Ex Hearts and Hibs stars to lead revolution at crisis hit SPFL club as they front up major rebuild
Former Hearts and Hibs stars are taking on new roles at League One club Hamilton Academical.
Former Hearts and Hibs stars are at the heart of a restructure at League One newcomers Hamilton Academical as the New Douglas Park outfit look to bounce back from relegation into the third tier of the Scottish game.
After being hit with a 15-point deduction last season that saw the Accies end the campaign in the Championship relegation zone, there has been something of a rebuild behind the scenes at the club and former favourites on either side of the Edinburgh divide are set to be heavily involved.
The Daily Record have reported former Hearts and Motherwell midfielder Scott Leitch is set to take over as the club’s new head of academy after Dylan McGowan was promoted into a first-team role. Leitch, who was manager at Ross County during the 2006/07 season, had a four-year spell academy director at Motherwell as the likes of David Turnbull and a young Lennon Miller made their way through the youth ranks at Fir Park.
The report also claims former Kelty Hearts boss Michael Tidser and former Hibs striker Kevin Harper also have new roles as they ‘will assist with the club's youth sides this season’ as part of a rebuild of the Accies youth ranks.
Stronger
The important of the academy setup has been heightened after a number of Accies youngsters have been handed opportunities during pre-season as the New Douglas Park club continues to battle with a transfer embargo that has been in place since they were found to have breached several SPFL regulations in the final months of last season. The club’s board are working hard to get the embargo lifted and manager John Rankin has admitted he needs to bring in players to boost his squad as they prepare for the new League One season.
Speaking after a defeat against Dunfermline earlier this week, he said: "I am desperate to get bodies in and strengthen the squad. We have a really good nucleus but we need strength in numbers. We need that done as soon as possible because right now we look good for 60-70 minutes and then other teams have a stronger bench. The people upstairs are trying their hardest to make sure we can get this done, and I take my hat off to them because they are working around the clock to get this done. I don't know what the hold up is but we just want it lifted.
"We want the strongest Hamilton team on the pitch and we are not getting to see that right now. We are listing trialists right now and making sure we can get as many minutes into players as we can. We are in danger of getting players injured because certain players are playing too many minutes. From a player welfare point of view, it's not great but we need to get through these games and make sure we are ready for the league campaign."
The Accies are back in action on Saturday when they host Dumbarton in their latest Premier Sports Cup tie before they turn their focus towards a league opener against Montrose seven days later.
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