DIG DEEP AND GET JOB DONE Chairman Les Gray says Accies are up for relegation fight
Les Gray isn’t pressing the panic button at Hamilton Accies and expects the team to come out fighting after the winter break.
Gray says the New Douglas Park club are used to having their backs against the wall – and that the current run of poor results is something they’ve overcome in the past.
The Accies chairman has every faith that manager Martin Canning will turn things around and says there is no question he’s the right man to get the club out of relegation trouble.
Gray said: “We knew December was always going to be a tough shift and had to get something out of it.
But we drew those games against the likes of Inverness and Motherwell, and in games that we thought we had a chance in. Like Rangers at home, we didn’t play well enough to deserve to take anything from it.
“We’ve put ourselves under a bit of pressure but we’ve been here before and we’re not going to panic.
“We need to turn draws into wins and we need to win ugly at times. I would like us to play nice, attractive football but it’s not getting us over the line, we’re not getting results.
“Martin Canning is aware of what needs to be done and I have every confidence he will do it.”
Gray is aware that fans aren’t happy with how the season has gone so far but says that’s echoed within the club as well.
He said: “Fans pay their money and are entitled to shout and bawl when their team is losing. I’m not happy either when we lose but when the shouting becomes abusive or personal it’s not on.
“People seem to think we lose and go off for a nice meal but that is way off the mark – we’re hurting just as much as the fans are.
“We’ve done reasonably well in the last few years, this is our fourth season in the top flight, and if we stay up that will be a record.
“The bottom line is that expectations were raised when we won the play-off game, we had a great start under Alex Neil, he left and it went a bit pear-shaped, but you have to remember that we lost Alex as a player, as well as Jason Scotland and Tony Andreu, which we struggled to recover from.
“Last year was all about survival, this season was supposed to be about progress and that hasn’t happened but there are circumstances there. I don’t want to keep saying we’ve been unlucky but it feels to me that if we had won even some of the games we’ve drawn we’d be in the top six.
“The margins are so thin between success and failure in this league, we’re not in a great position but two wins changes that.
“The cup tie at Kilmarnock is a starter for that, we then have a round of games that is an opportunity to climb the league and we have to try to do that.
“We’ve lost late goals, in games
here we’ve outplayed Dundee and Kilmarnock but lost both. We’re turning three points into one point and that adds up.
“The Motherwell game was a particularly sore point because we thought we had done enough to win the game, didn’t get that second goal and got a sucker-punch at the end.
“Everyone is hurting but we’re great with our backs against the wall and I have every faith in the manager, given the job, the squad and the budget he has to work with.”
Gray says Canning and himself are aware of where they need to strengthen but admits at times that it’s difficult to attract players to a small club like Hamilton.
He said: “We’re looking for the right type of player who fits our business model but it’s more than that – it’s trying to get players who want to come and play for Hamilton Accies and that isn’t easy.
“We don’t feel we’re that far away from having a good squad. I know results tell a different story and we know we should have won more games than we have.
“That’s a big problem, so we’re talking to various agents and players but there isn’t a lot out there.
“We are in the market if the right players are there and we’re always looking at trialists.
“If Martin identifies the right players to come in we’ll try to sign them. But players are looking for the best deal they can get and that often isn’t Hamilton Accies.”