Aiden McGeady on Hibs veteran status as Celtic experience helps midfielder push Easter Road rising stars 'potential'
dailyrecord.co.ukAiden McGeady knows a thing or two about mentality. Let’s face it, if he didn’t have a strong mindset and an inner resilience – to go with his undoubted talent – he wouldn’t have been an elite footballer.Aged 18, he was thrown into Celtic’s first-team with no prior warning by Martin O’Neill at Tynecastle.
To play off Henrik Larsson. It was sink or swim time. An 18-year career in the UK and Russia, trophies at Parkhead, Premier League and Champions League experience, 93 caps for Republic of Ireland – and a torrent of abuse followed.
Yet he’s still got his head above water.So McGeady knows what it takes – not just to survive, but to succeed at the top. His upbringing at Celtic was key to that, being beside experienced pros like Neil Lennon, Chris Sutton and Larsson.
He’s that guy in the Hibs dressing-room now. And this afternoon, he’ll be up against the team who it all began against in Hearts.He still remembers that Celtic debut like it was yesterday. “Martin had a system where he just read the names out from a sheet of paper,” he said. "So I actually had to figure out where I was playing.“I asked the coach Steve Walford and he said: ‘You’re playing behind Henrik.
Read more on dailyrecord.co.uk
