PERHAPS THE CLOSEST thing to a controversy when Martin O’Neill named his squad on Tuesday night was the inclusion of Aiden McGeady.
McGeady’s club form this season has been poor — if O’Neill was selecting players purely on that basis, Aberdeen’s Jonny Hayes, who was nominated for Player of the Year in Scotland this season, would surely have made the 23 ahead of him.
The 30-year-old winger was effectively ostracised by Everton boss Roberto Martinez, failing to make a single Premier League appearance in the 2015-16 campaign, and also eventually fell out of favour at loan club Sheffield Wednesday, despite making 13 appearances for the Owls this season.
Moreover, McGeady’s Ireland form hasn’t been much better of late — of his performance against Belarus on Tuesday night, assistant boss Roy Keane said: “I think he can do a lot better but maybe that’s the story of Aiden’s career,” adding that the player would have to play “a lot better” to make Ireland’s starting XI.
Keane has a point — McGeady is a deeply frustrating player to watch at times, and the type that tends to aggravate Irish fans with his perpetual inconsistency and habit of sloppy play. So on current form, he certainly doesn’t deserve to start for Ireland.
In addition to Keane’s harsh words, speaking on RTÉ last night, former player Richie Sadlier questioned the decision to bring McGeady as part of the 23, arguing that the Georgia qualifying game aside, he rarely if ever produces for Ireland.
All of which prompts the question: why has McGeady been picked to go to France?
As already mentioned, McGeady had a poor game last night, but there were two occasions when he gave some indication of why Martin O’Neill is so fond of him.
In the early stages, McGeady played a clever through ball to Ward, who would have had a decent chance to score only to be incorrectly ruled offside.
Furthermore, early in the second half, McGeady outwitted his marker before producing a perfect cross that Daryl Murphy should have scored from, but headed woefully over the bar instead.
So that’s two clear-cut chances that McGeady created. Granted, it won’t earn him Messi comparisons anytime soon, but it’s two more chances than most players in a green shirt managed the other night.
Of course, while pointing out these positives, it should also be underlined that McGeady looked a liability defensively at times, leaving Cyrus Christie exposed down the right flank on more than one occasion.
But beyond last night, there are plenty like Sadlier who ask: ‘What has McGeady ever done for Ireland aside from earning them three points in Georgia?’
And sure, McGeady hasn’t previously produced many spectacular, consistent performances for Ireland that fans are always hoping for, however, to imply that his contribution has been essentially worthless is unfair.
During the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, he has played rarely enough. Out of Ireland’s 12 competitive matches under O’Neill thus far, the former Spartak Moscow player has started only five games, the last of which came over a year ago — the 1-1 draw at home to Poland.
In the previous campaign — the 2014 World Cup qualifiers — he missed a number of Ireland’s crucial games through injury, so it’s understandable that he didn’t have the desired effect during that period.
Nevertheless, McGeady’s role in helping Ireland qualify for the 2012 Euros is often overlooked — he had more assists than any other player in the team as the Boys in Green reached the competition for the first time since 1988. Again, there were imperfections and frustrating moments, but this was the period when McGeady at times looked a real force to be reckoned with on the international stage.
Of course, people will argue that that was over four years ago and much has changed since, but McGeady can’t have totally lost his ability in this time.
In Martin O’Neill, who handed McGeady his debut as a teenager at Celtic, McGeady also seemingly has the ideal manager.
O’Neill specialises in getting the best out of players. Back in September 2014, there was another Irish player who was struggling for game time at his club: Jon Walters. O’Neill picked him anyway, and the Stoke forward — who has gone on to become a key player for Ireland since — has spoken of how much O’Neill’s faith in him meant during this difficult period for him personally.
McGeady can also benefit from O’Neill’s significant loyalty. Like many wingers, he is the archetypal confidence player — when he’s good, he’s really good, but when he’s bad he’s awful.
The Ireland boss is famed for his motivational skills, so in taking McGeady to the Euros, he presumably figured he could exert his influence and turn the player’s season around in spite of everything.
But there is one final reason that’s perhaps the most pertinent in explaining why O’Neill chose to ignore form and take McGeady to the Euros regardless, aside from his admiration for the player’s willingness to go out on loan and change his fortunes around.
Picture the scene: Ireland are 1-0 down against Sweden in their opening Euro 2016 match with 20 minutes to go. McGeady may be flaky and unreliable at times, but other than him, how many players do Ireland have that could come off the bench and change the game in an instant?
While Eunan O’Kane, Darron Gibson and others left at home are decent footballers and probably less of a gamble in one sense, arguably none are capable of the moment of genius that McGeady can provide at his best — that key pass or shot into the top corner out of nothing.
So for all the defensive frailties, club disappointments and misplaced passes, if McGeady can come off the bench and make that kind of impact even once, he will have justified his place on the plane ahead of other players who are less inconsistent but incapable of such brilliance. He is the exception to the rules, a wildcard, the one player you make unusual allowances for and potentially, the difference between a last-16 spot and a group stage exit.
In the group stages of qualifying, the Boys in Green scored 19 goals in 10 games, but only eight in eight if you discount group whipping boys Gibraltar. So in an Ireland squad generally lacking goal threat, it is important to have a player like McGeady on the bench at the very least — someone capable of a goal or an assist out of nowhere. You wouldn’t necessarily bet on it, but he might just do it, as he bids to silence Roy Keane among other vocal critics.
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