Steve MacLean (footballer)
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| Steve MacLean | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Steven MacLean | |
| Date of birth | August 23, 1982 | |
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Plymouth Argyle | |
| Number | 9 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2002-2004 2003-2004 2004-2007 2007-2008 2008- |
Rangers → Scunthorpe United (loan) Sheffield Wednesday Cardiff City Plymouth Argyle |
3 (0) 42 (23) 84 (33) 15 (1) 17 (3) |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Steve MacLean (born August 23, 1982 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a forward. He currently plays for Plymouth Argyle. Maclean grew up as a Hibs fan in Peebles and is related to former Easter Road midfielder Kevin Thomson, now of Rangers.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
[edit] Early Days
He began his career at Rangers and had a successful loan spell at Scunthorpe United (where he was given the nickname 'The Loan Ranger') scoring 25 goals but despite this manager Alex McLeish deemed that he was not "a first team prospect" and placed him on the transfer list.[1] He signed for Sheffield Wednesday for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £125,000, and signed a three- year deal.[2] Though injured for most of the 2005/06 season he was a favourite amongst Sheffield Wednesday fans, affectionately referred to as "Macca."
[edit] Sheffield Wednesday
MacLean was a popular figure at former club Sheffield Wednesday where he scored 20 goals in his first season, including a hat-trick against Doncaster Rovers. This was Wednesday's first away hat-trick for 32 years. He also scored a crucial penalty under pressure in the League One play-off final in 2005. He was the first Sheffield Wednesday player to hit the 20 goal mark in one season since Mark Bright in 1994. These exploits lead to him picking up a couple of fan's player of the season awards.
MacLean sustained a broken leg on the eve of the club's Championship campaign in August 2005, but returned in the latter part of the season to score two penalties for Wednesday, at home to rivals Sheffield United in a 2-1 defeat and the league champions Reading that earned the Owls a 1-1 draw.
MacLean sustained another injury setback in August 2006 after scoring in a 1-1 draw against Burnley but made a comeback a month later in the defeat to Derby County.
He finished the 2006-2007 season with 13 goals from 22 first team starts and 22 substitute appearances making him the club's joint top goal scorer for the season with Deon Burton and showing signs of returning to the form in which he played with in 2004-2005. MacLean is a clinical finisher and was a much loved player amongst Owls fans.
[edit] Cardiff City
On the 22 June 2007 it was announced that MacLean had signed for Sheffield Wednesday's Championship rivals Cardiff City after failing to agree a new contract at Hillsborough.[3] The move was a surprise to many Owls fans as MacLean was rumoured to have declared his willingness and desire to remain at the club. Speculation arose during the prolonged contract-talks with Wednesday that MacLean was demanding a significant pay-rise from that of his previous contract. It is possible that another stumbling block which prevented Sheffield Wednesday renewing MacLean's contract was a clause in his contract which would grant Rangers £50,000 if he re-signed. [1]
MacLean began the season as Cardiff's leading striker after Robbie Fowler was deemed not fit enough to play in some of the teams opening games. Famous for having never missed a penalty in his career, he came to Cardiff to miss one on his debut, leaving his new club to lose 1-0 to Stoke City on the first game of the season. However with Fowler soon returning and the arrival of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink MacLean found himself relegated to the bench. Things continued to get worse for him as he suffered ruptured ankle ligaments in a reserve match against Plymouth Argyle which was expected to rule him out until December.[4] However he made an early return coming on as a substitute in a 1-0 loss to Southampton on 21 October 2007. After his return he made just three starts for Cardiff, in a 2-0 defeat against Charlton Athletic, a 2-2 draw with Watford, a 3-1 win against Chasetown in the FA Cup and mostly late substitute appearances.
[edit] Plymouth Argyle
After finding himself out of favour at Cardiff after struggling to find the net at start to the season, MacLean officially signed a 3 and a half year deal with Plymouth Argyle on 18 January 2008 and reunited himself with former Sheffield Wednesday manager Paul Sturrock. The deal is believed to be worth around £500,000, a record signing for Argyle. [2] He made his debut for the club the next day in a 1-1 draw against Southampton and scored his first goal for the club on 12 February in the 6th minute against Barnsley in a 3-0 win at Home Park.
[edit] International career
He has been capped by Scotland at Under-21 level, and has been tipped to win full honours in the future.
[edit] Club stats
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| Rangers | 2002-03 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Scunthorpe United (loan) | 2003-04 | 42 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 24 |
| Subtotal | 45 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 24 | |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 2004-05 | 37 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 19 |
| 2005-06 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2006-07 | 41 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 13 | |
| Subtotal | 129 | 56 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 140 | 58 | |
| Cardiff City | 2007-08 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| Subtotal | 144 | 57 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 158 | 59 | |
| Plymouth Argyle | 2007-08 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 |
| Total | 161 | 60 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 175 | 62 | |
[edit] Honours
- Rangers
- Scottish Cup Winner: 1
- Cardiff City
- FA Cup Runner-up: 1
[edit] References
- ^ "MacLean on transfer list" BBC Sport Retrieved on 1 October 2007
- ^ "Owls complete MacLean deal" BBC Sport Retrieved on 1 October 2007
- ^ "Cardiff capture Rae and MacLean" BBC Sport Retrieved on 1 October 2007
- ^ "Cardiff suffer double injury blow" BBC Sport Retrieved on 1 October 2007
[edit] External links
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