Kennedy move rekindled by
Plans to send Everton winger to Easter Road on loan last season were scrapped in light of club’s struggles under Butcher
MATTHEW Kennedy is gearing up for his first taste of the Edinburgh derby but the player could well have been introduced to its unique qualities had he and Everton manager Roberto Martinez consented to a loan move to Hibernian last January.
What is it they say about out of the mouths of bairns? Kennedy, still only 19, was not meaning to pass judgment yesterday on what had gone before. Rather, he was simply being honest while explaining the circuitous route taken on the way to becoming a Hibs player. He wore the green jersey for the first time when coming on as substitute in last weekend’s 2-1 win over Livingston. But he might have pulled it over his head as far back as January. After deciding that Kennedy, a winger/midfielder, needed to continue learning his trade in a firstteam football environment, Martinez, who had taken over from David Moyes as Everton manager in the summer of 2013, considered Hibs as a possible location. At first glance, it made sense; a well-appointed training ground, a good
“I had the chance to come here last year but they were just booting it up the park. Now Alan has come in you can tell it’s about passing and movement” Matthew Kennedy
is why I came,” he added, while also admitting he is struggling to know how to refer to someone he used to play table tennis with at Finch Farm, Everton’s training ground. Is it Alan, Stubbsie or Gaffer? “He was laughing at me before the game at the weekend,” said Kennedy. “I half-called him ‘Stubbsie’ and ‘Gaffer’ at the same time!”
They are kindred spirits. “I like to play attacking football and that is the way he [Stubbs] plays.
“Because of my age I would probably have ended up going lower Championship or higher up in League One but we decided to come here,” continued Kennedy. “He [Martinez] knows what he is getting with Alan. He knows how Alan works with the players and he likes the way he has been treating me. He wants me to come to a lower league because he wants me to learn about the game, to see where I can and cannot go rather than being stuck out wide in League One. He wants me to go and create chances and be a match-winner.”
Rather than join Hibs in January, Kennedy ended up at Tranmere Rovers on a short-term loan, before joining MK Dons for the remainder of the season. Fortunately, in retrospect, he managed to escape Hibs’ death spiral towards the Championship. “Obviously I was not here last year. But I have heard some of the boys say it was not the best,” said Kennedy.
Martinez, who once played for Motherwell and has a healthy respect for the Scottish game, was eager for Kennedy to return north of the Border. Not everyone else has such a positive view of the Scottish game, however. “A lot of people do not understand Scottish football,” reported Kennedy. “A lot of the boys were