AIDEN MCGEADY WAS given permission to pull out of Ireland’s friendly against Oman to complete a loan move to Championship side Preston North End.
The winger has found himself out of favour at Everton and stayed behind at Ireland’s team hotel in Dublin tonight to sign the paperwork ahead of his season-long switch to Deepdale.
For the second time in two seasons, McGeady drops down a league in a desperate attempt to resurrect his stuttering career after being told he wasn’t part of Ronald Koeman’s plans.
“I am delighted to sign. It came about pretty quickly,” he said.
“It was only yesterday that I heard it might be a possibility and then by this morning I had heard that it wasn’t happening and was off the table and then about three or four hours ago I heard that it was back on again, so I was quite excited to get it sorted and I am now looking forward to getting back playing and helping the team.
“I didn’t want the risk of it not happening by going to the game. It is obviously Robbie Keane’s last game, but there is paperwork that has to get signed and I thought I might have to do a medical today, so I was anxious about what might happen, but the manager was fine with me, he understood the situation, so I stayed behind when the team left and got all the paperwork through and sorted it out myself – I could probably be my own agent!”
The 30-year-old joined Everton in January 2014 on a four-and-a-half year deal but after an encouraging first season, fell down the pecking order under Roberto Martinez last term.
He spent a couple of months at Sheffield Wednesday during the second half of the 2015/16 campaign, scoring once in 13 appearances.
McGeady becomes Preston’s third signing of deadline day with manager Simon Grayson hailing his latest arrival.
“It’s a fantastic signing for us obviously, he’s played at the highest level, he’s a Republic of Ireland international, and he’s a player who has got fantastic ability,” the Preston boss said.
“He’s got pace, good feet, good delivery, so I think he is really good signing for us, a real coup given his pedigree and the clubs that he has played for previously.”
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I vividly recall he did the same exact thing in the Test decider against NZ, but luckily for him he got away with it as the replay showed the action after a penalty/conversion was taken. And for me that was 100% red.
No doubt he is amazing in green, but if he doesn’t cut out these reckless acts, Farrell won’t have much trouble replacing him. Ireland prides themselves on winning games without losing any player, and having a player that is a card machine is not at all ideal for WC preparation.
The fact that he argued with the ref is a big problem too. No place for it.
@Clark: he has apologised to team mates. What about the referee and the player involved?
Bundee is a very emotive player. He was sitting on the sidelines waiting to explode. And he did just that. It’s very much not the first time he has done just this. And while there is no excuse for his actions, the coaching team should have known this and started him or not used him at all.
Connacht attack look like they couldn’t punch their way out of a paper bag. Which then leaves a team that has to defend for the vast majority of the game. And as the game goes on that just tires the players out until the team capitulates.
So if Connacht cannot be coached to break gain lines it’s going to be a long, arduous and deflating season. It’s very clear that they are clueless at the moment how to fix this problem and have been struggling to fix this problem under Friend and Wilkins.
@Fintan O’Halloran: really didn’t think Connacht played all that badly.. Beautiful maul try and were right in it at 19-8 up until the 60th minute when the bundi aki/Sinatla incident happened. Reports out tonight Sinatla will be out for a good chunk or rest of the season… Connacht vs bulls should be a tight affair I would expect… Connaught are a good well drilled side so get the disappointment but didn’t think they played bad… .. ..
@Stuart Collins: not saying they played badly. Not saying there wasn’t massive effort. Just saying it’s all clueless. They have put in huge shifts in the last couple of weeks but it’s simply hapless. It’s all very fine to appreciate the effort demonstrated but it’s important to understand the underlying issues
@Fintan O’Halloran: you didn’t watch the game admit it
Bundee has been an exceptional player for Connacht & Ireland. It’s tough B*****d like him that are vital for a team. Sexton for Leinster & O’Mahony for Munster. They are literally the heartbeat of their clubs & the Irish team. This will be forgotten about.
@Harry O’Callaghan: what’s tough about dangerous high tackling?
Great player bundee is. But does have a flash that could be costly
Bye Bye Bundee! Ireland cannot afford out of control id###s.
@Liam O’Flaherty: Just wow, The service that man has given this country and you take that attitude? Calling him names? Disgraceful
@jl: there’s always one moron scroller