Before Dan Neil had kicked a ball for Rangers, a former Celtic winger was already trying to talk him out of signing.
Aiden McGeady has revealed that he personally messaged his old Sunderland teammate in an attempt to steer him away from Ibrox, hoping instead that Celtic would come calling.
Neil ignored the advice, and two goals in a Premier Sports Cup derby have since shown exactly why Rangers moved so decisively.
A Rival’s Failed Intervention: How Aiden McGeady Tried to Block Ibrox Move
Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show, McGeady described how he reached out to Neil directly once word of a Rangers move began to circulate. This was not a Celtic approach or a formal offer of any kind. It was one former teammate, off the record, trying to nudge another in a different direction entirely.
The two go back further than most supporters realise. McGeady and Neil played together at Sunderland between 2018 and 2022, sharing a dressing room during some of the midfielder’s earliest years as a professional.
Their spell together culminated in the 2021 EFL Trophy, a competition Sunderland won with Neil playing a prominent role in midfield. That shared history is partly why McGeady fired off a text message rather than simply watch events unfold from a distance.
McGeady was blunt about his motives when discussing the exchange publicly. He wanted Neil in green and white, not blue, and he was not shy about saying so once the story emerged.
Inside the Text Message: McGeady’s Plea and Celtic’s Missed Opportunity
The detail of the message itself is what makes this story stick. McGeady did not dress it up in tactical language or reference any grand transfer strategy. He simply told Neil to steer clear of Ibrox.
“He is probably one that Celtic should have looked at. When there was talk of him signing here, I message him and said ‘you can’t be doing that mate, you can’t be signing for Rangers’ – and I was hoping Celtic would look at him.”
Neil had actually been on Rangers’ radar once before, during an earlier window when he was still developing his game, prior to his move to Ipswich Town.
That interest cooled, and Neil instead joined Ipswich, where he never quite nailed down a regular starting role despite the club’s rise to the Premier League. It left him searching for a fresh platform, and Rangers returned with a free transfer offer that Neil accepted.
McGeady’s frustration was not really about Neil personally. It was about a wider pattern he sees at Celtic Park, one where his old club fails to back its convictions in the transfer market when it matters most.
“This has probably been bubbling under for a while; Celtic haven’t been playing well, but they have been getting results domestically. In the important games – Rangers, LASK – they haven’t been playing well.”
He was equally candid about what Neil’s early Ibrox form has confirmed about his own judgement of the player.
“Dan Neil, not that I wanted him to do well, but he proves that I am right about football sometimes when I said he is a really good football player.”
Readers who followed Neil’s rise through the English game will recognise the type of praise.
Peter Lovenkrands paid the highest compliment to Dan Neil for the same qualities McGeady is now describing publicly.
Dominating the Derby: How Dan Neil Exposed Celtic’s Midfield Flaws
Words are one thing, but Neil’s derby performance did the rest of the talking. His double helped seal a 3-0 win over Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup, a result that supporters can relive the action as Rangers defeated Celtic 3-0.
McGeady, watching from a distance, was full of admiration for how the midfielder carried himself against a Celtic side he knows intimately.
“Even his performance [against Celtic] on Sunday, he was carrying it 30 or 40 yards and was very comfortable and composed on the ball – and his two finishes. He is a player I think would have fit into Celtic’s system really, really well.”
That assessment doubles as an admission of a problem at Celtic Park. McGeady went on to explain why his former club struggled so badly to contain Rangers’ midfield press, pointing directly at the burden placed on Callum McGregor in a lone pivot role.
“I think it’s difficult for Callum now, playing in a one [in midfield]. It has been shown up in Europe and against Rangers who are pressing man to man. It’s difficult playing in a one at his age, he needs someone in there to help him.”
McGregor’s own reaction to the defeat made for uncomfortable reading at Celtic Park, and supporters can find the full detail in coverage of how the Parkhead captain blasted Celtic after the League Cup exit.
For Rangers fans, McGeady’s analysis simply confirms what they watched unfold at Ibrox: a Celtic midfield structurally unable to cope with high-intensity pressing, precisely where Neil now thrives.
