The young Scottish striker moved south of the border from Rangers at the start of the 2004/05 season and had something of a dream first season at the club. He was the first man since Mark Bright in 1993/94 to reach the 20 goal mark for the season, those goals a major part of Wednesday's success in gaining promotion to the Championship.
Unfortunately injury kept MacLean out of the final few games of the season but he made a complete surprise appearance as a substitute in the final at the Millennium Stadium. His 82nd minute penalty sent the match into extra-time. The rest, as they say, is for the history books.
That same leg injury kept MacLean out of action for the majority of the following season when the Owls battled to keep their Championship status. His lack of goals upfront really showed as the Owls finished with the second worst attack in the league that season.
He finished the 2006/07 season as top scorer at the club, despite the fact that most of his appearances that season were off the bench. Towards the end of the season there were reports in the media that boss Brian Laws and MacLean had had a fall out during training, although of course this was denied.
Whether it was true or not seemed irrelevant anyway. MacLean was clearly unhappy that despite his scoring record he wasn't a number one choice on the team sheet, instead being rotated amongst the likes of Marcus Tudgay, Deon Burton and Leon Clarke, and in the summer of 2007 contract talks broke down with the club and he reluctantly moved on to Championship rivals Cardiff City.
The Edinburgh born forward was the type of player who was both strong in the air and with the ball at feet, an excellent hold up and linking player. |
