Hamilton hero and Livingston coach Dougie Imrie says fans of the New Douglas Park club have to lay off majority shareholder Colin McGowan.
Long-time owner Ronnie MacDonald handed over the reigns to his CEO in October with overseas parties said to be interested in taking over the club permanently.
McGowan's role at the club has come under intense scrutiny from fans, with many fearing for Accies' long-term direction under the former Raith Rovers director.
On the park, head coach Stuart Taylor's side are sixth in the Championship after relegation from the Premiership.
Imrie departed his coaching role at Hamilton to join Livingston earlier this year after 277 appearances for the club over two spells.
Citing when Accies lost £1 million to fraud in 2017, Imrie believes McGowan in particular gets a hard time.
Speaking on the fifth episode of the Lanarkshire Live Sport Podcast , Imrie said: "To see where the club is now, it's brutal to be honest. When I was there we were in the Premiership for seven years. I have great memories.
"We managed to stay in the league but it was brilliant to do that for so long. Alex Neil started that and then Martin Canning took over as manager, and he did great with what he had.
"Then it was Brian Rice and unfortunately in the last year we went down. I see a lot of things about fans being unhappy, but you have to give credit to Ronnie and Colin.
"They've both been there a long time and get a lot of unnecessary flack. Anything that goes wrong at the club right now seems to be Colin's fault.
"If it weren't for those two guys, I don't think there would be a Hamilton just now. When £1 million pounds went missing for the club, they guys put the money back in.
"They could have just forgot about it and let the club go bust but they didn't. They're in it because they love it.
"For any fan who wants to have a dig at them, if it weren't for them getting sponsors, there wouldn't be any money coming in at the club.
"Those two guys alone have sustained that club. I think it's unfair that whenever the team do badly, it's Colin and Ronnie who get the flack."
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