Sky Blue Sport News

Friday, January 29, 2010

Barrel Scraping!

The time has come for United manager Roy Walker to dig deep into his reserves for tomorrow's game at home to Glenavon. With Chris Ramsay and Noel Anderson serving automatic one game bans and Lee Colligan unlikely to play the United manager may be forced to delve into our young reserve team in order to have 16 fit players. It's not known if the injured trio of Locky, Nathan and Aiden Watson will have recovered in time to face the Lurgan blues and if they aren't fit, United could be struggling to name a squad. We assume (which makes an ass out of you and me, or in this case you and we), that the 9 players and 3 subs who finished Tuesday night's game, if fit, will get the nod once more. Which would mean we'd have to find 2 subs to add to Nelson and Taggart.

It would be nice if reserve striker Johnny McLaughlin had completed his suspension, but we haven't a clue as to how many games our 2nd team have played since Christmas. Could we be having to recall the players we have loaned out already? We suppose anything's possible as at the end of the day the 3 points at stake may be of vital importance come the end of the season. Could we be in the position to ask for the game to be postponed? We have no idea what the criteria is for getting postponements in the Irish league, other than for International call-ups and it would only harm ourselves in the long run as players must serve their suspensions and in our opinion, next week's game away to Institute is an even more vital fixture. A win tomorrow would be nice, but a win next week is absolutely vital. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag (not literally we hasten to add), those Glenavon apple pickers!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Only Pride!

United go into tomorrow night's derby game against the Coleraine scum, after an ignominious defeat at the hands of reigning league champions Glentoran. This was one of the worst displays by a Sky Blue team for many years as they appeared to have no interest in the game whatsoever. But what do we know, maybe a derby game is just the thing for the players to get that abysmal performance out of their system. It's not known if the three players, who allegedly all came off injured on Saturday, will be fit to play tomorrow night, or if United will have to dip into their reserves. One things for sure, they cannot afford an abject performance like Saturday's if they are to take anything out of this game with the 'scum' in such free scoring form.

Will the United manager revert to the attack minded 4,4,2 formation or stick with the 4,5,1 formation that had such disastrous consequences on Saturday? Your guess is as good as ours, in fact we've given up on trying to second guess Roy Walker and wonder sometimes if he actually has a plan. We assume Kelbie will be brought over for this game as neither Andy Smith (3 more game to miss), or reserve striker McLaughlin, are available for this game. McLaughlin might be clear by Saturday, while Andy will have to wait another two games to complete his suspension, but should be eligible for the next round of the Irish cup at home to Ballnamallard United on February 13. So for tomorrow night it's the walking wounded, but hopefully it'll be all systems go, so come on Sky Blues let's shag those gas men!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Walking Wounded!

After their gruelling 120 minutes last Tuesday night, United's walking wounded face a trip to the league champions, Glentoran, tomorrow. This is normally a game we treat with some trepidation, but our record this year so far is none too bad against the east side of Belfast's big two. On our last visit to the Oval we triumphed 2-1 and it wasn't that close really and then when they came to Ballymena we outplayed them for 85 minutes, led 2-0 and then collapsed to a 3-2 defeat. Tomorrow, who knows, as it will be a case of who's fit enough to take their place in the starting line-up.

Chris Ramsay was limping badly at the end of extra time on Tuesday night, but the lad is pretty resilient and may have recovered in time for tomorrow's game. United have slipped to 10th in the league table courtesy of Newry's win over Dungannon Swifts (or should I say scum mark 2), so we can ill afford to drop more points tomorrow. With that in mind will the United manager opt for a 'weird' formation similar to the starting 11 on Tuesday night? Your guess is as good as ours, in fact it's probably a lot better. If we have the option of picking our strongest starting team, we at 'Sport believe we can get a result tomorrow. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those 'carrot pickers'!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Second Chance!

United have been given a second chance to get past Ards and into the next round of the Irish cup and even better, they've been given another home draw. Whether they deserve to be still in the cup is a matter of debate, but it's a well documented fact that a team needs a bit of luck in the cup and we certainly got our share last Saturday. Goalkeeper Sean O'Neill played his part also with several brilliant saves, definitely the best United player on the day. Returning Captain Gary Haveron played his part also, but it will be interesting to see if manager Walker selects the big Larne man for tomorrow night's game. Saturday's match was a no-nonsense affair and Gary may not have recovered fully from his exertions, but he is a strong lad.

We don't expect the United line-up to be much altered, although Chris Ramsay may get the nod at Mark Surgenor's expense, after serving his one game suspension. If the manager decides to rest big Gazza it'll be a choice between Aiden Watson and Phillip Carson for the midfield slot. The rest of the team should be the same as that which started on Saturday. The game tomorrow night will be played to a finish, with the dreaded 'penalty shoot-out' looming if the scores remain level after 90 minutes and extra time. United's record from 12 yards this season has not been good, so hopefully it won't be tested tomorrow night. So it's all systems go for a cup win, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Ard lads!

