The curious case of Barrie McKay’s unfulfilled potential as Fleetwood Town take on Hull City

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Simon Grayson will be looking for his Fleetwood Town side to finish the season strongly as they travel to league leaders Hull City.

After a good run of form since his appointment at the end of January, the former Preston manager looks to be a shrewd appointment for the Cod Army.

Despite the play-offs looking maybe a step too far, Grayson will have a firm eye on a promotion push in the next campaign with the club already securing the futures of Alex Cairns, Jordan Rossiter and Dan Batty in recent months. The future of loanee Barrie McKay however still remains up in the air.

Having found himself out of favour at parent club Swansea City, the Scotsman dropped down a division into League One in search of first-team football but it’s been another season where his productivity has not matched his talent. So what does the future hold for McKay and what’s contributed to the situation he finds himself in?

Whilst a fall from grace would be an over-exaggeration, McKay is yet to fulfil his potential since moving south of the border from Rangers. The 26-year-old played his part in the Gers return to the top flight following their relegation down to the bottom tier of Scottish football, making 140 appearances, with 20 goals and 39 assists to his name.

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Largely remembered for his wonder goal in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup against Celtic and scoring again in the penalty shootout to take Rangers to the Final, his time at Ibrox was never fully convincing.

“He blew hot and cold for Rangers” Dan Westwell – Rangers fan

As Mark Warburton left the Glasgow giants under a cloud in February 2017, McKay linked up with his former manager in the summer of the same year, moving to Nottingham Forest for £750,000.

After an impressive start to life in the second tier of English football, McKay racked up five goals and seven assists in 28 appearances for the Reds. His ability to glide with the ball either from out wide or in the No.10 slot made him an early fans favourite with many supporters purring that he was going to be one of the bargains of the season.

Sadly for McKay, his form took a dip as Forest’s early-season promise had fallen apart by Christmas of that campaign.

“McKay wilted early if there was any physicality in the game. He definitely had ability but you’d have to question his heart for the game” Chris Slack – Nottingham Forest fan.

As things went wrong for Warburton on Trentside, McKay didn’t get a look in under his replacement Aitor Karanka, who took over the reigns in January 2018 and immediately dipped into the transfer market to sign Joe Lolley and Lee Tomlin.

Having been frozen at the City Ground, it was somewhat of a surprise that Swansea City decided to take a punt with Graham Potter the next manager to try and tease the best out of the Scotsman.

Similarly to his time at Forest, McKay hit the ground running once more, scoring three goals and providing eight assists in 39 appearances for the Swans but soon found himself out of favour and left out of the matchday squad entirely for periods of time.

“Inconsistent would probably be the polite way to put it, one game he looked like a world-beater then the next ten games; you wouldn’t know he was on the pitch. He’s finished with the Swans, I think he’s a confidence player but he never really hit it off with us” Ant Dews – Swansea City fan.

With no future under Steve Cooper, McKay joined Fleetwood Town on loan in January 2020 and was part of the squad that were knocked out of the League One play-offs at the hands of Wycombe Wanderers.

McKay had done enough in the initial spell (one goal and two assists in 11 appearances) to get a second chance for the Cod Army with a season-long from the Swans. Once again, a similar pattern emerged. A largely ineffective period left him frozen out of the first-team squad after failing to impress new coach Simon Grayson, who replaced Joey Barton in January.

McKay has been handed another opportunity in recent weeks and the diminutive winger scored the decisive goal in Fleetwood’s win over AFC Wimbledon having come off the bench.  He started in last weekend’s win over Rochdale and his performances have given Grayson further food for thought before his deal expires at the end of the season.

“McKay hasn’t really played this season. He started well but faded out of the team and has just recently come back in. He looks good, he’s very skilful and the best player we have technically. He likes to get on the ball and run at defences” Knappers – Fleetwood Town fan.

Going into the final six games of the season, it feels like it’s now or never for Paisley-born McKay to make his move at Fleetwood. With one Scotland cap to his name, and still only 26, he’s still got a lot of football left in him to rekindle those flames that had reputable coaches taking a chance on him.

Potentially, the Scotsman could be one of the standout players in the league but at this point in his career, the battle seemingly lies in earning the right to showcase his skills. Whether he’ll be trusted to face up against Hull’s all-action Lewie Coyle remains to be seen.  There won’t be a better opportunity to put himself in the shop window against the division’s high flyers.

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Following Sunderland’s shock defeat to battling Wigan Athletic on Tuesday evening, it’s already been an excellent week for Grant McCann’s Hull City without a ball being kicked. Having had a full week to prepare on the back of last week’s convincing 3-0 win over Plymouth Argyle, the Northern Irishman knows that his side has to remain focussed against Fleetwood with the finishing line on the horizon.

“It’s another tough game for us, a team that is in the top six for the last 10 games in the division on form.

“We understand we’re up against a good Fleetwood team and we’ll have to be at our best to get a result.”

Now three points clear of Peterborough United and an eight-point cushion between them and third-placed Sunderland, it’s in City’s hands to be crowned champions with a huge week coming up for the Tigers.

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