Carlos Cuellar took one look at Rangers legend Ally McCoist and thought he had him pegged.
When the Spanish defender arrived from Osasuna in 2007 he reckoned Walter Smith's assistant's expanded waistline would make him an easy training game target but Cuellar soon realised how mistaken he had been.
With 355 goals in a glory-laden career, the striker rolled back the years to compete and Cuellar reckons he was still one of the best players in training despite being into his 40s.
He told The Athletic: “I got on really well with Ally McCoist and Ian Durrant. You would just be sitting having lunch and they’d always come over and have a laugh.
"McCoist was one of the best trainers. He was a little bit chubby so I didn't expect him to be that good but he was unbelievable.
"He used to love making the goalkeeper go down and then chip it over him and when he nutmegged someone you’d never hear the end of it.”
Cuellar only spent a season in Scotland before an £8m move to the Premier League with Aston Villa.
He lifted both cups and reached the UEFA Cup Final as Smith's dogged side lost the league title on the final day after defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
It was a memorable year for the Spaniard and his solidity and composure won him many plaudits including Player of the Year accolades.
But his joy in lifting the personal title was nearly tempered by his dodgy English - and his teammates' practical jokes.
Cuellar said: “I arrived in Scotland with only the basic English we learn in school so it wasn’t too good.
"A lot of the Scottish players had been helping me throughout the season though and they were really patient. Sometimes people would laugh at my accent or pronunciation but it helped make me feel at home.
“When I won Player of the Year I had to give a speech in front of lots of important people. But when I got up there I realised that in the script someone had put ‘f***ing hell’, ‘f***ing this’, f***ing that’ every few words, so it started off with ‘thanks for the f***ing prize. Luckily I noticed."
