Butchers Family Fortunes

Welcome to the first "six pointer" of the season at Caledonian Stadium, where we renew acquaintances with Hamilton Academicals. The team from New Douglas Park travels up the A9 as the League's bottom club, with no points and two 4-0 defeats behind them. Getting out of the central belt probably never felt so good,

but Billy Reid doesn't have problems to seek this year, and it just got worse after defeat in the CIS prompted more "dancing in the streets of Raith"

In many respects, Hamilton are in a similar position to ICT. League success is a relative thing, with avoiding the drop being the first criteria every year. In the past couple of seasons, they have become used to a certain bullish optimism borne of their young talent and a clever imported mix (including one D. Imrie, more of whom later) However, the crown jewels have been sold (MacArthur and Easton); the defence is missing or injured (Alex Neil, Mark MacLaughlin) in great part and the strikeforce is hampered by Antoine Curier's enforced recall to the east.

Hamilton are left with a mixed bag that is still worthy of respect. Cerny, the goalkeeper, is capable of great things on his day, and the defence still has Ross (well they did until yesterday!), Canning and Skelton. All have turned in good performances in the past in these parts. In midfield, they have not one but two enigmatically named Paixao's to call upon and that man Imrie. We know that he can be brilliant on his day, but affected by what happens around him, and Hamilton's sinking ship impersonation won't help him. You might think that their new signing might help though, his name's Hasselbaink.

Billy Reid, Hamilton's own wee rotunda has pulled no punches this year, referring to his charges as "embarrassing" and "comic cut" after giving away four penalties in two games. God knows how they will cope with Hayes.

At TCS, things couldn't be more different. A solid preseason has given way to a season's start that saw us pick up our first three points on Sunday and progress in the CIS cup, scoring seven goals without reply in the process. From Ryan Esson forward, the team has begun to shape the presence that served us so well last year. TB's intent is well shown by the strength of the side fielded against Peterhead, and not too many changes can be anticipated apart from the return of McCann and Esson. Grant Munro continues to impress this year, and David Proctor has shown that he can effectively interchange with Rossco when required. It's up front, though that our most settled formation looks more dangerous as time goes on. Jonny Hayes is getting back to warp factor 7 speeds, Adam Rooney has phasers set to "kill" and Eric Odhiambo is handing him as much ammunition as he can fire. Russell Duncan is firing long range cannons at will right now and enjoying it by the look of things.

***latest***from the Inverness camp is that Ross Tokely is still struggling, although he is recovering quicker than expected and could make the bench.  Foran, Blumenshtein and Innes all miss out.

Hamilton have lost the services of Jack Ross and Stuart Elliot, both have been released from their contracts.  Martin Canning is suspended, while Alex Neil, Mark Maglaughlin and David Elebert are still on the treatment table.

Things are traditionally tight between these two teams, 1-1 being the score last time out. Foran scored ours, whilst Canning equalised. At that time, we thought we were safe. If you just go by the stats, it might point to something less than exciting ( a sequence of 1-1, 1-1, 1-0, 0-1) It's more like binary than football scores, and shaded narrowly in the sequence by Hamilton. This time, the runes suggest it's perfectly reasonable to hope for a first home win for TB and the team. Let's make some noise if it happens, but please, can we keep our shoes on?

Terry Butcher is convinced that the family feeling is helping his squad to realise their full potential and the family atmosphere will go a long way to helping the cause.  He has said that there is a great feeling in the dressing room just now and long may it continue.  Everyone is on a high, and they all help each other out, the whole team benefits from this, and the fans can go home happy.

The scribe for this preview is our own davie, since he never made Tannadice.