Kenny McLean has been awarded Norwich City Player of the Season for the 2nd time in 3 years. He is on track for a Flashscore rating of at least 7.0 for the 3rd season in a row & 5th time in eight seasons. Yet for the Scotland Men’s National Team (SMNT), he has his detractors in the fanbase. Are those who criticise him valid in doing so, or are they unfair on a solidly committed, Scotland hero?
| Name | Kenny McLean |
| Age | 34 |
| Club | Norwich City |
| Club’s division | English 2nd tier |
| Club’s division Opta rating | 80.1 (9th globally) |
| SMNT caps | 56 |
| Most recent cap | March 2026 (v Ivory Coast) |
Kenny McLean’s style of play
Kenny McLean has an unflashy, hard-working, no-nonsense, 100% team player, ‘get and give’ style of play. A measure of his consistency is he is on track for a Flashscore rating of at least 7.0 for the 3rd year in a row. That is the 5th time in his 8 seasons at Norwich City. That is in addition to now being awarded Norwich City Player of the Year for the 2nd time in 3 years. He isn’t nicknamed ‘The Mayor of Norwich’ for nothing. McLean also has in his favour a useful attribute that places him in the vast minority of players; he is naturally left-footed.
Kenny McLean and Scotland
His commitment to the Scotland cause is unwavering to the point of being unquestionable. While not a regular scorer, 2 of his 3 goals in his 56 caps for Scotland have been momentous, one even iconic.
His last-minute right-footed winner in the Oslo sunshine in June 2023, marked a 2-goals-in-the-last-2-minutes Scotland comeback win. That until recently seemed likely to be the personal highlight of his Scotland career. That changed at Hampden on 18 November 2025, in the most dramatic of circumstances.
His injury-time, halfway-line, match-killing chipped goal v Denmark is among the very best Scotland goals of the television era. What a goal, what a moment. On that front his name sits with the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Archie Gemmill, Dave Narey, James McFadden and Leigh Griffiths. And from the same Denmark game as McLean, Scott McTominay. A tremendous goal by McLean worthy of any occasion. Even more so given that such a wonderful goal, in injury time, secured automatic qualifying for a 1st Scotland World Cup appearance since 1998.
With 56 full caps to his name, Steve Clarke clearly trusts him. That was further illustrated when record Scotland captain Andy Robertson subbed off v Japan in March. McLean took the captain’s armband (vice-captain, John McGinn, had already subbed off). A nice moment of recognition for McLean of the trust Clarke places in him. In games in the most recent Nations League campaign, McLean’s performances were among the best in the team.
Why would people criticise Kenny McLean?
He has against him his age (now 34). He is thus unlikely to get any better. Unlike the troubled season of the similarly aged warhorse that is Grant Hanley, numbers though indicate no deterioration in McLean’s performances. However, some fans hoping for a new cap to e.g., explode on the scene as an international star, feel McLean is blocking a squad place.
Emerging contenders
Jordan Holsgrove is now 26. As well as Holsgrove is doing for Estoril, his 7.0 rating is slightly below McLean’s current 7.1 for this season. Holsgrove though plays in a slightly higher rated division than the one McLean plays in (Opta rates the Portuguese top tier at 80.7, 7th globally). Some opine though that, Holsgrove and those younger than him have time to develop and improve.
Others have argued this season that e.g., Hibs’ Josh Mulligan or Motherwell’s Elliot Watt should be called up and given a space in the squad. Ankle injury since January in Mulligan’s case though, makes him a moot point.
Marc Leonard now understandably also has his proponents, following his performances since his January transfer window loan to table-topping Hearts. Mulligan, Watt, Leonard & many others in Scotland though have yet to exhibit that they can reliably deliver in a higher division than Scotland’s top tier. See the table below, comparing divisional Opta ratings (as at 27 April 2026).
| Division | Opta rating | Opta ranking |
| Portuguese top tier | 80.7 | 7th |
| English 2nd tier | 80.1 | 9th |
| Scots top tier | 74.8 | 39th |
The stakes of playing in a World Cup are high enough already. Add to that, if Steve Clarke gets Scotland out of the group in America, it will be seen as the triumphal moment of his legacy as Scotland boss. To further up the stakes for Clarke, the SFA are yet to offer him a new contract. He knows as well as anyone, he has to deliver in this his 3rd time managing Scotland at a major competition finals. If he doesn’t, the job he currently holds will be advertised in the situations vacant columns.
How much does it count against McLean that he plays for Norwich?
Another factor in addition to McLean’s age is he plays for what is perceived by some (ironically in some cases), as a relatively unglamourous club. Norwich don’t play currently in the top tier (although they’ve yo-yoed up and down twice to and from the EPL in McLean’s time at Carrow Road). Nor have Norwich what some see as the glamour of playing in the likes of not just Portugal like Holsgrove. Scots players have all recently played with various levels of success e.g., in Italy, Germany, Spain and Nordic countries. Many in the Tartan Army like football played in such exotic distant shores.
Liam Henderson still holds the record for a Scotsman of 104 Serie A appearances (Lewis Ferguson is catching up, currently on 102). Henderson’s highest league finish in Italy is 14th (on 2 occasions). Among other achievements in Italy, Henderson was rated Empoli’s best player on the night when eliminating Juventus en route to a Coppa Italia semi-final appearance. Respect to Henderson for a career there the vast majority of us can only dream of. Henderson is uncapped at full international level. His achievements in Italy are thus also solid evidence that McLean could have cut the mustard in Serie A, if he had asked his agent to get him a contract there.
Will Clarke drop Kenny McLean from the World Cup squad?
Barring injury (or a dramatic deterioration in global events), no he won’t. The cautious Clarke is clearly reluctant to swap out a player who he so solidly trusts, both on and off the pitch. If a midfielder from the March friendlies squad were to be sacrificed to allow a new call up, that would more likely be the much less proven at international level, Andy Irving. Even that seems unlikely.
Kenny McLean can look forward to the 2026 World Cup. What an occasion that would be for him to surpass his goal v Denmark as a personal career highlight. Barring injury, those in the queue behind him have to wait a wee bit longer.
