Aiden McGeady has offered a damning verdict on his time at Everton and explained how his reputation in football prevented him from leaving the club.
The Republic of Ireland international j oined Everton from Spartak Moscow in January 2014 for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £200,000.
McGeady went on to make 43 appearances for the Blues but failed to live up to expectations and scored just one goal in his three-year stint at Goodison Park.
After loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Preston North End, the winger completed a permanent move to Sunderland during the 2017 summer transfer window.
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And when reflecting on his time at Goodison, the former Celtic star has opened up on his struggles and explained why he understands his spell at Everton is viewed by Blues supporters as 'horrendous'.
“It was a big club, with a great fanbase and history, and felt like the ideal fit with a manager [Roberto Martinez] who I thought liked me," McGeady told evertonfc.com.
Before he continued: “The fans probably say, ‘He was horrendous’. And it’s hard to say it was great. But I still think Everton is a good club, of course it is, and I would make the decision [to join] again.
“I’m not making excuses. I had some decent games and didn’t play well in others but I never got a run in the team.
“It is difficult when you know, if you don’t play well, you’re out for the next few weeks. I’d try too hard, do things I normally wouldn’t and give the ball away.
“Other players would get runs of six or seven games. Maybe that is what the manager thought of me but it was frustrating.”
Following the sacking of Martinez, Ronald Koeman replaced the Catalan at the club and was tasked with turning Everton’s fortunes around.
But McGeady wasn't part of Koeman's plans and never again featured for the Blues after being replaced at half-time during the League Cup win at Barnsley back in August 2015.
“I wasn’t even making the bench after that,” McGeady recalled when asked about the Barnsley game. “I was being told to keep doing what I was in training but over time, I thought, ‘This isn’t going to work’."
Before McGeady continued on Koeman: “I appreciated Koeman’s honesty. He didn’t waste my time. But I’d gone 18 months without enjoying football.
"A lot of managers were put off by things they’d heard about my time at Sheffield Wednesday.
“Preston wasn’t an obviously attractive offer but it was the best thing I could have done. I almost treated it like playing football with my mates in the park and rediscovered my love of the game.”
