Hamilton v Aberdeen: Billy Reid wants to make a splash

Published on Friday 22 April 2011 16:32

THERE is a symphony of sniggers and a wee crowd gathering, youth players not quite sure if they are to believe what they have heard. Hamilton manager Billy Reid has agreed to have a couple of buckets of water thrown over him, all in the name of art.

What started off as a jokey aside on a hot day quickly became a careful orchestration of how the photo would play out. The physio and kitman quickly volunteer to soak the gaffer and the scene is one of jolly japery on a sunny afternoon.

With the quips and water flying and the laughter coming easily it would be easy to assume this was a club with no woes. Uninformed bystanders would find it hard to believe that, depending on results today and tomorrow, Hamilton could find themselves relegated by the time they next report for training. No-one at the club has given up hope. Victory at Easter Road last weekend offered a glimmer of optimism but, having won only three games all season, they know they now have to win at least four of their last five fixtures to have any chance of extending their stay in the top flight.

"Up until last Sunday everybody had us relegated but we can't look at it that way," said a bullish Reid. "We now have five games and we feel we are capable of beating everyone in the bottom six, no doubt about that, although people will say you have only won three games all season so is it really achievable?"

Especially as the first of those matches is at home, a venue where victory has eluded them in every one of their league outings there this term.

Reid continued: "I think it is possible. We play Aberdeen at home which is a winnable game. The last time they beat us with a goal in the 92nd minute and we were very unlucky. But we know that having left it to this stage, we are also relying on other teams beating St Mirren as well so we just have to prepare as best we can. But my motto has always been to take it one day at a time and aim for the team above us and I stand by that."

He also stands by the tactics and the philosophy which has perhaps made them easier to break down without posing a threat at the other end of the park. A lack of penetration has been costly at one end, penalties, sending offs and sloppy goals have hammered them defensively. The combination leaves them adrift in terms of goal difference.

It makes survival hopes looking fairly forlorn, the formality of relegation a matter of when rather than if. But still the smile doesn't shift. Reid is one of life's effervescent figures. The bubbly embodiment of enthusiasm, even though he says a return to the First Division will hurt like hell, he is already plucking positives from a scenario that grows ever more likely.

For him it offers the chance to blood more of the young players who excite him.At a club with a strong emphasis on youth development and rearing their own stars of tomorrow, that has ironically contributed to their decline this term.

After safeguarding SPL status in previous years with precocious talents of their own making, the sale of the likes of James McCarthy and then James McArthur left vacancies which could not be filled.

But, just as he has no regrets about passing up invitations to discuss leaving New Douglas Park for fresh managerial challenges down south, Reid has no qualms about seeing promising youngsters getting the step up they deserved.

The day we met he emerged with a Scotland strip in hand. On the chest the details of the match against Brazil was embroidered, on the back was the name McArthur. His young prodigy had sent his shirt to the man who helped hone his skills and gave him the platform to showcase them. "That means the world to me and makes me very proud. People say that maybe we should make ourselves harder to beat but it's because boys like James were allowed to get on the ball and encouraged to take responsibility and pick out passes as well as doing all the hard work, that's what allows them to step up and fit in on the bigger stage. Why would we change?"

But it has been a tough season. Minus the quality youngsters and denied the winning mentality and experience of captain Alex Neil due to injury, Reid admits it has been the toughest campaign of his managerial campaign. "I have learned a lot about myself and my players. I don't think anyone likes losing and I certainly don't but I think I have dealt with things pretty well and no-one has stayed down for too long. You can see what people are like here. We believe in the way we do things and we know that sometimes that leaves us vulnerable but we don't have any regrets. We will pick ourselves up and get back to work and, if we go down, we know it won't be easy to come back up but if we can, we will come back with a squad of young players who have been given the chance to develop down in the First Division. That's one way to look on the bright side. No matter what happens."

With Reid there will always be shafts of sunshine coming through the gloom.