Six months after leaving Sligo Rovers Johnny Kenny was back in red, backing his old club against Motherwell at Fir Park.Â
Around 400 Rovers fans enjoyed a memorable night as they beat Graham Alexander’s side 1-0 thanks to a first half goal from one time Hearts striker Aidan Keena.Â
Kenny came through the ranks at Sligo, scoring 11 goals last season to help his old club into the Europa Conference then earning them a transfer fee from his move to Celtic.Â
He’s one of our own! ??? @johnny_kenny2 #WellMudder pic.twitter.com/EOttZfOhJF
— Sligo Rovers DSC (@SRFC_DSC) July 21, 2022
Rovers now look to be in a strong position to move into the third qualifying round of the competition with a clash against Sparta Prague or Norwegian side Viking.Â
Kenny will have to watch the return leg from afar as he waits to find out what plans Celtic have for his future.Â
Despite scoring twice in the pre-season friendly win over Wiener Viktoria it is highly unlikely that he will be part of the first team squad with a loan deal to a Championship side probably the next step in his development rather than playing in the Lowland League.Â
Unfortunately, being good enough for the fist team doesn’t get you a place in the first team squad; witness Adam Montgomery, Conor Hazard. An algorithm probably decides when you will get a berth in there and it’s probably down to quotients, number of places available and probably based on wage-structure. Which is a pity because it tends to stifle talent and reduce competition. That cannot be a good thing in the long run because and also, we won’t see the best of the talent which is available!