Determined Kai Kennedy is itching to deliver on his burgeoning potential as the former Rangers winger has opened up on the pressure of living up to the hype.
The 22-year-old was widely regarded as the gem of the Ibrox academy with Steven Gerrard going public of his admiration for a talent he described as a “‘fabulous little player”. Kennedy – now with Queen of the South – has lived a life less ordinary for a player of his age with five loan spells during his Rangers career before he moved to York City on a permanent deal in the summer of 2023. It was a far cry from the hype which followed his eye-catching exploits in the Alkass Cup at the age of 16.
Now he’s a key man for the Doohamers and is showing a remarkable maturity to appreciate his journey which belies his tender years. Speaking to the Rangers Review on platitudes combined with presssure, the wide man said: “I think I did struggle with it personally. I can openly admit that I struggled with it. I’ve gone down to levels where people are going ‘Oh what’s happened to him? Blah, blah, blah’. But that probably played in my head for a few years when I was younger. I would admit that I mentally struggled with it… I wish I was better at it.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t. But I feel like now that I’ve done all that, I’m in a lot better place and I can deal with a lot more things. As I said, I think this year is probably the best year I’ve felt in football mentally in a long time. So I’d probably admit that I did struggle with it and of course, I wish I didn’t. Long story short, I was at Rangers five years ago when I made my debut, and I went down the way. I say it to my dad, you see it all the time, boys go down and then they find their way back up. I feel like that’s what I’m trying to do and hopefully, I do it.
“I’ve gone down, I’ve learned a lot over these loans I’ve had. I’ve had so much advice, learned a lot, learned men’s football. I think I’ve learned so much in these last five years since making my debut and I think now is the time where I’m benefiting from it and I can start to look up and push forward again and get to where I know I can be.”