Keeping assets is Reid's biggest fight

02 May 2010 14:27
illy Reid fears he faces a battle to hang onto his talented young Hamilton squad after watching them win for the sixth time in seven matches.[LNB] The Accies were comfortable 3-1 victors at Pittodrie on Saturday against a disjointed Aberdeen, who finished the Clydesdale Bank Premier League match with only nine men.[LNB]Midfielder James McArthur has recently been linked with a move to England, with Roberto Martinez's Wigan believed to be amongst those chasing the talented 22-year-old.[LNB]But Reid thinks McArthur will not be the only Hamilton player other clubs will be keeping tabs on following his side's recent impressive run.[LNB]He said: "It would be wrong for me to make predictions about how we will do next season.[LNB]"What I will say is if we start with the same group of players we have got just now it would be a very good base for us to build on next year.[LNB]"We have got four players here on loan and there has been speculation about Tomas Cerny and James McArthur and the way some of the others are playing there will be speculation about them too.[LNB]"That is something we have to deal with and the way it is at Hamilton."[LNB]However, Reid is convinced he has youngsters at the club ready to step in and replace the likes of McArthur should they exit in the summer.[LNB]"We have got good youngsters coming through," the Accies boss said.[LNB]"The only problem we have got is they don't have the experience that McArthur has.[LNB]"He is only 22 but he has got about 160 games under his belt in Scottish football. It is hard to get that experience so we have to bleed the youngsters into the team.[LNB]"We have to keep bringing the young players through and I will continue to do that."[LNB]Reid said striker Joel Thomas missed the match at Pittodrie as he had travelled back to France to be with his father, who had been taken ill.[LNB]"The thoughts of everyone at Hamilton are with Joel and his family," he added.[LNB]Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee blamed a lack of collective responsibility for his side's defeat, singling out defenders Richard Foster and Zander Diamond, who were both shown red cards, for leaving their team-mates exposed.[LNB]The Dons manager said: "I think the players let each other down as as much as they let me or the supporters down. They looked as if they didn't care about each other and that for me is criminal within a team.[LNB]"You have got the likes of Stuart Duff who is playing for his future and by those boys getting sent off they are leaving the team exposed and they are not giving Stuart the chance to impress."[LNB]McGhee said the defeat reinforced the need to make changes at the club during the summer transfer window.[LNB]He added: "I'm watching a performance like that and I'm cringing. I have known for some time what has to change but I can't do that until summer.[LNB]"I have funds and I will make the best of the funds that I have. Any manager will spend everything that he is given and that is what I will do. I will get as much value for that as I possibly can.[LNB]"We have been working overtime to do that and we already have irons in the fire. When the new season starts we will have a team that looks a lot different from the one that started against Hamilton."[LNB]

Source: Team_Talk