Kenny McLean Most Under appreciated player of recent Times

[Ulfotto 664]

As per the title of the thread is Kenny the most under appreciated player in recent times?

Last season collapsed the minute he got injured. Was our best defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder and best left back last season. 

Yes he is not as fancy as Mario Vrancic or Moritz Leitner were but has outlasted pretty much all comers in the midfield now for 5 years. 

The fact people still have him as scapegoat admittedly behind Idah and Gibson these days is laughable. There were rumours a 5 million bid for him that is a joke as we could never replace him for that amount.

Long live the Mayor 

[Yobocop 1,105]

Yes completely agree 

two times he’s got injured at the end of the seasons and both times we’ve capitulated 

no fluke that we’ve had three different managers who have picked him regularly 

top bloke, top pro, didn’t and doesn’t deserve half the shît he gets (many of those who don’t understand football) and does deserve the captaincy this season 

[Robert N. LiM 4,664]

We should definitely talk about whether people rate Kenny at some point. 

[hogesar 9,817]

Four managers and their collective coaching teams,  so bordering on 12 professional coaches with experience watching players week in week out and different levels, many of them Premier League, deemed Kenny our most reliable option in midfield.

Hes now been made captain too.

But ignoring two title wins and the above you must remember the amount of experts on here who've said for 5 years or so that no midfield with Kenny in can expect to get playoffs at this level.

Remember all those posters, as they might well need reminding for a third time after this season.

In which they'll make every excuse imaginable and rinse and repeat.

[S_81 925]

If this is the case then it speaks volumes about our squad in recent times.

[king canary 7,705]

13 minutes ago, Ulfotto said:

As per the title of the thread is Kenny the most under appreciated player in recent times?

Last season collapsed the minute he got injured. Was our best defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder and best left back last season. 

Yes he is not as fancy as Mario Vrancic or Moritz Leitner were but has outlasted pretty much all comers in the midfield now for 5 years. 

The fact people still have him as scapegoat admittedly behind Idah and Gibson these days is laughable. There were rumours a 5 million bid for him that is a joke as we could never replace him for that amount.

Long live the Mayor 

He's playing well this season.

But the part in bold does kind of show how poor we were last season if a solid but unspectacular Championship veteran is our best option in 3 positions.

[shefcanary 2,503]

Kenny is fine for the Championship and will help get us promoted. BUT, and it is a very BIG BUT, we will never survive a season in the EPL if he is our main midfielder. That also has been proven, twice! 

[Ulfotto 664]

18 minutes ago, king canary said:

He's playing well this season.

But the part in bold does kind of show how poor we were last season if a solid but unspectacular Championship veteran is our best option in 3 positions.

He’s had 3 seasons in the championship 2 were in title winning teams the other a team which may have made the playoffs if he didn’t get injured. I mean if that’s a unspectacular championship veteran is these days then it’s a high bar.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Ulfotto

[hogesar 9,817]

17 minutes ago, king canary said:

He's playing well this season.

But the part in bold does kind of show how poor we were last season if a solid but unspectacular Championship veteran is our best option in 3 positions.

Still doesn't explain why he was a target last season (and every other season). 

Still, it all died a death when people saw what our team looked like without him end of season.

[king canary 7,705]

4 minutes ago, Ulfotto said:

He’s had 3 seasons in the championship 2 were in title winning teams the other a team which may have made the playoffs if he didn’t get injured. I mean if that’s a unspectacular championship veteran is these days then it’s a high bar.

I'm talking about the player as he is now, not 5 years ago. 

He is what he is at no point, it isn't an insult.

[Ulfotto 664]

8 minutes ago, shefcanary said:

Kenny is fine for the Championship and will help get us promoted. BUT, and it is a very BIG BUT, we will never survive a season in the EPL if he is our main midfielder. That also has been proven, twice! 

This is what I mean damning the guy with faint praise. We have won  the championship three times in my life time Kenny McLean has been an ever present when fit in two of them. He was never the main man in midfield it was always McLean plus the dross of 21/22 or in 19/20 with journeyman Tettey, out of there depth Trybull or Vrancic.

[king canary 7,705]

5 minutes ago, hogesar said:

Still doesn't explain why he was a target last season (and every other season). 

Still, it all died a death when people saw what our team looked like without him end of season.

Take it up with those folks I guess.

On the flip side I notice the 'the end of last season has shown how underrated Hanley is' takes have stopped since we've replaced him with relative ease, so swings and roundabouts.

 

[hogesar 9,817]

1 minute ago, king canary said:

Take it up with those folks I guess.

On the flip side I notice the 'the end of last season has shown how underrated Hanley is' takes have stopped since we've replaced him with relative ease, so swings and roundabouts.

 

Had Webber not made a superb signing in Duffy I doubt we would be saying anything close to the same. We saw how poor we were defensively without Hanley at the end of last season. We can just thank the lord the fans didn't also force Webber out earlier...😊

[Google Bot 3,390]

How can anyone not appreciate Kenny?  He's been at the heart of this club for years and still an incredibly important player.  Amen to the OP for putting this salute out to him.  Love the guy!

[king canary 7,705]

1 minute ago, hogesar said:

Had Webber not made a superb signing in Duffy I doubt we would be saying anything close to the same. We saw how poor we were defensively without Hanley at the end of last season. We can just thank the lord the fans didn't also force Webber out earlier...😊

It rather proves the point though that Hanley wasn't quite as brilliant and irreplacable as some claimed if you can grab a 31 year old freebie and not really notice the difference.

