Sunderland journalist Phil Smith appeared on the latest edition of The Roar Podcast and spent some time talking about Aiden McGeady during the show.
McGeady hasn’t made an appearance for Sunderland’s first team this season. In fact, after spending from January until July on loan at Charlton Athletic, the former Republic of Ireland international hasn’t made an appearance for the North East club since November 2019.
After falling out of favour under Phil Parkinson, who confirmed that he wanted McGeady to be sold in the summer transfer window, the Black Cats didn’t even give the winger a squad number for the 2020/21 campaign. However, following Parkinson’s sacking at the weekend, Smith issued an update on McGeady and discussed the possibility that he could be reintegrated to Sunderland’s first-team squad under a new manager, saying:
“He’s a few weeks away from being fit. I think that’s the first thing, at the moment, he’s only had 60 minutes in one U23 game. To be at your best, you need a bit longer than that, but I think Sunderland still do have some space in their squad, they didn’t go right up to the limit, so if the new manager wants to use him then he will be able to.
“The big thing for me is that I don’t know how fit Aiden is because he hasn’t played any competitive football since July, so I think it’ll take him a little while and we probably shouldn’t think that him coming back into the team is going to solve everything overnight, but I do think, when you need to get promotion, if he’s fit and if he’s in form, then he’s a player you’ve got to get the best out of.”
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TIF Thoughts on what Smith had to say about McGeady…
In the 2018/19 campaign, McGeady was Sunderland’s second-highest goalscorer (11) and joint-third-highest assist provider (five) in League One.
So, while he hasn’t featured for the first team this season and failed to make a single goal contribution during his time on loan at Charlton last term, the winger has shown that he can be a key player for the Black Cats in the third tier in the past, and if the 34-year-old’s Sunderland career could be given a new lease of life by whoever replaces Parkinson, then maybe there is a chance that McGeady could make a significant contribution for the North East club in their pursuit of promotion this term.
As a result, perhaps it would be a good idea for Sunderland’s next manager to make an effort to get McGeady back fit and firing for the North East club as soon as possible.