Justin Hoyte, 23.

By Luke Sandelands
August 14 2008

The Boro look set to sign Arsenal full-back Justin Hoyte, 23 after the Gunners have accepted an undisclosed offer on the former England Under-21 international. Hoyte looks set to be the replacement for recent departee Luke Young who has joined Aston Villa in a move that came as somewhat of a surprise to Boro supporters.

At 23 years old, Hoyte certainly has age on his side and could be an ideal competitor for Tony McMahon, who has recently returned to action after a long period of being plagued by injuries. It is evident that this Boro team is the youngest since that of the Bruce Rioch period, and it would appear that the days of retiring superstars spending their final few days with us are over. With Gareth Southgate looking for an injection of youth and energy into the side. With the departure of experienced players such as Boateng, Young, and to a certain extent Rochemback, questions are being asked as to whether Boro will have the backbone required to grind out results in some areas. Although I'm sure mistakes will no doubt occur, I myself am quitely optimistic about the fast approaching season, and feel that sneaking into the top half may not be out of the question. Parallels have been drawn by some to the exciting but ultimately unreliable team of the 1996/97 season, however with the presence of similar flair at the front, it also seems like we have a competent defence that is just in the final stages of assembly so you would hope some consistency could be maintained over the season.

Concerning the Tottenham game on Saturday, I am really hoping we have a good go hopefully with Emnes, Alves and Tuncay all appearing in the first eleven. Anyone who saw Emnes at the Darlington friendly would have seen sparks of quality that marked him out as having the potential to be an excellent player for us this season. Let's just hope that we can start the season on a positive note for once, after recent years of looking back at poor starts to the season and at times wondering if we could have done so much better. Give the fans something to get excited about Boro, and start the season with a belter.

Justin Hoyte set to sign as Arsenal accept offer.

Discussion started by Down by the Riverside (IP Logged), 14/08/2008 17:47

Down by the Riverside
14/08/2008 17:47

Justin Hoyte set to sign as Arsenal accept offer.

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Spirit of Steaua
14/08/2008 18:15

Hopefully he'll settle down quickly - Luke Young will be a hard act to follow. Are Boro looking to sign players who'll be worth more whne they leave than we pay for them?

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Spirit of Steaua
16/08/2008 19:44

Great to see him signed - missed him bein presented to the crowd because of the queue to pick up tickets. Can't believe we've just seen Wheater at right back.

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Spirit of Steaua
27/08/2008 11:08

Hoyte looked pretty good last night as well - way to go before he's Luke Young's class ... but great cross for Emnes' goal.

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