Thank God we aren’t staring daggers at our gaffer

Imrie says Accies won’t panic as rivals shed bosses .. their strength is stability

Even in a bad patch we’ll stick together .. nobody’s getting daggers

Dougie Dougie Imrie has watched two Imrie has watched two of the three clubs below Hamilton in the relegation race axe bosses before the clocks have even gone back.

But he’s convinced Accies’ annual survival in the Premiership is reward for a board who refuse to push the panic button when things aren’t going Martin Canning’s way.

Canning, the country’s fifth longestserving manager, has been through the mill at times during his near four-year tenure at New Douglas Park.

But Imrie has watched Alan Stubbs being ousted after just four league games at St Mirren then Neil McCann last only eight at Dundee before the axe fell.

And it makes the veteran playmaker grateful for the lack of daggers drawn in the boardroom and knives in the back in the dressing room.

As Hamilton prepare to face Rangers this afternoon, Imrie said: “It’s good the way our club does their business. The manager always has their backing.

“You can see in previous seasons we’ve had our sticky patches – but we’ve always come out the end of it.

“A few seasons ago we went six games without a win, another season I think we went five without a win – but we came out the end of it.

“The manager has been excellent. This is our fifth season now in this division so that stability is good and you know that you’ll get that here. Even in a bad patch we’ll always stick together as a unit and nobody’s getting daggers here and there.

“It stops any panic setting in. There will be bad spells but it’s how you deal with it that matters most.

“We aim to do better each season but our main job is to survive in this division – and we always do that.”

Canning is as grateful for the lack of itchy trigger fingers as Imrie is.

But the manager is well aware that many more results like the 6- 0 rout they suffered from Hibs going into the international break and his situation could change quickly.

Canning, 36, said: “It’s great to get that backing but obviously I know this is a results-driven business and we probably haven’t started the season as well as we’d have liked.

“It’s a competitive league. We also know that Hamilton Accies have been in the top flight for five years in a row for the first time since before the war.

“We also know we’re doing a good job – but it’s a difficult one.

“We need to keep working hard and try to prove everyone wrong again.

“Managers don’t get long these days but it has been like that for a while.

“You know when you get involved that if things don’t go well pretty quickly you can find yourself out of a job. That’s the way football is going all over the world these days.”

Bouncing back from the Hibs hammering is their top priority this afternoon – and they face a Ranger side without an away league win to their name yet.

Two points from 12 shows an Achilles heel that Accies hope to exploit on their new plastic pitch.

But then Rangers also haven’t dropped a point at New Douglas Park in their last eight visits so the odds are tight either way.

Imrie admitted: “The result at Hibs wasn’t great but it’s now how you react that is important.

“We have a tough run of games with Rangers, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen in our next three so there’s no time for sulking.

“We’re fully focused on Rangers now. You can’t mope about losing 6- 0 to Hibs – you have to try to put it right.

“The biggest thing for us is consistency. We know we can beat the bigger teams – last year we won both at Rangers and Hibs.

“But we’ll have a few good results then a dip with a few bad ones.

“So it’s about being more consistent. We want to get to that level where we can go over five, six or seven games with just positive results.

“Hopefully we don’t see too many more results and performances like the Hibs one because that was far from good enough.

“We’ve had new players coming in but we’re eight or nine games into the season so we can’t use that as an excuse any more. We should know how everyone plays by now.”

Accies stunned Rangers at Ibrox 11 months ago with a 2-0 win but the 35-year-old cautioned: “They look like an improved team from last year – going 10 games undefeated in Europe tells you that.

“Their home form has been really good but away from home it has maybe been a bit sticky for them.

“Steven Gerrard has instilled a different mentality in them. The players have bought into his vision.

“But we try to make it hard for any team coming here and hopefully they will leave here still looking for an away win.”

Canning added: “Rangers are playing with belief and have recruited well.

“They’ve brought in quality all over the pitch, they press well and are a threat. You can look at their away form but we know they’re a good side.”