Ibrox View: Rangers should follow Boyd advice and move for Kenny McLean this summer
RANGERS OPINION
You wouldn’t be surprised if Rangers seriously consider overhauling their squad this summer ahead of next season’s title race.
With Celtic on the brink of a nightmarish 10-in-a-row, the stakes have never been higher, and that 13 point gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership would seemingly suggest that drastic changes are needed to prevent another Hoops walkover.
And that appears to be the opinion of ex-Ibrox striker Kris Boyd too.
Writing in a column for the Scottish Sun over the weekend, the former Gers hero urged his old club to go out and sign Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson, Derby County utility man Graeme Shinnie, and Norwich City’s Kenny McLean.
Of those three talents, you would assume that McLean would be the hardest to secure, given the fact that he currently plays in the English Premier League.
So would a deal for the 28-year-old be worth the hassle?
He certainly has some desirable attributes.
So far this season, he has averaged 9.82 duels won per game for the Canaries, as per Wyscout.
As a point of reference, Ryan Jack has won 7.59 per match this term.
Similarly, McLean has made 5.23 interceptions to Jack’s and registered 0.31 more dribbles per 90 minutes.
But really, it’s McLean’s terrier-like spirit in the centre of the park that could make him a real asset to the Gers.
The image above is taken from Norwich’s most recent Premier League victory, a 1-0 win over Leicester City at the end of February.
In that game, McLean managed nine interceptions, his joint-third highest tally of the campaign.
And the example above really helps us to understand that way he plays his game.
Notice how he is already on the move before Jonny Evans has even made contact with the ball.
McLean is alive to the threat of danger, and his reading of the game is superb.
McLean then shows great pace to cover the ground, and impressive commitment as he flings himself into a slide to cut out the pass.
His hard work in that instance, although fairy understated, allows his team to pick the ball up with a decent numerical advantage in the opposition’s half.
McLean also boasts an impressive range of passing, as illustrated by the example above.
In the image, the Scot picks up the ball in a right wing-back position before drifting in on his left foot, and deciding to switch the play.
The ball he executes has so much length on it that the receiver, Jamal Lewis, isn’t even in frame at the time of it being struck.
With one pass McLean is able to switch the entire point of attack, causing five Leicester players, and to a lesser extent the two full-backs, to scramble across and reset their defensive shape to deal with the new focal point.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the ball, however, is just how effortless McLean makes it look.
He strokes the pass with a wonderfully smooth motion, and you get the distinct impression that he could distribute like that all day if he wanted to.
Indeed, long passes per game are just another area where he exceeds Jack on paper.
Taking all of that together, there’s a lot to be positive about when it comes to McLean’s game.
Prying him away from a top flight club would be a hard task, as pointed out by Football Insider, but the Canaries are in real danger of going down this season, and who’s to say that their relegation couldn’t prove to be an advantage for the Gers if they decide to take Boyd’s advice and make a move?
It wouldn’t be an easy deal to pull off, but it’s one that we at Ibrox News would definitely be in favour of.
In other Rangers news, Report – SPFL consider postponing all Rangers v Celtic clashes until 2021 next season.