Sky Blue Sport News

Down Ports!

2012-01-30T23:53:00.002Z

Make no bones about it, this is a crunch game for United when they take on third placed Portadown in their postponed game. No Sky Blue fans need reminding of what the Ports did to us in the Irish cup semi-final a couple of seasons ago and they 'mugged' us twice already this season, although we contributed to our downfall in the first game at Shamrock Park. There can be no slip-ups tomorrow night, we just can't afford them, four points from our next two games and we get a bit of breathing space. We won't be out the woods by any stretch of imagination, but it will give us a wee cushion for the four potential cup finals we then face.

Distillery, Glenavon, Dungannon and Carrick Rangers will be fighting for their very existence and they'll be 'blood and thunder' matches. Not that our next two matches against the 3rd and 2nd teams in the league will be a pushover, but we might see a bit of football played, but they'll be no quarter asked or given. United must do without the services of Captain Jenks as he serves a one game ban and young Neil Lowry is away with the Norn Iron youth team. On the plus side Sparky is expected to take Jenks place and that only leaves Spike to pick one from the two ex-Ports men, Ally and Jordan. Ally gets the Sky Blue Sports team vote, for he gives us width, but Baker gives us another striking option, or Spike could spring a surprise and introduce someone we don't know.

There's rumours flying around tonight about us going to sign a 'mystery man' from over the border, but as far as we know they are only rumours. We couldn't honestly see a player who would make a difference, playing for the sort of money we would be paying. Roy Walker has left us in 'dire straits' because he spent our budget on substandard players, many of them on two year deals and that is Spike's legacy. There's an old saying, 'you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear', but Spike and the boys are going to have to try. If they get our level of fitness up then maybe the boys can do something about trying to compete on an even keel, not get over-run as we have been in so many games this season. We need the 'right' goalie in the nets, whether it be Dwayne or Wayne and the right defence in front of him and in the absence of Jenks that will surely mean Tony Kane retaining his place in the back four. It's going to be tough, but we need to be tough, come on United, let's down those Ports!

Let's Hope!

2012-01-19T23:54:00.002Z

Let's hope the Crues players have one eye on the Irn Bru final and they're not as brutal in the tackle as they have been in our other matches this season. Let's hope that Spike, the two baldies and 'mad dog' have got their act together and select the right team for the narrow Seaview pitch. Let's hope that Johnny Taylor starts his first game for us, we don't care who he partners, Archie or Cookie or if Vauls is fit, Spike could partner Black and Taylor in the centre, (or is he too scared of Alfie too). But after his insipid display on Tuesday night, we think Kane has to rested, although Woods had a stinker the last we played the Crues here, does lightning strike twice, when speaking of United we think it does.

Carson must surely get the nod in midfield and he although he wasn't good on Tuesday (who was), Ally must retain his place as well. There's a lot of talk about Lowry getting a start but we hope that's not at the expense of Baker, who tried hard on Tuesday night. Elvis on the other hand proved he can't string two games together, he was a passenger and if he's not dropped it will be a miracle. Glenn and his team maybe could think Tuesday result was a 'one off', but we know different. A look at our goals against total makes dismal reading, only two clubs have a worse tally and this needs to be addressed urgently. We hope the boys had a good training session on the 4g pitch at the Showgrounds tonight, in preparation for tomorrow night's match. We 'hope' were up for this one, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those paper tigers, we hope!

Coyle Toil!

2012-01-16T23:44:00.002Z

United go into this re-arranged match with the Glens brimming with confidence and they'll come up against an old adversary in Glens caretaker boss and former United player, Roy Coyle. If you wanted a man to steady 'your ship', then there can be no more experienced man than the prolific Coyle, the man is synonymous with success. This was always going to a tricky fixture anyway for the Glens probably feel they owe us something after we humbled them in their ground in the first round of matches this season. Man for man they probably have the edge on us in skill, but we got the belief and that counts for more.

As far we know Spike has no injury worries, but loan-signing Johnny Taylor must sit this one out as he cannot play against his parent club. So it looks like the same panel of players as of Saturday, but maybe Glenn and the boys will want to tweak the side due to their tactical plans. Dwayne did well enough in goal to retain his place but the management may have other ideas, but the news today that we have released third-choice keeper Aaron Kerr, will make it a two horse race between Dwayne and Wayne (we wouldn't want to try saying that after a few vodkas and tonics). It will be interesting to see if Coyle rings the changes as the Glens player must be shell shocked after Saturday's results.

Our guess is he will keep the same basic team and hope to instil enough pride into them to turn in a good performance. We must be ready for the backlash and try dictate the pace that the match will be played, not be drawn into a test of stamina. We are left to wonder, if Elvis is selected, will he play as well as he did on Saturday or was that just a fluke. The forecast is for calm seas and we hope Jenks and the goal machine, Cutch, don't have their travel plans disrupted tomorrow, we need both of them here. We don't suppose they'll be many Glens fans at the match, they aren't famous for travelling to midweek fixtures anyway, but at least they have an excuse this time. So it's all systems go for three points, come on United, let's shag those lambs from the East!

White Knight!

2012-01-13T22:12:00.003Z

United manager Spike Ferguson, returns to his former 'hunting ground' tomorrow, when the Sky Blues take on Lisburn Distillery in the Irish cup at Ballyskeagh. This will be Spike's second game in charge of the 'high' team and the supporters will be anxious to know whether a first win is on the cards. It promises to be a tough encounter, the whites will fight tooth and nail to get a result on their home turf, but United must be equally determined to put one over on them. Will Spike give an instant debut to on-loan Johnny Taylor is one the questions we don't have the answer to. Another is the who fills in for the suspended Sparky, the recipient of another 2 game ban, which means he'll miss United's next two games as well as tomorrow's.

With Rory Carson having found a bit of form, that means it should be a choice of Gavin Taggart or Conor Downey, neither of whom gets the blood pumping. But of course Spike and the two baldies may have other ideas and promote young players such as Owen Gillan or Jamie Davidson. Or they could surprise us and select Elvis and go for a 4,4,2 formation instead of the more negative 4,5,1. Distillery's striker Gary Ligget will need close watching and after his success last Saturday against Rory Patterson, Archie looks to be the man for the job, leaving Taylor or Cookie to cut out the supply. Ross Black, not given a chance under Roy Walker, made a good impression last week and should retain his place as Vauls serves a ban for 5 cautions and misses this match.

We at 'Sport are still not sure about Tony Kane and his back-up Curtis Woods has failed to impress us also, but in the continuing absence of Sparky, we have nothing else, unless someone comes available before the end of transfer deadline which is looming. Jordan Baker and Ally Teggert are two players who have not performed to their usual standards and tomorrow would be a good time to start 'cutting the mustard' so to speak. Both suffered injury recently, but that's no excuse for their lack lustre performances of late. The goal machine, as Davy King calls him, Cutch hasn't scored for three matches and we all hope he was saving it for tomorrow, for he is the jewel in our crown. The fans are up for the cup, the manager and the two baldies are up for it, let's hope the team are up for it. Come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Lisburn lambs!

First Blood!

2012-01-06T23:29:00.004Z

Spike and his team, the two baldies, have hopefully come up with a plan that'll see United put one over on the 'fat' controller and the I.F.A. The talk on the forum tonight is about 4 players from other clubs at last night's training, signings we understand, will be imminent and not before time. That's for the future and Spike and the boys must go with the same basic panel we have had all season. Whether he'll have seen enough in training to make a change, or whether he sticks with the same 'motley' crew is anybody's guess, we fervently hope he's instilled a bit of confidence and pride in his first week in the job.

Sparky, having served his one game ban should be available for selection and we expect him to get the nod in midfield alongside in either Jenks or Gavin or if fit Downey. On his display last week Rory Carson looks to be the automatic choice. Neil Lowry who was disappointing last Saturday, should be in the panel and Spike might well start him and it should go down well with the United fans, we like to see youngsters given a chance, The same can be said for Jamie Davidson, subject of a lot transfer talk in the local papers and Spike has added him to the panel as well for tomorrow's game. Hopefully Ally will have shaken off the injury that was still troubling him last weekend and return to his scintillating form we have already witnessed this season.

