Source: Northern_Echo
Cookery fan Killen has a lot on his plate
IN 2008, Chris Killen was forced to turn down a place on Celebrity Masterchef after it clashed with his pre-season responsibilities with Hibernian.[LNB] Two summers on, and the New Zealand international is hoping to serve up a twocourse special that will be the highlight of his footballing career.[LNB] For starters, the budding chef is looking forward to representing his country in South Africa, as the All Whites make only their second appearance at a World Cup finals.[LNB] Then, for mains, the 28-year-old striker is keen to turn his current loan deal at Middlesbrough into a permanent transfer from Celtic.[LNB] The ingredients for success are all in place; now it is down to Gordon Strachan to decide whether Killen's attributes are to his taste.[LNB] I'd love to stay at the club, and hopefully I will, said the Kiwi, who put his culinary skills to the test this week as part of a community initiative at the Shaw Trust in Stockton.[LNB] But I think they want to assess which players are going out first before they start to think about who they want to bring in.[LNB] That's down to the manager's discretion. I have a great summer ahead of me with the World Cup, and it would be a great double if I could play in South Africa and then come back and sign for Middlesbrough.[LNB] Since leaving Parkhead in January, Killen has made 14 starts and two substitute appearances for the Teessiders.[LNB] His three-goal return is somewhat disappointing, but his work rate, combined with an ability to lead the line and bring others into play, has compensated for a failure to fire in front of goal.[LNB] Tellingly, Killen has generally been preferred to Lee Miller, who arrived in a permanent transfer two weeks after his team-mate, and Strachan appears to have been impressed by his impact alongside fellow Antipodean Scott McDonald.[LNB] I would like to have scored a few more goals, said Killen, who will play opposite Mc- Donald when New Zealand take on Australia in their opening World Cup warm-up match on May 24.[LNB] But when I haven't been scoring goals, I'd like to think I've still been contributing, and that's massively important.[LNB] Like the rest of his teammates, Killen struggled to make much of an impact last weekend, as a 2-0 defeat at West Brom killed off any hopes of a play-off place.[LNB] Strachan branded the performance at the Hawthorns an embarrassment, and coming off the back of an eight-game unbeaten run, Killen admits the manner of Boro's surrender was difficult to take.[LNB] Things were going fairly well and we were becoming strong, resolute and hard to beat, he said. We'd become a bit of a force at home as well, which was good, so it was really disappointing to go out on that note.[LNB] Killen was also on the losing side in this week's charity cook-off, but that hasn't stopped the former Manchester City trainee eyeing a future career in the kitchen.[LNB] Cooking is something I really enjoy doing, he said.[LNB] I've always done it. I love to cook and, when I finally retire from football, I'd like to have my own restaurant.[LNB] The guy who edits Celebrity Masterchef knows I like cooking, so he rang me up and asked me to go on the show. I said I'd love to, thinking it would only mean going down to London for a couple of days. Unfortunately, you have to make yourself available for the whole of July, so my preseason training with Hibs meant I wasn't able to do that.[LNB] I didn't really think I could ask the manager for a month off to do a bit of cooking![LNB]
