Aiden McGeady is one of the most talented Scottish footballing exports of a generation but destined never to be regarded as such. His decision to represent the Republic of Ireland had the strange knock-on effect of deleting his name from conversation regarding the finest products of youth systems – in this case Celtic’s – in his homeland. It could have been a case of enjoying McGeady while he lasted. Now 37 and after a spell at Hibernian was curtailed by injury, he finds himself at a career crossroads. McGeady has the appetite to keep playing but understands his options may be limited. “I know how it looks,” he says. “At my age it’s a hard sell for a manager. ‘Let’s go and sign a 37-year-old who hasn’t really played for a year.’ I’m totally fit now, I was training right up until expiry of my contract at Hibs on 30 June. “I know a lot of people who think they retired too early. I still enjoy it. I still enjoy competing and going into training every day. I love playing and the key thing is that I know I still can. I went to Hibs thinking: ‘I probably shouldn’t be playing at the top level in Scotland,’ but I knew last season when I was fit and training, I could still do what I wanted to do. I’m not as quick as I used to be over 40-50 yards but I can still get beyond people to get a cross or shot away. I’m proud of still being able to play.” McGeady has always been known for dazzling wing play and forthright opinion. The latter element, emphasised by the fact McGeady is articulate and smart, triggered speculation he could be a tough player to handle. “I understand when you become a manager that you have to exert authority,” he says. “But I have seen managers doing so many things that annoy players. Why would you want to annoy players? You should get them on side. When I was young I was quite quiet but as I got older, I’d be more vocal in meetings. I think I’m perfectly easy to manage, if things are done properly.” McGeady famously and routinely clashed with Gordon Strachan, before a £9.5m move from Celtic to Spartak Moscow which in 2010 made the winger the Scottish top flight’s most expensive sale. They have met only once since; McGeady accepted Strachan’s handshake in a corridor after the player returned to watch an Old Firm game. “You mature, don’t you?” McGeady says. “Maybe he was pushing me that hard because he saw something in me. I just felt the expectations and criteria for me were different. To keep my place I always had to perform.” McGeady broke the mould for Scots abroad by succeeding during a four-year stay in Russia. A 2014 switch to Everton – Roberto Martínez had pursued McGeady for a considerable time – appeared perfect for all concerned but he was never more than a peripheral figure at Goodison Park. “I went there in the January and was supposed to get acclimatised for a few months, we finished fifth in the league,” McGeady recalls. “I had a really good pre-season and scored against Leicester in the first game of the season. Then, in what was a microcosm of my time at Everton, I was on the bench the following week because we were changing tactics to play Arsenal. “I started the next game and set up a goal, then I was back on the bench. That was really the way it went until eventually I wasn’t even in the squad.” A return to Celtic, then managed by Ronny Deila, was mooted. “I still had this itch, I thought I could get back in at Everton. After that, the Celtic window probably closed.” Loans at Sheffield Wednesday and Preston preceded “five great years” despite turbulent times at Sunderland. “Managers being sacked, staff changing, owners changing,” McGeady says. “I was settled, I had the chance to leave a few times but I liked the club, liked the people. It is a massive club that should be in the Premier League. Things are changing there now but it isn’t a quick fix, they are bringing through young players with asset value. That’s kind of when I realised my time was up there.” McGeady earned 93 caps for Ireland, the last of which came in a heavy World Cup playoff defeat to Denmark in late 2017. He believes Martin O’Neill was under-appreciated as the Ireland manager, as was Giovanni Trapattoni. “His attention to detail was incredible,” says McGeady. “Martin might feel disrespected by people saying he is an old-school manager but he is compared to nowadays. Man management is what he does best. “It has hugely changed in 20 years. The dressing room I came through at Celtic was a tough school which doesn’t exist anymore. You’d get pulled up in front of HR if a lot of that stuff happened now.” So what next? McGeady is working towards his Uefa A Licence and is writing a dissertation to complete his MSc in sports directorship. He has been impressive during media appearances. He adds: “I like coaching and I think I would be selfish not to pass on my experience to others but I’m also interested in other parts of the game: recruitment, organising a club, managing people. I should have looked at these things a lot earlier in my career but I have played on for so long.” He may not be finished quite yet.