Neil: We need to improve soon or we’ll be doomed

Oct 9 2008 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

FURIOUS Hamilton captain Alex Neil tore a strip off his side after their 4-0 mauling by Celtic and told them they must improve or face being dumped out of the SPL.

Midfielder Neil was bitterly disappointed in Accies’ performance at Celtic Park as the Scottish champions ran riot.

He said: “We didn’t do ourselves justice at all. Far too many of our boys were under-par and that’s not good enough.

“It’s one game and it’s only three points but that sort of performance is not going to do anything for us this season and the quicker the boys realise that the better.

“Every game is a big game for us. We need to try to get as many points on the board as possible but if we play like that I can’t see us picking up too many points.

“Having a weekend break has probably come at a bad time because after you’ve lost a game like that the first thing you want to do is get back out and play again and prove that it was a one-off and won’t happen again.

“I’d like to think that St Mirren will suffer a backlash from that and I’ll certainly be looking for a reaction from all of the boys.”

There weren’t many positives for Hamilton to take from a match in which they were simply outclassed by a rampant Celtic side.

Gordon Strachan’s side opened the scoring in the 26th minute.

David Elebert misjudged Aiden McGeady’s cross from the right and Shunsuke Nakamura couldn’t believe his luck as he controlled the ball and drilled a shot across Tomas Cerny and into the right corner.

Celtic went close again in 31 minutes when McGeady’s cross was volleyed off the right-hand post by Scott McDonald.

And they grabbed their second goal six minutes later when Nakamura’s simple ball found Samaras just outside the box and he firmly side-footed the ball under Cerny.

Accies boss Billy Reid threw on Mark Corcoran and Stephen Ettien for Chris Swailes and Derek Lyle at half-time in a bid to liven up his side.

But Celtic continued to dominate and Brian Easton nearly gifted them a third goal, volleying a McGeady cross just past the right post in 52 minutes.

Nakamura sent a chip inches past the left top corner five minutes later.

Hamilton threatened for the first time in 61 minutes but, stretching for the ball, Corcoran could only head Brian Easton’s cross over.

Seconds later, James McArthur went on a run through midfield but his low shot flew past the right post.

Celtic grabbed their third goal in 76 minutes. McGeady sent McDonald racing on the right side of the box and he slid in to shield the ball from Martin Canning’s challenge, turned the defender and drilled a shot into the bottom right corner from seven yards.

Two minutes later, Accies were awarded a penalty when James McCarthy was upended by Gary Caldwell but Artur Boruc guessed the right way to parry McArthur’s disappointing spot-kick and then reacted superbly to save the midfielder’s header from the rebound.

Samaras, who had replaced injured striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink after just three minutes, was withdrawn to a standing ovation, with Shaun Maloney his replacement.

The Scottish winger was the architect of Celtic’s fourth goal in 83 minutes, jinking around Simon Mensing and Martin Canning on the left before laying the ball back for McGeady to finish from eight yards.

A minute from time, Maloney nearly grabbed a fifth, but his curling shot flew just over the top.

Celtic: Boruc, Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Nakamura, Brown (O’Dea, 82), Crosas, Robson, McGeady, Vennegoor of Hesselink (Samaras, 3)(Maloney, 77), McDonald. Subs (not used): Brown, Donati, Hartley, Caddis. Booked: Caldwell.

Hamilton: Cerny, Elebert, Easton, McCarthy, Swailes (Corcoran, 45), Canning, Mensing, McArthur, Lyle (Ettien, 45), Neil, Graham (Thomas, 77). Subs (not used): Murdoch, Casement, McLenaghan, Akins. Booked: Neil.

Referee: Steve Conroy.

Attendance: 55, 881.

Advertiser Man of the Match: Alex Neil – the captain got stuck into a midfield game and did well against some elite opponents.