Friday, January 15, 2010

'Ard Hearted

United will have to treat their opponents in tomorrow's Irish cup, Ards, with respect, but at the same time they must be clinical as all that matters is the result. Rumour has it that former Sky Blue Darren Fitzgerald has left the club, but at the moment we can't confirm it. United winger Mark Picking, on loan to the County Down club should be ineligible as he is still a registered United player, but then again what do we know. Missing from the United line-up through suspension are, Andy Smith, Chris Ramsay and Aiden Watson, while Locky may not be risked after his recent heart scare. On the plus side team captain Gazza should be fit to resume and what a boost that would be for the Sky Blues as they embark on the pursuit of their favourite trophy.

This will be no easy match but we expect a professional approach from the Sky Blues and if we get it, they should progress to the next round. Our record in the cup of late has been lamentable and the present team, who are capable of beating the top sides on their day, have a chance to go some-way to improving on that. Kevin Kelbie, assuming he hasn't indulged too much over the festive period should be too hot a handful for the Ards defence, ably backed up by big Nathan McConnell. Manager Roy Walker is reportedly searching for a striker to fill the void in the short term during Andy Smith's enforced 6 match absence, but it's doubtful that anyone will be in place for tomorrow's game. We'll just have to manage with what we have in the meantime, so it's all systems go for the Irish cup, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those 'Ard boys!

Friday, January 08, 2010

Plastic Studs?

United will make their debut on Seaview's plastic pitch tomorrow, but only if the access areas are free from frost. Hopefully the game will get the go-ahead as this enforced absence has not been in the least enjoyable. United have now got three players missing through suspension, Andy Smith serves the first of his 6 match ban, Aiden Watson serves his single ban and the same applies to Chris Ramsay, who has signed a contract extension to the end of the current season. United will therefore have to dig deep into their reserves for this fixture at the tight Shore road venue which is being played on an alien surface. The conditions will not be ideal, but we'll have to get on with it.

If our attitude is right there's no reason why we can't get something from the game as in our previous two games the Crues were no great shakes. United manager Roy Walker and his back-room staff will have assessed our players during their acclimatisation on the Seaview pitch this week and hopefully will get the mix right. Roy has many options at his disposal, most of which centre around long term injured duo, Paul Muir and Gary Haveron. If these two players are match fit he may go with 3 at the back and a 5 man midfield, but we at 'Sport think the narrow Seaview pitch is more suited to either 4,4,2 or an attacking 4,3,3 formation, our manager may of course think different.

It would be great to see big Gazza lead the boys out tomorrow, but realistically our management may want to play him back in gradually and at Seaview we can expect a hard physical game as usual. Nathan McConnell will have a chance over the coming weeks to stake his claim for partnering Kelbie, while new signing James McLaughlin must wait for the reserves to play 3 games before he can get into action and Andy Smith serves his 6 game ban. Tomorrow would be a good time to start as you mean to continue big man. So, (hopefully), it's all systems go for tomorrow in Tiger's bay, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Shore Road sheep!

Friday, January 01, 2010

Seeing Red!

Here's hoping we can get back to watching local football tomorrow, when the Sky Blues entertain the 'Chickenville' Reds and here's hoping the only red we see is the red in our opponents shirts. United, have in our opinion, drawn far more than their share of yellow and red cards this season and this may well come back to bite us as the season wears on. Both Andy Smith (6) and Aiden Watson (1) miss tomorrow's game through suspension and United could do with both players industry for this game.

The one thing we know for sure is it's going to be tough tomorrow. The Reds have been, in our opinion, the 'best' team we have played in the last three seasons and except for the 5-1 drubbing they gave us at the start of last season, all games have been close. With that in mind it's doubtful that United Captain Gary Haveron will make a starting return, but we expect big Gazza to get a place on the bench. Could Aiden Watson's suspension mean a recall for Noel Anderson, or will we get the more creative Phillip Carson slotting in beside Locky in centre midfield? Or will we go with Ramsay, Alb Watson and Archie as a back 3, Mike Smith and Colligan as wing-backs, releasing Cushley inside? McConnell should return to partner Kelbie up front as at the end of the day we do need to score more goals.

We have to say the weather isn't too promising, it was snowing a short time ago and if it freezes tonight the match will be extremely doubtful (pitch inspection in the morning). We are hoping for the best, but think it'll take a lot more than hope to get football back on the agenda here. The 'flat world' campaigners (those advocating summer football), will be back on their soapboxes once more, but hopefully their bleating will fall on deaf ears once more. Football is a winter game and really if there is going to be a backlog of games it's not the weather that's to blame, but the I.F.A. fixture planners who have made the schedule much too tight. So for the first time this year, come on Sky Blues, let's 'shag', those chickens!