Sunderland winger Aiden McGeady has taken aim at former boss Phil Parkinson, claiming that he "could tell after ten days he wasn’t the right man for the job".
The 34-year-old became an outcast during Parkinson's 13-month tenure at the Stadium of Light but has been brought in from the cold by new manager Lee Johnson.
McGeady has featured in three of Sunderland's four games since Johnson took over and grabbed an assist in the 4-0 win against Lincoln City last weekend.
The fall out between the Republic of Ireland international and Parkinson was certainly no secret but nearly seven weeks on from his sacking, the Black Cats winger has opened up about the situation and couldn't resist taking aim at his former manager.
Speaking on the latest episode of the SAFC Unfiltered podcast, he said: "He couldn’t give me any examples of what I’d done wrong, any moments. He said he’d made his decision and that was it, really.
“I was absolutely raging, obviously, but part of me thought he would get the sack soon so I’ll just hang on. Because, I don’t want to be too disrespectful, but I could tell after ten days he wasn’t the right man for the job.
“We went from Jack Ross to him, you hear what people say, about him being old school and that. We didn’t play football, we had no game-plan, we hardly even trained. It wasn’t right.
“I thought I’d outlast him, but the team went on a run. I think he almost used me as a scapegoat, to deflect and say that I was the problem.
“I’ve had to deal with everything that’s gone on in the last year, people saying things about me jumping on the back of the rumours. There was no problem between me and Phil Parkinson – that was the crazy thing and the thing I couldn’t get my head around."
McGeady added: "It’s telling that when Jack Ross got sacked, the lads were shocked and gutted. When he left, everyone went to see him.
“When Phil Parkinson got sacked, I didn’t hear anyone mutter a word. I didn’t hear any of that, and that tells its own story.”
Parkinson left the club earlier this month and there have been signs of improvement under Johnson, with last weekend's 4-0 win against high-flying Lincoln a particular highlight.
McGeady has proven his quality at this level in the past, grabbing 11 goals and five assists as he helped the Black Cats reach the play-off final in 2018/19, and it would be a huge boost for 11th-placed Sunderland if he could rediscover that form this term.
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The Verdict
It's interesting to get McGeady's stance on the situation between him and Parkinson, which led to him out of favour at the club for a long period.
Given the frosty relationship between the two, it's no surprise to see the winger take aim at his former boss but it would be good to get the other side of the story.
Bringing McGeady back into the fray could be a very smart move from Johnson, who will be hoping he can fire them back up the table.