| HISLOP STEPS INTO THE LIGHT |
| John Robertson's first signing for ICT has been confirmed as Ross County's star striker Steven Hislop (above). In a shock move, ICT snapped up Hislop in the final hours prior to the deadline, after Grandad Smith released him as he only wants players who are "committed to the jersey" at Ross County. Hislop's crime was that he refused to sign a new contract with County, which lead to rumours flying around the internet that he was destined for Caley Stadium. It seems that these rumours turned out to be true. Whilst it is good to get one over on your local rivals with a signing such as this, some fans may question why we require another striker. We already have Dennis Wyness, until the summer at least, Paul Ritchie and Liam Keogh up front, with Charlie capable of doing a turn there as well. However, it would seem that Robbo's idea is to build for the future. It seems inevitable that Denzil will be away at the end of the season and Paul Ritchie turned 34 last week, so it is prudent to get in another striker. But how good a signing will Hislop be? Hislop started his career at East Stirlingshire, quite possibly the least glamourous football club in the world with the exception of Rothes. However, despite playing in a poor Shire side which finished third from bottom of the SFL Third Divison, Hislop managed to score seventeen goals in his first season of first team football. This attracted the attention of Shrek-lookalike Neale Cooper who snapped up the tall hitman for Ross County. County had to go to a tribunal to determine the fee, which was eventually set at £17,000. In his first season at County Hislop started slowly, not scoring a league goal until his eighth outing. From then on, he developed into County's most prolific goalscorer, bagging 17 goals for the season. He scored County's goal in the 1-1 derby draw at Caley Stadium in March of last year and was then sent off for trying to scrap with Ross Tokely. Maybe not sit them together on the bus Robbo! In preseason, Hislop suffered an injury to his ankle which caused him to miss the seasons opening. Upon his return he found goals hard to come by and when Alex Smith took over County Steven was started as often as not from the bench. His last goal for County came in a 2-1 defeat by Arbroath. Hislop is a strong physical player, good in the air who has a good scoring record playing for teams that are inferior to the current ICT team. Looking at things logically it could be that Robbo sees Hislop as a replacement for Paul Ritchie, although it is impossible to tell the long term plans of the new manager. It is safe to assume that Robertson will not tinker with the formation for the crucial tie against Falkirk on the 8th, although it would surprising not to see Hislop on the bench at least. Perhaps a super-sub performance on his debut could start Hislops Caley Jags career on the best possible note? |
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