Crocodile Tears!

The Sky Blues face a new beginning tomorrow against the Coleraine scum, without their talisman Cushley. At least we at Sky Blue Sport, think he's history since he pulled on a Crues shirt and no crocodile tears from the Crusaders chairman and Cushley, will change that in our mind. Crues knew what they were doing when they pulled that stunt and David, is not so daft as he's pretending to be.

But we must call an end to this debate and seek a new hero, worthy of our admiration, maybe it will be the 'kick in the arse' some of our players need to wake them from their slumber. David, when not 100% fit and out of form, was getting selected above other players and maybe they weren't trying hard enough, for they knew he be playing every week and they'd be on the bench.

We're thinking of players like Darhen and Nathan Hanley here, but in an ironic twist of fate, Nathan could get his chance, if Ruddy's not fit and Steeky as well, in the leftback slot. The Sky Blues will have to make at least one other change to their defence as JT, serves a one-game suspension. With on-loan signing Rodger, fit again, Spike has to choose between him and Kyler.

But its in midfield where we are struggling at the moment, as we can't afford to play Thommo and Jenks in centre-midfield and Matthew Ferguson, is promising but we need someone with more bite in the tackle than him. Gavin, looks on paper to be the man, but he's bit short on game time, which could rule him out of a starting role, Spike, may prefer Owen or Tony Kane in that position.

Whether its alongside Jenks or Thommo, we can only guess, but surely he has to start young Matty and Darhen up front in place of Jenks, who struggled in that position against Linfield last week. But we suspect Spike, will stick with his former Captain and leave Darhen, on the bench or kicking his heels in the stand as he has done in the past and quite recently against the Crues.

Fergie, says he is going to add a few fringe players to his panel, Kyle Beggs and Stewart Nixon, are two who spring to mind, but we be astounded if one of them should start as Spike, likes to blood them first. But needs must as they say and it would give spectators a lift, to see Spike, spring a surprise on the diving bird and his team, who have been on a losing streak since the end of November.

Is Fergie, going to stick with old Buckets Blaney in nets, as he seems to have gone off the idea of one bad mistake and you're dropped, as he dropped Dwayne for misjudging the wind against Crues, which led to the Crues scoring. Buckets has made mistakes in 3 of the last 4 games and is still playing. Whatever keeper he decides should play, we need to graft and shag these scum sheep, COSB, get into them!

First Quarter!

The Sky Blues welcome the dark Blues of Linfield/IFA, to the Showgrounds tomorrow, the first game of a quartet of games in the next 5 weeks against the IFA team. The referee for this game, which usually is a passionate one, is none other than Tim 'nice but dim' Marshall, who is as weak as water if he has to make any major decisions and will always side with his employers if their is a doubt.

But United should know from past experience, that everything that you get from this fixture, needs to earned the hard way and our defenders need to be extra careful for Guy Bates, goes down easily where there is minimal contact and Tim won't be afraid to give the dark Blues a penalty, while ignoring brutal tackles at the other end, so we need to be on our guard.

Some United fans are of the opinion, we are on a hiding to nothing, but our manager Spike, says he is hell bent on pushing Ports or Glens, for that 7th place in the final league table, which is destined for a play-off spot to determine who accompanies, the Premier Champions, the runners-up and the Irish cup winners, into Europe next season.

By an ironic fact, we play the Coleraine scum in our next game, away on Boxing Day and Portadown away, on New Years Day and them two games coupled with tomorrows match, could go a long way in deciding our position in the league table come the end of this league campaign. So it is imperative that we give a good account of ourselves tomorrow and get a confidence boost for next the two holiday fixtures.

Linfield, by their standards are struggling and new manager David Healey, is struggling to make an impact in his first managerial post. That said the Blues will fight tooth and nail, for him and their own future, what with the transfer window coming up in January and Healey, having hinted that he will be active when the transfer window opens.

He has already asked for permission to speak to our talisman, Cush, who's out of contract in the summer, but we need Cush and the players to be focused on getting three points tomorrow. In the absence of Willie, out with a broken elbow, it should mean a start for somebody, like the Barber or Owen Kane, but we'll be dumbfounded if Spike selects Darhen.

The ex-Coleraine man, isn't flavour of the month and seems to be limited to a cameo performance as a sub, brought on with little time to make an impact. As usual we don't have any heads-up as to who is injured or if buckets Blaney, is going to continue in goals, where he has been less than impressive in the three games he has played in a row.

