Aiden McGeady has revealed how Gordon Strachan refused to allow him collect the Man of the Match award after Celtic defeated Dunfermline during a Scottish Premier League game in 2006.
Strachan, who managed Celtic to the 2006/7 title, sided with Neil Lennon following an on-field argument between McGeady and the Northern Ireland international.
"So we’re winning 2-0 [against Dunfermline] and Strachan changed the shape and went to a 4-3-3, so I was right and their winger went down the line, beat Mark Wilson and crossed to the back post and Stephen Simmons, I think, scored," the Ireland international told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound.
"Lenny starts having a go at Artur [Boruc]. Artur pushed him and Lenny carries on, and is looking around the pitch ready to go for someone.
McGeady: Strachan 'he didn’t like me' at Celtic
"And he was like ‘Where were you there? Where were you?’ And I was like ‘Nowhere. It’s not my fault Willo got beat. It’s not my job to tackle the winger’.
"He said ‘Who do you think you’re talking to?’ I was like ‘shut up’ and he went for me and we pushed each other.
"But it was nothing really. And in the dressing room Strachan totally backed Lenny up. Lenny was in the wrong, but he totally backed him up because he didn’t like me."
🗣️ 'Strachan totally backed Lenny up because he didn't like me'.
📻 @kennymacsport catches up with Aiden McGeady. Listen to the full interview on @BBCSportsound from 2pm (22 May). pic.twitter.com/AGNE56YODL
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) May 22, 2022
McGeady continued: "Strachan said that 'Some guys have been doing it at the club for years and years. Seven years, not even missing a pass, and then you’ve got guys like him'. [He was] talking about me.
"He said ‘Aiden, you might get a few girls when you go to a nightclub because you’ve got some fancy flicks’. I’m thinking ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
"And just as he finished having a go at me, Iain Jamieson [the press officer] popped his head in the door and he said ‘Gaffer, Aiden got man of the match’ and Strachan said ‘No, he’s not getting it, he's not getting it'.
"Darren O’Dea played that day, it was his debut and Strachan said he was man of the match so he had to go Setanta and talk to them and they gave him the bottle because I couldn’t even go out the dressing room."
Picture credit: Thomas Gilfeather / Shutterstock.com / Sportsfile
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