THE problem for rising stars is their trajectory is often fraught with danger. It is easy tofall to earth; a modern-day Icarus, propelled too close to the sun by ambition, avarice, bad company or bad advice.

Scottish football is littered with examples of the next big thing who became the next big flop; the supposed saviour who sank without trace.

Derek Riordan is surrounded by such hyperbole now, just as Derek Ferguson, Eoin Jess, Charlie Miller and Mark Burchill before him.

Hibernian's striker has only just celebrated his 22nd birthday, yet already the talk is of whether he is ready to play for Scotland against Italy in March, and whether Leeds or Everton might be preparing a bid for the considerable talent being nurtured at Easter Road.

Whether he thrives or is consumed by such attention remains to be seen, but the pitfalls are evident and the young man has already stumbled into a few given the night he spent in police cells following a fracas in Edinburgh before Christmas.

Tony Mowbray took a sympathetic approach, describing it as a mistake familiar to many of his age. "We all care about Derek and want him to live his life properly. Hopefully, after this, the penny will have dropped, " said the Hibs manager.

Last week Peter Marinello warned the latest Hibs prodigy not to follow his path to ruin; admitting he gave in to temptation and "pissed most it up against a wall" when he moved from Leith to London after Arsenal signed him up as a teenager.

Craig Brown read Marinello's words and appreciated the sentiment. But the former Scotland manager believes the message would be more pertinent if it came from somebody who wasn't 54.

"When you are Riordan's age, anybody over 40 is an old codger. Mowbray may be a young manager, but he is still an old man to Riordan. If I had him as my player I'd try and get someone like John Collins along to speak to him; someone who Riordan would have seen play as a Hibs fan - someone he could relate to, who isn't looking to make money out of him and who could act as a mentor, " said Brown.

Brown's advice to Riordan would be simple enough having seen the hype which surrounded the emergence of such players as Burchill, who claimed six caps and won himself a [pounds]900,000 move to Portsmouth having grown frustrated at the lack of opportunities at Celtic only to find himself subsequently loaned out to Wigan, Dundee, Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham over the next three years. The 24-yearold now finds himself at Hearts, trying to rebuild his career.

"My advice would be serve your apprenticeship properly and go when you know you can be a first-team fixture. Look how long it took Lee McCulloch to establish himself at Wigan and he is not as gifted as Riordan.

"The problem is young players get impatient. They hear what others are earning and silly money is mentioned.

The media hype them up too much and it is difficult to keep their feet on the ground, " said Brown.

"The difficulty isn't during the week at training, because their fellow players and the manager won't let them get big-headed, but there are other influences outside the club, like the environment they are in or the pals who may lead them astray."

Agents are often perceived as a negative influence too, encouraging their young clients to move on in deals which line their own pockets, but Raymond Sparkes would beg to differ.

The agent reckons that in 80per cent of the cases he has dealt with over the past decade or more, his advice to a young player has been to fulfil their apprenticeship.

"I've lost players because I've dispensed advice they don't want to hear.

Meanwhile, they have got somebody else in their ear saying 'you'd be crazy not to take the money now'.

"Don't mistake where I'm coming from - I'm as much a commercial animal as anyone, but it is dangerous to take the first big offer which is placed in front of you. It is all about having confidence in your own ability and in the advice you are getting.

"Yes, you may be on [pounds]1000 a week and someone is offering you [pounds]10,000, but I may be arguing that hang in there for one more year or so, fulfil your apprenticeship at the right club and then I'll get you [pounds]20,000 a week when you are ready to move to the next level, " he said.

"There is no magical formula to making the right decisions and fulfilling your potential in football, but you can make a checklist to avoid the pitfalls, " said Sparkes. "But the problem is there is no point having a sensible influence in your ear - whether that be your agent or manager - if you go into the wider world and deal with influences which are not so positive.

Families are important, friends are important - if they are all on the same page then hopefully you can deal with that expectation and make the right decisions."

Riordan now faces that challenge. If he rises to it, there is no telling how high he may fly.