TALKING ACCIES
THERE’S no such thing as bad publicity. Try telling that to Hamilton Accies, though. If it’s not Neil Lennon lambasting them for “caveman” tactics then it’s Partick Thistle’s Adam Barton having a pop at their style of play prior to last weekend’s meeting between the sides at Firhill.
Even the sultan of spin, Alastair Campbell, would have his work cut out trying to put a positive polish on all these verbal volleys.
Greg Docherty is having none of it, however. Hamilton may have succumbed to Partick Thistle at the weekend but the 21-year-old is eager to put things right against a rejuvenated Kilmarnock tonight and make sure the doubters and cynics have plenty of humble pie to munch through.
“People talk us down so we need to prove them wrong,” he said. “We are a good footballing side. But we need to take our chances. There’s no point in playing pretty football if you don’t win games.
“Maybe he [Barton] was trying to noise us up. Look, they’ve got the three points. Maybe that’s what his intention was. I read it and if that’s what he thinks then fine. I certainly wouldn’t say anything like that.
“I think we are an easy target purely because we are the smallest team in the league and so have a small voice.
“Not a lot is said about us. We won’t come out and defend our- selves. If people want to say that then that’s fine. We’ll move on. It’s no skin off our noses. That’s football. But we’ll just keep proving people wrong.”
Having enjoyed notable successes on the road in recent weeks at Hibernian and Rangers, Docherty was particularly disappointed with the slender defeat to Thistle, which lifted the Jags off the foot of the table and kept the Accies peering over their shoulder.
“There’s no point in going to places like Ibrox and Easter Road and winning if we can’t beat the teams round about us,” he added. “That’s got to be our bread and butter.
“The games are coming thick and fast. These are two huge games going into the break. We don’t want to go into it on a downer. The Kilmarnock game can’t come around quickly enough for us.
“We didn’t get what our performance against Thistle merited. We switched off at a corner which is frustrating as it’s not like us. But that’s football. Thistle are fighting for everything and they came out on top.”
ACCIES come up against a side tonight in the form of Steve Clarke’s Kilmarnock who are getting plenty of good publicity and rightly so.
Four wins from their last five matches have taken the Rugby Park side into the top six and midfielder Gary Dicker is savouring an alchemy which is rare in football.
“From day one, the day he [Clarke] walked in, I’ve only ever really had that feeling at my previous clubs once when Gus Poyet came into Brighton,” said Dicker.
“He took over when we were struggling, it was similar. He steadied the ship the first four months and we won the league the year after, so you can never underestimate the role of a manager at a club. You just get a feeling in football. Someone comes in and gives everyone a lift. It’s not complicated. As players, we know our roles and what the manager expects.
“That is what being a good manager is about and I say to both the young lads and even some of the older lads that we are so lucky to have a manager like this,” he added. “The proof is on the pitch and we are delivering results. But football changes quick. Everyone knows that and no-one is getting carried away.
“We’re on a good run, probably the best run since I’ve been here, but we just look at Hamilton. We have two games left before the break and it’s about getting more points.”