10 times better than any of the midfielders we've presently got. I thought he was a class act and had the potential to play in the EPL due to attributes he had. I was never convinced that Shinnie would do as well going down south though. I don't see McLean moving on to a bigger team though - I think he's probably found his level at the likes of Norwich. Having said that guys like McArthur and McCarthy moved south and moved around EPL clubs for big money and they're not any better than Kenny, so who knows.
I don't blame Shinnie for going and trying his luck down south, whilst earning big bucks in the process - that's fair enough. I just didn't ever think he had the kind of attributes that would make him a success down there. I wish we had him back at the moment - maybe it will happen in January.
People have very high opinion of Ferguson - he's clearly done well for his age, but I'm still failing to see how people think he's not far from a big money move down south or an international call up - for me he's been average at best this season and hasn't really offered much.
It's amazing that some couldn't recognise the abilities McLean had when with us.
I recognised he had talent which made it all the more frustrating when he didn't display it for large swathes of his Aberdeen career.
Conversely, and to his credit, he became a far more important player during his loan spell. It was like the thought of leaving Aberdeen, or perhaps Scottish football, took his game to a different level.
His three European goals (2 x Kairat and 1 x Rijeka) showed that he could be a big time player. Had Hayes managed to slide a ball in front of McLean there was every chance he would've scored the winner in the 2017 Scottish Cup Final.
However, one goal against Manchester City doesn't seal his place in the big time and he had been dropped for the previous three games. It will be interesting to see how his career progresses in Guffball or will this prove to be the high point?
He was a pretty permanent fixture and key player in the team that won promotion last year and has started some and come off the bench in some already this season and done pretty well by all accounts. I think he's suited to playing at that level. I don't get the criticism of him missing in action for large parts of his Aberdeen career - I thought he was fairly consistent and brought quality to the middle of the park. He worked well alongside Shinnie as their attributes complimented one another well. When we had Shinnie, McLean and then Christie ahead of them we played some good football.