Keeper Wayne Drummond must have a good match in front of what promises to be our biggest crowd this season, it would be a good time to impress. If he can just get an understanding with Cookie and Archie and impress upon them, if he doesn't call for a back pass, they must hit to the stands. Did Spike see see our inability to deal with set-pieces? We hope he or some of his lieutenants were taking notes last Saturday, if they weren't, the I.F.A. will find some gaps to exploit, especially at throw-ins. It's nearly impossible to predict what the I.F.A. will try to do, at Windsor Park they tried to overwhelm us and succeeded, but in the end they had to settle for a scoreline of 1-0.

If were brutally honest it wasn't as close as that, but if we had, had any belief that day, we might got a share of the points. It would've been daylight robbery we know, but we've been 'mugged' many times in matches with the I.F.A. so it was a chance to even the score. We are going make a predication now, if we can hold out for the first 20 minutes tomorrow, we have a chance of getting something from the match, if not we'll probably get beaten, although we hope not trounced. Tomorrow's match in the scheme things is not going to be a pointer for the rest of the season, but it could reveal if the team's got any spirit and that's a vital ingredient. So come Sky Blues, let's shag these village people, (Spike and the boys not included)!

New Era!

2011-12-30T22:20:00.002Z

With the breaking news that Glenn 'Spike' Ferguson has been named as the new manager, we wonder is this the start of a new era or just one more dot in our history books? Spike was a great player and a great competitor and if he can instil these traits into our team, he might just be the messiah we've been looking for. It's not known who his back-room staff might be but one name that's been mentioned is Lee Docherty. So let's recap, we've appointed a manager who had a record second to none as a striker in our league, his first appointment is man who was a midfield genius and is held in awe in our league circles, all he needs now is to appoint Noel Baile and maybe he can get our slip shod defence sorted out.

In an ironic twist of fate his first official match in charge will be against his former masters, Linfield (the I.F.A.) and the next game is away to his last employers, Lisburn Distillery, in the Irish cup. It doesn't get any easier after that, if United or Glens don't have to replay their Irish cup games, then there's a match on Tuesday January 17 at the Showgrounds followed by a visit to the hatchet men on the Saturday, then maybe he'll have time to catch his breath. We fervently hope he has seen us play recently and if he is the stand tomorrow, he'll maybe get an idea of our strengths (we haven't seen too many this year) and our weaknesses (too countless to mention). We're not hoping for a quick fix but maybe some fresh ideas and basic defending would be good.

Tomorrow's match is Joe's last game in charge and no doubt the D.C. boys will be up for that as a win will take them 8 points clear of us and practically free from the threat of relegation (35 pts to be mathematically safe), a rare win for us would delay that for a week or two. When we were travelling to Coleraine last Monday we heard the news of Gavin Taggart being in the team and not Ally Teggert, our spirits went down we can tell you. It seems Ally picked a bit of a knee injury and we wish well and a speedy recovery. We just hope that he is fit enough to start tomorrow and if Baker isn't fit, we start with Lowry up front along with Cutch.

Our defence which didn't exactly cover themselves in glory last Monday, will probably be the same but we only hope Joe has told them to get the ball out of there, don't start playing any 'namby pamby' football, for it's the road to no town. The referee tomorrow is Hugh Carville and we think he'll play the match as per rule book, not like Andy 'make the rules as you go along' Hunter, well we live in hope anyway. In an ironic way Sparky's sending off could give the three stoogies, Carson, Jenks and Downey a chance to impress the new boss, but he knows Downey's form from when they were team-mates at Windsor Park. On paper it's a match we can win, but our confidence is shot to rags, let's hope we pull out all the stops, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Suffolk lambs!

Windy Hall!

2011-12-26T00:04:00.002Z

We at Sky Blue Sport are the most optimistic supporters, but 'we have' even to face facts. Ballymena United go head to head with their derby rivals the 'Coleraine' scum, on a hiding to nothing. We had hoped against hope, that caretaker manager, Joe McCall (not our choice by a long chalk, there are more dyed in the wool United men on the staff than Joe), would show some initiative in his one game in charge against Dungannon Swifts, but it was like Roy Walker all over again. Despite the Christmas optimism which seems to come at this time of year, we feel we have to face two facts.

The first fact is we have no 'lead by example' men in the team. You know one of those men like Sammy Frickleton or Paul Malone or dare we say it, Gazza. One of those men who knows what this fixture means to the rank and file United supporter, who follow their team through thick and thin. Win, draw or lose this fixture and it will mean nothing to the overall statistics at the end of the day, but to the supporters, of both teams, even the Coleraine scum (do they have feelings?), it will assume mammoth proportions. Roy Walker, never quite grasped that, he would always referred to the rivalry between Cliftonville and Crusaders, but that is as nothing compared to the rivalry between 'us' and the Coleraine scum.

The second fact is we are not good enough, Cutch has been our true spark in this season and where we would be without his scoring exploits, we shudder to think. As for the rest of the team, Ally Teggart is worthy of his place and in defence Sparky and Cookie Munster, the rest of them are sub-standard, but Roy in his wisdom thought they were good enough. The new manager, when we eventually get round to appointing one (there really is no excuse for this delay, the manager has been walking on eggs for six weeks now), is going to be hampered by the staff at his disposal. The only player that's willing to come to us over the January transfer window is Linfield's Kris Lysnday, but that's not definite as Glenavon is also interested.

So let's recap, we need a goalie, at least two back four players, three midfield players, one of whom must be a leader and a striker to take some of the pressure off Cutch, that's only seven players on the plus side. On the minus side we have got to unload three back four players, Archie, Kane and Woods (Vauls will come good we think), three midfield players, Gavin Taggart, Rory and Jenkins, up front we need to get rid of Baker and Boyd and we have a month to do that, starting the first of January. Meanwhile we have two matches between now and then and if we could conjure up a win tomorrow by some miracle, it would give us hope. Joe McCall could yet go down in history as the man who filled United supporters with a sense of pride, after all, it is the season of goodwill. We live in eternal hope, come on United, let's shag those ewes from Windy Hall!

'Nuff Said!

2011-12-19T23:25:00.003Z

According to Carling Premiership.com. the referee for tomorrow's night's game between the chicken shaggers and the sheep shaggers, Dungannon and Ballymena at Stangmore Park, Dungannon, is local whistler, Mark 'ham shank' Courtenay. Mister Courtenay is well known to Ballymena fans, for the 'ham shank' fiasco among other clangers and is a totally inappropriate choice for this game. As if that's not enough we still are manager-less and subject to Joe McCall's whims. The Swifts have just re-appointed Joe McAree as manager for the umpteenth time and his side-kick is none other than the man with the 'golden knee', Darren Murphy, that was miraculously cured, when five years ago he was going to have to go under the knife or hang up the boots.

You can understand why we view this match with a sense of trepidation, we got 'honest Joe McCall', Mark Ham Shank and Wounded Knee taking centre stage. We well remember the poem about 'the Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick maker, turn them out knaves all three', 'nuff said. We have no idea about the tactics, or players Joe is liable to pick, in the absence of assistant manager Terry Moore, who proved what a 'rat' he was by deserting the ship with Walker, Joe and first team coach Colin Sewell will have to come up with a team capable of getting a result. But we just hope they're aware they'll get no help from the referee and the Swifts players will be diving all over the place. United old boys, Mike Ward, Craig McClean and She(A)Campbell will no doubt have something to prove as they usually do and United will do well to keep their discipline.

