Reid says Accies can hold their own in the SPL

Jul 10 2008 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

BILLY Reid is justifiably proud to have led Hamilton Accies to the SPL, but said that’s just the start for the New Douglas Park club.

Reid is excited about the prospect, and believes his young side have what it takes to more than hold their own in the top flight.

He said: “It’s the first time in 20 years that Hamilton Accies have been in the top flight and it’s the first time in my life, because I wasn’t there as a player.

“We’re now in the top level of Scottish football, we’re going to enjoy it and we’re not going to make any bold predictions – but we’re not going in there to make up the numbers.

“We’ll do our best, as we’ve always done, and if we continue to do the right things at this football club then we can do well.

“This is just the start for this football club... the hard bit was getting into the Premier League. The First Division is a difficult one to get out of but we’ve done it convincingly.

“We’re now going up against teams that are bigger than us, but we’re certainly not scared of them.

“We’ll give them the respect that they’re due, but we have good players at this club and we have young players who will become household names.

“We’ll go up there, we’ll be refreshing, we’ll play in the right manner and we look forward to the challenge.”

Reid is conscious of the fact that he has no previous experience of managing and SPL side, but isn’t fazed by the prospect.

He said: “I’ve been in the First Division for years as a manager, assistant, or first-team coach, and I know everything about it, inside-out, so it’s refreshing for me to go and pit my wits against other teams. I’m sure it is for the players as well.

“I played at Celtic Park but I didn’t play at Ibrox as a player, and to go there as a manager thrills me.

“In a few months’ time I’m going to be putting a team out in front of 50,000 or 60,000 fans, and that was the carrot for us at the start of last season.

“We’ll also have local derbies against Motherwell and I’m sure everybody will be looking forward to that and for bragging rights.

“You’ve got to take that sort of thing in and enjoy it, because otherwise there’s absolutely no point being in this game.”

Coming in to the club seasons ago, Reid was always confident about Hamilton’s chances of promotion.

He said: “I said on my very first day here that this club was going to the Premier League, but I didn’t put a time schedule on it because I know how difficult it is to get out of the First Division – but here we are. I hope the people of Hamilton are now buying into what we’re doing.

“People have said ‘well done’ and wished us well, but it’s now the time for everybody to get right behind us.

“We’re going up to the Premier League and we’re not silly enough to think that we will win every week, but if we get backing from Hamilton Accies supporters and get bums on seats, then that will help us to get the strongest team onto the park.

“The stronger the team we can get on the park, the better our chances will be of finishing as high as we can in the SPL.

“What we’re going to compete against is certainly a step up and we’re going to get some defeats up there. But it’s how the players handle it, how I handle it as the manager and how we handle it as a club that is going to be important – but I’m not worried about it. We’ll give it our best shot.”