Source: Daily_Mail
Back off, Birmingham: Bhoys insist Aiden McGeady deal is a non-starter
Tony Mowbray has told Alex McLeish to stop wasting Celtic's time by bidding for Aiden McGeady.[LNB] The Parkhead boss has insisted speculation of offers around the £8-£10million mark from Birmingham City are 'ridiculously low' for the Republic of Ireland international. [LNB]Mowbray puts McGeady way beyond the biggest sales from Scottish football - Alan Hutton and Craig Gordon were both sold for £9m - and flatly insisted there is no reason for Celtic to sell a man he labelled as having 'the X-factor'.[LNB] Bidding war: Celtic's Aiden McGeady[LNB] 'When it comes to Aiden, we're not interested in any bids and people are wasting their time phoning,' said Mowbray when asked directly about McLeish's inquiry. Players who leave the club will only leave if we think it's right for the squad and the team. This club is not in need of money.[LNB] 'People leave because of their contractual situation or if I want them to leave, basically. There's no need for us to accept or listen to any bids that we don't want.[LNB] 'The numbers you mention (£8m or £10m) are ridiculously small numbers.[LNB] 'You say ridiculously high numbers. I would say ridiculously small numbers. We're not interested in listening to bids for our players unless we're looking to move certain ones on.'[LNB] Stilian Petrov's sale to Aston Villa for £8m worked for Celtic in many ways during the Gordon Strachan era and Ibrox boss Walter Smith similarly recycled the cash when Carlos Cuellar was also bought by Martin O'Neill.[LNB] But Mowbray highlighted that Celtic are not in the same perilous financial state as Rangers, who are up for sale.[LNB] 'I only hear what I hear but we're in a different financial predicament (from Rangers),' he said.[LNB] [LNB] 'Look at some of the players who have gone for whatever money if certain clubs come in. Look at the precedents Chelsea and Manchester City have set recently.[LNB] 'What Aiden McGeady brings is that X-factor. He has the ability in the Scottish game - where we do play against teams with a lot of men behind the ball - to eliminate individuals, to go past packed defences, to beat two and three men.'[LNB] Celtic sold Barry Robson to Middlesbrough and Gary Caldwell to Wigan this week and the manager politely refuted the defender's claims that he didn't want him to leave.[LNB] 'It's too black and white to say that,' said Mowbray. 'With any footballer, there are contract negotiations that either conclude positively or lead to a parting of the ways. That's where we were with Gary really.[LNB] 'We never got to a point of satisfaction for all parties. Gary's contract was running out and ultimately a deal was done. An offer came in and it was taken. The club will move on.'[LNB] Dutch defender Jos Hooiveld has arrived from AIK Stockholm for £1.5m but he might not be ready for a debut at home to Falkirk today after a six-week winter break in Sweden.[LNB] With Caldwell and Robson sold and Landry N'Guemo in Angola, the likes of Niall McGinn and Ki Sung Yeung could start today.[LNB] The good news for Mowbray is Scott Brown and Shaun Maloney should be back early in February.[LNB] 'Scott and Shaun are hopefully now only two to three weeks from being back playing. In a week or two, we'll have them back in training.' [LNB] [LNB]
