Spikes Head!

It'd be a brave man that tries to get inside Glenn Ferguson, our manager's head, we at 'Sport have come to realise that you couldn't second guess him. He has intimated to Stephen Alexander, of the Ballymena Times, that he might change his policy of never changing a winning line-up, by including Cookie Munster in his starting line-up. Well we are using a wee bit of artistic licence here, he said and we quote, 'Munster could be added to the panel', which doesn't necessarily mean he could start. In fact if Archie has had no ill effects and is fully fit, we expect Spike to name the same team as that which started last Saturday.

That means no place for Ally, Gavin and the hero of our draw with the Coleraine scum, Mark Kelly. When we played the Swifts last time, Gary Liggett, gave Cookie a hard time and was instrumental in both of the Swifts goals, winning a free-kick for the first one and getting a free header to score the second one. We don't want that happening tomorrow and feel that Spike will stick with Archie (if fit), or Marky if Archie's not fit. The rest of the team picks itself, with Tony Kane and Captain Jenks in midfield and the enigma man himself, Alan D. We at 'Sport think Spike's taking a dangerous risk playing Alan D and especially against a team that Darren Murphy has playing delightful football, but Spike's the boss and we have to respect him.

The three strikers, MM, Darboy and our talisman Cush, need to put in a shift and give the Swifts defenders something to think about. Darboy had a shocking first-half last Saturday, but he redeemed himself somewhat in the second period with the clinching goal, but we think he'll have to start to exert his influence from kick-off tomorrow. As usual we don't have any team news and hope our keeper, Shan, has recovered from the thigh injury that hampered him against the Point last week, leading him to concede a soft goal. We need him fully fit tomorrow and if he is, we think we have a chance against the Tyrone men. Not that'll it will be easy, far from it, but if we stick to the plan and close down the wide men, hopefully we will triumph, but we expect it to be close. So come Sky Blues, lets shag those Chicken farmers!

Big Test!

United face a big test tomorrow against Warrenpoint Town, if they are to maintain their quest for a top six berth in the Dankse Bank Premier league, with only three games to go until we meet Glenavon in that do or die last game before the split. Win tomorrow and everything is possible, but lose or draw for the second week running and it becomes elusive, to say the least. The one fact in our favour, if you can call it a favour, is that Glenavon have 3 matches in hand, they still have their Irish cup match to play and their three matches including one against us and only 5 weeks to do it.

If they don't win their Irish cup match away to Ballinmallard and it finishes in a draw, that could lead to another 3 games to be played before 22 March, a tall order for any team, never mind a team of part-time Irish league players. So you see there's still a lot of matches to play, but we need to focus on our own fixtures and the rest of them will only be important if we slip up. We at 'Sport believe our fate lies in our own hands, three points tomorrow are vital, if we get them, all things are possible. The Point are fighting to avoid being pulled into the relegation dogfight or play-off spot and they have some games in hand too, but we know from painful experience, that games in hand don't equate to points on the board.

Thommo, so pivotal in the good things that we do, starts the first game of a two match suspension tomorrow  and we'll be looking for someone to step up to the plate and take his vital role in out team. We at 'Sport are in complete agreement that it should be Sparky, but as Omar referred to his column last night, Spike seems to favour Alan D. The Sports team only worry about Alan D's inclusion tomorrow, that if he did have a good game against the Point, Spike may well stick with him the rest of this season and we fear that Alan D only flatters to deceive and we'll need ball winners tomorrow and Alan doesn't come into that category.

Then there's the dilemma of the strikers he selects, Darboy was rested because of that ridiculous agreement with the scum manager, but MM came in and scored and new boy, Mark Kelly, showed what we've been missing for so long, a real live striker to challenge in the air and put himself about and he looks good in this role, it will be interesting to see, how Spike resolves this dilemma. Surely JT has to return in central defence for we are going to need him for the hard matches down the line, against the Crues, Glens and Glenavon. But who makes way for him is anybody's guess. We'll stick our neck out and go for , Cookie and McBride, but it could be anybody, so come on Sky Blues, lets send them home pointless!

Darboy's Dejection!

United's Darboy, signed in the January transfer window from fierce rivals, the Coleraine scum, admits to being dejected, as under the terms of his transfer, he cannot play against his old club and must sit and watch as the two rivals do battle tomorrow. United, fresh from their great victory at Windsor Park, over Linfield last Saturday in the Irish cup, welcome back defensive king-pin JT. Darboy's ineligibility, gives our manager, Spike an out we think for his policy of not changing a winning team and we expect JT to be in the line-up. Who drops out to accommodate him is anybody's guess, he played five defenders last Saturday in a 3,5,2 formation, but we expect him to revert to his favoured 4,3,3 for this game.

So if JT comes in, Spike needs to drop two defenders and it would be tough on any of them, for they all played their part last Saturday, in United's victory. But that's what he gets paid the big bucks for, to make unpopular decisions. If Archie plays, will this be his 200th senior appearance in a Sky Blue Jersey? We dropped a bit of a clanger last Saturday, saying that was his 200th, but we later found out, courtesy of Stephen Alexander, of the Ballymena Times, that the United programme, where we got our information, was in fact wrong and that last Saturday's game took  Archie to 199 appearances, not 200. We made a genuine mistake, which we apologise unequivocally for and hope that's the end of that.

