Very curious goings-on this weekend across the Kessock Bridge from me, as Ross County sacked manager Willie McStay (insert innuendo joke here - I'm going for "Willie could not guarantee staying up") after only nine games. That makes it sound even more drastic than it was, as McStay had taken charge in Dingwall a full three months ago and according to Staggies fans had fallen out with several key players, filled the side with Celtic reserves on loan, and most importantly had won a grand total of zero matches. County are currently eighth in the table and, with a wage bill above average for the division, could not risk relegation. Still, it felt like a knee-jerk decision, unless of course the board of directors have someone lined up quickly.
Given the rumours are that Chris Sutton is a candidate, I suspect they don't.
About 180 miles south, Billy Reid may be thanking his lucky stars that he has a chairman that has no penchant for over-reacting, and also that he has built up a
lot of credit during his five-and-a-half year tenure at New Douglas Park. For
Hamilton Accies are 5 points adrift at the bottom of the SPL (albeit with a game
in hand on 11th placed St. Mirren). They have only two wins all season, the last of which was on 30 October. Neither of them were at home. They have scored only 14 goals in 23 matches in the league. In January they made several signings, but almost all were young players from England's lower leagues. The big sales in recent seasons of James McCarthy, James MacArthur and Brian Easton are offset by the mediocre income from the SPL's lowest average attendance, so there was no money for strengthening. They have used 35 different players in the league this season, which tells you there is a lot of doubt over who the best XI are.
If there was a recipe for a dish named "relegation certainty", it would contain all the above ingredients.
Of course, about roughly this time last year, I posted about how Accies were embroiled in a relegation battle, about how they couldn't score, how Reid constantly changed the team and signed and discarded players seemingly on a whim, how their style of play was defensive, boring and, at times, quite devious, and how I was convinced their dysfunctional setup meant they were doomed. I looked like a bit of a prat when Hamilton went on a superb run in the final third of the campaign and finished seventh. Funnily enough, they escaped the drop with a similar surge of form the season before that. Might lightning strike a third time?
The trouble for Reid now is that his side are adrift of the rest, and that the teams above St Mirren - Hibs and Aberdeen - have started putting results together themselves. It will be very surprising if anyone else gets stuck in a dogfight. Their next three games are away, though considering their home form this may not be a bad thing. Hamilton have proved me wrong before, but the odds are more heavily stacked against them than ever.
L.
No comments:
Post a Comment