McGeady: I Don't Think Phil Parkinson Can Take Wrexham to the Premier League, This Is His Ceiling

Speaking exclusively with BOYLE Sports , former Celtic and Sunderland star Aiden McGeady has cast his eye across the wider game and reflected on his own famous legacy.

McGeady has named his Champions League favourites, backed Sheffield Wednesday to bounce back, and questioned whether Phil Parkinson is the man to take Wrexham to the Premier League , floating Steven Gerrard as a possible headline replacement.

The former winger has also discussed a near-return for Roy Keane at Sunderland , the origins of the McGeady spin , its enduring life on FIFA , and whether GTA 6 or Strictly Come Dancing could ever tempt him.

Champions League

Who Is Your Champions League Favourite?

PSG have loads and loads of options in forward areas; after them, I'd probably say Barcelona . I think PSG would still be the favourites because they've won it two times on the bounce. They know what it takes, and they've been in that situation before. But yeah, Barca , Bayern , and I think Real Madrid also under Jose Mourinho.

Sheffield Wednesday

Will Sheffield Wednesday Win League One?

Sheffield Wednesday had to suck it up last season and deal with knowing that they were going to go down. But this season, they look to have regrouped and look to have recruited well for that league. I think they will go back up. They always want to see big clubs like Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship , if not the Premier League , because they are that big a club.

The fans have had a lot of dark times in recent years, probably quite similar to Sunderland when I was there, to be honest with you as well. The fans have had to contend with a lot.

I think I could see them going back up, and it would be nice for them to go back up because they're too big a club to be down there. For the last 15 years, Sheffield Wednesday have spent the majority of their time yo-yoing between the Championship and League One . And it's not a club that should be in League One.

Is It a Shame Jamie Vardy Didn't Join Sheffield Wednesday?

Jamie Vardy to Sheffield Wednesday would have been nice, but I think Vardy wants to play at as high a level as he can for as long as he can. When Burnley came in, Burnley are obviously a step up from Sheffield Wednesday .

If it was me, it would have been a bit of a fairy tale, a bit romantic to go back there and play for the team he supported. It would have been nice to get the club promoted and then playing in the Championship again and playing for the club you supported as a boy. But I suppose money talks, doesn't it? As well, maybe there is more to it, of course, but that's the call he made.

Wrexham

Can You See Wrexham Earning Promotion to the Premier League?

Wrexham came close to the playoffs last season, but my thoughts are that Phil Parkinson is the manager there, and I don't think Phil Parkinson is a Championship manager. He might have proved me wrong last season where the club did well and then almost got to the play-offs, but they're paying lads a lot of money, and he had far too good a squad for League One when they went up because the owners were putting so much money in.

He had a really good squad for the Championship as well, just missed out. I had him at Sunderland . I don't think he will be the man to lead Wrexham to the Premier League . I think this is probably his ceiling.

Could Wrexham Go For a Name Like Steven Gerrard?

Steven Gerrard at Wrexham ? I can see that happening because how long do the owners persevere with the Championship , knowing what they've put in? I can see a big-name manager coming in and giving them that boost to get over the line.

Phil Parkinson is probably a League One manager who can keep a team up when there isn't too much pressure. When we had him at Sunderland , the onus was on us to get promoted, and he couldn't do it. Too much pressure, too much of a big club.

Wrexham isn't a big club; it's becoming a slightly bigger club now, but there's loads of money behind them. I think there are only so many times you can not get promoted and miss out on that, that the owners will persevere with.

Roy Keane

Would You Like to See Roy Keane Back in Management?

Roy Keane back in management? I think he's probably found his niche in the kind of punditry and the kind of podcast stuff. There was talk when I was at Sunderland that he was going to come back, and I think he was close to coming back. But again, you think, when was the last time Roy managed? Ipswich around 15 years ago. It's been a long time since he was a manager.

