IT’S a case of three in and one out for Gordon Strachan as the Middlesbrough manager completed deals that reunited him with a trio of his former Celtic players, while midfield flop Mohamed Shawky left on a free transfer.

Following defensive target Gary Caldwell’s decision to snub Boro in favour of a lucrative offer from Wigan Athletic, Strachan moved quickly to tie up deals for three players whom he knows well from his spell in charge at Celtic Park.

Barry Robson and Willo Flood bring depth to Strachan’s midfield, while Chris Killen can offer an additional attacking option, although with one goal in his last three seasons, the New Zealander is not regarded as being the answer to Boro’s search for a reliable marksman.

Scotland international Robson however, who signed for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £600,000, is the type of experienced figure capable of making an immediate impact in the Championship.

The left-sided attacking midfielder scored on his Champions League debut in a 3-2 defeat at home to Barcelona and he has seven international caps.

After training with his new team-mates for the first time yesterday, Robson will be aiming to feature at Sheffield United on Saturday.

Former Republic of Ireland Under-21 international Flood is a talented midfielder who came through the youth system at Manchester City and scored on his full Premier League debut in 2004. But his failure to fulfil his promise saw him join Cardiff City in a £250,000 deal.

Strachan took him to Celtic 12 months ago after the Irishman had spent two seasons on loan at Dundee United. At the time, Strachan hailed Flood’s “great ability, drive and enthusiasm.”

Killen gained Champions League experience for the Hoops and helped New Zealand qualify for this summer’s World Cup Finals.

But the 28-year-old struggled to secure a regular starting berth under Strachan and he spent the latter half of last season on loan at Norwich City where he made four substitute appearances.

Killen and Flood have joined on free transfers until June 2010 and June 2011 respectively, while Robson has signed a two-and-a-half year contract through to June 2012 with an option for a further year.

As part of Strachan’s ongoing work to reshape the Boro squad, Egypt international Shawky finally completed his move to Kayserispor of the Turkish Super League on a free transfer.

The midfielder joined Boro in a £650,000 deal from Egyptian outfit Al-Ahly in August 2007 but made only 22 appearances for the club. His last outing came in last season’s 3-1 Tyne-Tees derby defeat.

In the meantime, Caldwell agreed a four-and-a-half year deal at Wigan after being close to joining Boro.

Latics chairman Dave Whelan was delighted to have agreed an eleventh-hour deal with Celtic for the centre-half and outlined why he thought he’d beaten Boro to the punch.

“We knew the lad was keen to work again with Gordon Strachan at Middlesbrough but we wanted him to come here and made him a very good offer,” said the Wigan chairman.

“You always think a player will fancy a crack at the English Premier League rather than the Championship.”