How Christian Doidge has gone from Hibs dud to potential Euros star in three goal-laden months

Deep in the bowels of Hampden’s main stand, in the post-match mixed zone where journalists get the chance to collar footballers for an interview, I spoke to Christian Doidge after the 5-2 Betfred Cup semi-final defeat by Celtic on 2 November. At that point, less than three months ago, he was arguably at his lowest ebb as a Hibs player.

Our conversation represented the first time Doidge had spoken to any media outlet since he had been pilloried for squandering four good chances to score in a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie four weeks previously. Even though he was still getting a game under Paul Heckingbottom, the striker was coming under heavy pressure from supporters, many of whom were convinced he wasn’t good enough to play for their team.

Indeed his stock was so low that early November evening that nobody else in the mixed zone wanted to talk to him. I was keen to get an idea of how he viewed the situation and how he had coped with the increased scrutiny on him following a start to his Hibs career in which he had scored only two Betfred Cup goals against lower-league opponents and had failed to notch a single goal in the league.

To his credit, although clearly short of confidence and in the midst of a serious test of character, Doidge was in philosophical mood, adamant that he just needed “something to click” in front of goal in order to get back to the prolific scoring form he had shown at previous club Forest Green Rovers. That interview unfortunately never saw the light of day as it emerged that Hecky had been sacked just as we were about to publish it.

Ironically, given that Heckingbottom was the man who persuaded Hibs to pay a notable six-figure fee for him in the summer, the departure of the Yorkshireman has - indirectly or not - proven to be the catalyst for the striker’s own Easter Road career to take off. It would be churlish to pin the blame for Doidge’s early struggles all on Heckingbottom since ultimately it wasn’t the former manager who was missing golden chances against the likes of St Mirren and Aberdeen.

However, there is no getting away from the fact things have taken off spectacularly for Doidge since Hecksit. In the 14 games since the former Leeds United and Barnsley manager vacated the scene, the Welsh striker has chipped in with 12 goals - a run bookended by hat-tricks against St Johnstone and Dundee United. His run of six goals in four games in November was enough to earn him the Ladbrokes Premiership player of the month award. Although he subsequently went five games without scoring towards the end of 2019, he has returned to the goal trail with five goals in four games since the winter break.

Not only has he taken his overall tally for the season to 14, but he has shown in recent weeks that he is capable of some quality finishing. It may sound odd to question the technique of a man with such a good scoring record, but many of Doidge’s early goals in this mid-season purple patch could be termed ugly or scrappy, as he seemed to do just enough to force the ball over the line without ever looking truly convincing. Goals against St Johnstone, Motherwell, St Mirren and Ross County before Christmas could all be bracketed in this category, as could his goal against Hamilton Accies last week.

Of course, even allowing for any reservations about how clean the finishes were, Doidge still merited all the credit going for having the ability to get into the right position to capitalise on chaos in the penalty area. There are scores of other strikers in Scotland who would be delighted to have this natural instinct for sniffing out close-range chances.

Although his match-deciding goals in the replay victory over United last night were also converted from within eight yards of goal, he took all three of them with real aplomb. There was a lovely controlled volley to open his account, then a firm, towering header followed by an emphatic half-volley from the edge of the six-yard box, as he upstaged the much-vaunted Dundee United striker Lawrence Shankland, outscorring the Scotland hitman by four goals to two over the course of the two matches between the teams.

Doidge may not have it in his locker to unleash the kind of sensational finish Shankland produced to open the scoring at Easter Road - although with his confidence soaring, we may find out otherwise in due to course - but he has proven over the past three months that he is one of the most accomplished penalty-box strikers in Scotland.

With Florian Kamberi, Martin Boyle, Scott Allan and Joe Newell backing him up and now regularly laying chances on a plate for him, the 27-year-old will almost certainly break the 15-goal mark for the fourth season running and also looks like he has a good chance of becoming the first Hibs striker to hit 20 in a Premiership season since Leigh Griffiths in 2012/13. In light of his recent exploits - and on the back of his prolific form at his previous club - there is a mini-clamour developing for Doidge to be called into the Wales squad, with one wag on Twitter pointing out that he now has more goals this season than all of his national team’s strikers (including Gareth Bale) put together.

Doidge playing for his country at Euro 2020 would have seemed unthinkable when talking to the beleaguered striker at Hampden three months ago. Given the impressive digits he is presently racking up, everything now seems possible for this unlikely hero of Easter Road.