Souttar’s career went off the rails at United... he had no support
SAYS CRAIG LEVEIN
AFTER John Souttar dazzled against Albania on his competitive international debut for Scotland, Craig Levein’s phone bleeped with a blast from the past.
Sent by Jack Souttar, a former Brechin City player in his day, the picture message showed his son being coached years ago by Levein at Dundee United, where the pair’s paths first crossed when the defender was aged just 12.
Nine years on from that initial meeting on Tayside and Souttar is now the captain of Levein’s Hearts team that is currently leading the Premiership by five points.
And so impressed was the Tynecastle boss by the 21-yearold’s Hampden showing in last week’s 2-0 Nations League win against the Albanians he has tipped Souttar to have a long, bright international future ahead of him.
But the young defender’s road to the top has been rocky and Levein believes it is to the player’s huge credit that he has made it this far.
In a scathing outburst towards his former club, the Hearts boss insists Dundee United nearly destroyed Souttar’s career before it had really begun by mismanaging his emergence at Tannadice.
Deployed in several positions by Jackie McNamara, Levein believes United failed to give the teenager the stability and support he needed during his formative years.
The former Scotland boss believes messages emanating from Tannadice that Souttar was ‘too soft’ to play centre-half have taken him years to shrug off.
Now a physically imposing centre-half, Souttar, with the backing and support of Levein, is having the last laugh.
On Saturday the new Scotland international was a colossus alongside fellow defender Jimmy Dunne at Fir Park as Hearts won 1-0 at Motherwell to keep their 100 per cent Premiership record intact.
‘I’m not being disrespectful but they (Dundee United) nearly ruined his career,’ said Levein.
‘John Souttar has always been a centre-half. He was played at right-back, left-back, centremidfield. It’s quite confusing for a young player when you are being moved into three or four different places and no one has got your back and is giving you the support you need.
‘I’m talking disparagingly but United sold all their best players and John was left behind and he became an easy target.
‘A lot of people in Scottish football formed an opinion of John Souttar three years ago and that came from Dundee United.
‘The way his career developed and had gone off the rails a little bit, people had pigeon-holed him. That’s what we do in Scottish football. People said he wasn’t tough enough to be a centre-half.
‘I think it dogged him for two or three years.
‘It has taken him three years of playing regular football — although obviously he was out injured for a while — to prove he could gain the strength and aggression required to play at the highest level.
‘It says everything about him that he has taken himself from a position where people thought he was one thing to moving up to someone who I think will be a mainstay for the Scotland national team for a long time.’
After being called into the Scotland squad by Alex McLeish earlier this month, Souttar recalled a bruising encounter with Motherwell’s on-form Michael Higdon back in 2012-13.
He said: ‘I was only 16 and I went in to challenge him at a high ball, but I bounced off him and ended up on the ground.
‘He took the ball and put it in the top corner and that was the moment I thought: “Wow, I need to hit the gym”.’
Levein’s faith in his young defender stemmed from his own similar experience after moving from Cowdenbeath to Hearts as a teenager.
‘Playing as a young centre-back in the league is a difficult thing to do,’ said the Tynecastle boss who won 16 caps for Scotland.
‘John playing there at 16, 17 at Dundee United was exceptional.
‘I came here at 19 from Cowdenbeath and couldn’t win a header for two years due to the quality and the strength of the senior players I was up against.
‘So, for me, with John it was just about patience until he had physically developed.
‘I watched him win as clean a header as you will ever see against Albania last week. He got booked for it and that was a terrible decision by the referee.
‘But my point is that the things people said John couldn’t do — he is doing them every week now.
‘And one of the biggest compliments I can pay him is you wouldn’t know our captain and possibly our best player (Christophe Berra) is injured and isn’t playing just now.
‘Interestingly, when you get to international football the aggression and physicality levels come down compared to the game at club level.
‘Here we play teams who throw the ball in on top of our centrebacks from the first minute to the last minute.
‘That doesn’t happen in international football. It’s more about what is going on in your head and understanding that it’s a different type of football.
‘John did really well against Albania. I don’t know (Aberdeen defender) Scott McKenna as well as I know John but he looks to be a top player. That’s good news.
‘If John and Scott McKenna could form a partnership in four years’ time we could have a really exciting central defensive pairing.
‘Because once you get to 25 as a centre-back then it becomes easier for you.
‘But I’ve actually known John since he was 12 years old. The other day his dad sent me a picture of me coaching John at Dundee United with the caption: “Where have the years gone?”. I was thinking that myself!
‘Because of my close relationship with John, and how well I get on with his mum and dad, I might not be as proud as they are at him playing for Scotland — but I’m quite a bit down that road.
‘I’m just so thrilled for John Souttar and his family about where he has managed to get to in his career.’