Over the weekend, like probably most of us, I watched a fair few matches, including Livi vs Rangers & Man Utd vs Lyon. In no way am I suggesting that Accies are in the same league as the teams playing in the latter game (obviously as one is an English team and the other French).
But, what I saw in these two games reminded me of watching Accies vs St. Mirren...not because these games were played without fans... but because one team tried to break down a solid defense, as well as, overcome a team of players who knew their positions, as well as coming up against a goalkeeper in excellent form.
It's fair to say that the standard of each player at both Man Utd & Lyon are far greater than the standard we are presently watching from the comforts of our home, pub, etc...Furthermore, this is reflected in the salary these players are paid.
In fairness to our manager, Brian Rice, like the Man Utd manager,both are trying to re-build their respective teams due to players moving on, etc... they have both said to the media that they require new additions to improve their respective squads, however, one manages a team that normally has a full stadium, worldwide fans, Global companies wanting to sponsor their team, etc... in my dreams this team is obviously Accies but hey this is reality not a fairy-tale.
So in reality, Accies are going to struggle each year because of a variety of factors i.e. the majority of the time we are unable to better financial offers being offered by our usual bottom six rivals, playing surface, etc...
HOWEVER, as Accies fans when we look at Livingston we see similarities i.e. playing surface, not a large budget to spend on players, etc...
Unfortunately, for the past two seasons that's where the similarities end (in my humble opinion).
After losing their first two matches against St. Mirren & Hibs, Livingston reverted to what they are known for, namely, being competitive, having a good structure, players fighting for each other, hard to break down, etc... things we used to see when Alex Neil was our manager (I know we were spoiled).
Like Accies, Livi have had a turn-around of players leaving & joining this year BUT the players they have recruited i.e. Alan Forrest (Ayr Utd), etc... don't look out of place, in this league.
I don't know about the rest of my fellow Accies supporters but I struggle to understand why we have not tried to purchase the same players???
Or if we have, then why did they choose Livi over us???
I digress, so this week against Motherwell, like any derby matches form goes out the window. However, for us to have a genuine chance of getting a result we need to revert back to basics, namely, a strong spine from the goalkeeper to the striker, playing players in their actual position rather than trying to put a square peg into a round hole....like a lot of Accies fans, I'm sorry to say Ryan Fulton is a nice guy but we need a goalkeeper that is on par to what we are used to from the likes of Southwood, back to the days of Ricki Ferguson.
A strong solid centre half, Big Brian has stated he does not think he will be back till Oct (all being well), in our situation that is far too long a time to wait, we need someone now again similar to the statue of Canning, McLaughlin, Martin, Fulton, Jamieson, etc...
With regards to midfield, I defy many a team normally around us in the bottom half to lose a player like Gogic and not replace him...yes on Sportscene they highlighted his enthusiasm to close down opposition players even if it meant him running more miles than required.
One of the positives for me last week was the performance of Johnson when he came on getting the better of an experienced defender in Tait.
Hopefully he continues to shine in training and starts, this week.
Likewise, hopefully both Ogie & Moyo start together, as they have shown in previous derbies that they can make a difference.
If you have actually read all of this, well done
In conclusion, lets get into this Motherwell scum