Steven Whittaker insists he has no worries about the reception he will be given by Rangers supporters when he returns to Ibrox as a Hibernian player next month.
The defender left Rangers when they were liquidated in 2012, one of several players, including Steven Naismith, who objected to the proposed transfer of their contracts to the new club. While Rangers started again on the bottom rung of Scotland’s league ladder, Naismith moved to Everton, and Whittaker to Norwich City, where he spent the next five years of his career.
The circumstances of their departures angered some Rangers fans, who will have the chance to make their feelings known when his new team, Hibs, visit Ibrox on the second day of the Ladbrokes Premiership season.
“Whatever reception I get, I won’t let it bother me,” he said. “I’m 33 now so I’ve experienced all the different ones, whether you’re cheered or booed. That’s part of football and you just have to get on with it. I’ve not given any thought to what kind of welcome I’ll get there. I’ll just be trying my best to win for Hibs.
“Everyone has a different opinion of what happened and who was to blame for what. As players, we were paid to play football and that’s what we tried to concentrate on through the whole process. It was difficult at times but that’s all we knew. Steven and I wanted to play football. That was the be-all and end-all. It was a shame and no-one saw it coming. We took wage cuts, for example, to try and help everything come back together. We did our bit but people have different perceptions of that. We can’t change that.”
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Whittaker was speaking for the first time since he rejoined the club where he made his name. The 33-year-old defender, who came through the ranks at Hibs, has signed a three-year deal with the promoted side who are back in the Ladbrokes Premiership after a three-year absence.
The irony is that when Neil Lennon, the Hibs coach, took charge of the Edinburgh club last summer, Whittaker was one of the players he mentioned in a now-famous critique of the club’s mental weakness. “Boyband,” said Lennon. “When I played against them, they had the [Scott] Browns and [Steven] Whittakers and all these lads. They would come and play Celtic and play really well and then they would go out partying in Edinburgh, getting pats on the back. Then they would go and lose to Motherwell the week after. That won’t be tolerated here by me.”
Whittaker acknowledges that there is a different attitude around Easter Road these days. He lifted the League Cup with Hibs in 2007, but there were eight more trophies for him during a five-year spell at Ibrox in which he learned to handle the pressure that comes with playing for one of the Glasgow clubs. He likes to think that he and Lennon will bring to Hibs the kind of mental strength that they have too often lacked. “There’s definitely been a change of mindset within the club. It’s one of the biggest things the manager’s brought. I was at Rangers when he was at Celtic. Because we’ve both been involved with the Old Firm, we probably have that winning mentality. You pick up a lot of things. It’s something we can hopefully help bring to the squad.”
Lennon has already suggested that he has the second-best squad in Scottish football. Rest assured he will not be content with survival, or even a top-six finish, in Hibs’ first season since their promotion from the Championship.
“I played against him as a player,” said Whittaker. “His determination sticks out. He’s a winner and you can see that from the chats I’ve had and from him being on the side of the pitch. You can see that he wants to win, probably the same as he was as a player.”
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Lennon values Whittaker’s experience and will allow him to try his hand at coaching, but his precise role in the first team remains unclear. Versatile enough to play anywhere in a back four, he is first and foremost a full back. If he is to play there on a regular basis, it will be at the expense of either Lewis Stevenson, who has just been honoured with a testimonial match, or David Gray, the captain who scored the club’s Scottish Cup-winning goal. Efe Ambrose, Darren McGregor, Paul Hanlon and Liam Fontaine already give Lennon plenty options in the middle.
Whittaker refused to comment on reports that he was also offered a deal by Hearts. After losing his place in the Norwich City side, as well as his berth in the Scotland squad, he opted for a return to the club where it all began. “The ties I have with the club, all the good feelings you have when you make it as a professional … it’s down to my time here, so it was natural for me to come back. Hopefully, I’ll end my career here.”