Porteous has potential to be perfect fit at Parkhead
St Johnstone manager keeps his eyes on prize
WITH Shane Duffy seemingly a certainty to return to Brighton this summer after his series of high-profile errors, Christopher Jullien facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines and Kristoffer Ajer’s future at the club up in the air, Celtic will surely be in the market for a new centre-half this summer.
With that in mind, a look around Scotland’s top flight for players that could be on the Parkhead hierarchy’s radar shows they could do a lot worse than Hibernian’s Ryan Porteous.
The Scotland Under-21 internationalist has become a key figure in the heart of
Jack Ross’ defence this term. Porteous has racked up 2397 minutes of league football this season – placing him inside the Premiership’s top 30 outfield players in this regard – and has developed into a more mature defender than his 21 years would suggest.
First and foremost, it’s important to realise just how promising Porteous is. When we look at players aged 23 and under in the Premiership, the Hibs youth academy graduate finds himself mixing it with the best across a whole range of defensive metrics.
Porteous has won 73.3 per cent of his defensive duels this season – for players in his age bracket, only three (St Johnstone defender Jamie McCart, St Mirren’s Conor McCarthy and Stephen Welsh of Celtic) outperform the Hibs man. When we adjust for possession, Porteous completes 8.5 interceptions per 90 minutes played, leaving him 10th in the division – marginally ahead of the likes of Ajer (8.35).
These statistics tell us that Porteous is a good reader of the game and that he is already highly competent in robbing the opposition of the ball, whether that be via a tackle or an interception.
But there is one aspect of the young defender’s game that requires serious improvement if he is to truly kick on and fulfil his potential. Winning your headers and being dominant in the air is a prerequisite for any centre-half worth his salt, and it’s fair to say that Porteous’s stats are a little concerning in this area. He wins just under 60 per cent of all of his aerial duels, and that figure drops to just 51.3 percent when he’s in his own box. By way of comparison, Duffy – who wins more aerial duels in his own penalty area than any other player in the league – has a success rate of around 83 per cent. Ajer, meanwhile, is marginally ahead of Porteous and wins his duels 52.4 per cent of the time.
Clearly, there’s a problem here. But the good news for Porteous is that the solution is a simple one: he requires coaching. It’s his positioning that often leaves him short in this department and the odd pointer here and there on the training ground could lead to vast improvement on this front.
Of course, a modern centre-half needs to be able to play with the ball at his feet, too. Duffy has been found out in this Celtic side because he’s not that kind of player – stick him in a team with a low defensive line where he’s not expected to do much on the ball, and he’ll likely do well. The issue, as Celtic fans know only too well, is that when he’s asked to play a bit, calamity ensues.
Just 45.8 per cent of Duffy’s long passes reach their intended target; a woeful return that encapsulates just how wasteful the Irishman has been in possession this season. Porteous’ passes are laser-guided by comparison, with his long balls forward finding their man 60 per cent of the time. Livingston’s Jack Fitzwater (62.1 per cent) is the only outfield player in Porteous’ age range to do better. And that includes Ajer (55.4 per cent).
What this tells us is that Porteous already possesses many of the raw ingredients required to be a top defender in Scotland and that with a little work on the training ground, the centre-half could quickly develop into one of Scotland’s best defenders. And with a major rebuild on the horizon for Celtic, there will be no better time to snap up the youngster. Porteous is already demonstrating that he can hold his own against everything the Premiership has to offer and, with the right coaching, he could develop into a first-team regular at Parkhead for years to come.
Porteous is a good reader of the game
STEPHEN KINGSLEY admits seeing Hearts supporters set a new ‘attendance’ record for tonight’s clash at Inverness has left him even more keen to sample the renowned atmosphere at Tynecastle.
Fans have snapped up in excess of 9,660 virtual tickets for the televised the encounter as part of a fund-raising drive in response to Caley’s donation to Hearts when the club was in dire financial trouble.
Inverness’ record crowd of 7,753 was set in 2008 in a game against Rangers.
