For those of us who love football, it has been fascinating to watch Aiden McGeady. Still just 21, the Celtic winger appears to have been bobbing and weaving in our midst for years and has already played over 100 matches in his young career. Yesterday, McGeady also offered a revealing insight into his continual striving to improve his game.

There was a time not so long ago when his manager, Gordon Strachan, was a keen and sometimes severe scrutineer of his talent. Strachan would hover around McGeady in training sessions, urging him to iron out the defects in his game. McGeady, after all, was the classic young Scottish winger: full of flicks and feints but with an array of flaws in his exciting feet. And just like his manager, nor was McGeady a shrinking violet.

This is a player who, though born and bred in Scotland, was prepared to attract the vitriol of some by announcing at the age of 18 that he felt the genetic call to play for Ireland rather than Scotland. Since that decision, many have had it in for McGeady, and he has required toughness to endure the criticism. But it is on the pitch that the Celtic player this season has caught the eye, taking his game up a level through sheer hard graft, as he explained yesterday.

“You want to be the best player you can be, so I’ve worked and am still working on lots of aspects in my game,” McGeady said. “I want to be quicker and stronger. My final ball still has a lot of work to be done on it, and I want to score more goals. As people say, the more you practice, the luckier you get.

“The fact that I have played so many games – over 100 now – while still being so young is a good thing. I’ve played in Europe and in international matches as well, so I’ve got that experience. I’m learning and I feel I’ve still got a long way to go.”

McGeady points to his current manager at Celtic as the man who has aided his game’s development. “Maybe it’s about getting older and realising how you have to play the game,” he said. “Gordon Strachan has not been on my case as much as he used to, even in training, and maybe that’s down to some maturity on my part.

“I now know not to try to dribble with the ball when there’s a lot of players around me, and to move the ball on early, and in a one-on-one situation, to try to be more direct. I think that is the main thing that has changed in my game.

“If the manager is on your back quite a lot, it shows he feels you’ve got more to give and has faith in you. It means he believes you’re a decent player, that you’ve got more to add to the team. Sometimes he’s been quite harsh, but that’s how managers are – they don’t always have to be nice. They are just trying to get the best out of you.

“Looking back [Strachan] did have a point. I was running too much with the ball and trying to take on too many players. He also told me there wasn’t enough end-product, which was true. So now in games I’m trying to create goals and score goals – that’s the main part of my game now.”

Not for a first time at Celtic, the differences between Strachan, the hands-on training ground coach, and Martin O’Neill, the more distant, iconic presence around his players, became obvious while listening to McGeady.

“Don’t get me wrong, it was good under Martin O’Neill,” he said. “I was surprised by the number of games I played under him, so I’ve got a lot to be thankful to him for. But in terms of styles, the manager now is much more hands-on, in terms of coaching and training.

“Martin O’Neill was slightly different. You’d maybe only see him around the training ground once or twice a week – John Robertson or Steve Walford would take the training. It was also slightly strange when Martin came into the dressing-room. He’d just come in and read the team out, then walk out and come back half an hour before the game to give a motivational speech.

“With Gordon it’s been different. He does one-on-ones with you, and I’ve learnt from him, and am still learning. I’ve taken on more responsibilities as a player.”

Strachan, too, spoke yesterday about his direct involvement in helping to raise the bar of McGeady’s already exciting game. It was, in some senses, an arduous business.

“I used to take Aiden in the afternoons and sit with him in front of videos for hours on end,” Strachan said. “When you see ability like that, you have to find a way of getting the best out of it. There has been a lot of straight talking with Aiden, but I’d like to think a lot of decent talking as well. People associate me with screaming and shouting, but it’s not been like that.”

McGeady is now free from suspension and is expected to swiftly return to the Celtic team, perhaps as swiftly as tomorrow afternoon at Falkirk. The player is, though, savouring his long career ahead of him.

“Most players would say you are at your best at 28 or 29 – that’s when you’re meant to be at your best, your most mature, and your strongest physically,” he said. “I’ve obviously had a lot of experience already, but 27 or 28 should be my peak.

“If you play for the Old Firm – no disrespect to the other teams – it is tough. It’s easier to play at a team like Hibernian or Falkirk, because you’re not expected to win every week. Here at Celtic, if you go one or two games with bad results, it’s a crisis. So there is a lot of pressure, but I think I’m learning and improving, I hope.”