It would been nice if our team could have got a game on Saturday but we do need a game under our belt before we make a trip to that dump at Coleraine to play the filthy scum. Our confidence is shot to smithereens and if we could get a result tomorrow night, it would stand us in good stead as we travel to play the gas-men on Boxing Day. Applications need to be in on Wednesday for the vacant manager's job and hopefully he'll be appointed fairly quickly, if he not in the dug-out when we play the scum, hopefully he will be, when we take on D.C. on the last day of 2011. This game had be moved forward because of a vital important stock car meeting and we were assured '18 months ago' that they were history. But we digress, United need to get something from this match and the first match the 'Sky Blue Sport' team have attended since we were wrongly accused of racial chanted by the Chicken shaggers, come on Sky Blues let's really shag those Tyronians!

Marking Time!

2011-12-16T23:19:00.003Z

After the 'Roy Walker' era, United find themselves 'marking time' till a new manager is appointed. The board, in their wisdom, have appointed Joe McCall, who was Kenny Shiels assistant-manager and before that reserve manager. We'll not go into detail about Joe's shortcomings, it's not important and anyway our board tend to see things with 'rose coloured' spectacles, in short they have trouble remembering the facts. But enough said, Joe is in charge of our team until further notice, realistically the next four matches, which could make or break our season.

We feel sure Joe will not tinker with the team too much, they were decidedly unlucky not to get something for their efforts on Tuesday night. They were undone by a bad refereeing decision and a clanger from a keeper low in confidence. Joe's hand could be forced if Dicky Vauls is injured, then he'd have to make a decision on whether he plays Woods and Kane, or calls up Rodgers and moves Archie to leftback. Of course Joe has experience of the versatile Sparky and may play him at rightback or in midfield. Based on Tuesday night's performance, he could keep Jenks on the bench and continue with Sparky and Downey in centre midfield. One of the undoubted successes on Tuesday was the form showing by teenager Neil Lowry. Sky blue Sport's Bruce Balmer, came within a whisker of naming him 'man of the match', so we hope Joe remembers him in his plans, a place on the bench at least.

Glentoran come to the Showgrounds tomorrow a depleted team, like ourselves they blow hot and cold, but they usually do well away from home and they usually triumph at the Showgrounds. Gary Hamilton, still the best striker around is absent from their line-out, having 'bought' his contract (he was rumoured to be on £1,500 a week, we reckon the Glens were only too happy to tear it up) and our old friend Richard Gibson we feel sure will try to step up to mark. It will be the job of the United midfield to try and stop the supply to Gibbo and to try to get a telling a ball to the 'goal machine', Cutch, in order for him to add to his 22 goals this season, 17 in the league. We wonder how the team feel about the manager resigning, they should take some of the blame, but it would be a fitting tribute if they come and win tomorrow's game, come Sky Blues, let's show a United front,only believe one more time!

Tight Noose!

2011-12-12T23:35:00.002Z

The noose is tightening on Roy Walker's neck and only a win will save from from the chop, when United take on the hatchet men in the Irn Bru semi-final at the Showgrounds tomorrow night, kick-off 19-45. The match which will be played to a finish is not a matter of life and death, it's more important than that, it's die dog or shite the licence time. In a match like this it's crucial to get a fair referee, but our luck is right out, Raymond Crangle is the man appointed to officiate, a man born close to the environs of Seaview itself and another who makes up the rules as he goes along. The news is not good about our injury list, with Baker and Boyd still doubtful and Denver hoping for a place on the panel.

Surely Sparky has to be recalled, its obvious Roy doesn't like him, but for the good of the club he has to come into the reckoning. We cannot continue with Kane and Archie, they are fish out of water, we got have a solid back-four that we can rely on. Vauls put on a good show on Saturday, but he was strangely substituted at halftime, replaced by Elvis. It was obvious that we needed to make changes, but surely Archie should have been the one to make way for Elvis, you don't withdraw the best defender you have, in order to keep one on whose form has dipped disastrously. If Baker or Boyd don't make it, we have no choice but to send on Elvis, if just for nuisance value. Just a glimpse of the form he showed us in his first match, would be heaven.

Neil McCaffery, who was on-loan from Portadown last season, is badly missed in the United engine room, where Alan Jenks has singularly failed to live up to his billing. Our plight is, we have nobody to step up to the mark, for Roy in his infinite wisdom, farmed them out to junior clubs, when we are crying out for them. If by some miracle the Crues don't destroy us tomorrow night, it'll be left to our two match winners, Cutch and Ally, to try and steer us through. It will be a mammoth task, we'll need a lot of luck, but we're due some, we think, so come Sky Blues. let's shag those tame tigers!

Different Tactics!

2011-12-09T23:14:00.004Z

Does United manager Roy Walker, have a plan for our team, that includes tomorrow's match at Mourneview Park against bottom of the table Glenavon and the Irn Bru semi-final, at home to Crusaders on Tuesday night. Not wanting to underestimate tomorrow's opponents, maybe Roy would think of playing something like 4,5,1 formation and try to instil a bit of confidence in our side. But maybe the match will not take place tomorrow, as it's freezing hard as we speak, but better for United if it does. So what does Roy do with his team selection, he can't go on with two fullbacks (2 from 3 actually), we have at present, their shortcomings were cruelly exposed last Saturday.

We had thought he could drop Ally back as an emergency leftback, but with the rumour, unconfirmed, that Eamon Murray has left the club, it does limit our attacking options somewhat. Surely Sparky has to come into the reckoning as he is the best club-man we have, in fact dare we say it, the only man who's playing for the shirt alone. We seem to have been saying for this for weeks now, it's time Jordan Baker and Jenks started showing their worth and we're saying it again. The keeper silenced our criticism last week with a near faultless display and if he had had any defenders worth their salt in front of him, we might've got a different result at Windsor. The 'Sport team feel that he needs to be on his toes tomorrow again, as our best combination at central defence, Chris Rodgers and Cookie Munster, need time to gel.

No doubt Roy will start tinkering with his line-up (please spare us Gavin Taggart), just to prove he's the boss, but he needs to consolidate, not make wholesale changes. If he tried Archie at leftback and picked Sparky at rightback, that would be enough, but trying to second guess him is a hard task, one beyond us. The one bright spark is Cutch (who 'scotched' rumours that he wasn't going to retire at the end of the season), if he could get a couple of chances tomorrow, maybe we can sneak the points and we'll just to have to hope for a miracle against the Crues on Tuesday. Did we say a miracle? It's a well known fact that miracles happen everyday, whereas the 'impossible', takes a little bit longer, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Mourneviewers!

Windy Windsor!

2011-12-02T23:01:00.002Z

United go to the home of the I.F.A. (Linfield), to take on the League leaders and all you can do when your up against the might of the I.F.A., is pray for a good surface (well that's a laugh for a start) and a calm day (the forecast is for strong wind). But that's to be expected, sure the 'fat controller' blows a hurricane we're told himself. We would usually say a 'fair' referee, but when our team play the I.F.A. we know that's not possible, but you just hope for one that has a basic understanding of the rules and not making them up as he goes along, aka Andy Hunter. We are down to get one of the best around (the rest are pathetic), Brian Turkington, who at least keeps up with the play, but tends to see no evil when the elbows are flying from the I.F.A. players.

United manager Roy Walker has intimated in the papers that he tends changing the team around. We sincerely hope he doesn't go for the line-up he selected for the Portadown match, Archie in midfield and if you include Sparky, that gave us a team of six, out and out defenders and no outlet. Portadown, for their part took a while to settle down and if we had been sharper and not give away two atrocious goals, things could be different. We joke about the 'fat controller', but he has seen it all and will react to what line-up Roy picks anyway, so there's no way to second guess him. We at 'Sport are of the opinion that goalkeeper Wayne Drummond is not fulfilling the promise he showed on his first lot of matches, but maybe he's lost confidence in the defence, we know we have.

One player who's not available to manager Walker tomorrow, is centre-half Liam Watson, who has been suspended for a breach of club discipline. The rumour has it, he confessed to being out drinking on the night before the Cliftonville game. At least he has an excuse and if he volunteered this information he is be commended not vilified, if on the other hand he was 'shopped' by one of his mates (and we use the word 'mates' in it's loosest terms), then he deserves everything he gets, including a hangover and in future he should pick his mates more carefully. We welcomed Dicky Vauls with open arms, mainly because he had been released by the scum and we were wanting to see them end with egg on their face, but alas it hasn't worked out and Archie, is looking a viable option, but his lack of pace is a worry.

