Everton right back Jonjoe Kenny produced one of his best performances for the club in the 3-0 win over Leeds United last Saturday.
has been talking about his “difficult period” at Celtic, in an interview with Everton TV. The defender arrived at Celtic amid the turmoil of a Covid affected season when Celtic’s decade of domination in the league was coming to an end, for one season at least.
Kenny managed 14 appearances for Celtic and certainly did little to raise the levels or improve what was a faltering Celtic side, packed with wantaways. Now Kenny has stated that off the field issues had an impact on his unhappy time in Glasgow.
There was certainly no chance that Celtic and Kenny would be looking to make the switch permanent but fair play to the player, the 24 year old returned to Everton, got his head down and is currently getting match-time under new Everton boss Frank Lampard.
Speaking to EvertonTV, Kenny had this to say about his loan spell at Celtic last season.
“Celtic was a difficult period for me, off the pitch, especially. But having close family and friends and my agent and good mentors around me, and choosing that path and having these people who can really help me progress, changed a lot of things for me mentally.
“I have had a lot of ups and downs but it is about staying at it and doing what I need and focusing on me.”
Kenny though is now looking forward to making an impact at Everton under Lampard.
“I wasn’t playing but it was down to me (to regain my place), I looked at myself and changed a lot of things, I didn’t make excuses anymore and forced my way back in,” Kenny told evertontv .
“It was my mindset of, ‘I want to play for Everton’. I want to be the best player I can. I am a local lad but I want to show everyone what I am about.
“It is not just lying down and letting the bad times take over. I had a lot of lows and that is part of football – but those moments mean nothing when you are this high.
“I expected to be where I am now because I trained and had the mental focus to get where I want.
Photo: Jane Barlow
I love to defend, everyone knows that – and I showed moments going forward (against Leeds), which I know I have. It is just having that confidence in myself to go and express that.
“I knew my chance was going to come, just not when it would come, and wanted to make sure I was ready. I made everything down to me, changed what I needed to and tried to get rid of excuses, which is difficult. I didn’t want to be giving the excuse that I wasn’t ready or didn’t take my opportunity.”
Kenny is doing well at Everton and the best of luck to him too. He came into a frankly impossible situation at Celtic where the environment wasn’t ever going to allow him or anyone else to shine.
