Joining up with Inverness Caledonian Thistle's pre-season tour in the south of England hasn't been all plain sailing for winger Aaron Doran; he tweeted his frustration at the difficulty of buying a train ticket to Bath because no-one could understand his Irish accent.
The season before last, Doran was considered enough of a prospect at Blackburn Rovers that he made three first team appearances off the bench for the English Premier League side. But opportunities were scarce last year, and in January 2011 he took the chance to join Caley Thistle on loan for the rest of the season. As a right-footed player cutting in from the left flank - the mirror image of fellow Irishman Jonny Hayes on the opposite side - Doran scored three SPL goals, including an exquisite curling effort at St Johnstone, and showed that, even at the age of 20, he is already more than good enough for the SPL.
So it was a particular delight that, when it became clear there was no future at Blackburn, Doran agreed to make a permanent move to the Highlands, despite the fact that the likes of Aberdeen, Motherwell and St. Johnstone were also interested.
Caley Thistle's transfer policy has been very distinct this summer. Traditionally it has been difficult to attract players to the north of the country, presumably because most folk in the central belt still assume that we done kilts, wear woad on our faces, drink from streams and have only a vague idea of what electricity is. (Depressingly, I'm being only slightly tongue-in-cheek) But those who have been persuaded to give it a go have often stayed; as a consequence the backbone of the side that first won SPL promotion in 2004 under John Robertson (and had been constructed by his predecessor, Steve Paterson) made up most of the squad for the subsequent years.
This summer, with the departures of Russell Duncan, Grant Munro, Stuart Golabek, and Roy McBain, that backbone has but one vertebra left, defender Ross Tokely. The departures of Munro and Duncan, servants for more than a decade and who are still only 30, came as a particular shock. But boss Terry Butcher has made his intentions clear - he wants to bring young players north, from England's lower divisions. Whilst Inverness cannot offer better wages than League One and League Two clubs, Butcher is selling the club as a chance to gain more exposure, especially when playing the Old Firm.
The ultimate advertisement for this claim is Adam Rooney, who after more than 20 goals last season earned himself a deal at Birmingham City reportedly worth up to £10,000 a week. That's five-fold what Caley had offered him to stay. Whether Rooney is good enough to score goals regularly in The Championship is open to debate, but he's earned himself the opportunity, and a huge paypacket, after only one high-scoring SPL season.
Butcher's argument has swayed the likes of Stockport's Greg Tansey and Northampton's Billy McKay. Expect more players from this level to join us over the next few weeks.
It also means a tactical switch, now light years away from the physical, hard-working side which established itself in the SPL in the middle of the last decade; now with Doran, McKay, Hayes and French forward Gregory Tade, Inverness have pace to burn. In fact, the lack of height and physical presence in the squad makes this writer a little nervous - though a big centre-back and a big centre-forward would allay those fears, and could potentially make Caley a team to beat.
The likes of Doran are unlikely to remain here for more than a couple of years - if they are good someone better and wealthier will sign them, and if they aren't then we'll chuck them. So it means an inevitably high turnover of players. But that's likely to be the way of things for Scotland's provincial clubs in the near future. The trick is consistently recognising and signing players who are going to a job.
Let's hope Terry Butcher can pull it off.
L.
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