Ally Teggart showed a welcome return to form and his fellow recruit from Ports, Jordan Baker, is starting to show glimpses of his early season form also. Aaron Boyd looks likely to lose his place for tomorrow's game, he scored a goal last week, but his all round play leaves much to be desired, but in the absence of the hopeless Elvis, he is our only other option up front. United must look to it's two Scotsmen, Cutch and Jenks, for inspiration. Cutch can do more than he is doing, knocking the goals in right ,left and centre, but Jenks needs to do more and assert his authority on the game. Who will partner him, is anybody's guess, the 'Sports team prefer Sparky, but manager Walker seems to prefer Downey and he's getting fitter every game, but we need him fit now.

We expect Roy to keep his two central defenders Rodgers and Cookie Munster, but whether it's Woods at rightback or Kane we don't have the foggiest. Of course Roy might spring a surprise and play both of them, deploying Kane in right-midfield or could bring our secret weapon to bear, the fit again Rory Carson, but like Downey he needs to be really fit. So there you have it, will it be a relatively attack minded formation, or one with the emphasis on defence, considering how bad we are at the latter, we hope not. Whatever team selection Roy and his back-room staff come up with they better know one thing, we need everybody playing their hearts out tomorrow, not some lack-lustre performance which has been seen all too frequently of late, but eleven guys playing as their life depended on it. Give your all boys, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those I.F.A. sheep in their backyard!

Horse First!

2011-11-26T00:01:00.003Z

Roy Walker left a message on the United official website and 'urged' the long suffering United fans to get 'really' behind the team. Well we have news for you Roy, much as you like to blame everyone in sundry for United's diabolic defensive record, us fans are not to blame. We didn't appoint you, you were thrust upon us, we doubted our board's sanity in giving you the job, but we were prepared to give you the benefit of that doubt, but and we emphasis the word 'but', we have been proved right. The United fan is completely loyal, to the team, he'll never 'turn tail' like your Linfields, Glentorans and Crusaders fans (when things are going against them they support the other team). He'll forgive them almost anything, you'll notice we said 'almost anything', the one thing he can't forgive them is the two disgraceful displays against the Coleraine scum.

You have no idea the depth of feeling that United fans are feeling and the amount of soul searching that goes on in their hearts. You trot out words like 'United' we stand and 'only believe', well there are just words to you. Sky Blue fans are truly United but you and your team of misfits are driving us to despair. We didn't tell you to go and sign the 'dross' that no-one else wanted, we definitely didn't tell you to get rid of our Captain Gazza. Your team has no heart and after the shabby way you treated Gazza, it's to expected. You and all your first team panel should apologise to the long suffering United fans and promise us we will never have to witness that lack-lustre performances as we did in these two recent matches against the Coleraine scum.

Don't be putting the cart before the horse, getting the horse doing it's job with pride (just case any moron should read this, the 'horse' in this instance is the United team) and maybe just maybe, you'll win the respect of the most loyal and devoted fans in this or any other country, the United faithful. The Cliftonville result last Saturday was hard to take, but it was only one result and it's all down to you and your team of 'coaches', where have you be hiding the last few weeks? Rory Donnelly is the hottest prospect to come out of these shores since Norman Whiteside. The Sky Blue Sport team know that, most of the United fans know that, but you and your so called bunch of experts (shit for brains more like it),didn't think fit to try and prevent him playing as vital role as he eventually did.

What can we expect tomorrow we wonder, the Sky Blue Sport team think you're going to go with basic the same team that let you down last Saturday. But let's face it, you have nothing else. In your infinite wisdom you let Mike Smith 2 go on-loan, when we might just need him to back up your slip-shod strike force. Don't expect any applause and encouragement, you've got to earn our respect and when you earn that, we might give your team a little love, but that's a long time in the future. You got to build a few bridges in the next few matches, we don't expect you to win them all, but we do expect your team to try it's eye-strings out, do that and you'll get no complaints from us. Come on Sky Blues, try and earn our respect!

Roy's Dilemma!

2011-11-18T23:24:00.002Z

United manager Roy Walker is faced with a dilemma in picking the side to face third placed Cliftonville, who have come on leaps and bounds since the Sky Blues beat them at their ground in a 4-3 thriller, back in September. Well if Roy's nerve can stand it, he'll pick the team that started on Weds night at Dergview and hope against hope, they aren't as slip-shod in defence as they were the first 20 mins on Weds night. Or does he go for the line-up that started the Portadown match, a negative team, who if they had taken their chances at not let in two soft goals, should have got something from the match.

The Sky Blue Sport team are all for the old thinking, the best means of defence is attack, or as the immortal Jonesy said in Dads Army, 'they don't like it up em' and we have to get them unsettled. There is a doubt about Eamon Murray's fitness, having missed pre-season and not trained as much as Walker would have liked as last while, but he does give us another dimension in attack and he'll give the Cliftonville defence something to think about. Maybe he can play for an hour like he did on Weds night and hope the match is won by then. Cliftonville have unearthed a young talent in Rory Donnelly and we'll have to keep an eye on him and not forgetting Chris Scannel and Barry Johnstone, both coming back into form.

It was nice to see Ally Teggart and Jordan Baker coming back into form also on Weds night and we hope they continue on the same vein tomorrow. Now a mention about the hottest property in the Irish league, we refer of course to none other than United striker, Gary McCutcheon, the man who's scored 20 goals in 20 matches, 15 in the league, a phenomenal record when you consider our league position. If hadn't been for Cutch's prolific scoring, we'd be fighting for the scraps off the table from Distillery and Glenavon. But we hope Jordan and Ally can take some of the pressure off him, we'll set a target of say 6 goals between them from now to Christmas, that shouldn't be too difficult. So it's all systems go for our second victory at home, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those chickens!

Derg Bru!

2011-11-15T23:24:00.004Z

United go into tomorrow's night match against County Tyrone's Dergview with a full complement of players, including Wayne Drummond who was an unused substitution in this afternoon's under-21 game. The only absentee is Cookie Munster, who starts a two game ban for his sending-off against Lisburn Distillery, which the referee has deemed was violent conduct. Let's hope United manager Roy Walker doesn't play with an ultra-defensive team like last Saturday's selection at Shamrock Park. When you select five defenders and one defensive midfielder in your team, your attacking options are a bit limited, to say the least. Roy thought we played well in the first half, he should went to specsavers, cause he's obviously blind.

We did create three or four chances in the first half, but we were unable to take them, nothing new there then. He says we were scoring plenty of goals this seasons, but letting in too many at the back and he says we have corrected that. But if you have to play a defensive team, your not going to score too many goals and we probably need 5 or 6 chances to score one goal, so we need to create a lot. Saturday was typical, we created in the end 9 clear-cut chances and scored one goal. But even worse, the goals we let in were 'soft' goals, both could and should have been prevented, so the defensive set-up didn't work, much more pleasing to have a go and maybe rock Portadown back on their heels and they 'were there for the taking'.

Now Roy has said Joe McCall has compiled a dossier on our opponents Dergview, is this the same Joe McCall that was at the Showgrounds under Kenny Shiels, who told lies about George McNeeley who was stand-in manager? Let's hope he's found the lord or something or we'll be in trouble tomorrow night. We need to play our best attacking team, which means Eamon and Ally both getting a start and Sparky starting in midfield alongside Jenks. Although he wasn't good for the last two matches, Baker will probably get the nod to partner Cutch up front and the fullbacks are, perm any two from Woods, Kane and Vauls. The central defenders should come from Archie, Watson and Rodgers and surely they'll be the room on the bench for Elvis and Aaron Boyd, although Boyd was a virtual passenger when he came on last Saturday. But it's all systems go for the semi-finals, it'll be tough, but we got to get going, come Sky Blues, let's shag those Tyrone Dergviewers!

