Hamilton Accies gaffer begs for a lucky break

Feb 11 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

billy begs for a lucky break

HAMILTON boss Billy Reid has admitted his side are desperate for a turn of fortune in their bid to beat the drop.

Sitting bottom of the SPL at the time of going to press and facing a daunting trip to Dundee United last night, the Accies manager has been left ruing his bad luck with refereeing decisions which have cost his team so dear in recent weeks.

Their poor run continued on Saturday when Accies conceded an extremely sloppy goal in the 1-0 defeat by local rivals Motherwell.

However, Reid was left fuming after referee Mike Tumilty failed to award a penalty when Chris Humphrey sent Flavio Paixao crashing to the turf as he looked set to score a last-minute equaliser.

A furious Reid (left) said: “The players were going ballistic because they thought Flavio was taken right out of the game, but we don’t get many decisions and I think that has been proven in recent weeks.

“I’m not going to stand here and say referees are against us because that’s wrong, but we are a small club and at the moment everything is going against us.

“Once again we merited a point, and I don’t think anybody could deny that.

“I’ve told the players I’m like a broken record at the moment – I can’t have a go at them because their effort is there for everybody to see.

“It’s not like we’re going into games, lying down and having teams roll us over – that’s not the case.

“But we have to start putting the ball into the back of the net. Call it luck, or whatever, somebody has got to step up to the mark but it’s just not happening.”

Last night (Wednesday), Accies were due to travel to Tannadice, looking to avenge their recent 1-0 defeat by United, while relegation rivals Falkirk entertained Kilmarnock.

And revenge will be in Reid’s mind come Saturday when his side play Motherwell for the second time in a week. The Accies boss is hoping home advantage – and a better playing surface – can make all the difference.

“The first half on Saturday, we just never got going – I don’t really know how you’re supposed to play on that pitch,” said Reid

“It’s the same for Motherwell because they’ve got to play on it all the time and their fans can’t be happy with that.

“At the end of the day, they were happy because they got the result, and we would have been the same if we had won.

“People are only interested in winning football matches. It might not have been pretty but they won, and we need to try and win Saturday’s game.”

Reid, however, remains confident that Accies can drag themselves out of relegation trouble and feels new signing Dougie Imrie will have a big say in that.

“We’ve taken so many kicks in the teeth but this group of players won’t lie down. We’ll be back and once I get my full team on the park you’ll see the real Accies,” said Reid, who will welcome Mark McLaughlin back from suspension for Saturday’s Lanarkshire derby.

“I thought Dougie was brilliant against Motherwell. You could see why I’d been after him for some time and I think he’ll be a sensational player for Hamilton Accies.”