Accies boss praises Wigan-bound McArthur

Jul 22 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON boss Billy Reid has tipped Wigan-bound James McArthur for the top after describing him “as close to perfection as you’ll get”.

The 22-year-old midfielder will today (Thursday) sign for Roberto Martinez’s Wigan Athletic, subject to passing a medical at the DW Stadium.

The move to the Latics will reunite him with friend and former Accies team-mate James McCarthy, who joined the Premiership club a year ago.

Reid admitted he will be sad to see McArthur leave, but insists the young star deserves his crack at the big time.

Reid said: “James has been great. I was getting a bit fed up with the speculation because it has been going on for about two years now, but I’m delighted for James and his family that he has an opportunity to play at the top level.

“James is a fantastic character. He has brilliant work-rate in training and games and has played a big, big part in the success of Hamilton Accies and Billy Reid.

“If anybody deserves it, James does but it’s a major blow for Hamilton – it saddens me to think that James is not going to play for me again.

“For me, he’s up there with the best and has been a dream to work with.

“His enthusiasm is boundless and he’s a winner. There are parts of his game that he has to improve on, but he’s only 22.

“But James is as close to perfection as you can get in a player.”

After weeks of speculation, James’s departure from New Douglas Park was confirmed in a statement issued by chairman Ronnie MacDonald on Wednesday morning.

In it, MacDonald said: “Our sadness at his departure is outweighed by our feeling of pride in his success and the way he acquitted himself in the Accies shirt.

“James is the third player to graduate from the youth academy to the English Premier League and great credit is due to all of our dedicated management, coaching and medical staff, who have assisted him in his development.

“The terms of the sale agreement forbid the disclosure of the sums involved, but the Accies will receive a substantial initial fee and ‘add-ons’ based on appearances.

“As ever, excellent players are difficult to replace but we succeeded in achieving this last season and we have an emerging crop of young talent in the shape of Ali Crawford, Grant Gillespie, Jordan Kirkpatrick, Brian McQueen, Kyle Wilkie and Euan Lindsay, who will all now be given their opportunity.

“In conclusion, we wish James every success in his new challenge. He fully deserves the financial rewards he will now enjoy.”

Boss Reid warned that the sale doesn’t mean he will be given more money to spend in the transfer market.

Instead, he confirmed that he’s looking for some of his youngsters to step up to the plate, or for a gem to emerge from the number of trialists he’s still looking at.

Those players will be given some game time in a closed-doors friendly against Wigan on Friday before the squad head to Spain for five days next Monday.

Reid said: “Selling James won’t provide us with any more money to spend and we’re still working with our budgets, but hopefully it will provide an opportunity for somebody else to come in.

“Ali Crawford has played in pre-season games and has been terrific. He scored a hat-trick against Queen’s Park on Monday, while Kyle Wilkie has already shown that he can come in and play in the first team.

“Both of them have to earn the right to do that, but they have the talent and ability – it’s now up to them to prove they have the consistency to come in, stand up, and be counted.”

Reid added: “We have trialists in and we’re working away on that like everybody else.

“Derek Young has left the club though – it just didn’t work out for him.

“But there are five or six other guys in and we’ll take a good look at them against Wigan on Friday.”

Accies have been dealt a major blow, however, with news that captain Alex Neil will undergo a hip operation on Friday.

Reid hopes to have the influential midfielder back in action two or three weeks into the new season, meaning Neil could make his comeback against Hearts or Inverness.

Meanwhile, Reid has been pleased with progress in pre-season, which has seen his squad line up against Stirling Albion, Queen’s Park and Queen of the South between Saturday and Tuesday.

Accies were due to play Dundee North End last night (Wednesday), but it was called off due to poor weather.

But Reid said: “I’m delighted with our progress so far. There have been no real injuries, we’ve passed the ball well and the game at Dumfries (against Queen of the South) on Tuesday was great for us.

“They start their games on Saturday, so they’re further ahead than us at this stage, but for the first 25 minutes we were brilliant and controlled the match.”

lDirector Ron McKinnon, physiotherapist Alan Rankin and groundsman Colin Fraser have left Accies. Steven McKinnon will take over grounds duties.