Prayer Meeting!

2011-11-11T23:21:00.004Z

We definitely like to state here that is not new tactics instigated by United manager Roy Walker. No, it's the only excuse Eamon Murray could get away with and be welcomed back into the fold. Sky Blue fans shouldn't need reminding that Murray's non-appearance last Saturday at Coleraine (that really is a nasty word), threw Walker's plans into disarray and almost single-handedly led to our defeat. Well we're being over-dramatic here, Roy Walker himself admits that he might not have started, but he would definitely been on at halftime. Who he would have replaced is anybody's guess, every player under-performed, he could probably have made a difference in any position. But there was a another Sky Blue stalwart at Ballycastle Road, who would definitely have made a huge difference, Gazza, but Roy Walker thinks he's not good enough, on this showing Roy, the players you brought in (and that includes Liam Watson, who had a stinker in the first half), aren't fit to lace Gazza boots.

But enough about nostalgia, we go into tomorrows tussle with Ports with Cookie Munster available, having served his penance for his sending-off and it'll be interesting to see who Roy picks for his defence. Teletext tells us we have Tony Kane, Dicky Vauls and Eamon returning tomorrow. Kane and Vauls had stinkers in United's previous encounter with the high flying Ports, but who didn't, but unless he's injured, it would be hard to leave Curtis Woods out. We don't know what Roy targeted from these two away fixtures, the scum last week and Ports tomorrow, but anyway we need a victory tomorrow to give us confidence for the long trek to Castlederg on Wednesday and our only real chance of picking up some silverware this season. Surely Roy must surely stick Sparky back into midfield, where he was badly missed last week and we have to hope that Ally was only having a off-day, or maybe he knew there was no pressure on him due to Eamon's absence.

Baker had another poor display at Coleraine (that word really sticks in the craw) and had we anybody else he would be dropped, but we need him to take some of the pressure off Cutch. Boyd, when he came last Saturday was less effective and the man he replaced, Downey, was badly missed in midfield, although his ball distribution left a lot be desired. If fit, Rory could come into the reckoning tomorrow, but Roy would need to be confident he could last the full ninety minutes. We reckon Elvis is history, he's been scoring goals for the reserves, but he's not made the bench in the last few matches. So we guess it's more of the same team, with one or two changes and Roy's vote of confidence in our goalkeeper, would indicate that he has no intention of resting him, unless the I.F.A. request it. So it's all systems go for three points tomorrow, come on Sky Blues, lets shag those Portadowners!

Scum Clearance!

2011-11-04T23:15:00.003Z

It's time for our annual scum clearance, it usually happens about once or twice a season, where we go to that stinking cesspit (Coleraine Showgrounds) and eradicate the opposition. They'll be stinking even more than ever this time, having beaten the crap out of us at Ballymena, but it's got to be done. Hopefully our lads will will not need an incentive to play well, they should know how much it means to us 'dyed in the wool' Sky Blue men(and Ladies). The good news is that we only envisage one change to our starting line-up of last Saturday, Cookie is suspended, so Liam Watson comes in. Unless Roy springs a surprise and goes with two wingers, Ally and Eamon, but we expect him to stick with Conor Downey on the right.

The United defence will have to watch Leon knight, he's been known to take a dive in the box and we have a less experienced referee, in Ross Dunlop, so we hope he's not conned. Giving United's away form we expect them to win, but only if the ref don't make any silly blunders, aka Raymond Crangle, which led to first dropped points on the road this season. Our centre-midfield two, Sparky and Jenks, should have a field day and Cutch and Baker should celebrate Guy Fawkes with a fireworks display of goalscoring. The only downside we can see, is listening to that bore Alan Simpson, but hopefully we will soon shut him up. So come Sky Blues, let's shag them ewes from Windy Hall!

White Magic!

2011-10-28T23:22:00.002+01:00

The last holiday before Christmas, Halloween, is upon us and it seems only fitting that we, the Ballymena United 'we' that is, have the right to expect some magic. To date we've been subjected to so much dross at home that we grown to expect it. But we also have the right to expect our team to 'try' and turn this round and tomorrow would be as good as time as any. Who can forget the way we blew tomorrow's opponents, Lisburn Distillery, away in the first match of this campaign and followed this up by racing into the 3-0 goal lead in our 2nd match here at the Showgrounds against Glenavon, in the first 30 minutes of the match. But alas and alack it's all being downhill since, sure we have performed on the road, but it's the home form we need to address.

Our former manager, Tommy 'never' Wright, has his team pumped up to stop 'the rot', which saw them lose the last 6 matches. But we should have too much fire-power, with leading scorer Cutch and Jordy both on the score-sheet last week, running in to form. But the 'key man' as far as we are concerned, is midfielder Ally Teggart, he has the ability to turn games. Of course our defence have been known to have the odd lapse in concentration and it's not known if Dicky Vauls is fit to resume, which would let Archie move inside to partner Cookie, while Curtis Woods looks like he's going to tie down the rightback slot. Eamon Murray, getting back to fitness would be our choice in right-midfield, bur manager Walker seems to be determined to play Downey there and he's looking sharper with every game.

A win tomorrow would set us up nicely for our next three games on the road, away to scum next Saturday, Portadown the next week and the Irn Bru league cup match away to Dergview on Wednesday November 16. These are going to be the toughest fixtures we have played in a sequence this season, but it'll set us up nicely for the tough times ahead. The manager will probably go with the team that started and finished last Saturday's, if Vauls isn't fit, or he could second guess us as he's done on a number of occasions and pick several different personnel. But we think he'll not want to tamper with his tactics too much, the Whites will be a different proposition from Carrick, but we still should triumph, let's have some of that 'white magic', come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Lisburn Lilies!

Carrick Crusaders!

2011-10-21T22:48:00.003+01:00

United make their first trip to Carrick, to play Carrick Rangers, for many a long year, but Carrick no longer play at Carrick, they play at Seaview, home of the hatchet men. Confused, yes we are too. It can only happen in the Irish league, simply tell the authorities that you're going to install a plastic pitch and it won't be ready to December, what December we're not quite sure. Now you'd think that a big professional set-up like the Irish league would have been insisting Carrick make a feasibility study and get the dates set in stone. As it turns out Carrick (due to a technicality), can't have a plastic pitch and will have to re-sow their grass pitch and they and the Irish league have committed a major balls-up which makes us a laughing stock in these British isles, needless to say this was all done in the name of progress.

Now we've got that off our chest let's concentrate on the match tomorrow, at a venue where United tend to come unstuck. The United manager will have to change his starting line-up of last Saturday, due to injuries to Aaron Boyd and Dick Vauls and we've heard on the grapevine keeper Wayne Drummond and defender Liam Watson are both doubtful. If these four are missing the manager will have a headache deciding on his line-up, normally big Denver would be a replacement for Watson, but his views about playing on unnatural surfaces is well documented, but needs must, or there's always Chris Rodgers. Sparky would be a stop-gap replacement but his budding partnership alongside Jenks in centre-midfield needs to be nurtured.

Elvis, who scored a hat-trick for United reserves on Thursday, in a 3-3 draw,away to Portadown , will probably earn a place on the bench, although we could do with him in our starting eleven. It's a toss-up whether it's Nelson or Kerr if Drummond don't make it. Jordan Baker needs a goal to get him started again and the match at Seaview could be the one, we need someone to take the weight of Cutch's shoulders. There's the versatile Tony Kane to consider, he could play alongside Cookie or maybe fill at leftback in a pinch. But whatever Roy decides to do, he better get his team up for it, the Rangers will be up for it and we got to match them stride for stride. So come Sky Blues, let's shag those travelling people!

Memory Lane!

