Edit: Here are the fixture for the rest of the season: ScotPrem.com

Fantastic to see a derby at Easter Road on 2nd of January 2010.

Aberdeen v Celtic
Dundee Utd v Hearts
Hibernian v St Mirren
Kilmarnock v Hamilton
Rangers v Falkirk
St Johnstone v Motherwell

Rob Petrie:

“I am delighted to announce that John Hughes has been appointed Manager of Hibernian Football Club

“Appropriate arrangements were agreed with Falkirk Football Club to secure John’s release and John has signed a three year contract with Hibernian. We anticipate that Brian Rice will join John at the Club as Assistant Manager on his return from holiday.”

“The search for a new manager is always a difficult task and after a very thorough process we were fortunate to have a number of exceptional candidates. John Hughes was the unanimous choice of the Board not for his exploits as a former player, but for his credentials as a manager, his style of football and his potential to bring success to the Club on the field of play.

“I am sure too that John will galvanize everyone connected with Hibernian and drive the club forward. The Board will never lose sight of the requirement for Hibernian FC to be competing for honours and we see John as the ideal candidate to achieve this.”

Yogi:

“This is a very proud day for me. I am delighted to be the Manager of Hibernian.

“My future now lies with Hibernian and I believe I will bring innovation and an attractive style of passing football to the Club. I can’t wait to start working with the players and get down to business at the training centre.”

His stats aren’t exactly outstanding although he has spent a lot of time at Paris St.Germain without actually playing. Hopefully we’ll see a bit more of him at Hibs.

Presumably this signing had more or less gone through prior to MIxu leaving. Signing defenders does seem to be further confirmation that Rob Jones is on his way out of Easter Road.

Artur Boruc in better times

Rumours aboud online and offline that Celtic’s Polish goal keeper, Artur Boruc is about to be investigated for match fixing.  If it is true (and I’m sure it’s just a horrible rumour), this would bring his recent blunders into question, especially John Rankin’s “squiggler” against him at Easter Road.

Artur Boruc has always been a controversial player.  His well publicised drinking problems, regular gesturing and reacting to opposition fans and generally being a fat waste of space have turned him from being supposedly one of Europe’s top keepers to an all round joke.  Believing he could be involved in match fixing is too easy.

Boruc was in the headlines most recently last week when he punched team mate Aiden Mcgeady in the face during training, so he’s not all bad.

That this rumour has started just before an Old Firm derby is no surprise and suggests it’s a load of bollocks.  Easy to believe bollocks but bollocks none the less.

Artur Boruc says internet drug fail rumours are rubbish in The News of the Screws.

Thanks to Tortohibby for putting this on YouTube.

Hibs players' Christmas Party

Update:The transfer window closed and both Steven Fletcher and Rob Jones remain Hibs players.  It appears that Celtic could not afford Fletch after all.

Celtic are following their usual, uninspiring pattern of stealing the best talent from the rest of the SPL by attempting to sign Hibs’ Steven Fletcher.  Both Rangers and Celtic have found it increasingly difficult to afford quality players from outside Scotland in recent years and Fletcher will be the next in a long line of players citing their “ambition” as a reason for moving West.  That his ambition is limited to choosing to remain in one of the smaller European leagues is apparently lost on Fletch.

As ususal, the Glasgow media have been happy to be the mouthpiece for the player and his agent, writing about how Fletcher hopes Hibs won’t price Celtic out of the move.  Fletcher doesn’t seem to understand the basics of football transfers - he still has years left on his contract and if Celtic can’t afford him, that’s tough luck.  Maybe he’ll just have to put his “ambition” on hold and move South to the biggest league in the world.

In the current economic climate, Hibs may have some concerns about transfer fees in future and may want to cash in on Fletcher now but that’s only thing that might work in Celtic’s favour.  As ever, Hibs’ Chairman Rod Petrie holds all the aces.  Hibs are in a solid position financially and Steven Fletcher has a long contract with the club so there is no need to sell.  There’s every chance that at 5pm on Monday 2nd February, Steven Fletcher will be a Celtic player, but it will be on Hibs’ terms.

Dean “Deano” Shiels also left this week, to further his career with English Championship strugglers Doncaster.  Dean has been a good servant for Hibs despite performances which were at times highly frustrating for the fans.  It’s difficult to say if this will be a good move for the player but it’s clear that after 5 years at Easter Road, it was time for a move to pastures new.  Swapping Edinburgh for the bright lights of Doncaster may not be an obvious choice for many but the challenge might be just what Shiels needs.

Speculation also surrounds Hibs’ captain, Rob Jones. Colchester have been making big noises but offering little cash for Jones but there are other clubs also interested.  Should Leeds or Nottingham Forrest put in a decent bid, it will be interesting to see whether Petrie can resist taking the cash.

It really makes me wonder whether there really is much of a difference between the Old Firm and the rest of the Scottish Premier League. Surely with a settled team, good manager and a bit of luck it should be possible to at least split them. I have a horrible feeling that other teams are intimidated by the Old Firm and the edge they have is as much psychological as anything else. Whilst they obviously have bigger squads and happily take their pick of the best players from other Scottish teams, they still have to play some very average / shite players, even in Europe.

Granted there is still a gulf between the Old Firm and the rest but if, say, three teams all started to take points off them regularly and at least one of those had a good run in the league who’s to say what could happen?

Financially things don’t look to good for Rangers. There could come a point where they can’t take their pick of other team’s players so easily - then their team would look very average indeed.

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Edit: Unable to find any rangers players and think it’s probably just a rumour. I don’t think the rumours of it being two Scottish footballers are true either. Bob Malcolm’s name is definitely not there.

Edit 2: 930 visits from people typing things like “rangers players bnp” or “rangers bnp list” into search engines. I think it’s safe to say there was a strong rumour

Jonatan Johansson is an experienced international (91 caps for Finland) and a good mate of the Gaffer, Mixu Paatelainen.  He’s also an ex-Hun but let’s not talk about that.  He comes with a decent reputation but the statistics show he hasn’t exactly scored for fun (see below) and at 33 he’s surely in the twilight of his career.

That said, perhaps a big, mature centre forward to partner Derek Riordan is just what we need?

Here’s a YouChoob compilation of Jonatan Johansson’s best bits: