Doig will take Italy by storm
STEVENSON EXPECTS PROTEGE TO SHINE
THE latest chapter in the love affair between Scottish and Italian football is set to take place in the home of Romeo and Juliet.
In fair Verona, the scene is set for Josh Doig to burnish his ever-growing reputation when he joins local side Hellas.
The 20-year-old left-back jetted out to Italy yesterday for a medical on his way towards clinching a £3million switch from Hibs. He will soon be joined by Aberdeen and Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson, who is set to become a Bologna player for the same fee.
In Serie A, they will follow in the footsteps of illustrious names such as Denis Law, Joe Jordan and Graeme Souness. Yet there is a more recent compatriot from whose experiences they can learn, namely Aaron Hickey, who completed an impressive two-year stint with Bologna last week when concluding a £17m transfer to English Premier League side Brentford.
Doig’s mentor at Easter Road, Lewis Stevenson, has backed his talented, superfit protege to mirror the 20-year-old former Hearts full-back’s success in Italy — and make his own way into the upper echelons of the game.
‘Josh has potential to go to the top level,’ said 34-year-old defender Stevenson. ‘He is 6ft 3ins tall, he is fast and strong. Looking at him with his top off — without meaning to sound creepy — he looks like Cristiano Ronaldo. He’s got that kind of physique. He is an athlete and that is half the battle nowadays.
‘I don’t think I have seen a better natural athlete than Josh and that stands him in good stead. He has been brilliant to work with at Hibs.
‘I’ve given him little pointers here and there but he has done all the hard work himself.
‘We have all been saying that, although he has got this move to Italy, we genuinely feel he could go from there and kick on again.’
Stevenson recalls Doig kicking his first-ever ball for the Hibs first team when he came on in a pre-season friendly away to Carlisle United in July 2019.
Since then, he has consistently impressed with a series of dynamic displays for the Easter Road club.
Stevenson disagrees with the widely-held assertion that Doig’s second season was not as spectacular as his breakthrough campaign under then manager Jack Ross, when games were played behind closed doors as a result of the Covid pandemic.
From the start of the youngster’s career in Leith to his departure, Stevenson has formed an impression of a talented but grounded individual who will never let success go to his head.
‘He came on against Carlisle back then and, straight away, it was clear he had something,’ recalled the veteran.
‘He has kicked on from there. But he is still the same guy he was when he first came in at 16 or 17 years old to train with the first team a few times. And I actually don’t think Josh got the credit he deserved last season when I thought he had a better all-round season than the one before.
‘It was maybe not as eyecatching as his first season but he is a great boy and he is someone I’d love to see go on and do well.’
Stevenson then joked: ‘With me being injured that day against Carlisle, maybe it is me who got Josh where he is today! Maybe he’ll give me a percentage of his wages! No, he is just a top guy and I can’t praise him any more. Everyone here at Hibs wishes him all the best.’
The growing Italian interest in young Scottish players saw
Dons midfielder Ferguson linked with Lecce and Cagliari before emerging on Bologna’s radar.
Stevenson lays the trend at the feet of Hickey, who has blazed a trail for others to follow.
‘Aaron has probably opened up a lot of doors,’ he said. ‘That is Lewis Ferguson getting linked with Bologna now as well. But if Aaron hadn’t gone out there to Italy and done so well with Bologna then these other guys might not be getting these opportunities.
‘Fair play to him for going out there and then kicking on. I don’t see any reason why Josh can’t do the same as Aaron.
‘It’s exciting times for Scottish football as our young players are being tracked by big clubs.
‘It would have been nice to try something different myself by going abroad. The older you get, the more you think what could have been, but I’m happy with the career I have had at Hibs.
‘I will leave it to Josh to learn Italian. Fluent Leith is probably the best I’ll do!’
In Doig’s absence, Hibs travel to Westfield tonight to take on Falkirk in the Premier Sports Cup group stage. The Bairns and the Easter Road side were fierce foes when they were together in the Championship.
Falkirk now languish in League One, but Stevenson insists Lee Johnson’s Hibs will tread warily tonight.
‘I was looking through the Falkirk squad and they still have a lot of quality. It is a hard place to play,’ he said. ‘We had some good battles with them back in the Championship.
‘It will be strange going back but I enjoyed those games and I also quite like playing on Falkirk’s artificial pitch.’