My Sporting Hero: Cillian Sheridan on Granit Xhaka

In My Sporting Hero, a new podcast series from Nutmeg, footballers talk about the athletes who inspire them. Sometimes those sportsmen and women are also footballers. Sometimes not. You can listen to the audio on this post, on the podcast app of your choice (just search for ‘My Sporting Hero’) or enjoy the written version below.

This time on My Sporting Hero, our guest is Cillian Sheridan.

Irish forward Cillian has plied his trade in several different countries, and in Scotland, he has played for Celtic, Kilmarnock, Dundee, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Queen’s Park, as well as spending two loan spells at St Johnstone and one at Motherwell. The 35-year-old’s latest home is Highland League outfit Brechin City. Cillian has been capped three times by his country, and his club honours include the Bulgarian Cup and two Cypriot league titles, and he was part of Dundee’s 2022-23 Scottish Championship-winning squad.

His sporting hero is Swiss international midfielder Granit Xhaka, who played a key role in Bayer Leverkusen’s famous Bundesliga triumph last season, and won Cillian’s heart when he stuck it to the Arsenal boo-boys when captain at the Emirates.

I have chosen Granit Xhaka because of the time when he was being taken off for Arsenal against Crystal Palace in 2019. He was being jeered by his own supporters and he responded by telling them to eff off, giving them all sorts back. I know how it feels to want to do that and I actually admired him for doing it, for just not caring and stating how he felt to the fans in the moment. Afterwards, he got stick from everyone but he came back from it and became one of Arsenal’s best players before he left for Bayer Leverkusen. It ended up with him turning Arsenal down and moving on, and they would probably have been dying to keep him. Then, at Leverkusen he went on to win the Bundesliga and just completed a total turnaround for him. The mentality aspect of it was what I admired most about him.