Squad Watch: Week 14. The Curious Case Of Artur Boruc.

It was a sad weekend for Celtic and Artur Boruc fans everywhere. He managed to concede an unbelievable goal, a one that probably became one of the most popular football videos of the weekend. Unfortunately, this is nothing unusual for the Celtic goalie this season. Artur Boruc is experiencing the drawbacks of being a footballer.

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Celtic Glasgow)- 90 minutes against Hibernian
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal London)- on the bench against Wigan
Wojciech Kowalewski (Iraklis Thessaloniki)- 90 minutes against Thrasivoulos
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd)- on the bench against Sunderland
Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Piast, note 6
Lukasz Zaluska (Dundee United)- 90 minutes against Inverness

Defenders:

Barosz Bosacki (Lech Poznan)- on the bench against Polonia Bytom
Grzegorz Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade)- not in the squad against Jagodina , injury
Seweryn Gancarczyk (Metalist Kharkiv)- winter break
Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)-winter break
Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow)- end of season
Adam Kokoszka (Empoli F.C.)- 90 minutes against Bari
Marcin Kowalczyk (Dinamo Moscow)- end of season
Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against Piast, note 6
Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow)- not in the squad against Arka, injury
Arkadiusz Radomski (NEC Nijmegen)- not in the squad against Utrecht
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)- 90 minutes against Tubize
Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw)- 90 minutes against GkS Belchatow, note 6
Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 6
Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos Pireus)- 90 minutes against Levadiakos

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 6
Rafal Boguski (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes and three goals against Odra, note 8
Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)- 45 minutes against Arminia
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre)- on the bench against Grenoble
Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow)- 90 minutes against Legia, note 5
Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)- 70 minutes against GKS Belchatow, note 6
Przemysław Kazmierczak (Derby County)- 90 minutes against Crystal Palace
Jacek Krzynowek (VFL Wolfsburg)- 19 minutes against Hannover
Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)- winter break
Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)- 45 minutes against Odra, note 4
Radoslaw Majewski (Polonia Warsaw)- 90 minutes and a goal against Piast, note 5
Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)- 90 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 7
Szymon Pawlowski (Zaglebie Lubin)- winter break
Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Jagiellonia, note 6
Sławomir Peszko (Lech Poznan)- 75 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 6

Attackers:

Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow)- 90 minutes and an assist against Odra, note 5
Dawid Janczyk (CSKA Moscow)- end of season
Michal Janota (Feyenoord Rotterdam)- not in the squad against De Graafschap
Ireneusz Jelen (AJ Auxerre)- not in the squad against Grenoble, injury
Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan)- 64 minutes against Polonia Bytom, note 5
Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin)- not in the squad against Schalke, injury
Grzegorz Rasiak (Watford)- not in the squad against Birmingham, injury
Marek Saganowski (Aalborg)- 77 minutes and a goal against Randers FC
Ebi Smolarek (Bolton Wanderers)- 10 minutes against Chelsea
Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)- 90 minutes against Dortmund
Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)- 90 minutes against Jagiellonia, note 5
Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)- 90 minutes and a goal against Panionios

Summary: Just 3-4 months ago he was a certain candidate for the Polish player of the year award. Now he’s a goalkeeper that draws attention only when he makes another incredible mistake or is seen with yet another girlfriend. So far, this has been the worst season for Artur Boruc at Celtic Park. He disappointed the Bhoys in the Old Firm derby, failed to repeat his last year’s Champions League heroics and made stupid mistakes in a lot of other minor games. He even stopped being invincible in the national team; his lack of concentration cost us three points against Slovakia. Suddenly, from being one of the “hottest” goalkeepers on the market he’s earning a reputation of butter fingers. Only after Euros we discussed possible transfers to Milan, Bayern or Tottenham; now we wonder if there is any club left interested in Boruc’s services. What are the reasons behind Artie’s downfall? I can distinguish two main factors:
- stagnation at Celtic. This is the Holy Goalie’s fourth season at Celtic Park. He won three consecutive SPL titles, earned a legendary status among the fans, played in Champions League knockout rounds and became one of the most recognizable players in the league. What else is there for Boruc to achieve? Another win against St Mirren or Hamilton? There’s nothing left to win for Boruc in Scotland; four games a year against Rangers and Champions League nights are not enough to keep Artie concentrated throughout the whole season. He desperately needs a new challenge. Very rarely a foreign player manages to “survive” more than 3-4 seasons in Scotland, at some point he needs this thrill of a top level rivalry week in week out. Just look at Paolo Di Canio, Stilian Petrov, Brian Laudrup, Barry Ferguson or more recently Carlos Cuellar and Daniel Cousin who left Rangers to seek competitive football in England. It’s become too comfortable for Boruc at Celtic Park; he’s got high wages, fans’ love and manager’s support. He doesn’t need to prove himself in every game and, unfortunately, it shows.
- personal problems. I try not to write too much about players’ personal life on this blog so I’ll just list the incidents Boruc was involved in during last half a year: drinking during Celtic’s training camp, drinking after the friendly game against Ukraine, speculation about divorcing his wife, being caught drunk with other girl by paparazzi while in Poland. That’s a lot, even for a player as charismatic and troublesome as Artie. Is it possible that those incidents haven’t affected him? The fact is, Boruc was always controversial, but he never failed to defend himself on the pitch. He created an image of a person who doesn’t care about anything and is afraid of nothing. This has worked well for him, at least until the current season. Is there a change of character needed? Is it even possible? It’s hard to judge; after all it is exactly this type of character that enabled Boruc to succeed in professional football.

Is this the end of a great goalkeeper we’ve known as Artur Boruc? No, a player of his abilities must return to form sooner or later, either through a change of club or solving his personal problems. I think we all want to see Boruc that CARES, the same player that couldn’t hide the tears after our World Cup loss against Germany. The Bialo Czerwoni are waiting for the real Holy Goalie.

Other news: This was the last round in the Polish League before the winter break. We’re witnessing a very interesting season; five teams are still competing for the championship crown. I’ll try to write a summary about what happened in the Ekstraklasa this term in the next couple of days.

Marek Saganowski ended the Danish part of his career with a goal. Sagan will probably have to return to Southampton, even though the English club can’t afford his wages. It looks to me that he’ll be one of the heroes of Polish transfer window.

Have you noticed that Adam Kokoszka plays regularly for 90 minutes in the Serie B every weekend? Moreover, his club, Empoli, is fighting for promotion this season. Maybe there is something in this boy after all? Maybe Leo Beenhakker was right? I hope we’ll be able to check Kokos’ progress in one of next year’s friendlies.

Because of the Polish League’s winter break this is the last Squad Watch until the end of February (there won’t be enough Poles playing in the winter). Of course, if Dariusz Dudka decides to score a hattrick for Auxerre I’ll surely report it.

Highlights: Artur Boruc’s horrible mistake

Zurawski’s third goal in four matches

Marek Saganowski’s last goal in Denmark

Rafal Boguski scores a hattrick against Odra

Radoslaw Majewski’s first gal of the season