Source: Team_Talk
Numan surprised by McGeady omission
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan insists he had no regrets about dropping the in-form McGeady for Shaun Maloney despite his side's 1-0 defeat at Ibrox.
The decision to hand Maloney his first Scottish Premier League start for six months in a game that swung the title advantage towards Rangers has perplexed and angered Celtic fans.
Former Holland left-back Numan is well qualified to judge a good winger and he speaks highly of McGeady.
And although Numan claimed the opposition team sheet did not distract him before he played, he confessed to being relieved to see McGeady's name among the substitutes in his role as Rangers supporter.
"I was always concentrated and for me it didn't matter who I was playing against, but of course you know all about the strengths of McGeady," Numan said.
"He is skilful, he has pace, he brings something extra to the game, so I was happy he was on the bench, to be honest."
Numan, who today opened a 'learning garden' at the Scottish Centre for Children with Motor Impairments, added: "I heard after the game there were a lot of people surprised about McGeady not playing.
"I have always rated McGeady. I'm a fan of McGeady because he brings something extra to the game."
But he added: "Every manager picks the team which he thinks is the best team to get a result.
"Gordon Strachan had his own ideas about the team selection and he had a reason why he picked Maloney ahead of McGeady.
"It's always down to the manager and I'm sure he picked a team he thought would get a result against Rangers."
Strachan again today refused to divulge his rationale for leaving out McGeady for Maloney, who has just returned from a hamstring problem.
McGeady was man of the match during Celtic's Co-operative Insurance Cup final triumph over Rangers in March, but missed the victory at Ibrox in December as he served a two-week club suspension following a dressing-room row with the manager.
The Republic of Ireland winger fired a shot just past the post after coming on shortly after the hour mark but, despite the ongoing debate over his omission, Numan feels Rangers showed the hunger required to win such an important game.
Steven Davis netted the only goal after good link-up play by Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller towards the end of the first half.
"They had home advantage and they knew they had to get a result to get it in their own hands," said Numan.
"That's the most important thing. You are two points ahead with three finals to play so you can only blame yourself if you don't win.
"It was a good team performance, Walter had the tactics spot-on.
"You always have some people before the game when you get the line-up for Celtic and Rangers with different opinions about players.
"But it was a good team performance, players like Davis and (Madjid) Bougherra had a good game."
Numan opened the garden at the Craighalbert Centre in Cumbernauld in his role as patron of the Rangers Charity Foundation.
"The garden is great, it's good for the staff and it's good for the kids," Numan said.
"It puts football in perspective when you see the smiles on the faces of the kids."