2011-10-14T23:20:00.003+01:00

Just for a change the 'Sport team decided to have a day out in Bangor on Wednesday and make a holiday out of it. As we were sitting in a cafe having our lattes, Omar got all excited. He started jabbering and pointing his finger at the door and we all looked and it was a sight to behold. There stood the best striker to ever put on a United shirt, Jimmy Martin, looking dapper, with that cheeky little grin on his face, which masked a look of steely determination when he caught sight of goal. Jimmy scored 44 goals in one season for the Sky Blues and only missed one penalty, for he was the king of the 12 yard kick. He won most of the penalties himself, but he won them with a smile and nobody seemed to bear a grudge against him. That put us in good spirits for the match at Clandeboye Park, but United's play soon deflated us, it was, forgettable.

United go into tomorrow's game against the 'hatchet men' Crusaders, with some good and some bad news. The good news is Chris Rodgers was able to train on Thursday night and the bad news is Jordan Baker wasn't. This news will maybe necessitate the manager making at least one change from his starting line-up and if Baker doesn't make it, surely Aaron Boyd must get the nod. Roy seems determined to play Conor Downey, whether he's fit or not and he we must say he looked like he was getting back to form on Wednesday night, but still woefully shy of match fitness. The plastic surface at Seaview, doesn't tend to make for a pretty spectacle, but we best get used to it, for we there next week again. Results seemed to go for the team that takes their chances and minimise their mistakes, both of which we're crap at.

But given that 'never say die' which we've demonstrated in our last 3 matches away at Cliftonville, D.C. and Glens, we must have a chance. The Crues swept us aside in the first round of matches at the Showgrounds and we are definitely due a good result against them, but will it be tomorrow? We must keep the faith and we know their keeper is, to say the least, eccentric, so we should peppering him with crosses and sooner or later he will make a mistake. But we must be vigilant at the other end, with Timmy Adamson leading their attack, we can't take any chances and they have that old warhorse Davy Rainey as back up. Stuart Dallas is another who needs to be watched but he'll have his hands full trying to mark Sparky and Ally. We can do it, take the three points, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those paper tigers!

Sand Castles!

2011-10-11T23:04:00.002+01:00

According to this weeks Ballymena Times, Roy Walker and his management team (we imagine that contains, assistant manager, first team coach, goalkeeper coach, kit-man, physio, Alfie Stewart and any other hangers-on), have noticed that we are shipping a lot of goals. Now admittedly we've been following this teams fortunes for a long time and we can't solely blame Walker for the team's tendency to go asleep at the back. But what we can't forgive him for is trying to 'pull the wool' over our eyes and pretend that this manifested itself over this season. When Kenny Shiels left us we had one of best goalies in the league and along came Tommy Wright and the rot set in (Tommy's getting rid of Goosey is well documented). So it's been six years that our defence has been shipping goals and Tommy Wright couldn't fix that in his time (3 years) and so far Roy Walker can't fix it either.

We don't have a solution for the problem either but the panic buys at the deadline, Watson and Vauls are not the answer. Sky Blue Sport has been critical of Archie, but we saw on Saturday we were rather worse without him. Maybe Roy has to pick a settled defence, say, Kane, Rodgers, Archie and Vauls and play them for a match or two to see if they can get an understanding between them and the keeper. But he also needs to think with his head not his heart about the midfield. Kane was made the scapegoat on Saturday, but he had no cover in front of him, if we have to play Conor Downey, he's better inside, not on the wing. Up front we need a target-man, not someone who goes in half-heartedly like Elvis or wins one in ten headers like Baker. Surely there's someone in the first division we could get on-loan and ship Baker or Costello out to make room.

Of course Roy or his assistant(s) need to go see such a player, no use asking around, like we did with the last two goal-keeping flops, knowing our luck we could come up against someone who fits the bill tomorrow night at Bangor. Now for tomorrow night's game, we'll have to make one enforced change, due to Big Denver's sending off, but it should be a straight swap, bringing Archie back in . We see no great panic to change the team round, he could even pick the same starting 11, minus Denver, for at the end of the day we missed 3 sitters in the 2nd half, admittedly it would have been a travesty of justice if we had rescued a point, but what has justice to do with football. Hopefully Bangor won't pose the same problems as Portadown, but they won't be a pushover either, we're in for a battle, but we can win it and get into the next round, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Copeland islanders!

Betting Scam!

2011-10-07T23:17:00.003+01:00

Just heard the England result, a draw and 'baldy' Rooney sent off and we got a tip today, purportedly from Baldy's dad, that the match would end in a draw, but he give us the wrong score, crafty Scouser! Now we've got a tip for you, United are going to beat Portadown tomorrow, by two clear goals, how do we know, we heard on the grapevine. Well it is the law of averages, we been crap at home in this the first round of matches and the law of averages says this is about to change and knowing our luck it will change tomorrow. In the next phase of the league, match 12 to 22, we have 4 games at home and 7 away. So the law of averages says we're going to win all our 4 home games and lose or draw all our 7 away games.

Now for tomorrow game, we don't have a clue to the manager's thinking, he surprised last Saturday, by leaving Watson on the bench (rumours that he was suffering flu symptoms persist) and dropping Sparky and playing the 'fat' Conor Downey. We know Downey is his man, but he surely needs a man with real stamina and Sparky fits into that mould very nicely. We have no time for favouritism, we need the best team on merit that we can find and Sparky, giving the long injury list that we have, is the best option and a man with real heart for the club. Elvis, seems destined to play a bit part at the club, one game in eight, seems to be the criteria, so Roy has to decide whether to leave him out or not. We think he'll persevere with him, he's not a good target man, but we haven't got anybody else.

With three ex-Portadown players in our ranks it's a safe bet they will get extra attention from the Ports fans, no doubt our fans will reciprocate on a certain Chris Ramsay, we hope as in the old saying, we are crowing at the end. Baker, has been quiet of late and we are sure he'll want to show Ronnie McFall and the Ports fans what they're missing and Ally, is due another match winning performance. But the one man who can really inflict the most damage is birthday boy, Cutch, what a 33rd birthday that would be if he was instrumental in helping United to a first home victory, over the man who released him over a year ago. So it's all set for a good match, United need to fear nothing, everybody is expecting us to lose, but we can win it, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those apple pickers!

Sky Blue!

2011-09-30T23:25:00.003+01:00

United manager Roy Walker has been talking in the media about having the team turn out in their away strip, among other things. Let's scotch all this nonsense once and for all, our colours are Sky Blue, white and a wee bit of red, the idea of turning out in any thing else, would be tantamount to anarchy. The solution to all our problems lies not in the colours that are worn on match days, not the dressing rooms being too nice and not 'negative comments' from the Sky Blue supporters. We, at 'Sport, would go so far as to say the Sky Blue supporters were far from negative, if they were negative they be voting with their feet yet they turn up on match days hoping against hope to see the team turn around it's fortunes.

We believe, nay we know it's all about confidence, when we played our first home game this season against Glenavon, we had not played well but were three goals to the good. When Glenavon got back into the match with a goal that should've been a by-ball instead of a corner, you could see the collective heads drop. Contrast this to last Saturday at the Oval, when we went 2-1 up and Liam Watson had to come off, Glentoran equalised and we could've capitulated, but we didn't and went onto to win it 4-2. That's the difference, we 'never say die' in our away matches and we need to create this attitude at home. Sure decisions are going to go against us, but we need to be able to rise above the circumstances and then and only then, will we lay this bogey to rest. It's Roy Walkers job to manage this football team and managing doesn't mean picking a side or deciding tactics alone, he has to get the best out of them as individuals.

He took a brave decision last Saturday restoring Elvis to the team and it paid dividends, whether he plays tomorrow is anybody's guess, but his attitude and the teams attitude was right last Saturday and the right attitude will win the day. Liam Watson, who had to be replaced at the Oval last Saturday, is as far we know fit and we believe Roy will pick the same team again, barring any injuries, which means Sparky continuing in centre-midfield with Jenks, who showed us what we been missing last Saturday. The Glens had no answer to his probing runs and the same again will do very nicely. Jordan Baker, has been quiet of late and his tussle with former United leftback Craig McClean should go a long way to bringing him back to form. The scene is set, our season is balanced on a knife edge, we know we're better and this, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those chicken farmers!