Having arrived last October, one-time Falkirk left-back Kingsley is yet to play in front of the fans as a Hearts player in Gorgie due to the pandemic.
However, the 26-year-old has been bowled over by Hearts faithful’s backing for the initiative.
Kingsley said: “It’s brilliant to see how many tickets have been sold. It just makes you think even more about the prospect of playing in front of the fans.
“It’s something that I knew a lot about. I had the opportunity of playing in front of them before and coming into the club, that was something I was really looking forward to. It’s not been the case so far, but hopefully in the future
I’ll be able to experience it.
“Everyone’s going to look forward to having the fans back but me personally, hopefully if we can get over the line this season and get the fans back, it’s something I’d be really looking forward to.”
Kingsley appreciates that Neil McCann’s appointment as Caley interim manager whilst John Robertson is on compassionate leave complicates Hearts’ preparation for the game.
He added: “Neil coming in might change a few things but we’re just focusing on ourselves. With everything that’s gone on in the last couple of weeks, we’ve got a lot to prove and get ourselves back on track.”
CALLUM Davidson has admitted he is open to the prospect of the Betfred Cup winners being handed a place in Europe if the Scottish Cup is unable to be played to a finish this season.
But the St Johnstone manager, whose team take on their Premiership rivals Livingston at Hampden on Sunday, has confessed he may change his mind if his Perth club are defeated this weekend.
The 2020/21 Scottish Cup was suspended last month due to rising Covid-19 infection rates and increased lockdown restrictions and there are currently 43 outstanding fixtures.
The SFA have stressed they are committed to completing it – but there is now a very strong possibility that it will overlap into the 2021/22 campaign.
Davidson, who was assistant to Tommy Wright when St Johnstone beat Dundee United at Celtic Park to win the Scottish Cup in
2014, would like to see the competition concluded in the coming weeks and months.
However, he can understand why it would make sense to give the place in the third qualifying round of the Europa League to the Betfred Cup champions instead if that proves impossible.
“I really hope that the Scottish Cup can still get played, even if the format has to be changed,” he said. “It’s important we try to play it. We’ve played the league and we’ve played the Betfred, we’ve got to try and play the Scottish Cup as well. It’s a huge tournament.
“The place in Europe is for other people to decide. If we do win, I’ll be up for getting into Europe. If we don’t, I’ll say make sure we play the Scottish Cup.”
Whatever the outcome of the final on Sunday, it will be the first time since Hibernian defeated Rangers in the Scottish Cup final way back in 2016 that a club other than
Celtic has won a major honour. Davidson believes that will be healthy for the game in this country.
“Without a doubt that’s good for Scottish football,” he said. “It becomes pretty boring if one team wins everything. Underdogs winning things is important for any sport. It’s great that somebody other Celtic will win a trophy and it’s probably good for Scottish football that it’s not one of the big two.”
St Johnstone’s chances of prevailing will be boosted if Murray Davidson, their vastlyexperienced midfielder who has been sidelined with a calf injury since the Rangers match at Ibrox at the start of the month, passes a late fitness. At the moment, he is 50-50.
Davidson stressed that he will have no qualms leaving his namesake out if he feels the player is unable to perform at his best despite his respect for the Saints stalwart.
“It’s a real difficult one,” he said. “I know Murray and I played with Murray, but that doesn’t come into it all. I need to pick the best XI that is available to me. Who’s fittest? Who’s strongest?
“Murray just has to try to convince me that he is 100 per cent right and we’ll take it from there. That’s all I can do. Sentiment doesn’t come into it. I’ve got to pick a team that I think will win the game first and foremost.
“That might mean other players are a little bit annoyed they are not playing. But I believe in what we’re doing here and I will try to pick a team that I think will win the game.
“There have been some good performances lately that have put me under pressure. Some of them will probably have forced themselves into the team for Sunday. Some of them won’t. That’s for me and my backroom staff to decide.”
We’ve got to try and play the Scottish Cup as well. It’s huge