Connolly has to regain love of game
Kenny is hoping Serie B loan can inspire Aaron
He said: “Vieira did an incredibly good job in his first season at Nice and then it didn’t quite go as planned in the second.
“That second season syndrome would be playing in the back of your mind.
“I still think Palace will be fine, but it’s when the fans start looking for more that the manager has to manage expectations.”
Delaney reckons Killian Phillips has a bright future at Palace after his move from Drogheda United in January.
Comfortable in defence and midfield, the teenager is held in high regard after featuring for the first-team in pre-season.
Delaney said: “I spoke to a couple of people at the club regarding him and they are really delighted by him.
“They weren’t expecting him to have the impact on pre-season that he had with the first-team.
“They were impressed with his size, mobility but most importantly his attitude. The first thing people said was ‘Jesus, he’s a good lad’.
“He just needs to take it into his 23s season and he could be going out on loan very, very soon.
“He has to earn that but from what I’ve been told, they’re really impressed.”
STEPHEN Kenny hopes that Aaron Connolly can “rekindle his love” of football during his season-long loan with Venezia.
The Ireland striker — dropped by Kenny for last October’s World Cup qualifiers and yet to be recalled — has joined the Serie B club from Brighton and Hove Albion, where he has drifted out of the first-team frame.
A five month loan stint at Middlesbrough to May failed to reignite Connolly’s career and he admitted last week that it was crucial for him to refocus.
The 22 year old also conceded that one of the reasons for his move to the Italian second tier is to allow him to also discard some of his previous friendships that appeared better suited to him making the front pages, rather than the back page ones.
Love
“He maybe just fell out of love with the game a bit,” said Kenny of the eight-times capped international who exploded on to the senior stage in the autumn of 2019 under Mick McCarthy following an impressive spell for The Seagulls, when he netted twice against Spurs.
“You’re not going to have a squad where every player is perfect. None of us are perfect.
“As a Premier League player, times have changed. The modern era, with video phones and camera phones, nothing is sacrosanct. It’s difficult but he’s still young and has his best years ahead of him.
“He has a great family in Galway and I’m sure he will be keen to do well in Italy, so who knows.”
Kenny had firsthand knowledge of the Galway man having managed him for 12 months at Under-21 level from November, 2018.
Pace
Connolly’s pace and skill posed defenders real problems and Kenny believes that the player’s loss of these attributes were central to his loss of form.
“He had an all round game and his ability to dribble was a big thing in his game,” added Kenny. “When he was playing in the Under-21 team and broke through initially into Brighton’s first team, Mick picked him in the senior team after his two goals against Tottenham.
“He was a brilliant dribbler. You could play him off the left and he would turn people inside out, he could dribble quickly and accelerate into the game.
“That didn’t seem to be part of his game anymore, his ability to dribble. He spoke about his work rate and ability to press but they are all things that can be rectified.
“He just needs to find a team that he can flourish in but it’s not easy. It’s not easy.
“Hopefully he can rekindle his love for the game and he can flourish because he is still very young.