Hibs veteran has high hopes for youngsters given chance to shine

As one of the old greybeards in a squad bristling with a new crop of smooth-chinned schoolboys, Lewis Stevenson has really settled into his role as mentor, adviser and dispenser of wisdom. When he steps beyond the usual territory of the home dressing room at East Mains to address some of the wider issues affecting Scottish football then, it’s worth listening to what he has to say.

Shyly declaring that he might be tackling issues “a wee bit over my head”, the veteran Hibs fullback was happy to cover the entire gamut of youth development, a dearth of opportunities for young Scottish talent – and even the thorny subject of league reconstruction. Given his experience in the game, he’s more than entitled to a hearing.

Starting with the subject closest to his heart, the long-serving Stevenson is beyond thrilled to see teenagers like Rory Whittaker, Josh Landers and Rudi Molotnikov breaking into the first team. Whittaker, at just 16, represents the vanguard of a new generation of young talent at Easter Road.

Laughing as he compared the kid’s ascent to his own fresh-faced emergence as a youthful Man of the Match winner in a League Cup Final victory, Stevenson pointed out: "I was 19 when I played in a cup final, so he still has a couple of years left to do that! When I look at what young players need, it's a lot more mental rather than technical as there are a lot of young boys nowadays who are coming through with a lot of technical ability.

"A lot of it is in the mind and having the confidence to go out there and perform at Easter Road. I was always a bit of a doubter because I've always been a bit pessimistic.

"You need people to believe in you and the gaffer does that, our coaches show a lot of confidence in the young players. They trust them and, even in the game on Sunday when we were under the cosh a bit, he still put Rudi on - so it shows he's willing to put the young boys in.

“The ones who have come in have done remarkably well and that is good for the rest of the young boys who aren't playing as they can see that there is a pathway though into the first team. It gives them that confidence and belief that they can get a chance too.

"You need self-belief, but you also can't afford to get too carried away. You still want them to show their own personality as you don't want them to be robots. It's a different world now with social media and that wasn't there when I was coming through.

"I'm always here if anyone wants to ask questions and give little bits of advice. That could be about players I have played against as I know what they like to do. You don't want to fill their heads with too much as they need to focus on the game and learn things for themselves.

"The maturity and confidence they have already is remarkable. They physically need to grow a bit but that will come in due time. It also takes balls from the manager to put them in there.”

That bravery isn’t always evident among managers in a permanent state of concern over the three bad results capable of putting them on the dole. The fact that only a handful of young Scots are getting regular starts in the country’s elite league is, to a player who has been around the pro game for the best part of two decades, a concern – but not a surprise.

“Maybe when you get to the end of the season and some teams have less things to play for, then they can start bleeding in the young boys,” he said, adding: "Because the league is quite small and then there is the split, everyone is playing for something. There is not that luxury of throwing young players in because there is a fear.

“To be fair to our gaffer, he has shown a lot of confidence in the youngsters even during a really tight period in the season. Every point is massive yet he's still willing to put the young boys in. It's frustrating that clubs would rather play a boy from England or someone foreign at that age rather than using the young players who are already there.

“Maybe we could look at restructuring. A bigger league would give clubs more of a chance to blood youngsters because every point may not be as important as it is now.”