Marián Kello

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Marián Kello
Personal information
Full nameMarián Kello
Date of birth (1982-09-05) 5 September 1982
Place of birthGelnica, Czechoslovakia
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Club information
Current clubSt. Mirren
Number28
Youth career
1. FC Košice
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2001–20021. FC Košice1(0)
2002–2006FC Vítkovice88(0)
2007–2008FBK Kaunas28(0)
2008–2012Heart of Midlothian79(0)
2012Astra Giurgiu2(0)
2013Wolverhampton Wanderers0(0)
2013–St. Mirren15(0)
National team‡
2011Slovakia3(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 February 2014.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 June 2013

Marián Kello (born 5 September 1982) is a Slovakian international footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He is currently playing for Scottish Premiership club St. Mirren. Kello has previously played for 1. FC Košice, FC Vítkovice, FBK Kaunas, Heart of Midlothian, Astra Giurgiu, Wolverhampton Wanderers and has represented Slovakia.

Club career

He began his career at Slovakian side 1. FC Košice in 2001, where he spent a year of his career before moving to Czech side, FC Vítkovice at the age of 19.[1] After a four-year spell with Vítkovice, he moved to Lithuanian champions FBK Kaunas. He became first choice goalkeeper for Kaunas with his impressive displays against Scottish side, Rangers and Danish champions AaB Aalborg which helped earn him a move to Hearts.

Hearts

On 14 August 2008 Kello joined Hearts on loan from Kaunas.[2] He made his debut on 23 August 2008 in a 2–1 victory against St. Mirren at Tynecastle.[3] He maintained his place in the team until the Edinburgh Derby on 19 October 2008 when he suffered a head injury in a clash with Hibs striker Colin Nish and had to be replaced by János Balogh at half-time. He subsequently lost his place in the team to the Hungarian[4] and made only two further appearances before the split. He returned to the team for Hearts' final six games of the season and conceded only three goals as the Jambos secured third place in the league and a place in the inaugural UEFA Europa League.

On 2 August 2010, Hearts announced he had signed a two year deal with the club, after his contract at FBK Kaunas expired.[5] The 2009–10 season saw Kello entrenched in a three-way battle to be first-choice goalkeeper with Balogh and Jamie MacDonald with Balogh narrowly making the most appearance over the course of the season.

He went on to establish himself as Hearts' first-choice goalkeeper during the 2010–11 season. On 2 October 2010 Kello turned in a heroic performance against Rangers only for Hearts to succumb to a stoppage time goal from Steven Naismith in a 2–1 loss at Tynecastle.[6] His save to deny Steven Davis in this match was voted Save of the Season at the SPL end of season awards.[7]

On 20 November Kello paid tribute to legendary Hearts goalkeeper Jim Cruickshank, who had died two days earlier, by tying a goalkeeper shirt with Cruickshank's name and number printed on the back in the net of his goal. Hearts defeated Hamilton 2–0 with Kello saving a penalty. After the match manager Jim Jefferies praised Kello saying "Jim Cruickshank was a great penalty saver. How fitting is it that Marian comes out with the jersey and makes a fantastic save from a penalty on the day we paid our respects to him?"[8] He once again produced his best form against Rangers as he made a string of saves to keep a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory at Tynecastle which saw Hearts keep pace with the Old Firm at the summit of the table.[9] His impressive form continued as he saved a stoppage time penalty from David Goodwillie to preserve a 2–1 win against Dundee United as Hearts extended their lead in third place in the league.[10] This along with other impressive performances saw him awarded the SPL Player of the Month award for February 2011.[11] He picked up three awards at Hearts' end of season awards winning the Hearts' Player of the Season, Save of the Season and Fans' Player of the Season awards.[12]

Following the dismissal of Jefferies as manager at the start of the 2011–12 season and appointment of Paulo Sérgio Kello continued as first-choice goalkeeper. On 31 January 2011, the last day of the winter transfer window, it was rumoured that Hearts had agreed a deal with Austria Wien for Kello only for him to turn down the transfer. He missed the Scottish Cup tie against St. Johnstone the following weekend, it was originally reported his absence was due to a back injury.[13] However after the match manager Paulo Sérgio revealed that the goalkeeper's exclusion was "a political thing" and that he was instructed to drop him.[14] Two days later Kello confirmed that he had turned down the Austria Wien transfer and that Celtic had also expressed an interest in him. With his contract set to expire in June 2012 he also revealed that he would not be signing a new contract with Hearts thus confirming that he would depart the club at the end of the season.[15]

With interest from Aston Villa and other English clubs to sign a pre-contract agreement,[16] on 5 April 2012 Kello agreed to an early termination to his Hearts contract.[17][18] After being released by the club Kello joined Ipswich Town on trial.[19] He featured in two pre-season frendlies as a trialist but, despite impressing manager Paul Jewell, a permanent move was ruled out.[20] He then joined Wolverhampton Wanderers on trial[21] and played the full match in a pre-season friendly against AFC Telford United in a 2-0 victory[22] but again no permanent deal was agreed.

