No day of rest in life of Brian at Hibs

Published on Friday 3 July 2009 10:00

FOOTBALL, as far as Brian Rice is concerned, is a 24/7 business, so much so that he found himself spending last Sunday night watching Real Mallorca's reserves in action.

Never mind that he was enjoying a short holiday before returning to become assistant to new Hibs boss John Hughes, the former Easter Road player simply couldn't pass up the chance to watch a match. The reason was simple and straightforward as far as he was concerned: "If I had learned another team had signed a player from Mallorca reserves, that I had been there and hadn't gone to the game, I'd have killed myself.

"You do anything to get a player, whatever it takes.

"It's your job to go and find players, they are not on your doorstep, you have to go and find them. It never stops, it cannot stop."

It's that attitude which has marked Hughes and Rice down as one of the hardest working management teams in the country, the pair thinking nothing of finishing a day's training before jumping into a car together to take in a match, any match, anywhere in the country.

The hours spend pounding up and down the nation's motorways also allows the new Hibs management partnership to indulge in long discussions about all aspects of football.

And it doesn't stop there with, inevitably a flurry of phone calls ending each day as the two are hit by a few final thoughts.

Yes, it can get a touch monotonous at times, but Rice has the answer: "There's a great saying, hard work will beat talent if talent does not work hard."

It's a simple ethos but one which had Hughes, Rice and the rest of their backroom staff at work at Hibs' impressive East Mains Training Centre long before most of their players had roused themselves from their slumbers before reporting back for the first day of pre-season training.

It was a moment Rice was relishing, his switch from Falkirk to rejoin Hughes in Edinburgh having been delayed as he took in the European Under-21 Championships in Sweden as part of his UEFA Pro Licence and that well-earned busman's holiday on the Spanish sunshine isle.

But, Rice admitted today, it was one he never envisaged when he left Easter Road 24 years ago when he made the 175,000 move to Nottingham Forest to join Brian Clough, pictured.

Unsurprisingly, the legendary coach had a huge influence on Rice's footballing philosophy, one which had already started to develop at Easter Road where, in quick succession, he was managed by Willie Ormond, Bertie Auld, Pat Stanton and John Blackley.

He said: "I'll always be grateful to have been given the chance by Hibs. I was only 16-and-a-half or 17 and to play with the likes of Ralph Callachan, Ally MacLeod, Jackie McNamara, Gordon Rae, Craig Paterson, Erich Schaedler and Alan Rough was fantastic.

"It was a great learning curve for me, to come into an environment like that with those players taught me a lot."

But it was at Forest where Rice, still only 21, had his eyes opened.

He said: "Clough was one of the greatest British managers. What he achieved at one of the smaller clubs was phenomenal.

"The way he wanted to play football was an eye-opener and I have appreciated it ever since. The way John Hughes wants the game played is very similar, getting people on the ball, passing it and taking responsibility.

"Clough's philosophy was that everyone was a football player. To have the ball was the hardest thing. It's quite easy to go kick someone or punch them, that's not difficult. But to have the ball with people trying to take it off you is the bravest thing."

Rice enjoyed no small measure of success with Forest where he could count the likes of Stuart Pearce, Des Walker, Johnny Metgod, Nigel Clough, Neil Webb, Gary Birtles, John Robertson and Gary Mills among his contemporaries.

Twice Forest won the League Cup, there was an FA Cup final appearance and another semi-final but, alas, no Europe with English clubs banned following the Heysel Disaster.

Rice said: "We had a fair squad and it was quite difficult to get into the side at times. But the great thing about being in England is that if you are not playing there are always clubs wanting to take you on loan.

"I'd go and see different things which made me appreciate what I had back at my own club."

Rice's spell with Forest ended when Jim Jefferies brought him to Falkirk where he and Hughes crossed swords for the first time – apart, that is, from the new Hibs manager's claim to have enjoyed throwing a well-aimed pie at his now assistant from the Easter Road terracing.

The new Hibs No.2 said: "We all got along in that dressing-room, there was a great spirit.

"I wouldn't say John and I were the best of pals but there was a mutual respect."

Rice and Hughes went their separate ways – to Dunfermline and Celtic respectively – but teamed up at Brockville.

He said: "John and Owen Coyle were co-managers but also playing so they asked me to come as a coach and be in charge from the sidelines on Saturdays.

"Then Owen left for Dundee United, John became manager and we've been together ever since.

"We've a great relationship. He is the manager but I'm no 'yes man'. John's a great talker – as we all know – but he is also a great listener.

"He'll suggest something, I'll go away, think about it and come back to him.

"We might agree or disagree but we can sit for hours talking and debating things. At the end of the day, he is the main man, the figurehead of the club and I am there to support him."

When Hughes received the invitation to become Mixu Paatelainen's successor there was no doubt he would take the job and no question mark as to whether Rice would become his right- hand man.

He said: "Whatever happened I was happy to back him wherever that might have been but we are both delighted to be here.

"I never thought when I left Hibs all those years ago I'd be back in any capacity whatsoever but, like John, I just can't wait to get started."

While both he and Hughes may have ties to Hibs, Rice insisted it's what lies ahead which is important, not the past as they strive to herald a new dawn at Easter Road.

He said: "There's no point dwelling on the past, it has to be about the future. Hibs are one of the top teams in Scotland, no doubt about that, and the fans want to see a team being positive, entertaining and scoring goals.

"There should be a buzz when Hibs are playing. John and I would go to Easter Road when Falkirk weren't playing, it's a great stadium and when the fans are excited there's a great atmosphere. That's the way it should be and that's what we'll be striving to get.

"I cannot remember us ever setting out just to sit in and counter-attack. We play to have a go."