SCOTT MCDONALD has named his best XI, spanning his twenty year career. The Australian striker told BBC Scotland about the greatest teammates that he played with during his well-travelled career but funnily enough, McDonald said that he wasn’t good enough to get in his own team.
The Aussie picked Celtic’s captain Scott Brown in the centre of midfield, explaining his choice, McDonald said that the leadership qualities that Brown possessed along side his ability to hold a team together is why he makes his way into McDonald’s XI.
“Scotty is my rock. He’s a natural leader and has got even better as he’s got older. When we first met at Celtic, he was this hyperactive, nutcase kid who’d run around and try and smash everyone, but he’s added such control to that energy and he’d be the heartbeat of my team.”
McDonald’s goals were vital in the 2007/08 title run in as a battling Celtic pipped Rangers to the title with a last day win at Tannadice. That was Brown and McDonald’s first title at Celtic having both joined the summer before. Brown has now lifted 10 titles, with 9 having come in the last 9 years whilst McDonald moved on.
Two other former Celts were included in the XI, Shunsuke Nakamura and Aiden McGeady. Nakamura was selected to play on the right whilst McGeady takes up the left wing berth.
“He was by far the best I’ve ever played with. He used to go out for hours on end after training hitting free kicks with his little interpreter in goal when it was minus two outside. He didn’t speak much English, but you could tell when he wasn’t happy with how he’d trained or played because he was in a mood the whole day. He is such a perfectionist.”
Explaining his choice of McGeady, who was part of the Charlton Athletic side that were relegated from the EFL Championship yesterday, McDonald rated the Irish midfielder very highly.
“For natural ability and skill, Aiden is the best I’ve played with. The things he could do with the ball in training, he’d embarrass people. The way he would carry the ball 40-50 yards took the pressure off the team and that’s a special thing to be able to do.
“He was just unfortunate that the path he chose prevented him reaching the levels he could have. If he’d gone to the right club in England instead of Russia when he left Celtic, it could have been different.”
McDonald spent two-and-a-half years at Celtic, scoring 64 goals in 128 appearances before rejoining ex-Celtic boss Gordon Strachan at Middlesborough.
After three-and-a-half years at Boro, McDonald played for Millwall, Dundee United, Motherwell and Partick Thistle before departing for Australia to continue his playing career.
