Fearless Hibs kid Porteous is already a leading light
Porteous may be a bit raw around the edges but he’s a born leader in the making for Hibs
HE MAY have been the youngest player afield but the sight of Ryan Porteous chiding teammates Efe Ambrose and Stevie Mallan in the thick of a breathless battle with Rangers suggested Hibs are in possession of a born leader at the back.
Like Aberdeen’s Lewis Ferguson, Porteous does not comport himself like a teenager. Both are vocal, share the physical maturity of time-served professionals and display the steely mentality to handle the rigours of regular firstteam football in an unforgiving and highly competitive league.
Neil Lennon spotted the raw potential of Porteous soon after taking charge at the club two and a half years ago and sanctioned a loan transfer to Edinburgh City where, aged just 17, he was educated in the unrefined surroundings of League Two.
Last season he returned to Easter Road to captain the club’s league and cup-winning development team and managed to fit in nine firstteam appearances along the way.
Outstanding as the Leith club took four points from Celtic and Rangers last week and a scorer in yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Livingston, he is now a first-choice player.
‘Even at youth level last year Ryan was a baby in the squad in terms of age,’ said Lennon. ‘Yet he was the captain. Already he was mature beyond his years.
‘He doesn’t play like a 19-yearold. He is a man. One of his early games was at Ibrox last season, we won 2-1 and he was outstanding.
‘You want to drip-feed him in but he is a regular now — he has been a real mainstay of the team.
‘It’s great for the club to be able to produce our own.’
Although Paul Hanlon is nearing a return from injury, Lennon sees no reason to take Porteous out of the fray as the year comes to a barnstorming end.
If the manager harbours no fears over the player’s mental or physical capacity, there is a concern over the robust nature of his tackling.
Already renowned as one of the league’s meatier tacklers, a high and late challenge on Rangers’ Lassana Coulibaly on Wednesday was cynical and crude. The foul drew a yellow card from referee Craig Thomson but both Lennon and Gers boss Steven Gerrard were united in their view that the reckless lunge might have warranted a red. ‘I thought Ryan was really good, bar the reckless tackle,’ mused Lennon. ‘I wasn’t impressed. He doesn’t need to do it. It’s a part of his game he needs to take out. You are always heart in mouth when players leave the ground like that and on another day it could have been a red. ‘But I’ve no reason to omit him from anything at the minute. With so many games you don’t need to train him too much and his body is getting used to the match tempo.
‘And that’s two really big performances he has put in against Celtic and Rangers. That will stand him in good stead going forward. I’m very pleased with the progress he has made.’
At the other end of the age scale is Steven Whittaker, a Hibs academy graduate whose career has brought him full circle.
Now 34, Whittaker delivered two strong displays at right-back against the Glasgow teams but admits to being thrilled at the impact made by his teenage colleague.
The former Scotland defender knows his seniority will not spare him Porteous’s ire if something needs said.
‘Everyone should state their point of view if they see something
wrong in a game — but some are better at it than others. Ryan has these qualities.
‘He’s captained most of the teams coming through and Scotland at his age group too. If you have those leadership qualities at a young age it’s only going to stand you in good stead.
‘He’s aggressive, he’s a big boy and he has all the attributes to go on and have a great career.
‘His head’s screwed on and he wants to win, you can see that in his play. He’s determined.’
Whittaker also takes an alternative view on that challenge.
‘Yeah, it was a bit cynical, but they were breaking and he could see we were in trouble if he (Coulibaly) skipped by him,’ said Whittaker. ‘He wanted to take him out, and he did. He took one for the team. That’s showing experience beyond his years as well.
‘It wasn’t malice or trying to hurt
You want to drip-feed him in but he is a regular now — he has been a real mainstay of the team
the boy, it was a realisation of the situation. ‘He trains like he plays, he’s pretty full on — you just try to avoid him!’
The other eye-catching element of Porteous’s game is the purchase he manages to get on his defensive headers. Time and again his forehead would bash into a cross ball, sending it out of danger. Whittaker expects that power to emerge as a threat in the opposition box over time.
‘As soon as I came in the door I could see how aggressive he was and how good the timing of his headers was,’ he added. ‘When the youth team won the league and cup double, he was scoring more than the strikers because his aggression and stature made him such a threat at set-plays.
‘Hang it up there and he’ll head it, and he’s shown that in the first team a couple of times as well. He’s a threat in both boxes.’
Porteous’s strength will be crucial as Hibs aim for an almighty push to close out the year positively with a rematch against Rangers at Ibrox on Boxing Day and then next weekend’s Edinburgh derby at Easter Road.
Hibs entered December in the grips of an alarming form slump and delivered arguably their worst display of the season in the 3-0 defeat to Kilmarnock on the first day of the month.
Steadily they regained some of their old rhythm and emerged from the mire within a point of the Premiership top six.
‘We knew December was full of great fixtures,’ adds Whittaker. ‘We wanted to be in better form going into them but it’s like these games have brought the best out in us and turned it around.
‘The league is so competitive. St Johnstone, Kilmarnock, Aberdeen, they’ve all been so consistent and every game is now tough, home or away. It’s great for the neutrals, and for us it’s good to know that even a couple of wins on the bounce can push you right back in there.
‘That’s what we’re looking for before the break. We had that run of seven games there with three draws and four defeats, yet we weren’t cut adrift.’