[hogesar 9,817]

10 minutes ago, king canary said:

It rather proves the point though that Hanley wasn't quite as brilliant and irreplacable as some claimed if you can grab a 31 year old freebie and not really notice the difference.

Not everyone can. 

Not everyone signed Sara.

Or Sargent

But they want them now 😉

P.s you surely know I'm playing. You're a sensible poster. But we shouldn't take it for granted that we seem to have replaced Hanley well. Plenty of clubs at this level would like a Duffy but it's us who got him.

[The Raptor 1,260]

I really appreciate him for what he is. A top class championship midfielder. I don't appreciate him for being not up to the job in the Premier league as he's proved in two seasons now. 

He sums up norwich as a club. decent in the championshipbut a bit **** when we go up!

[Indy 3,344]

Each to their own! 

[Ulfotto 664]

10 minutes ago, hogesar said:

Not everyone can. 

Not everyone signed Sara.

Or Sargent

But they want them now 😉

P.s you surely know I'm playing. You're a sensible poster. But we shouldn't take it for granted that we seem to have replaced Hanley well. Plenty of clubs at this level would like a Duffy but it's us who got him.

If you take a step back Norwich is a pretty well run club. Yes we make mistakes but I’m pretty happy that the club analysed what went wrong last season and have tried to address it this season. It reminds to be seen if the promising start continues.

[Ernie Wise 73]

1 hour ago, king canary said:

It rather proves the point though that Hanley wasn't quite as brilliant and irreplacable as some claimed if you can grab a 31 year old freebie and not really notice the difference.

I am quite sure that Hanley been in the team at the start of this season and we had played 3 games and conceded 6 goals you would have been absolutely crucifying him!!!???

[Ernie Wise 73]

1 minute ago, Ernie Wise said:

I am quite sure that Hanley been in the team at the start of this season and we had played 3 games and conceded 6 goals you would have been absolutely crucifying him!!!???

Especially if Hanley had committed the Duffy **** up for the Hull goal and conceded a penalty at Southampton?

[Thirsty Lizard 3,184]

3 hours ago, Ulfotto said:

As per the title of the thread is Kenny the most under appreciated player in recent times?

Last season collapsed the minute he got injured. Was our best defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder and best left back last season. 

Yes he is not as fancy as Mario Vrancic or Moritz Leitner were but has outlasted pretty much all comers in the midfield now for 5 years. 

The fact people still have him as scapegoat admittedly behind Idah and Gibson these days is laughable. There were rumours a 5 million bid for him that is a joke as we could never replace him for that amount.

Long live the Mayor 

I totally agree with the sentiment of your post, but Kenny (good though he was) absolutely wasn't our best attacking midfielder last season. That was Sara by a country mile. 

[Canary dwarf 221]

Last season Sara was amazing until Kenny got injured then his performances dropped Billy big tme ,this season he's back alongside Kenny and he's amazing again , is this a coincidence?

I

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,821]

People seem to have forgotten that our midfield, including him was for the most part poor prior to his injury last season...

[AJ 1,235]

1 hour ago, GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary said:

People seem to have forgotten that our midfield, including him was for the most part poor prior to his injury last season...

The entire squad was poor for large chunks of last season mainly due to selection and tactics. But the drop off at the end was big time down to losing Kenny (and Hanley too of course). We miss Kenny's range of long diagonal balls forward which was always a staple of Farkeball too. 

[Capt. Pants 4,329]

We fell apart last season without him and I suspect the wheels will fall off if we lose him for any length of time this. Thank God he has 90 mins in his legs every game as we don't seem to have any alternative in the squad who can do all the stuff Kenny can.

Has already been outstanding this season. First name on the teamsheet.

 

[AJ 1,235]

4 minutes ago, Capt. Pants said:

We fell apart last season without him and I suspect the wheels will fall off if we lose him for any length of time this. Thank God he has 90 mins in his legs every game as we don't seem to have any alternative in the squad who can do all the stuff Kenny can.

Has already been outstanding this season. First name on the teamsheet.

 

The fact we've refused to sign a DM since Skipp left is still a highly risky strategy for me, similar to when we relied predominantly on an aging Tettey 

[Dean Coneys boots 1,423]

Heavily linked with a move to Leeds online. 

[S_81 925]

7 hours ago, Canary dwarf said:

Last season Sara was amazing until Kenny got injured then his performances dropped Billy big tme ,this season he's back alongside Kenny and he's amazing again , is this a coincidence?

I

It’s no coincidence, but any decent midfielder that offers defensive ability would free up Sara to do what he does best pushing forward. 

[hogesar 9,817]

3 hours ago, GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary said:

People seem to have forgotten that our midfield, including him was for the most part poor prior to his injury last season...

Awh, your desperation not to be wrong knows no bounds.

The entire team was poor under Smith hence Smith losing his job, in the end.

Under Wagner Kenny was good and we were on course for playoffs till he got injured.

But you've said all along that a team can't finish top 6 with Kenny as a regular player.

You got it wrong exponentially with 2 classy title wins, then you can't even really claim last season because he wasn't there for the end of the season 😊

Wonder if this season will be a hattrick and you come up with another reason why you're actually right somehow?