Roker Roundup: Aiden McGeady reveals that he wants to stay and fight for his Sunderland career

McGeady hoping for another chance

Irish winger Aiden McGeady has been completely frozen out of the Sunderland first team squad by manager Phil Parkinson but the 34-year-old still hopes for another chance at the club.

Speaking to The Go Radio Football Show (as reported by the Scottish Sun), McGeady believes his first team opportunities should be judged solely on footballing matters and not on anything that may have happened between him and the manager:

I’m at Sunderland just now. I’ve got another year on my contract.

Currently I am in the bomb squad, I think we have all been there before. I’m training at 2 o’clock every day.

It’s a hard one for me because I have came back from being on loan and there is talk of the club being taken over and a lot of different things.

I’m just kind of sitting here thinking I want another chance.

I can’t say too much about it because I am still employed and contracted by the club but the truth always comes out in the end.

Whatever people think happened between me and the manager... I think it should just remain a football decision.

It’s a funny one because I have another year left on my deal and I want to play for Sunderland. I’ve made it as clear as that.

McGeady also believes Jack Ross was sacked by Sunderland too soon, as the club looked for a scapegoat for not being top of the league early in the season:

He’s obviously very, very early into his managerial career but from what I saw of him, I really liked him, I liked what he brought.

Obviously it helps when you get on well, you’re always going to have that sentiment for a manager that you get on well with.

I thought at Sunderland he did really well under difficult circumstances and was, in my opinion, shown the door almost as a bit of a scapegoat because I think we were sitting fourth in the league after 12 games which is not great but it was the kind of culture at the time where we had to be top of the league after five games.

I mean, judge him at the end of the season. He’s gone to Hibs and obviously they’ve started the season well. I think the sky’s the limit.

There’s little things that he may have learned from Sunderland that he can take into his new job and keep progressing and improving. I thought he was really good. He was especially good for me as well.

Photo by Mark Fletcher/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Power expecting tough season

The 2020-21 League One season starts on Saturday as Sunderland take on Bristol Rovers at the Stadium Of Light.

Ahead of that fixture, Max Power spoke to EFL presenter Colin Murray to discuss the season ahead and, although the midfielder is hoping it is third time lucky in the club’s attempt to clinch promotion to the Championship, he is expecting a difficult season:

The season I signed at Sunderland I fully expected us to go straight back up and we lost the play-off final and then obviously last season the season was curtailed early because of coronavirus.

So I’m hoping it’s third time lucky. It certainly won’t be any easier than previous years, I think you only have to look at the teams in the division this year to see that it’s going to be a real tough season.

Obviously everyone in the North East is desperate to get back up to the, mimimum, Championship and then a club of this size is obviously fighting to get back into the Premier League.

Power then discussed league games feeling like cup finals due to the number of fans present, as well as the attitude of the opposition when they face Sunderland, and is curious as to how the lack of fans will effect the upcoming season:

Personally for me, that was the first times I had played at Wembley. One was a penalty shoot-out defeat and the other one I got injured after 27 seconds, so I’ve not had great memories.

That was the first time I’ve been involved in the play-offs. I was actually quite looking forward to the experience at the time but it’s only enjoyable when you win.

It’s hard to get away from the fact that when you play for a club like Sunderland, when you’re in the North East, you realise how big of a club it is and how important the club is to the city. It’s everyone’s sort of religion, the football up here.

There’s no escape from how big the club is, they are desperate to get back up the divisions. Especially with the rivalry with Newcastle, being two divisions apart, that’s what eats away at the fans the most I think.

First and foremost we need to try and get out of this division, like I said it’s not easy.

The biggest thing I’ve found playing for Sunderland is it’s s huge game for anyone who comes to the Stadium of Light and especially when we go away from home, the following is always so big, it creates a sort of cup final atmosphere everywhere we go. So that’s probably the biggest thing we’ve had to deal with over the past few seasons and probably what we haven’t dealt with best.

Maybe this season, depending how long it takes fans to get back in the ground, who knows what sort of effect that is going to have on the season.

You can watch the full interview with Max Power by pressing play on the YouTube video below.

Photo by Mark Fletcher/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images