While money in the bank is welcome, iyou still need a team to compete in the league you play in. Hamilton players are getting thin on the ground these days.

Hamilton boss Billy Reid can only hope James McArthur does not become the fourth  Accies' player to leave New Douglas Park this summer. After Brian Easton joined Burnley last week for a fee of £350,000 and Joel Thomas moved to Colchester United for £135,000, Reid now has to reconcile himself with the loss of James McCarthy to Wigan. The English club have confirmed they had signed the 18-year-old midfielder on a five-year deal for a reported fee of £1.2million fee, rising to £3million depending on appearances. Along with McCarthy and Easton, McArthur picked up most of the plaudits at Accies last season and in doing so attracted numerous scouts to the Lanarkshire club. Reid has said there is little he can do to prevent the highly-rated midfielder, who has been linked with a move to Rangers, following Easton, Thomas and McCarthy out of the door.

The Accies boss said: "It was inevitable that James McCarthy was going to go. We said that we would not stand in the way of the player and we have stayed true to our word and he goes with our blessing. It was a fantastic offer and it will help matters at this club. We don't want to lose any of our good players but that's two away now. I always said that McCarthy, Easton and McArthur would take the SPL by storm and that's what happened. But, as far as James McArthur is concerned, what will be will be."

Colchester completed the £125,000 signing of French striker Thomas from Hamilton, after manager Paul Lambert swooped. The Frenchman spent last season with the Accies after joining from Kaiserslautern the previous August. Thomas scored just one goal in 28 senior games with Hamilton, although 18 of those appearances were as a substitute. Lambert has also been linked with fellow Hamilton striker Richard Offiong and Charlton midfielder Matt Holland, the latter having been training with United to keep his fitness up.

Editor
Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba.net)

Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba.net)

This is Scottish-Fitba.Net