A tale of two Billys

[Fez of Mahrez]

Written this for the Merc blog but thought it might be of interest to some on here (have removed the first part because it's separate to why I've posted this really):

I used to live my life according to how Leicester City's results went. If they lost, I'd be miserable for a couple of days. If they won, I'd be happy. Save for a couple of the local rivalries, I don't think that's the case any more. I take an interest in anything that happens in the world of football that has an association with our club, no matter how tenuous or insignificant. Last night, for instance, Northampton Town faced Accrington Stanley at Sixfields and it meant a meeting between two strikers named Billy who have passed through the Leicester City Academy in recent years.

Billy Kee, born and raised in Leicester and still under contract at the club, has just entered the second half of a season-long loan at Stanley. He has found first-team opportunities hard to come by and media coverage of his spell in League Two has been understandably limited. Kee was prolific at youth-team level, scoring 40 goals in 42 games for our Under-18 side in the past two years, and this is a huge season for him. Last night, he was a half-time substitute for Accrington with his side trailing by an Adebayo Akinfenwa goal. Within fifteen minutes, the game was out of sight as a former Leicester City youth player scored twice to seal the home side's victory.

Billy McKay was born in the Northamptonshire town of Corby and was similarly prolific in City's youth team, before being released by the club in the summer. He looked set to drop out of the league before earning a deal with the Cobblers, but struggled to impress early on. McKay managed a goal here and there but looked lightweight and failed to make an impact in the early months of the season.

Now, things are different. Northampton are on a superb run of form which has catapulted them towards the play-off places with McKay taking a large amount of the credit as part of a burgeoning strike partnership with the robust Akinfenwa. He took his brace last night brilliantly, particularly the first strike, and earnt special praise from Cobblers manager Ian Sampson. McKay left the field with a smile on his face but made sure he consoled his Northern Ireland youth international team-mate Kee for his difficult evening, two young men so similar in so many ways but currently experiencing contrasting fortunes. Whatever happens in the future for the two Billys, I'll be trying to keep track of their progress.

[StanSP]

Nice read mate.

Especially agreeing with the god-given right part. (EDIT: you edited that part out as I wrote this )

And glad to see the youngsters making a name for themselves.

[Fez of Mahrez]

Nice read mate.

Especially agreeing with the god-given right part. (EDIT: you edited that part out as I wrote this )

And glad to see the youngsters making a name for themselves.

you were in there quick!

That's another discussion for another topic that I will studiously avoid!!

[StanSP]

you were in there quick!

That's another discussion for another topic that I will studiously avoid!!

Probably for the best

[Finnegan]

What's that coming over the hill, is it a Thracian?

[Craig]

What's that coming over the hill, is it a Thracian?

[Thracian]

Written this for the Merc blog but thought it might be of interest to some on here (have removed the first part because it's separate to why I've posted this really):

I used to live my life according to how Leicester City's results went. If they lost, I'd be miserable for a couple of days. If they won, I'd be happy. Save for a couple of the local rivalries, I don't think that's the case any more. I take an interest in anything that happens in the world of football that has an association with our club, no matter how tenuous or insignificant. Last night, for instance, Northampton Town faced Accrington Stanley at Sixfields and it meant a meeting between two strikers named Billy who have passed through the Leicester City Academy in recent years.

Billy Kee, born and raised in Leicester and still under contract at the club, has just entered the second half of a season-long loan at Stanley. He has found first-team opportunities hard to come by and media coverage of his spell in League Two has been understandably limited. Kee was prolific at youth-team level, scoring 40 goals in 42 games for our Under-18 side in the past two years, and this is a huge season for him. Last night, he was a half-time substitute for Accrington with his side trailing by an Adebayo Akinfenwa goal. Within fifteen minutes, the game was out of sight as a former Leicester City youth player scored twice to seal the home side's victory.

Billy McKay was born in the Northamptonshire town of Corby and was similarly prolific in City's youth team, before being released by the club in the summer. He looked set to drop out of the league before earning a deal with the Cobblers, but struggled to impress early on. McKay managed a goal here and there but looked lightweight and failed to make an impact in the early months of the season.

Now, things are different. Northampton are on a superb run of form which has catapulted them towards the play-off places with McKay taking a large amount of the credit as part of a burgeoning strike partnership with the robust Akinfenwa. He took his brace last night brilliantly, particularly the first strike, and earnt special praise from Cobblers manager Ian Sampson. McKay left the field with a smile on his face but made sure he consoled his Northern Ireland youth international team-mate Kee for his difficult evening, two young men so similar in so many ways but currently experiencing contrasting fortunes. Whatever happens in the future for the two Billys, I'll be trying to keep track of their progress.

McKay's performance is no surprise to me. McKay doesn't just score goals, he never stops passing, moving and making life easier for his team-mates.

Not only that he's a prodigious worker and utterly selfless. The sort of player anyone would like in their team. His lightweight stature didn't help him here but I never did understand us letting him go so early and without any sort of first team involvement.

But then I didn't understand our approach with Chris O'Grady either.

He's scoring goals for fun at Rochdale these days - and notched a beauty against us when he came here. But his face didn't quite fit for one reason or another.

Seems we've not the skill, the will or the patience to fine-tune our young professionals on their final steps towards the first team. It's all about "now" and the constant importing of so-often indifferent loanees. I'll look forward to seeing how both progress, especially considering the goals we've managed from our celebrated so-called marksmen (Fryatt excepted in the main) over recent years.