Placid Junior Hoilett reveals key man behind Hibs move, has say on Aberdeen exit and names four Blackburn role-models

The 34-year-old Canadian oozes a placid nature, a calm head on experienced shoulders. Hoilett spent most of a stellar career in England's top flight and has played at a World Cup for his country. He landed on Scottish shores earlier this year when Neil Warnock took over briefly at Aberdeen and impressed latterly at Pittodrie.

There was talk of Hoilett staying at the Dons under new manager Jimmy Thelin. However, Hoilett's thoughts were on the Copa America rather than domestic football, but injury scuppered his chance of joining the national team for their run to the semi-finals. By that point, Thelin had trained his thoughts elsewhere.

A move to Hibs materialised through Craig Samson, who was Aberdeen's goalkeeping coach last season before being lured back to Easter Road when David Gray was appointed head coach. Hoilett was recommended to Gray by Samson, and he finally made his debut for the club in a strong second-half showing in the 2-0 win over St Johnstone two weeks ago. Unlike many on the pitch, he is able to take a beat on the ball following years at the highest level.

“He [Samson] just told me everything about the manager and his plans moving forward,” explained Hoilett on his Hibs move. “What he wants to get out of the season and what I can bring to the team is appealing to me. Working with Sam, I know what he's about, his energy around the building. It's something I want to be a part of.

“We have a talented squad here, great staff, great manager. We have the ability to kick on. We had a rough start to the season but we're going to put that behind us and take each game in our stride to get to three points and progress.

“I'm a calm character on and off the field and I think that's what I can bring to the team. Especially with my experience to help settle the game in moments, to get a breather in every group and go again. I think that's just my style of play, to see the bigger picture and use my experience as well.

“Especially with young Rudi [Molotnikov] and we have Elie [Youan], a lot of young players here. I thrive off bringing my knowledge and help other players to reach their potential and progress day in, day out and get better. When I was younger I had elders that helped me progress and get better and I just want to pass on my knowledge to the youth.”

Hoilett started his professional career at Blackburn Rovers in 2007 and walked into a dressing-room with plenty of characters. “When I was at Blackburn I had the likes of Jason Roberts, Benni McCarthy, El-Hadji Diouf, David Dunn, that helped me not only on the field as well as off the field,” explained Hoilett. “I was lucky to have them around me to pick their brains and get knowledge about the game and what could help me progress as a player.”

Giving something back to Hibs' youngsters is important to him. “That's the person I am,” Hoilett continued. “I like to, like I said, help each player to reach their potential and there's an enormous amount of talent in here and I like to feed my knowledge and see them progress and get better each day. I think that's not only for me, I'm not a selfish person, I like to help people crack on and get better. so I think that's an important role for me as well.”

While Hoilett was a popular figure at Aberdeen, the Dons have not missed his impact significantly, sitting joint-top of the Premiership and on an 11-game winning run. The ex-QPR man does not regret not staying in the north-east this summer, though. “I wish them all the best,” smiled Hoilett. “There's nothing against it. They had their plans, they had their agenda and I wasn't a part of it. So I was happy to come here.”

Hoilett will press for a start for Hibs tomorrow when they visit Rangers. The Canadian never got the chance to play at Ibrox and is looking forward to visiting, although he will not be cowed by the venue. “I'm a calm character on and off the field and I think that's what I can bring to the team,” he said, “Especially with my experience to help settle the game in moments, to get a breather in every group and go again. I think that's just my style of play.”

Hoilett admits it wasn't always like this. A younger version of Junior found certain settings intimidating. “I remember when I was going to the Emirates for the first time, I was nervous as hell,” he laughed, “but as a young player that's how you learn and progress, so for me, like I said, I like to pass on my knowledge to the young players of today to help them when they go into these environments, know how to settle their nerves and keep playing to their game and playing to their strengths.

“Of course you still get nerves, but I know how to channel it and use it to my strength now. If I didn't get nervous, I think that means you don't have the passion for the game, so I think nerves is a good thing now."