We won’t stand in Ali’s way
Chairman sees bright future
Hamilton Accies chairman Les Gray expects interest in star Ali Crawford during next month’s transfer window, but is confident the midfielder can be replaced should he leave.
Crawford (25) is the club’s top scorer with nine goals this term and speculation has so far linked him with a move to several clubs. However, with 18 months on his contract, Accies would be looking for a sizeable fee. Gray (below) says should they receive a good enough offer for Crawford they won’t stand in his way, but only if it’s right for him and Accies. And he says there is a conveyor belt of young talent waiting to burst through into the first team. Gray said: “Ali has another 18 months on his contract and what will be will be – if anything comes up we’ll deal with that. “If a good offer comes in we will absolutely not stand in his way. “We anticipate interest in Ali, so if it comes it will be no surprise. If that happens we will deal with it in a way that is fair to the club and to the player. “As a club it’s all about giving young players the chance. If they score goals like Ali has, obviously that will attract attention, and to stand in his way would be unfair. “The next player will come through, whether it’s Steven Boyd, Ronan Hughes or whatever. There are a lot of good young players, our youth academy head George Cairns keeps bringing them through; long may that continue. “There are a lot of good young boys chapping on the door and maybe if we had a few more victories we would be able to use more of them.” Gray last week secured midfielder Darian Mackinnon on a two-year extension, keeping him at the club until May 2019, and says he’s in talks with at least one other. Les said: “Darian has been very consistent this season and has a new two-year extension to his contract. He’s very happy here and we’re very happy with him. It’s hard to imagine that he has been here for as long as he has [four years], he came from Juniors but he has done incredibly well and has got better with every season. It’s a good bit of business for the club as well.”
Jesus Garcia Tena, Alex D’acol, Gramoz Kurtaj, Eamonn Brophy, Jack Breslin, Craig Watson and goalkeepers Darren Jamieson and Robbie Thomson are among those who are out of contract in the summer, but Gray says he’s happy with the squad.
He said: “Looking at the whole squad it’s pretty much where we want it to be. There will be one or two whose contracts will be up at the end of the season, as is the case every year, and we’re comfortable with it at the moment.
“For a club of our size, we try to make sure not all the contracts are up at the same time, and that it’s only a percentage, so you work your business plan and business model around that.
“We have to be mindful that we may be in a situation where we need to build on our squad, but we might also have to downsize.
“The aim is to stay in the Premiership, and we feel that we can do that.
“There are not many who are in the position of extending their contracts, but there are also younger players who are doing well and we have to be mindful of that as well.
“Greg Docherty is a regular in the first team, Eamonn Brophy is the same, Darren Lyon is coming back from injury, and we have guys like Ronan Hughes, Shaun Want and Ross Cunningham who are coming through, so we need to keep an eye on that. “As a club we’re in a good place, and when we feel the time is right to talk to players we will do so.”
Gray admits frustration at results this season, with two wins, 10 draws and six defeats – though he acknowledges that two of them were in back-toback games against Celtic and Rangers. He said: “I think the bottom eight in the Premiership are pretty similar and we’re just not managing to get ourselves over the line in a lot of games, so that’s frustrating.”