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Entries in Willie McKay (1)

Friday
May222009

Scott Brown is a little bit of a grey area

Scott Brown is apparently on his way to Spurs. So say the assortment of ITK characters living up in Scotland and the ones who are said to be privy to inside information down South that confirm the Celtic midfielder is set to move to N17 for a cool fee of around £10M. You'll have read this already I'm sure on one or two blogs out there along with the usual busy forums that churn out this type of transfer tat long before the red tops get wind of it.

Except this time, it's not so much tat but tangible possibility.

So who is Scott Brown? What type of player is he? And are we over-spending? If, of course, this is actually happening. But for the sake of it, let's pretend it is.

I haven't seen enough of him and there is plenty of debate to be found at the minute where people throw around the usual 'Scottish football is shit' argument to validate their opinion that Brown is over-rated whilst other say he is a robust far more competitive and mentally strong version of Jermaine Jenas. He had an off season recently due to personal issues which affected his goal-scoring ratio (and has increased his yellow-card tally), but otherwise is highly rated and can handle himself more than most - which isn't a bad thing considering the thunderous nature of the Old Firm derby games.

It's easy I guess to spew out countless (recent) Scottish players who have failed to impressive in England (Barry Ferguson anyone?). Hutton hasn't done badly for us and looks more than suitable for the Prem and I'm sure that will be the case once he is back to full fitness.

Brown has a great motor and can run all day, capable of making effective runs into the box. He can track back and tackle. But apparently also gives the ball away needlessly and is young and still needs to develop his all-round game.

Bleeding 'eck, he is the Scottish version of Jenas.

For the price being quoted you'd except him to start alongside Wilson giving us a proper hard nut central midfield pairing. So what of Huddlestone, O'Hara, Zokora and of course JJ?

One of the ITK side-rumours relates to a £6M deal rising to £10M with a player moving to Celtic. Can only see Jamie making that move, if there is any truth in it.

Celtic fans obviously rate Brown but seem fine to take £10M off us. I need more in the way of opinion to understand if this is the right type of player we need. Apparently his first touch isn't great (Zokora anyone?) and doesn't have the passing range of Huddlestone. But his drive and passion is unparalleled.

So is Harry looking towards having a fighting midfield rather than a creative one? Or will Wilson and Brown boss it, allowing Modric to conduct offensive play?

Or are we paying Celtic £10M for a Palacios understudy - which is something we do need if we are working towards a strong squad. But £10M?

Is this a risk too far?

Willie McKay is his agent by the way.

Done and dusted then.