch-up on the rest of the squad, McGeady is still forming his first impressions of the new man.
“He seems an ordinary enough guy. He is 69-years-old but he doesn’t look it. From what I’ve gathered his training is enjoyable, he has got a good manner about him and all of the players have taken pretty well to him. Him and all the coaching staff. Tardelli as well, he seems like quite a funny guy so it should be good to work with them.”
But what of the suggestion that some of the players, including McGeady, might have difficulty working with Liam Brady now that the pundit poacher has turned management gamekeeper?
“To be honest, it’s just a job he had to do,” McGeady replied. “He is paid to, not to be controversial, but to speak his views on the game. If he thought a player wasn’t performing, he would say it. That’s something that happens, we are all grown-ups and we can deal with it. I’ve not been in the squad for the last 10 days so I’ve not seen Liam yet but I’m sure I will get on great with him.”
As the Trapattoni era gets under way, one of the most enticing prospects is that of McGeady and Damien Duff getting to perform regularly as Ireland’s wing wonders.
“We’ve not really played that much together,” McGeady acknowledged. “For the qualifying campaign, Duffer was injured for pretty much most of it. In the two games I played in I didn’t exactly set the earth on fire to be honest with you, but I am looking forward to the start of the World Cup campaign anyway.”
The two games in question were the away matches in Slovakia and the Czech Republic but McGeady revealed something of his own sensitivity to criticism when asked if he could put his finger on what went wrong for him on both nights.
“I didn’t play well,” he snapped. “You want me to go back into it? I’ve just said it. I didn’t play well, it was just one of those things.
“Hopefully,” he added, “there will be better days ahead.”
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