RICE GETTING MILES BETTER
BRIAN RICE admits he spends hours on the road trying to plot a road map to success for Hamilton.
The Accies gaffer made the six-hour round trip to watch Ross County beat Motherwell on Monday night but it was nothing new for a man who usually goes to five games a week all over the UK.
Rice said: “Most of the time I drive in silence. It’s thinking time for me on the way back. On the way up I’m making calls.
“As a manager you don’t get much time to yourself between the job and the family.
“Getting in the car is my time – I love it. I’m used to it as well, right back to when I worked at Watford.
“I just jump in the car and away I go. It’s work but there’s enjoyment.
“There’s a difference in watching a game and working at a game. You look at who’s doing what when the ball’s on the other side of the pitch, things you don’t see on the telly.
“I found it really difficult during lockdown. I’d be at games four or five nights a week. That’s just how I work. I like to see things live.
“It’s planning for the next month or the next year. You learn about players you might bring in
BY MICHAEL GANNON or even come up against down the line. I write everything down. I’ve got folder after folder.”
Rice picked up plenty about Ross County ahead of this weekend’s clash.
He said: “They were very good, especially in the first half, and then showed a different side to their game in the second.”
Rice will put in the miles to find a keeper following Owain Fon Williams’ move to Dunfermline and says new arrival Justin Johnson will be given time to hit top gear.
He said: “I’m expecting Justin to get a bit fitter. He’s a winger who can excite on his day and he’s something a bit different to what we’ve got.
“He’s a quiet lad so we’ll get him out of his shell a bit. He just needs to get in to the way we work here.
“He’s good on the ball and we’ll get him working harder off the ball.
“In a few weeks’ time hopefully he’ll be chapping at the door to start.
“We’re down to two keepers with Owain leaving so we’re looking at bringing in one more to compete.
“I’m not interested in No.1, No.2 and No.3, I want three No.1s in my squad.”