Scotland star Scott McKenna has been branded “the worst player I’ve ever seen” by a former teammate.
The former Aberdeen defender, who is now a regular for Las Palmas in La Liga alongside international teammate Oli McBurnie, was slammed by ex-Copenhagen colleague Kamil Grabara on a podcast in his homeland – with the keeper stinging in his criticism of the 28-year-old for his showings during a loan spell in Denmark from English Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest last season. During the loan the two players had to reportedly be separated after a fiery training ground bust up, with the Pole admitting that he “couldn’t stand” McKenna.
Speaking on the Foot Truck podcast the former Liverpool keeper, known for his vocal presence on the park, said: “I think that most of the players that I played with, despite some of my expressions attitude, were grateful. I had one case though with a Scot in Copenhagen, Scott McKenna was the worst footballer I’ve ever seen in my life. Let’s be clear he was the worst footballer I’ve seen. He now plays in Las Palmas, I don’t know how on earth, he was the worst footballer I’ve ever played with and I just had no patience for him.
“I had situations in training where we were working on some play and he did it his way three times. And the fourth time I told him not to do that. And the fifth time he did it again. I couldn’t stand it, and there were some minor or major fights. It was a situation when I just couldn’t stand the player, he probably couldn’t stand me either, so that will be clearly why he didn’t treat me as a great friend. But he was the only footballer with whom I didn’t feel like training with and I didn’t feel like talking to him.”
Grabara and McKenna even came to blows in training, with Danish website Bold.dk reporting that they had to be pulled apart after an angry exchange in April. They said: “Scott McKenna gets fed up with the shouting from Grabara, which is why he asks the keeper to ‘shut up’ in English. And it’s that comment that causes things to escalate, after which the two have to be separated by their teammates while they continue arguing. ”
McKenna, who has played 39 times for Steve Clarke’s national side, left Aberdeen for Nottingham Forrest in an £3m deal in 2020. After more than 100 appearances for the club he helped back to the English Premier League, he spent the latter half of last season on loan at the Danish capital, before signing for Las Palmas in the summer – and playing 90 minutes for the Gran Canaria side in a historic win against Barcelona earlier this season. Grabara meanwhile also left Copenhagen over the summer, joining Bundesliga side Wolfsburg for €13.5m.