Ascertained The former Rangers winger has opened up about the pressure to live up to the hype, and Kai Kennedy is eager to fulfill his growing potential.
With Steven Gerrard publicly expressing his enthusiasm for a talent he called a “fabulous little player,” the 22-year-old was largely considered the diamond of the Ibrox academy. With five loan stints during his Rangers career before moving to York City on a permanent deal in the summer of 2023, Kennedy has led a life that is unusual for a player his age. He is currently with Queen of the South. It was a long cry from the fervor that surrounded his spectacular performances in the Alkass Cup at the age of sixteen.
He is now a vital member of the Doohamers and is shown a great level of maturity to recognize his journey, which defies his young age. “I think I did struggle with it personally,” the wide player remarked in an interview with the Rangers Review about the combination of pressure and clichés. I’ll be honest: I had trouble with it. I’ve descended to the point where people ask, “Oh, what happened to him? Blah, blah, blah. But when I was younger, that most likely ran through my mind for a few years. I’ll confess that I had mental difficulties with it. I wish I had more skill 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.”
