Celtic star Aiden McGeady’s bizarre build-up to a Scottish Cup Final

Former Celtic star Aiden McGeady has claimed that Gordon Strachan once threatened to drop him from a Scottish Cup final for the most bizarre reason…

The alleged reason behind this bizarre ultimatum was that McGeady was caught speaking to teammate Thomas Gravesen. The former Celtic and Republic of Ireland winger, recounted the incident on the Call Yourself A Fan? podcast.

There’s been several bizarre tales told of the eccentric Gravesen during his time at Celtic, and this latest story from McGeady is yet another to add to that rather bizarre list.

According to McGeady, Strachan was set on keeping him away from the former Denmark international, who joined Celtic from Real Madrid 2006.

McGeady explained: “He was an eccentric character and an unbelievable guy, but I was told I wasn’t allowed to speak to him for a full week once in training because Strachan hated him.

“Him and Strachan hated each other so much that he basically said to me: ‘I don’t ever want to see you speaking to him because he just talks rubbish.’

Strachan allegedly linked McGeady’s place in the starting line-up to whether he could avoid conversations with the colourful midfielder.

McGeady added: “He said, ‘I’m going to start you in the Scottish Cup final on Saturday, but if I see you talking to Tommy once this week in training, I’m not starting you.’”

The former Republic of Ireland international admitted it left him trying to dodge Gravesen around the training ground for days. He added: “So Tommy’s coming up to me in training and I’m having to dive away for one full week.

“I managed to start the game. He would come and chase me like, ‘Come here, lad, come here, lad’. I would just run away from him.”

Gravesen who is now a successful entrepreneur is one of the club’s most talked-about characters due to the many bizarre tales from former teammates regarding the former Everton and Real Madrid man.

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