Boro Youngster Signed, Guzan Mulling Offer

By: JT | January 26th, 2008

Celtic have signed a pre-contract agreement with Middlesbrough’s young prospect Ben Hutchinson. The 20 year-old striker has forced his way into Gareth Southgate’s plans this season with some great performances for the reserves and he’s made five appearances for the first team, mostly in Cup matches, scoring one goal. If Celtic and Boro can come to an agreement, Hutchinson will move north in January. If not, Hutchinson will join after his contract expires this summer.

Hutchinson is the type of player that WGS likes to refer to as “one for the future”. I’ve read that most in the Boro camp feel that he was going to be a future contributor rather than a star, but contrast that belief with the fact that Boro’s brass have been publicly annoyed with Hutchinson’s active search for a new club, and you wonder just how much potential the kid has. We’ll see, but it has to be said that Middlesbrough’s academy has a phenomenal reputation so if the move isn’t too costly, it could wind up benefiting the club greatly.

Chivas USA’s Brad Guzan has been offered a contract with the Celts after impressing during his one week trial in Glasgow. Now, Guzan’s a very good keeper with the potential for greatness, but its absurd that WGS has to beat off the suggestion that a Guzan signing means the end for Artur Boruc. Rumor has it that Aston Villa will be making a move for Guzan as well, so this is definitely a story worth keeping an eye on over the next few days.

Surprisingly, WGS says that striker/bench warmer Derek Riordan is going nowhere this January. Deek has publicly asked out, and never gets on the pitch despite his obvious talent. He’s young and wants to be more than just a squad player, which is easy to understand, but WGS still keeps him around for “emergency situations”. That’s a shame, because the overwhelming majority of Celtic supporters see him as a player who should be contributing week in and week out for the Bhoys.

In the same article, Strachan mentions that he’ll be talking over the weekend to the representatives of Polish international left-back Seweryn Gancarczyk, who has been on trial at Celtic. My guess is that the gaffer wants to bring him into the fold, but probably not at the wage level he requires.

The TimesOnline has a great interview with Celtic winger Aiden McGeady in today’s edition. Its obvious that WGS has helped develop McG’s game in the two years and change that he’s been at the helm. But for me, the contrast that McG outlines between the wee man and his predecessor Martin O’Neill is truly distinct. I knew that WGS was a hands-on kind of guy, he was that way as a player too. But to read how distant O’Neill was from his first team guys is pretty surprising, considering the success he had at the club.

NEXT MATCH

Celtic travel to Falkirk Stadium Sunday afternoon to take on the Bairns, who have cooled a bit after their seven match unbeaten run which followed a 4-0 thumping at Celtic Park. In their last two matches, Falkirk have been humiliated by bottom-feeders Gretna in the league, and Motherwell in the Scottish Cup.

Celtic will know that Falkirk always come out playing attractive football, which will put the Bhoys’ four match clean sheet streak to the test. Incredibly, its been almost twenty years since Celtic have kept the ball out of their net for five straight, so that’ll be some motivation for the back line.

Its likely that we’ll see Paul Hartley at right-back again, because the newly signed Andreas Hinkel is still recovering from a thigh strain. If that doesn’t happen, Gary Caldwell will be the right-back with Darren O’Dea partnering Stephen McManus in the center, but don’t count on it.

McGeady is back to lead the midfield after being suspended for last week’s 1-0 bore of a draw with Kilmarnock. At the beginning of the season, I expected the midfield quartet to consist of McGeady, Shunsuke Nakamura, Scott Brown, and Massimo Donati. Its been ages since those four have had ninety minutes together, and they should get it on Sunday.

Up front, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink is still a doubt after having his head sewn back together as a result of a head-to-head clash last weekend. I’d expect to see Chris Killen partnering Scott McDonald.

I think playing a team that’s willing to attack, pass, and move is just the tonic that Celtic need to get themselves on the roll that we all know they’re capable of. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the clean sheet streak end early, with Celtic dominating from that point on.

4-1 to the Bhoys, with Killen, Donati, Scott Brown, and McGeady getting on the board.