Its our gut feeling that Blaney, will get the nod over Dwayne, but maybe he will be on the bench, just in case he's needed. The rest of the team seems to pick itself and Spike, needs decide who is to play alongside JT (Paddy or Kyley), as JT is suspended for the Boxing Day encounter with the Coleraine scum. But its all systems go for tomorrow, so come on Sky Blues, lets shag those IFA sheep!

Dead Again!

Last week's headline was 'born again', alluding to Chickenville's resurgence, but with this Saturday's visitors Warrenpoint in mind, we definitely don't want a rebirth, we rather they stay down, hence the headline dead again. We don't apologise for this morbid headline, this league is ruthless and its a dog eat dog attitude, so we must try to keep the Point's dismal run going and at the same time give ourselves a boost.

A win will not move us up to the 7th place that we covet, but it will get us closer to either Glens or Ports, who meet at Shamrock Park tomorrow as well and we got to replace one of the two of them, we think, if we are to get up a place come the end of the season. We already lost any hope of a top six finish, as it would take a monumental collapse from one of the teams above us now to make that possible, but miracles still happen, don't they?

But Spike and his team, will just focus on the game tomorrow and getting the three points that are up for grabs. To this end we expect to see young Matty, restored to our line-up and Jenks returned to midfield. There has been much speculation about our talisman Cush, this week but as Spike says, Cush, will give everything he's got while he's in a Sky Blue jersey and for that reason he will start tomorrow if he's fit and we expect him to be fit.

Spike, also expects on-loam defender Gareth Rodger, to turn up fit and raring to go, but young Paddy Mac, will retain his place in the squad, just in case. Spike., has been tight-lipped about whether Alan Blaney, keeps his place in goal or Dwayne, returns. Our manager is not renowned for suffering fools gladly, especially keepers that let him down and Alan did that last week on two occasions, so he has to be treading on slippery ground.

We expected Spike, to make wholesale changes after the sky Blues struggled to beat championship 1 team Larne, ten days ago,but he only brought in Paddy Mac, for the injured Rodger. It's our opinion that he boobed on that occasion and Steeky and JT were struggling for pace in the 2nd half at Solitude last Saturday. This Saturday, with 7 days rest everybody should be up for a gruelling 90 minutes and we expect it to be gruelling.

Willie Faulkner, seems to have cemented his place in the team, with two spectacular goals, one at Larne that drew us level and one at Chickenville, which gave us hope. If Tippers, is fit and young Matty gets the nod to partner him it will be a toss-up for who makes way, Thommo or Tony. We at 'Sport would always go for Tony, but our manager likes Thommo's, forceful play so its his call. Whoever gets the call better do the job, so come Sky Blues, lets shag those Rabbits!

Born Again!

The last time United and Chickenville met in a league game, it ended with a 6-1 thrashing for the previous mighty Reds. The upshot of that defeat was the surprise resignation of Chickenville manager,the legendary Tommy Breslin. What possessed almost the quietest manager in our league to resign after that defeat, we'll probably never know, but in so doing, his assistant, Gerard Lyttle, took over and the Reds are looking to be back to their best. The Sky Blues away form is not too good and the statisticians will say it points to a home win for the North Belfast Reds.

But United are getting more attuned to playing on the artificial turf, as Champions Crues know only too well, when United dumped them out of the Toals County Antrim Shield at Seaview and then ran them close last week in the league, before losing by the odd goal in five, so we will be no pushovers. The question remains however that we don't know how many fit men our manager has at his disposal? With a pulsating semi-final at Larne last Tuesday, that lasted over 104 mins, we can't honestly see veteran Tippers, recovering in time to be able to start.

Darhen, who made such an impact when he came on against the Championship 1 side, could replace Tippers, but we think Jenks could lose out and then we'd be into our fringe players, although the manager's son, Matthew, looked okay when he came on as a sub on Tuesday night. Then there is the goalkeepers jersey to be filled. If indeed Spike, dropped Dwayne (harshly we may add), for his one lapse against the Crues and then promoted Blaney, who made a hash with Larne's second goal, what does he do now. Does he recall Dwayne or does he persevere with Blaney, its a toss up.

Willie Faulkner, who we don't rate at all, came up with the 'goods' on Tuesday night and is almost certain to keep his place as is Cush. But we think Thommo, is not pacey enough for the slick Solitude surface and the same applies to Maggers, so that may open the door for Owen Kane, with Tony in a wide right midfield role. Spike, will probably stick with Rodger, in partnership with JT, as Kyley, looks like a disaster waiting to happen. We'll not be too surprised to see Ruddy, getting a recall at leftback as Steeky, looked shattered on Tuesday night and Captain Jimer should be at rightback. So come on Sky Blues, lets shag these Chickens, in Chickenville!