Stepping it up: Aiden McGeady is giving life in Moscow a proper go although Spartak are facing an uphill struggle to qualify for next year's Champions League getty

Aiden McGeady is buying into this whole Russia thing. The day before Spartak Moscow's game against Chelsea this week, the Irish winger was asked whether he'd prefer to see the 2018 World Cup go to England or Russia. He answered Russia and is now, an hour or so after his side's spanking at the hands of the English champions, being asked to explain his answer. "Ah, I only said that because I was sort of having a laugh," he says. "I don't really know much about it. I'm not really a football diplomat, I'm not sure what way it's going to go. But my football allegiances lie in Russia right now, so that's why I said Russia."

And why not. Countless British and Irish footballers, although mainly British, have departed for clubs in new countries without ever making any attempt to buy into the local way of life but McGeady, contrary to most people's predictions, seems to be making a real go of things both on and off the pitch in Moscow. The 24-year-old has already moved from a hotel to a place of his own, regularly goes down the supermarket to buy his provisions and is even picking up a bit of the language. "I can say a few phrases and have enough to get by day to day," he says. "But if anyone talks fast, I'm done. I can say 'good morning and how are you?' and I can order a drink and some food when I go to a restaurant for dinner. A couple of the lads, Martin Stranzl and Marek Suchy, speak good English and a bit of Russian. They translate for me if I end up out of my depth. But sometimes I'm lost during the coach's team talk. I can end up staring at the walls for 45 minutes. We do have an interpreter and he helps out but a number of the guys look for his translation and it's difficult for him to get to us all. I will start Russian lessons soon. I'll need to and I look forward to it."

McGeady seems to be relishing the anonymity of his new surroundings, too. While he lives on the outskirts of Moscow rather than smack bang in the middle, he has enjoyed moving around the city without recourse to his profession, or indeed his allegiances. "Now that I'm away from Glasgow, looking back on it, a lot of the time it was crazy and you had to be on your guard when you were socialising. It's just not like that in Moscow. I've been recognised a few times and the people have been very polite. They even try to speak English to me. But there is so much going on in this city that not everyone is into football. They have other things. It's different from Glasgow. Fans ask for a photo and shake my hand. They try to make me feel part of their club and I aim to do my bit by performing well on the field."

He has managed that side of the
bargain particularly well. While Wednesday night wasn't perhaps the best example of McGeady contributing to the Spartak Moscow cause, he was lively, like the rest of his teammates, in the first half against Chelsea and was a yard or two away from opening the scoring with a left-footed shot early on. "It's been the story of the two games," he says. "In the second half of the first game, we played well; in the first half of this game we played well. But we weren't able to put it together for 90 minutes."

Spartak now need to beat Marseille at home and Zilina away, not unreasonable tasks, if they're to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League. "We've shown at times in the last two games against Chelsea that we are a last-16 team," says McGeady. "But we have it all to prove now. CSKA Moscow got to the quarter-finals last year and we want to do the same thing." While considering Spartak's prospects in the finale of the group stages, McGeady seems to recognise how difficult it's going to be for his former club to even come close to the last 16 of the competition in the near future. "The level of expectation in Scotland is far too high. When Celtic played in the Champions League we got
criticised for losing away to clubs such as Benfica. The stick we received was an absolute joke. Benfica spend millions and millions of pounds on players. At Spartak, they spend even more. Celtic just can't do that. It's hard to see Celtic in the last 16 of the Champions League in the near future."

Back to Moscow, though, and the bigger challenge for Spartak in the weeks ahead arguably lies in qualifying for next season's Champions League. With only a month left in the Russian season, Spartak sit fourth in the table, five points off CSKA Moscow in the third
Champions League spot. "We're making ground on them," says the player optimistically, even if, on paper, it seems like an uphill task. Still, Champions League football doesn't seem the be-all and end-all for McGeady. He seems to be enjoying the Russian Premier League, particularly Spartak's recent victory over league leaders Zenit St Petersburg, where a fight broke out between the coaching staffs of both sides towards the end of the game. "I wasn't involved but it showed me how passionate both clubs are about their football," he says. "I like that."

It probably reminded McGeady of home, where he'll visit next month when the Russian season finishes and he's granted a break. He plans to take in a Celtic game during his Scottish sojourn but after that it's back to Moscow for pre-season training, more Russian lessons and a way of life away from the Glasgow fishbowl that seems to
entirely suit him.

ccronin@tribune.ie