Forgotten Scotland star can revive own career and benefit others with return to SPFL
There were great expectations for Scotland international Kevin Nisbet when he moved to English football last summer, believing he could establish himself as one of the team’s primary strikers. However, it’s fair to say that the 27-year-old’s tenure at Millwall has been lackluster. His season was marred by injuries, and he only managed five goals. In his 29 games for the English Championship team, Nisbet has only finished 90 minutes five times and has failed to establish himself as Neil Harris’ go-to No 9. He missed three months of action owing to a significant hamstring injury at the beginning of February, and by the end of the season, “disciplinary issues” had led to his expulsion from the first team. It was an unedifying end to his first year away from Scottish football.
“With Kevin, it’s a disciplinary issue concerning culture and standards,” Harris stated in May following his absence from Swansea’s 1-0 loss. There isn’t a more pressing issue at hand. Moving forward, Kevin will play an important role on our football team. However, I decided to go with the group I did because it wasn’t appropriate to include him today.
Harris clearly saw a future for Nisbet at Millwall back in the spring, but stories emerged on Monday evening that Aberdeen have targeted him for a move back north, most probably on loan. Millwall spent £2 million last summer to prise him away from Hibs and he is contracted to them until 2026. But so far this season, he has played seven minutes of competitive football as a late sub against Watford and was not even listed in the squad for the weekend defeat by Bristol City.
Such has Nisbet’s stock fallen, he was overtaken by Tommy Conway and Lewis Morgan for a place in Scotland’s depleted Euro 2024 squad. Given he was in Steve Clarke’s pool of players for the European Championships three years ago, it is another example of where Nisbet is right now. His career is in need of a big kick-start.
Aberdeen might be able to supply that. The Dons are ambitious under Thelin and have money to spend after selling Bojan Miovski in a transaction that could bring in about £7 million. They desperately need a goal scorer because Ester Sokler hasn’t shown he can produce at this level, Pape Gueye is still getting to know Pittodrie, and Peter Ambrose is a new addition. Although Aberdeen has won all of their games thus far, it is acknowledged that they require a more cutting edge in their assault. Over the course of three successful seasons at Hibs, one of which was cut short by a knee injury, Nisbet scored 31 goals.
After joining from Dunfermline Athletic, he had a turbulent time at Easter Road under three different managers as he developed his all-around game, and his strong play near the conclusion of the 2022–2023 season propelled Hibs into Europe. Strong in the air and a composed finisher, he has scored goals at the Premiership level and is the kind of player Aberdeen should be after if they want to place third in the Premiership.
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