Hamilton Accies arrived in the SPFL Premiership as one of the favourites for relegation. In part this was down to their struggle to ensure promotion, having lost to Dumbarton on the penultimate week of the season they slipped into the play off places.
Despite beating Morton 10-2 in the last game of the season they were pipped to automatic promotion by Dundee. After seeing off Falkirk over two legs in the play off they face beleaguered Hibs in the play off final. They looked to be down and out again after losing 2-0 at New Douglas Park in the first leg. A fighting performance at Easter Rd saw them win 2-0 and take the game to extra time and then penalties, which they won 4-3. A tremendously dramatic way to find yourself attaining promotion to the top division, but not one that had onlookers too confident about their survival.
Those concerns grew during the summer as they retained the bulk of the squad who brought them up, and added Dougie Imrie, the type of signing that had many rushing to the bookies to lay money on them going down!
An opening week defeat at home to Inverness seemed to confirm their status as relegation candidates. This was followed by a run of nine games unbeaten which saw them sit top of the table! It was incredible. Could this be for real? Could Hamilton be a genuine challenger for a European spot? They had beaten Motherwell 4-0 at Fir Park, beaten Celtic at Celtic Park for the first time in over 80 years and put Aberdeen to the sword at New Douglas Park.
These results were enough to see the club blow their own trumpet and show confidence they would at least be staying in the division for another year by extending the contracts of two of their younger players, Ali Crawford and Grant Gillespie. Obviously the transfer fees accrued from the sales of James McArthur and James McCarthy persuaded them to take such a gamble, hoping to once again cash in on their assets.
As often happens in the top flight the surprise element of a team coming up doesn’t last too long and the wheels can come off fairly quickly. We have seen it happen before to Dunfermline, Ross County and Dundee who have stormed the top six before sliding back down the table.
Accies have now won only one game in their last seven which has seen them drop to fifth in the table and knocked out of both cups, which is a real shame for the support. High league finishes are great, but it’s better if a historically good team can earn themselves legend status with an extended cup run.
What have opponents discovered? They will have seen that at centre back the Accies are probably at their weakest with Michael Devlin, Martin Canning or Jesus Garcia Tena not setting the heather on fire. In a number of the games I have seen they have ridden their luck and relied on keeper Michael McGovern to bail them out. They are not the quickest, and (Garcia Tena aside) are not the best passers, which means if they are pressed they can panic a little.
At the other end I have never been impressed by Mikael Antoine-Curier, who seems immobile and not the best at holding the ball in and linking the play.
It would therefore seem reasonable for opposing team therefore to concentrate on closing down the midfield threat of Crawford, Gillespie, Danny Redmond and top scorer Anthony Andreu (many of his goals coming from the edge of the box).
These are all areas the football analysts will have identified as they pore over their DVD footage ahead of playing the Lanarkshire side. Will Alex Neil look to change personnel or formation in the coming weeks to try to arrest this slide? From what I have heard him say after games in recent weeks this looks as though it will be unlikely as he has faith in his players and his system.
What comes next for the Accies? Their next four fixtures are winnable, and will give an indication of where they might end up in the table. They have Dundee at home before trips to Ross County and Kilmarnock and then hosting Motherwell on New Year’s day. It might also give us an insight into what the future holds for this particular group of Hamilton players, and whether they have what it takes to remain competitive in the top flight beyond this campaign.
WRITTEN BY GRAHAM BARNSTAPLE
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