The man in the middle has stolen the show of late in matches between us and the scum and tomorrows official needs no introduction to United fans, as it is none other than ham shank himself, Mark Courtney. We don't know whether to rejoice in his appointment, or to give vent to feelings of despair, because he tends to a bit controversial, but not as bad as Burns, he is the pits. Derby games tend to be volatile and the referee needs to show a bit of common sense, as tackles seem to be that much keener, with no quarter ask or given. The fans love these encounters, but we don't want to see anybody get hurt at the end of day, but all we ask from officials, is show a wee bit of give and take, a stern talking to will do, if that doesn't work, then you can start to dish out the yellow cards, but only then. 

The real fans of both clubs should be in attendance, no excuses will be tolerated, As United fans point out in one of their songs, 'if you canny do the bouncey your Coleraine' and that is a terrible stigma to be saddled with. Sky Blue Sport would go one stage further, if your not at the Showgrounds tomorrow, 'you are' Coleraine. Our goal keeper, Shan, said in a text last Saturday, 'our supporters were brilliant too', don't let him down this Saturday, turn up in your numbers and be the 'extra man' that makes the difference. We won on Boxing Day at Coleraine, but it would be sweeter to win at our own ground and our fans need to play their part if we are to be triumphant. A pity Darboy is missing, but we'll just have to get on with it, so come on Sky Blues, lets shag those ewes from Windy Hall!

Can Do!

That is the word from our manger Glenn Ferguson, when the Sky Blues take on the mighty Linfield at Windsor Park tomorrow in the Irish cup, 'we can do it', Spike said in an interview on the beeb. Alright he never said those actual words, but we at 'Sport feel that was what he meant. He has no illusions about how hard a task it will be to contain the home team, who have won the cup 51 times in their history, compared Ballymena's sixth triumph way back in 1989, the Linfield Blues have been winning the cup fairly regularly.  But Fergie and his backroom staff (ironically all ex-Linfield players), think they have a plan to upset the hosts.

The task facing United has been made more difficult with the sending-off of defensive king-pin, JT, against Chickenville on Tuesday night. We need someone to step up to the plate and take on JT's duties and Archie who is the the longest serving player currently in our squad, might be the man. If selected tomorrow, he will play his 200 game for the Sky Blues and he's still in his early twenties and he's Sky Blues through and through. We at Sport would like to congratulate Archie, who always give his best, on achieving this personal milestone and on a such momentous occasion as an Irish cup match. If we can halt the Linfield juggernaut scoring, then it'll be up to Darboy, Cush and Captain Jenks to exploit them up front.

Will we change our tactics and forsake our 4,3,3 formation and try something different as we did on Tuesday night, with our 4,3,2,1 formation or is to be the tried and trusted method, which brought us at least a little success. In the last match we played Linfield at the Showgrounds in mid-January, we were doing alright until the fat controller switched his tactics at halftime. Spike and his coaches failed to react to this and this was a mistake, compounded by the sending-off of Tony Kane, later on. Spike and the boys will have to be on their game tomorrow because the fat controller will want to let them know who still is boss. But we know from experience it just takes a little luck in the cup to change the result and we're due a slice of luck big time, so come on Sky Blues, lets shag those villagers!

Bum Steer!

So the United programme was proved to be correct when it indicated that United talisman, Cush, was due for a suspension having amassed 5 yellow cards. We just watched the highlights from United's match at Portadown and how Gary Breen of Portadown was allowed to remain on the field when he deliberately stamped on the afore mentioned Cush, beggars belief. If that isn't enough, Sean Mackle, the scorer of the only goal, came back from an offside position, missed by the linesman. Now to tomorrow night's game against Chickenville, we certainly need to be up for this one and missing two influnental players like Jenks and Cush, both suspended, will Fergie forsake his trusted 4,3,3 system or not?

That would be a chance to change the system and with JT coming back in, would we try something different like a 3,5,2, playing MM and Darboy up front to give the Chickenville defence something to think about. Their midfield usually boss the match, but we at 'Sport think we need to dictate the way the match is played and try to unsettle them as much as possible. Our boys played on a quagmire on Saturday and if the Showgrounds pitch cuts up tomorrow night, we'll be well used to the conditions. Boyce and Gormley will need to be watched, but Chickenville aren't a two man team and they have leaders in different sections of the pitch, that can hurt you.

Ballymena new boy Shan did a good job in trying conditions at Shamrock Park and looks to be settling in nicely in the keepers jersey. Will Fergie stick with Marky McCullagh or Cookie to partner JT, if he goes with a flat back four. Big Davy's bound to be feeling his exertions on Saturday and maybe Spike will rest him bearing in mind the cup match against Linfield next Saturday. There were suggestions that United could put out an under-strength team tomorrow night, but top six has be our aim and we haven't doing very well recently. If we could get a result tomorrow night, that would give us a huge confidence boost going into Saturday's cup match, but it will be tough.

Chickenville are only two points behind leaders Linfield in the Dankse Premiership table and a win tomorrow night will take them to the summit and they will be right up for this match. We've got to match them, in spite of who is officiating, the hopeless Colin Burns, so we're up against it right away, but we don't expect anything else, we have to win  everything on merit. Thommo needs to be our leader tomorrow night, in the absence of  Captain Jenks and if he's backed by the strong-tackling Sparky and maybe Gavin, we can give the Chickenville midfielders a run for their money. But we can't afford to carry any passengers, we need everybody playing a 100%, so come on United , lets shag those Chickenvillers!