Alloa Athletic chairman confident hiring new manager "won't drag on"

Rice was confirmed to be leaving the club last Thursday, taking up a position as a first team coach at Livingston.

Andy Allan, chairman for the club, spoke with the Advertiser to update fans on the club’s progress in signing a new manager, with the board confident that the process “won’t drag on”.

He said: “There’s an attraction to Alloa because it’s a good, community-based club. We have a plan B, which I can’t go into too much detail about.

“But, within 24 hours of the news about Brian leaving, we had about seven applications come in for the job so there’s a lot of interest about the position.

“I was always confident that there would be interest in the position should it become available and we have a plan B, we just need to find out if we can implement it or not.

“I’m pretty confident this won’t drag on.”

Rice’s departure to join the Premiership side came as a surprise to many, with the gaffer transitioning from a manager to a coach under David Martindale.

Allan took the time to comment on Rice’s departure, adding that he has the well wishes of everyone at Alloa.

He added: “I was at Clyde at the time when Brian joined Alloa and from the outside looking in, he turned the ship around when things weren’t going particularly well that season.

“He got us into the playoffs last year. We had a bit of a disappointing start to this season but there’s a bit of momentum about the club now and we’re getting more and more confident that we can win matches.

“He’s done a good job for us and when you’re approached by a big full-time club in the Premiership, you need to take your chance.

“Everyone’s sorry to see Brian go, the dressing room was pretty solidly behind him and hopefully as a farewell to him, we can go on and pick up three points where we can.

“We really wish him well and I hope he goes on to succeed in his new role. The challenge for us is to find a replacement.”