Renegade

We signed up with Errea around 1999 just after we were promoted to the First Division. Errea seems to treat us if that's what we still are.

That'll be JJ Hooper I'd have thought. He was there at one time.

Let's put the pieces together here. It's no secret he'd like to be a manager in his own right again and Russell Latapy is linked with a move away from ICT, yet the club(s) he's applied for is not revealed. As soon as Latapy disappears, Brian Rice turns up out of nowhere on 'holiday'. Despite Rice being on 'holiday' he's in the dugout for two matches in full ICT gear, shouting instructions to the players and taking the training. Hughes seemingly now wants Latapy's deal paid out in full, despite him, as far as we know not being sacked. This presumably means that there's some issue behind the scenes between the board and Latapy. Should Latapy go, you'd put your house on Rice being the replacement. There is something not right about this whole saga. The silence from the club is becoming deafening IMO as well. Hughes seemed to suggest in the press that Latapy's absence is to speak to another club, but no-one seems to know what club or even what country they're in. There's not even been any mention of the club granting permission to speak to another club. I was told last season that Latapy 'hadn't been pulling his weight' at the club and I wonder if there's been some sort of fall-out behind closed doors.

My observations: Raven is as comfortable on the left as he is on the right. Polworth looks comfortable at right-back. Dani Lopez has potential. Looks classy and skilful. JJ Hooper is a donkey and not good enough. He plays like Gregory Tade but with less natural talent (if that was possible!) Norborn has potential. An easy game but worth another look IMO. Mystery number 20.....meh.

What if there's a crisis where the team comes down with a sickness bug or something and there's hardly enough players to play? Would the fan be called upon? I presume they'd have to be!

Was Mihadjuks on loan? I thought it was a short-term deal. He'd be in the 'good' column. Bulvitis probably needs a column of his own! He could go from looking pretty solid one week to horrendously erratic the next!

Errea have been a shambles for years. I remember a few years back (the Flybe striped kit), the first team's kits didn't turn up until the week before the season started. We had to play almost all of pre-season in training kits. The black named away kit didn't turn up until October. Last season we were the last club to announce our new home kit (and not for the first time). Why the club have never called time on this mob I don't know. You'd have thought with the cup final still pretty fresh and the Europa League game next week, with the players back in, you'd have thought this week would be the perfect time to showcase the new away kit. Sadly though, I'm disappointed but not surprised.

The same thing happened with Alloa. We didn't know about it until after he'd turned it down. Going back to what I said in my previous post. I think it's fair to assume that Brian Rice is now the de facto assistant manager. Would someone just up on a conveniently timed 'holiday' be in all the gear and shouting instructions? I don't think so. It's not like he wandered in and was sat in the stand.

He did the same when he signed for us. Missed the first part of pre-season with us, then came back unfit and unable to catch up. He was also rubbish which also didn't help.

I heard Stuart Cosgrove on the radio recently saying that St Johnstone do a kind of 'extra' on top of their season ticket. Seemingly they pay about £20 on top of their regular ST and that covers them for home cup games as well (presumably it gets refunded if they don't have any that season). That should be something we should look into I reckon.

I've since seen the photo of the ICT dugout from the Deveronvale game and it is indeed Brian Rice. Yogi's comments about Rice just being here by chance are possible, but I wonder if he's being diplomatic. Someone on Twitter was saying he was shouting instructions from the players and the photo shows him kitted out in ICT gear. Would he be doing that if he wasn't the new man? I'm not so sure.

Actually he was a striker by trade and Butcher used to waste him out wide for some reason. Roberts started well enough and then lost interest (decent, wouldn't go as far as excellent). The same happened at Falkirk before he properly threw the dummy out (leading to some of their fans to speculate that he had something wrong with him). The same thing happened at Dundee and then spent the rest of the season at Alloa. He might have some ability but his attitude stank. I remember a 0-0 in Perth just after Xmas that season where he came on with ten minutes to go and just plodded around interested in the middle of the pitch. Granted, he did have some raw talent. He just didn't seem to have the drive to achieve his potential. You're not wrong there actually. He was sturdy enough for the first few months, then when Brewster gave him a full time deal (three years was it?) he became garbage.

Just seen a photo of the ICT dugout today, the guy in the dugout looks a lot like Brian Rice to me.

I see someone on Twitter is saying that Brian Rice was in the dugout, considering he isn't exactly the type of guy most people would recognise in the street (I wouldn't anyway!), I'll take that with a pinch of salt for now.

Was he built like a heavyweight boxer? That'll be Wedderburn.

Wasn't Nat Wedderburn at left-back was it? I see we've got Mark Lamond from Petershill FC on trial. Presumably he was the central midfielder?

Isn't Latapy's family still based in Portugal? Wonder if there's a job come up over there he's interested in.

Would it not have been cheaper for the club if they'd just flown commercial? Can't see some of these part-time teams in Andorra and Wales forking out for a charter flight.

Tansey as the main taker, Vincent if he isn't playing. I remember how coolly he slotted home that one against St Mirren. Would feel pretty confident if he stepped up again.

Interestingly, I heard at the Clach game that Richard Brittain turned down a one year deal with us to sign for Brora. God knows how true that is though.

Better feet than Watkins. Maybe not quite so much of a tearaway winger though. More a Ryan Christie type player I'd say. Started the game in the hole as well IIRC.

Jordan Roberts - I was impressed. Very skilfull, versatile and has a powerful shot on him. We looked a lot less creative when he went off. JJ Hooper - Not sure about him. Granted he scored and had little service in the second half, but I'm unsure about him. Doesn't seem to have much in the way of a first touch, but given he's only 21, he might be worth a punt. Nowhere near as impressive as Roberts though.

I was actually quite impressed by Wedderburn this afternoon. He looks to me like he has potential. Also, he's an absolute tank! Surely one of the biggest players we've ever had and I don't think I've ever seen an ICT player with so much power running with the ball like that before. Obviously he's not the finished article just yet, but I liked what I saw.

Some interesting points in that article, but it's written in that awful smug 'We're the greatest fans in the world' style that comes with a lot of Celtic fans. Seems like the type of guy who'd tell you about how much they've won within seconds of talking to him.

More like 10 pence!