REBUILDING JOB BEGINS
Canning asks for patience in search for new players
Martin Canning is well aware of how big a rebuilding job is needed at Hamilton Accies but has appealed for patience.
Ali Crawford, David Templeton, Danny Redmond, Lewis Ferguson, Darren Jamieson, Xavier Tomas, Georgios Sarris and George Scott all left the club on Monday and the Advertiser understands there will be more to follow.
Manager Martin Canning is well aware of how much rebuilding is needed this summer. He said: “Everybody’s got to be patient, we know the work that has to be done.
“The 3-0 defeat at Motherwell on Saturday showed me that there is a lot of work to do over the summer to get this squad ready to compete in the Premiership again for another season.
“When you look at that game, we need to have more experienced players on the pitch. We had Xavier Tomas, Kenny van der Weg, Darian Mackinnon and Dougie Imrie – from there it’s inexperienced kids. These boys need good, solid pros around them that are doing their job properly and playing well and, hopefully, they can thrive off of them.
“On Saturday that didn’t happen for us. I don’t think our senior players played as well as they can. It was a flat way to end the season. The last couple of games have been poor.
“Ultimately, it’s really pleasing the prospect of starting a fifth season in the Premiership but we know we have a lot of work to do in order to be competitive again next season.
“Given the turnaround in players this season, it has been a real shift, with Michael Devlin, Greg Docherty, Grant Gillespie, Louis Longridge, Lewis Ferguson going – guys who have been at the club for a long time and know what it’s all about.
“It takes a wee while to build that, put that together, get these kids in, get them experienced and playing.
“And when a few move on at the same time, we now need to rebuild that. We need guys like Ronan Hughes, Ross Cunningham, Lewis Smith, Jack Breen and Ryan Tierney.
“But these kids need time, you can’t just say ‘they’re the next group of kids’, they have to be ready to play and that’s where we’re at just now.
“That’s why we need to strengthen the squad, to allow these kids the time to develop and become the next Greg Docherty, Lewis Ferguson or Ali Crawford, and these guys have to be replaced, so that’s what we need to do.”
Canning added: “It’s five straight seasons in the Premiership for Hamilton Accies and we want to improve on that, we want to consolidate ourselves higher up the league if we can.
“That’s where all the hard work begins again now, to put a squad together that can do it again.
“It’s important that a club of this size is in the league, and when we’re battling against the odds, it’s important that we stick together.”