Astra Giurgiu

Kello joined Romanian Liga I club Astra Giurgiu after having a trial for ten days[23] He made his debut for the club on 5 October 2012 in a 1-1 home draw with FC Vaslui. With Romanian international Silviu Lung Jr. firmly established as first-choice goalkeeper Kello made only two appearances before being released by the club in December.

Wolves

On 28 March 2013 Kello signed for English Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers in a short-term deal until the end of the 2012–13 season as cover for their injured goalkeepers Wayne Hennessey and Carl Ikeme. The club however also recalled youth goalkeeper Aaron McCarey who instead acted as substitute goalkeeper for the remainder of the season as the team unsuccessfully battled relegation.

St. Mirren

Kello signed a short term contract with Scottish Premiership club St. Mirren in October 2013.[24]

He made his debut for the club on October 26th against Dundee United at Tannadice Park, a game that finished 4-0 to the home side.[25] After the match, Manager Danny Lennon quoted on his debut: "I felt sorry for Marian Kello in goal for us on his debut but he actually made some good saves so it's just a case of trying to forget about this one."[26] The next match on 9 November 2013, Kello get his first clean sheet in a 3-0 victory over Partick Thistle.[27] Since a 3-0 win over Partick Thistle, Kello would add two more clean sheets in the league and would established himself as a first choice goalkeeper for the club. Manager Lennon expressed interest to extend Kello contract to stay at the club.[28]

On 31st December 2013, it was announced that Marian had extended his deal to stay at St Mirren, until at least the summer of 2014.[29]

International career

Kello's impressive form for Hearts in early 2011 saw him called up to the Slovakia squad and he made his international debut on 9 February 2011, as a substitute against Luxembourg in a 2–1 defeat.

Personal awards and achievements

Career statistics

Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hearts 2008–09 130001000140
2009–10 140101010170
2010–11 310001000320
2011–12 200000030230
Hearts total 780103040860
Astra Giurgiu 2012-13 200000--20
Career total 800103040880

References

  1. ↑ FC Vitkovice Eufo.de
  2. ↑ Slovakian keeper joins Hearts Heartsfc.co.uk 14 August 2008
  3. ↑ Hearts 2–1 St Mirren Heartsfc.co.uk 23 August 2008
  4. ↑ Kello vows to fight back into Hearts No1 spot Scotsman.com 31 October 2008
  5. ↑ Kello completes permanent move Heartsfc.co.uk 2 August 2010
  6. ↑ Hearts 1–2 Rangers BBC Sport 2 October 2010
  7. ↑ Jambos' joy Heartsfc.co.uk 4 May 2010
  8. ↑ Hearts 2 – 0 Hamilton: Marian Kello and resilient Hearts pay fitting tribute to Cruickshank Scotsman.com 21 November 2010
  9. ↑ Hearts 1–0 Rangers BBC Sport 22 January 2011
  10. ↑ Hearts 2–1 Dundee Utd BBC Sport 19 February
  11. ↑ Hearts keeper Marian Kello named SPL player of month BBC Sport 3 March 2010
  12. ↑ Kello's hat-trick Heartsfc.co.uk 9 May 2011
  13. ↑ Hearts 1–1 St Johnstone Heartsfc.co.uk 5 February 2012
  14. ↑ Hearts manager Paulo Sergio says Marian Kello absence was political BBC Sport 5 February 2012
  15. ↑ Marian Kello refuses to sign new contract at Hearts and is open to summer offers Scotsman.com 7 February 2012
  16. ↑ "Top English sides keen on Hearts keeper Marian Kello". Edinburgh Evening News. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012. 
  17. ↑ "Marian departs Hearts". Heart of Midlothian F.C. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012. 
  18. ↑ "Marian Kello agrees to early Hearts exit". BBC Sport (BBC). 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012. 
  19. ↑ "Ipswich give trial to ex-Hearts keeper Marian Kello". BBC Sport. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2012. 
  20. ↑ "Trio of triallists will not be joining Ipswich Town". EADT. 26 July 2012. 
  21. ↑ "Wolves: Marian Kello handed chance as Liverpool look at Dorus De Vrie". Birmingham Mail. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2012. 
  22. ↑ "Wolves beat AFC Telford 2-0 in pre-season friendly". Express & Star. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012. 
  23. ↑ "Ex-Hearts goalkeeper Marian Kello set to kick-start career in Romania". STV. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 13 Ocrober 2012. 
  24. ↑ "Former Hearts goalkeeper Marian Kello joins St Mirren until January". www.sport.stv.tv. STV. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2013. 
  25. ↑ "Dundee United 4-0 St Mirren". BBC Sport. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013. 
  26. ↑ "Danny Lennon: St Mirren can't dwell on defeat". BBC Sport. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013. 
  27. ↑ "Partick Thistle 0 St Mirren 3: Jags crash to heavy defeat after being denied 'stonewall' penalty". Daily Record. 10 November 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013. 
  28. ↑ "St Mirren keen to extend Marian Kello's stay in Paisley". BBC Sport. 28 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013. 
  29. ↑ "St Mirren: Marian Kello stays on as three leave Paisley". BBC Sport. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013. 
  30. ↑ "Player of the month". Retrieved 3 March 2011. 
  31. ↑ "Cydsedale Bank season Awards". Retrieved 4 May 2011. 

External links

St. Mirren F.C. – current squad
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