Also, do you really want the pressure as well at his age of going back in? Some people live for that, where it's the hustle and bustle and everyday environment of football with management. But a lot of people, once they've been in it and come out of it, they're like, I don't need that again.

That's why I don't want to be a manager. I've seen it firsthand, and it's 24/7. There's always someone to answer to; there's an owner, there's players, there's things going on in the club that you need to deal with. It's 24 hours a day.

The McGeady Spin

What Do You Make of Your Five-Star FIFA Skills and the Famous Spin?

I don't play FIFA . I played FIFA years ago, but I don't play it now. But people were saying to me, you've got this skill and your five-star skills and stuff like that. I was like, what does that mean? They're like, you can do any trick in the game. And then I think the following year, somebody said to me, " You're on four-star skills now, so it means you can't actually do your own spin! Obviously, it was bizarre. I think EA have just released a new Legends thing, and they actually contacted me about it.

People also used to tell me about Ultimate Team, but when I was in Russia , the Russian team you could put together from the Russian League was like myself, Doumbia , Wellington , Emenike . I suppose it's an honour, and it's a great legacy to have because kids come up to me now who've probably never seen me play and they're like, I play FIFA , the McGeady spin.

Some kids don't know me, and a dad will be saying, that's McGeady ; he used to play for Celtic , and they're like, who? And then you go, do you play FIFA ? and they're like, yeah, I do the McGeady spin, and I go, yeah, and that's named after me, and they go, " No way! That's a nice thing.

How Did You Originally Create the Move?

I had been doing the spin since I was a kid. It's the Cruyff turn with the momentum; as you're spinning, you take the ball away with your opposing foot. But it was something that I just learned. I managed to invent it in the garden.

Then obviously, as I started going into the first team and people started seeing it more, they started to see it work; obviously, no one had ever done it that way before. But yeah, just by practising in the garden. That was how I came up with it. I stole the Cruyff turn and added to it. Even Lionel Messi 's not got one named after him, has he? I guess that's a compliment.

Off the Pitch

Could GTA 6 Coming Out in November Be a Problem?

I don't think it would be a problem because anybody that brings a portable PlayStation or a portable Xbox , they're obsessed with it anyway, aren't they? I've been on buses before, and it's like lads will get the PlayStations out and it's like FIFA or Call of Duty or it's Fortnite , whatever it is. Lads do that anyway; they're obsessed with it anyway.

So I don't think it's going to create a new breed of a new market of players who are just going to start playing PlayStation . I think the people that already play it will play it anyway.

I think most footballers are fairly responsible, and most Premier League footballers are fairly responsible. I don't think it's going to take over their life. Maybe for the younger players it could be an issue because they can be addicted to these games. Tommy Gravesen would play Call of Duty when I was at Celtic .

We had a group, so we'd go home from training and play it. And Tommy Gravesen would never give us his gamertag. I don't know why, but I don't think he wanted us playing with him. But apparently he was like third or fourth in the world at Call of Duty on team deathmatch or something like that.

Somebody managed to get his gamertag and added him, and he had 45 days of playing time. 45 days of playing time! You look down the list of your friends, and the next one after him was like two days, and Tommy had 45 days. So we were like, Tommy must have been going home and just sitting there all day and all night.

So yeah, I mean it is addictive, isn't it? I have seen it in football before, lads staying up until like three or four in the morning before a game to play Call of Duty and stuff like that. Not ideal, but what are you going to do?

Would You Ever Do Strictly Come Dancing?

I mean, no. To be honest, I wouldn't do Strictly Come Dancing anyway. Since I retired in the last year, I've started doing more media and more punditry and interviews. But that's probably the extent of what I'd do. No, I don't think anybody's going to see me do Strictly Come Dancing.

I mean, it's one of those ones that if it was too good to turn down, then you'd have to think about it, wouldn't you? I don't think it's for me, to be honest with you. I don't think I'd really be comfortable either, with the whole UK seeing me practice ballroom dancing.

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