ENVIOUS Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood today predicted Hibs star Steven Fletcher will eclipse all of the glittering array of talent produced by the Easter Road club in recent years.
Fletcher, newly turned 21, has emerged as one of the hottest properties in the country, with Spanish giants Real Madrid reportedly on the trail of a striker who recently won his first Scotland cap.
Today, as he urged his players to shackle the Hib
ee hitman in tomorrow's SPL clash at Pittodrie, Calderwood reckons Fletcher, scorer of 14 goals so far this season, could even outshine Scott Brown who made a £4.5 million switch to Celtic last summer.
He said: "Fletcher is a fabulous young talent and he could be the one who goes further than any of the others who have made their name at Hibs.
"I think the world of Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson. But now Fletcher could prove to be the best of the lot from what has been a bunch of wonderful players.
"That's before I even start talking about Garry O'Connor, Derek Riordan and Steven Whittaker. That's how good Fletcher is and, wherever he ends up, there's no doubt he'll develop into a fantastic football player."
Dons duo Zander Diamond and Andrew Considine will be charged with the task of keeping Fletcher under wraps and Calderwood is backing his defenders to stop Fletch from finding the net. He said: "It's important that we keep Fletcher quiet tomorrow. He's got a habit of scoring against us but he's done that against a lot of teams in recent seasons.
"But Andy and Zander have done quite well against him.
"We all know he's probably stronger on his left foot so if we can switch him on to his right then that might make him less of a threat. Saying that, he's also strong in the air so he will be a big danger. He also makes great runs and is now one of the main men in the Hibs team so we must stop him."
Calderwood, who hopes to blood a number of youngsters of his own in the remaining fixtures this season, admitted he's jealous of the prolific youth development system Hibs enjoy.
He said: "John Park did a wonderful job at Hibs by producing a lot of very good young players. He's moved on to Celtic now and that doesn't surprise me because he's such a talented youth coach.
"It's a very well-run club and Rod Petrie must take credit for that. Big Alex McLeish started the ball rolling before Tony Mowbray brought them on a stage further.
"John Collins then built on that but Park did a wonderful job scouting those players in the first place. He has helped earn Hibs millions of pounds They have reinvested it well by creating a fabulous training complex which so many clubs would love to have. Hibs are the benchmark for us in terms of the number of young players they have produced."
The full article contains 504 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
