Ben Doak insists he’ll never let the hype or the haters derail his career – after shutting down social media to block out the noise.
The Liverpool wonderkid says his football journey is just starting now having been loaned to Middlesbrough and keeping his spot in the latest Scotland squad. And while he admits he would never have dreamed of being on this stage at just 18, he’s in no mood to let any outside interference stop his rapid development. The forward was dubbed “special” by former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp who handed him his top team debut at 16 while Scotland head coach Steve Clarke tipped him to become “a big player” for his country.
But it’s the rising expectation among punters that has seen the kid come under the microiscope. And Doak said: “When I first started playing games for Liverpool, coming off the bench and when I made my first start, it’s easy to fall into looking at social media and getting a bit too carried away. The first time I realised was one game where I wasn’t great, I wasn’t good, I wasn’t bad. The first thing you do, you go straight onto social media and you see everyone caning you. That was when I realised that these people aren’t your mates.
“They’ll big you up and then they’ll hit you down just as hard. I just don’t look. It’s the easiest thing to do, really, because it keeps you level-headed and you really know where you’re at when you don’t look at that.
“It gets exhausting reading all the good and the bad. What’s the point? The people that know what they’re talking about are in the building with me. If I want to hear any feedback, I’ll go to them, I won’t go to social media.”
Doak hopes his move to Middlesbrough, where he has scored one goal in five appearances, will provide regular competitive football after an injury-hit season at Liverpool.
He said “Obviously you’ve got other 18-year-old lads that are playing every week. Some lads have been playing for two years already. Some lads might start playing next year.
“But everyone’s got their own journey – and mine’s just starting now. I had one or two teams to pick from and the Liverpool manager was really happy that I chose Boro with Michael Carrick, I think the gaffer really likes the style of football he plays.
“The week before we came here, I played three games in seven days. I started all three of them and I think it’s the most football I’ve played in the last eight or nine months. It’s tough on you physically, but considering I hadn’t done that before, I felt fine.”
Doak was thrust into the big time when he made his Liverpool debut aged just 16. The former Celtic kid has gone on to make 10 top team appearances for the Anfield giants before being sent out on loan to Boro.
He’s now got two international caps and looks set to become a feature of the Scotland squad for years to come. He said: “I didn’t expect to be here at 18. Even getting picked for the 26-man squad in the Euros.
“It feels normal now. I’m there to play football. As long as I’m looking after myself and living right, then I’ll be fine. I feel like I’ve always gone through things in football dead quick. It’s always just the next thing and the next thing and the next thing.
“Because if you spend too long dwelling on the good things that you’ve done, you’re just going to ruin the things that are going to come. So it’s always just been the next thing, the next thing. And it’s just normal to me.
“I’ve got high standards for myself, but I’m not going to be obsessed by ideas of achieving things. I feel like if I just go game by game, go out and enjoy it, go out and play well, I’ll get noticed doing it that way.”