Oval Hovel!

2011-09-23T22:39:00.003+01:00

United put their 100% away record on the line (3 wins out of 3), when they make the trip to that dilapidated ramshackle of a place that they call the Oval. It seems Glentoran are resigned to staying there, there's no talk of leaving, no developer waving a fat cheque to get them to move. Or was that the 'deal' when this surprise benefactor gave them a donation to pay their debts? We'll never know for sure, but in light of some of the shady stuff that goes on behind closed doors, maybe that's as well. But the upshot is, Glentoran moving house is way on the back burner, the 'breakaway' league to force the I.F.A. to abandon filling Linfield's coffers as they have been doing from time immemorial, is as like the dust of the ground, blown away.

Now to the serious stuff, we wonder why United, who freeze when at home, have a 'never-say-die' attitude away from home? In the 3 matches to date we scored 11 goals and conceded 6, so on the basis of that it's fairly safe to say we might be in for high scoring game tomorrow. Glentoran, not too hot at home this season, seemed to have put that right in the last 2 matches, scoring 13 and conceding just 1. As for the make of the United team, we actually don't have a clue, but surely Conor Downey must be left on the bench. The Oval, for all it's shortcomings, is still a big pitch and we need players to be fit and mobile enough and run their heart out, Downey doesn't come into that category.

We had hoped Rory Carson was going to play himself in to contention but when he limped out of Irun Bru league cup tie on Tuesday after just 20 mins, we take he's not fit enough to play tomorrow. Eamon Murray, who had a fairly good match after coming on as sub on Tuesday is another who doesn't look fit and for that reason we can't see him in the starting line-up. We'll be surprised if Roy doesn't pick the same team, or maybe one change, that disgraced themselves so badly last Saturday. How Roy, who 'Sport believed was a proud man, could continue to be the boss of this bunch misfits after Saturday's display, it beggars belief. We have no doubt that he got a word of encouragement from some of our 'high ranking' board men or man. These misguided individuals/individual, may think they have the interest of United at heart, but we believe they are deluding themselves/themself.

We have no axe to grind about Roy Walker, we don't think he should be given the job in the first instance, but we were prepared to give him a chance. Now after over 3 years we realise he can't cut the mustard and while he has the backing he won't walk way, but for the good of the football club, his time's up. The result tomorrow may make the men in power feel justified but it's the other two matches we have at home against the joint-league leaders and our bogey team Dungannon Swifts, that'll be 'the straw that will break the camels back' and that is too horrible to contemplate. In our last three league games at home, our manager never came out of his box in the last 20 mins and that means he had given up and that's no good for us. We need manager that's fighting our corner to the bitter end, in short we need a change!

Quiet Please!

2011-09-19T23:34:00.002+01:00

It's almost like being back at school being a Sky Blue supporter these days, if you read our manager, Roy Walker's, comments in the programme, our negative talk is directly linked the teams abysmal home record. So Sky Blue Sport is asking each and every individual United supporter to 'houl your wheest', we think that's the way to spell it, but if it's not, in plain English, 'shut your bake'. We understand that football is a vociferous sport at the best of times, but in the interests of not wanting to upset the team, you'll have to keep quiet. If you really must voice your feelings, direct them at the chairman and the vice-chairman, they are the ones encouraging Roy Walker to stay put.

We think Roy wants to leave, just like Tommy Wright wanted to leave, but our board (or should we say the money men), threw even more money at him and he repaid their generosity by walking out on us anyway. We hope they didn't offer Roy any more money, we haven't a clue what he's on, but he's doing nothing to earn it, so he's worth nothing. He brought in at least 12 players in the summer and on Saturday's showing, not one them is fit to lace Gazza's boots and he was shown the door. He can't even get the players to turn up for training, the other night 12 turned up and 3 of them were keepers, we think that he's lost the respect of the players.

If you're going to tomorrow night's game remember keeping quiet, not a sound, even we score a goal, cause that might be seen as a negative response, just say 'jolly good show' and if there should be some misplaced passes, just 'hard luck old chap', instead of the usual, 'useless c--t', remember a 'c--t' is a useful thing and we don't want any confusion with our players. As for team news we haven't a baldy, needless to say well need to make changes. The whole back four had a stinker on Saturday, the midfield with old man Jenks (Is he really only 34) and the 'fat' Downey, were non-existent and while Ally tried in the end he just saw it was fruitless.

Mike Smith didn't seem to know where he was playing and Baker was away with the fairies and why doesn't Cutch at least challenge for the ball. The number of times we hit high balls up front and Cutch just let the centre-half rise unchallenged, it was embarrassing. We know he's not big, but Leon Knight's not big either, but he won't let the defender get off with any free headers. Elvis scored two goals for the reserves and surely he must be worth a recall, but it's a central midfielder we're really struggling for. There's Sparky, but he's more of a workhorse, no we need someone like Noel Anderson or Philip Carson, but them boys are history now, we got to struggle with an overweight injury prone guy and an old man that can't cut anymore in Scotland. We usually like to end with a positive note, saying 'let's get stuck into the opposition' but we feel we must urge supporters to be quiet and only believe and the sugar-plum fairy will bring you a treat in the morning!

Cold Home!

2011-09-16T23:35:00.002+01:00

This may seem like a strange headline and it has nothing to with the 'Sport team returning to the cold and the wet of Norn Iron (home). We are in fact urging United to make the Showgrounds a cold place for visiting teams and make sure they don't rob of the points and where better to start, tomorrow, for the annual trip of the 'scum', caul rain. Results so far at home have been disappointing to say the least and we need to address that situation promptly. The rumours have it that we'll definitely have a new goalkeeper in our team, Wayne Drummond and we wish him well, but because of the nature of this league, not to mention the opposition, his credentials will be examined closely and any weakness punished most severely, Wayne, you have been warned.

Manager Walker hinted in the press that he intended to continue with Archie and Watson as is two central defenders. None of us was at the Cliftonville match, but we watched it on video and all we can say is, all three goals could and should've prevented. The first one is down to two players we don't think are good enough for this league, Gavin and Archie. Gavin, played an atrocious header back to his keeper which fell woefully short, Archie as the covering player should went and tackled Chris Scannell, instead he allowed him a free run on goal, in other words he done nothing. The second goal come from one of Omar's pet gripes, letting crosses in, but then we have been doing that for many a year. The third goal is so ridiculous it's laughable, as the 'best keeper in the first division', came for a ball he should've left alone. But rather alarmingly the 2nd and 3rd goals came immediately after we had scored which downright amateurish.

But manager Walker seems reluctant to drop either of his two 'golden boys' Archie and Gavin, so it seems we're stuck with them, come hell or high water. Barring injuries we expect Kane and Vauls to be the fullbacks and Jenks and Ally looked to be two positive starters in midfield and Cutch up front but who gets the other three positions is up for conjecture. Ah but remember we said we couldn't see him dropping his Golden boys, Archie is in the back four and therefore Gavin gets the nod in midfield. Sparky, after he opened the scoring last week, must surely get a start and that leaves just one position to fill. The candidates, are Baker, Mike Smith, Conor Downey, Eamon and big Denver. We would like to see Jordan Baker getting the nod, but who could guess what's going through Walker's mind, on the evidence we've seen in the matches with Carrick and the Crues, the answer is nothing!

We are at the crossroads and we need to make a positive turn and sending the scum packing, anything else is unthinkable. The forecast is for wet and windy weather, so mistakes will be punished no doubt and the team that makes the least will triumph, we need to be that team. We must be on our guard early on, for the referee is our old friend Davey Malcolm, who has his own interpretation of the rules and he likes to enforce them with an iron rod. But if we stick to our task, watch out for Leon Knight's dives (Oran's been giving him a few tips no doubt) and not let crosses in willy nilly, we can do the job. So come Sky Blues let's shag those scummers bummers!

