Aiden McGeady is happy to be out of the public glare after departing Glasgow for Moscow.
Republic of Ireland international glad to escape limelight
Aiden McGeady is happy to be out of the public glare after departing Glasgow for Moscow.
The Republic of Ireland international left Celtic in the summer, joining Russian giants Spartak Moscow for £9.5million.
And while admitting he misses Parkhead, where he spent more than six years of his career, the 24-year-old forward is relishing plying his trade in a city where he is relatively unknown.
Freedom
"There are a lot of things, of course," said McGeady. "But one thing I don't miss so far is having the freedom to do what you can in Moscow.
"It's such a big city, very cosmopolitan and you can go about your business with out hassle, because everyone in Glasgow is either a Celtic fan or a Rangers fan.
"You feel yourself sometimes walking down the street trying to cover your face a little bit because you feel people will say something to you, either good or bad.
"It's good to have that anonymity."
McGeady's performances for the Bhoys often divided opinion in Scotland, with the forward earning praise for his individual skill, but sometimes attracting criticism for his defensive work and final ball.
However the Irishman, who could represent his country against Russia in Euro 2012 qualifying action in Dublin on Friday night, insists it was not the focus on his playing which influenced him to end his stint in Glasgow.
He said: "It wasn't getting me down. It's difficult to say, but I felt that if I stayed at Celtic, I would have been looked upon like, 'When is he ever going to move from Scotland?'.
"I am 25 next year and I thought we have not won the league for the last two years, there is no Champions League football - there were obviously the qualifiers, but we were out of that pretty quickly.
"I thought, 'It really is time to move on, it's best for everyone,', best for Celtic - they got a decent transfer fee for me - best for me, moving to a better league and playing with players I think will help me improve my game.
"That's what helped me make my decision."
Strength
McGeady has been impressed by the strength of the Russian League, adding: "Even teams who aren't up at the top of the league and are fighting relegation, they are not easy matches.
"The teams are all very physical. We played a game last night against a team called Anzhi [Makhachkala], two and a half hours on a flight, the pitch was horrendous.
"It was a really, really tough game, but a great victory for us.
"I was just comparing it to Scotland and it was a very tough game playing against not a great technical team, but a tough team to play against, very physical."
