The twenty-four year old former engineer, presently staking a late claim for first-class football with the Hibs is the talk of the SPL and out with it seems so let’s take a look at this emergent talent and examine if there is a likelihood of longevity of his recent exploits.

There have been many players in the game previously with huge pace and not a little trickery combined that have come along and taken a club and its league by storm and Ivan Sproule is but the latest in a long line of such players. Please make no mistake however, that is not to denigrate the young Irishman’s fine achievements over the past few weeks. Suddenly after only four recent games as a substitute it appears that Ivan’s fledgling professional career is about to explode into outer space – beware however, there are several precedents for failure.

Of course it might be said that previous similar players who have fallen by the wayside might partly be due to the huge expectancy placed upon the shoulders of every footballer of this kind. It becomes almost a right of the crowd that every time the ball reaches such a player’s fast feet that fireworks should occur.

I sometimes muse that the game’s defenders aren’t given their rightful credit at times. How  many times have we seen a young ‘wonder boy’ to coin the old phrase, have an amazing initial season only to be found out and worked out by the defenders that now have the experience of dealing with this not-quite-so-new threat? Yes defenders do actually talk to each other at times despite contrary opinion, they chat about which way a player tends to move, whether he has a right foot roll, his pet tricks and all. It’s their job, it pays their mortgage.

Reading this you may suppose I’m putting rather a dampener on Ivan’s recent crusade to entertain the Hibernian faithful and what’s more make a name for himself. Not so. This boy by all accounts has something special, he has blinding pace and we all know that the modern game revolves around that quality. Speed disorientates in sport. Sometimes we see a footballer or other sportsman deceive the opposition but at a pace that the defender has time to recover. The same trickery performed at pace however can be murderous and extremely incisive.

From the little footage I have been able to observe of Ivan Sproule he also possesses an even more unique skill than the one to run like the wind, that of direct running, now this IS a rare commodity in today’s game and for me will be, if anything the pivotal ability that projects Ivan into a hugely successful career. We think back to players the likes of Paul Gascoigne and in my own case, Stan Collymore who I had the pleasure of watching a few times. These players were dynamic for many reasons but the primary one was that they ran straight at defenders. Try and find a defender that enjoys being tested in this way – they’re rare indeed. What’s more it’s terrific for us fans to watch, opening up the game and dictating the tempo the way it does. Note again however the two temperamental individuals concerned here. A psychologist’s dream some might be tempted to say.

The next stage for the young forward will be in actually establishing himself in the first team! In all the excitement perhaps some of us are forgetting that his recent deeds have all been as a substitute. Sometimes it’s difficult for a substitute to come on to the field and contribute meaningfully during the hurly-burly of the game, at other times the stage is set for a Sproule to dictate the outcome – just as he did so devastatingly at Ibrox. I’m sure the issue of a regular peg in the first team dressing room is the only one in Ivan Sproule’s mind at the moment, encouraged by manager Tony Mowbray.