NEW Hibs assistant manager Brian Rice has confessed he could not begrudge Steven Fletcher his exciting move to the English Premier League because he, himself, was tempted away from the club as a youngster by the prospect of working with Brian Clough.
Rice was only 21, a year Fletcher's junior, when he left Easter Road for Nottingham Forest in a £175,000 deal in 1985, going on to spend six years with the double European Cup winners.
Despite earning cult status with the Forest supporters and re
lishing Clough's inspirational regime, John Hughes' number two admitted yesterday that the switch had probably come around a year too soon for him.
However, just as he has no regrets over snatching the opportunity to be coached by the legendary Clough, the 45-year-old is not about to pick faults in Fletcher's decision to accept his lucrative £3 million move to Owen Coyle's Burnley earlier this week.
"I've seen Steven Fletcher for a number of years now and of course there's disappointment I won't get to work with him," he said. "He's a fantastic talent that is only going to get better and better.
"But it's about the lure of the Premiership, you only have to look at the world-class stars that are going there now. Steven had that lure and the incentive of becoming a regular in the Scotland squad and I don't think anybody would hold that against Steven – we certainly wouldn't.
"I could have stayed at Hibs and, looking back now, I should maybe have stayed another year. But Brian Clough was the lure, no mistake about it. I had the chance of going to two or three other clubs but the lure of working with Clough was just something you couldn't turn down.
"If I didn't go I maybe wouldn't have had the chance to work with a man like that and working with him and under his style of play was probably the best decision I ever made.
"It's the same for Steven. It was a massive opportunity for the lad and only time will tell whether it would have been right to stand in his way or not.
"I had the opportunity and I took it. I still don't know whether it was right or wrong to leave at that time – but it's easy to see why you're tempted."
Whilst Fletcher and Alan O'Brien have departed Hibs this week, Hughes has acted smartly to bolster the squad he inherited from Mixu Paatelainen by drafting in Manchester United youngster Danny Galbraith and Falkirk midfield pair Patrick Cregg and Kevin McBride.
It is not unusual for a new manager to return to his former club for signings, the temptation of being surrounded by familiar faces often one that is too hard to resist.
However, Rice, whose own move to join Hughes from Falkirk could not be confirmed until this week because of holidays and his Uefa Pro-Licence studies, has insisted Cregg and McBride have been recruited not simply because they were Falkirk players.
"It's important to have two good players in, more than anything else," he explained.
"Kevin and Padge (Cregg) weren't brought here because they were at Falkirk and they knew the gaffer. They were brought in because they are two good players.
"For two seasons, Patrick Cregg was outstanding for Falkirk, absolutely outstanding. He lost his way in the early part of last season but towards the end we saw the real Patrick Cregg again.
"He's only 23 years old and he's a great talent. He knows how we want him to play and so we're a step ahead of bringing in someone we didn't know.
"Kevin's exactly the type of player we like, someone who will have the ball all day. He's very disciplined in his role and is a great team player.
"He's not a star in the eyes of the fans or anything like that but ask any of his team-mates and they will tell you he's a fantastic team player who will do whatever he can to help the team out.
"It's a new challenge for them, like it is for John and I. It's a step up for us and it's a step up for them, a great challenge, and it will be up to them to prove the gaffer was right to bring them here."
