Scout Report — Josh Doig

General Info:

DOB: May 18, 2002

Height: 189cm/6ft 2in

Place of birth: Edinburgh, Scotland

Career: Hearts, Hibernian

Position: Left center-back, left-back, left wing-back

Current Market Value: $3.3m

Technical:

Josh Doig is a good receiver of the ball when compared to other defenders and full-backs in the division. He rarely, if ever, gets caught out by pressing players and is a useful tool for Hibs, helping them to play from defense.

After receiving the ball, Doig is capable of making quick, short passes to maintain possession. This allows Doig to act as a good ball-playing defender or full-back. He does struggle to make medium to long-range passes, instead preferring to lay the ball off to more creative teammates.

Doig isn’t a great crosser of the ball. He sometimes looks like a center-back being asked to play as a full-back, rather than an out-and-out full-back, leading me to believe that this isn’t a natural position for him. We will revisit this at the end.

In the rare event of Doig being caught making a bad touch or receiving poorly, he will pass the ball to a nearby teammate rather than try to play his way out of trouble. He is not a confident dribbler, despite being able to control the ball well.

His one versus one defending is great for his age and the league. He does not overcommit often, and in the rare event that he is caught out, his pace and athleticism help him recover. This reminds me of Kyle Walker as right center-back for England and Manchester City.

Tactical:

Doig does not carry the ball forward to look for line breaking passes. Instead, during sustained possession, Doig will remain tight to the toughline to act as a wide passing option. He does this often when he has played left center-back, left full-back and left wing-back. His strengths when Hibs are in possession are being able to play neat one-two passes, or run into space for long passes from teammates.

Doig is an intelligent defender for the Scottish Premiership. When you consider his age, you forget he’s only 20 years old. Doig is a capable presser, knowing when and when not to leave his starting position. This ensures that he is rarely caught in “no-man’s land” from marking an opponent too tight. He leaves a perfect amount of space between him and his attacker, making him a solid tool for any defense.

It doesn’t matter which position he plays in, Doig will always look to go forward and act as a wide attacking option when the situation presents itself. He does not attack carelessly.

Physical:

Doig has good pace and acceleration. His top speed is an excellent tool both offensively and defensively. Going forward, Doig prefers to run onto passes into space, and gives defending right-backs a hard time. Defensively, Doig is often the first defender you can see running back to defend during transition from attack to defense.

He needs to improve in the air. The Scottish Premiership will challenge defenders who struggle in their aerial duels due to how direct most teams in the league play. This area of Doigs game makes him a target for attacking teams as they now know which part of the pitch to launch their long-passes to.

Far too often will Doig forgo defensive responsibilities in set-pieces, which is uncharacteristic for someone who otherwise is a very mature defender for his age.

Can get onto balls passed into space easily with pace

Not great at dealing with aerial balls passed into his channel

Mental:

Doig is such an intelligent defender, you often forget he just turned 20. Most young defenders are ridden with mistakes, be it timing of challenges, when to pressure someone or when to back off, and so on.

Doig does not show many weaknesses when he’s defending. He’s a strong communicator in a somewhat disorganized zonal-marking system. He’s always making sure his teammates know when his attacker has moved into the path of a teammate.

His shortcomings begin to reveal themselves when dealing with long, over the top passes into space. Doig hesitates to pass to teammates when under pressure in the defending third, instead opting to kick or head the ball out of play, or hoof the ball long This issue likely comes from being an inexperienced defender, as Doig is already an adept short passer and distributor of the ball when Hibs have possession.

Going forward, Doig is one dimensional. He will either hold width to recycle possession, or run into spaces for passes. Albeit decent at what he does, it’s very predictable for defending teams to stop Doig and limit any sort of threat. He currently lacks the technical ability to cross the ball well, and hesitates to play early crosses into space. On top of lacking flair, he sometimes gets lost going forward and can struggle to make an impact in the final third.

Despite this, Doig will almost always go forward to join the attack, even if he doesn’t currently have the tools to help as best as he possibly could.

Potential and Conclusion:

Doig is an intelligent and athletic defender. His technical ability leaves more to be desired, but for such a young player, this is certainly an area that he can , and should, improve with game time and good coaching, of which the former he receives plenty of and the latter less so.

Doig was subject to a manager merry-go-round in 2021/22, meaning he played in several positions on the left side of the pitch. Left center-back, left full-back and left wing-back, in a back four and back five, will challenge any player, nevermind one as young as Doig.

Due to this, Doig does not look like a natural left-back or left wing-back. His best position, in my opinion, is as a left center-back in a back five.

He’s an excellent short passer and by playing with most of the game in front of him, he’ll learn how to best use his current skill set.

Doig is not ready to leave the Scottish Premiership yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him play in England in a few years time for a team like Brighton, Brentford or Watford. He has good potential, but needs to be put in one position, consistently, and master it.

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