McKenna: Hladky Has Been Excellent
Friday, 22nd Sep 2023 15:45

Town boss Kieran McKenna says Vaclav Hladky’s form this season has come as little surprise to him, the Czech having started every Championship game after last season’s first-choice Christian Walton suffered a plantar fascia tear in pre-season.

Hladky, 32, has helped the Blues to six wins from their first seven games and to third in the table, behind second-placed Leicester on goal difference and leaders Preston by a point, keeping four clean sheets, including two in the last two at Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton.

“He's been excellent,” McKenna said. “It's easy to say, but I think we showed it in our decision when Christian had the injury, we had every confidence in Vaz because we've seen, certainly I've seen, how he's worked over the last 18 months.

‘We’ve seen how he's worked with [head of goalkeeping] Rene [Gilmartin] and the fantastic mentality he has to training every day, his performances in training every day, his performances in the cup competitions, his performance in my first game when I arrived [the 1-0 victory over Wycombe], gave us every indication that we had a very good goalkeeper there.

“Christian's been terrific for us and been a massive part of the team, but we knew that we had two very, very good senior goalkeepers in the building.

“So there was certainly no undue panic when Christian was injured. Vaz has come into the team, he brings his own slant to it, he brings his own qualities to the position as well and he's certainly brought that to the team.

“He's been an important player for us and it's great to have such quality in that position with two excellent senior goalkeepers and two really good young goalkeepers beneath that as well.”

Despite Town’s hugely impressive start to the season, McKenna has no problem keeping his players’ feet on the ground.

“We like to hope so,” he said. “Of course, you can't take that for granted, you have to keep giving the right messages, making sure that the leaders in the group are also spreading the right messages and that's what we continually try to do.

“We know it's such a long season, such a tough division and tough games come so thick and fast.

“We've got another massive one tomorrow [at home to Blackburn], a really, really good opponent, so that sharpens the mind very, very quickly after a night like Tuesday night, where we enjoyed the win and we enjoyed the performance.

“You don't have too much time to relax on it because by Wednesday, we're here and we're preparing for Blackburn, and you can see their strengths and the threats they're going to pose.

“We really quickly turn our minds to making sure that we're ready for the next game, and that's what we focused on last season, and that's how we continue to focus this season.”

At Southampton, McKenna made four changes, the first time he has dipped deeper into his squad this season, and those coming into the side didn’t let him down.

“I think the players realise that squad depth is going to be even more important to us this year because they feel how hard the games are, they feel how hard we're having to work,” he continued.

“We know what the calendar is. We know this period between the international breaks, we have seven games in 21 days and all high-level games.

“So at the moment, it's a very unified squad and everyone knows that the players who are on the pitch on that particular game are representing the rest of the squad, but that people are going to be needed at different times.

“And when you have a game like Tuesday night where other players come into the team for their first starts in the league or people come off the bench who haven't been involved in the few games beforehand and they contribute, I think that always unifies your bonds in the squad, and even enhances the feeling that everyone's going to have their part to play over the course of the year.”

Photo: Matchday Images

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earlsgreenblue added 16:01 - Sep 22 He’s the man of the moment & will retain his place for sure, I think it will take a run of bad luck to see him ousted, long may it / he continue.
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grow_our_own added 16:22 - Sep 22

Yes Hladky's grown a pair since he first arrived. He was always better than Walton with his feet, but in his first season was quite frankly a wimp when competing for crosses, diving towards posts, and at the feet of oncoming strikers. Statistically was among the worst keepers in L1 that year. Totally transformed. Keepers must have a little bit of a "no pain, no glory" attitude, and I think he gets this now.

ArnieM added 16:27 - Sep 22 Sorry, but he keeps his place right! Walton had a fight on his hands to get that number 1 shirt back!
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:38 - Sep 22 I'd be surprised if Hladky is replaced in the near future. Not K McK's style.
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MK1 added 16:51 - Sep 22 I think he has been great in a back 5 that have been excellent. Good on him. Keep him in until/if he has a run of bad games.
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gosblue added 16:54 - Sep 22 Keeping Vaz was the best bit of business in the summer. Super KMcK, he knows exactly what we need.
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Flight_of_Shefki added 19:38 - Sep 22 I'm rooting for Vaz. He was called, he came in and he has smashed it. Also, credit to RG doing his work in the training ground with all the keepers in the first team. Brilliant.
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