Sunny Days!

2011-09-09T21:55:00.003+01:00

Greetings from sunny Spain. where the temperature is 23 degrees, warm but not so warm as it is in Roy Walker´s brain we´d imagine, as tries to pick out a team to get the Sky Blues back to winning ways. We would suggest having every single player state their case, that´s if they are dedicated to the cause. We only have 8 days left before the ´biggest game´, against the Coleraine scum and we havent a clue about our strongest side. Defeats to Linfield (2 of them),Crusdaers, Carrick Rangers and even a draw from 3-0 ahead to Marty Quinn's men, will be nothing compared to a deafeat to the gas men.

Not only the gas men, but the gas men led by that diver Oran Kearney (some so called United fans don't believe he 'dived', but they're just sticking their heads in the sand as usuual), believe us 'you' haven´t heard booing yet. Roy needs to play his strongeset team tomorrow (today actually), that includes two strikers and a plan for getting the ball and playing football. This tactic of thumping the ball up and hope somebody gets it just isn't working, for a start we don't have the combative midfielders who are prepared to go in and get the loose ball. Play to your strenghts and have the courage to drop Archie, his defensive lapses can't continue, so what if Alfie snubs you, his tactics are no better than your own. Because of a glitch we weren't able to publish last night (the rumour about us all being drunk, is nearer to truth than we like to admit), so it's coming today, better late than never, so come Sky Blues, let's shag those Chickens!

Crunch Time!

2011-09-06T22:47:00.002+01:00

United manager Roy Walker has set out his stall in saying his charges are going go all out for a win in the one of two minor competitions. His reputation will be on the line at the Showgrounds tomorrow night when the I.F.A. pay a return visit for a County Antrim Shield tie and if they get a ref that makes up the rules as he goes along, they'll be hard to beat. Lets face they're are hard to beat anyway, with the I.F.A. bankrolling to the tune of at least half a million pounds a season, no wonder they're head and shoulders above anyone else. United will have to do it without their Captain, Jenks, injured and there's a doubt about new signing Liam Watson. The two boys that were otherwise employed last Saturday, Cookie and Ally, should more or less step into the team. Ally was definitely missed and maybe with him in tow we can give the I.F.A. something to think about.

Surely we can count Elvis to play a bit better, he's had a 5 game break, he's been on the field, but he hasn't played since the first match of the season. Our striking options are somewhat limited, as Baker and Boyd, continue to struggle with injuries, Baker, calf and Boyd broken arm. The only real back-up for Elvis and Cutch, is Mike Smith or Sparky, it's safe to say the cupboards bare in that respect. The 'injured' Conor Downey is going to take a week or two getting back to full fitness, which leaves with a dearth of midfielders. If Watson is fit he could be moved up to the engine room, but failing that it'll be Sparky and Taggart (Gavin) and maybe Ross Black. Dwayne should keep his place in goals and Tony Kane and Dick Vauls should be the fullbacks. Sky Blue Sport will have no match report on tomorrow night's game and the Cliftonville match on Saturday, as Bruce Balmer is away to Estonia with the 'green and white army' and then taking a few days holiday. So come on Sky Blues, let's really shag those Villagers!

Damning Indictment!

2011-09-02T23:34:00.004+01:00

Anyone that believes in these things, there is a 'damning' statistic about Roy Walker's three years in charge of Ballymena. In that time United have dropped 110 points at home, that an average of over 36 points per season, or to put it another way, of the 19 home matches we play in the league each season, we lose 12 and win only 7. Roy Walker must take the brunt of the blame for this sad state of affairs, he is after all the man in charge, but equally to blame is our board of directors, who appointed him and keep him in his job. He signed two defenders in desperation a week ago, but despite conceding yet another 4 goals in two matches since, he hasn't seen fit to try them, is he waiting for some divine intervention, if he is, were afraid he's going be disappointed.

Already this term we've dropped 8 points in 3 matches and conceded 8 goals in the process and we're afraid we can't see any light at the end of tunnel. We have a home game to Linfield tomorrow and although they are not the all conquering outfit they once were, we're afraid they will be too strong for us. Roy must make two changes to his starting line-up as the Cookie Munster and Ally Teggart are unavailable, which makes his inability to make a substitution last Tuesday hard to comprehend. Even if Liam Watson wasn't match fit, he could've been pushed up front and maybe make the Carrick defence work for their money. We hate to say but the 'Elvis Costello' experiment has turned out a bit of a flop, one match out of five is nowhere near good enough, so surely he needs a spell in the reserves to see if there's anything there, or if he's a big lazy wastrel.

If Roy is reluctant to play either of his new boys, why not recall Denver Gage, he'll give you 100% commitment, that's more than can be said about some of our other defenders. Tony Kane, clear of suspension, should surely feature and you can pick either Rodgers or Archie to partner Denver. Ross Black, should continue at leftback, while the fit again Sparky is surely a better option in centre-midfield than Gavin Taggart, alongside the under-performing Jenks or the fit again Conor Downey. Eamon Murray, although not back to his best yet, is still the best left winger we've got and providing Rory Carson, hasn't gone on-loan to Ards, he should fill in at right-midfield. That leaves 'little and large', Cutch and Baker up front and they should be able to exploit Albert Watson's lack of pace, but only if they have the mindset to do it. We know it's going to tough, but when it's tough, the really 'tough' get going, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those villagers!

Distant Memories!

2011-08-29T22:15:00.003+01:00

Carrick Rangers pay their first visit to the Showgrounds for many a year and their visit will no doubt revoke old memories of happier times. Sky Blue Sport has been unequivocal in it's condemnation of this league we have now and hanker for the good old sixteen team league of a few years ago, not this repetituous dross. All the 'Sport team miss visiting Larne, Ballyclare and Carrick to watch a match and have a bit of craic with the locals. So we bid the players and supporters of the 'Gers welcome and hope they go back to 'Fergus pointless. What sort of team United's going to have tomorrow night, we really don't know.

We got a victory last Friday night at Suffolk, but the defence looked at sixes and sevens still. Surely the two new signings have to come in to reckoning tommorow night as we have the double header with Linfield next up. So you see there is no time to waste, we need to get our act together sooner rather than later. One of the biggest flops on Friday night was the ploy of playing Jenks and Gavin (Taggart), in centre-midfield, they never gelled. It might be an idea to move Ross Black into centre to partner Jenks, with Dick Vauls coming in to leftback. We would also like to see Liam Watson getting a run out tomorrow night, if not a starting role, at least coming on as a sub.

If fit, we envisage no change in the other positions, Eamon and Ally on the wide positions and Cutch and Baker up front. But who's going start as goalie, is Kerr to be recalled or will Dwayne get another game to prove himself. Its a hard decision to make, but a crucial one, we must have the right man doing the job. There's three points up for grabs, its not going be easy, but we must surely have too much power the 'Gers. So come on Sky Blues, lets shag those homeless bums!

Missed It!

2011-08-25T23:08:00.003+01:00

Yes Bruce Balmer had to admit he failed to mention that 'miss', with a free header by Gary McCutcheon, in last Saturday's match with Crusaders. Stephen Alexander 'missed' it also in his match report (well we say match report, but it really is a vehicle that lets Roy Walker have his say). Needless to say Roy is blaming 'all in sundry' for 'his failure' to spot that this United defence have been leaking goals like nobody's business for nigh on three years. We've no doubt the situation has been exacerbated by the loss of Albert Watson to Linfield and the disgraceful 'sacking' of team Captain, Gary Haveron, but for petes sake Roy, get your head out of the sand.

We at Sky Blue Sport warned you that you needed a 'general' to marshal your defence, we haven't got a general and we haven't had one for a number of years. We had hoped that Jenks was to be our general, but we haven't seen any evidence of that. We heard on the grapevine that we're looking at yet another keeper, could it be that 'best keeper' in the first division last season's is not good enough, well that would be ironic. Although not confirmed yet (The Ballymena United F C website hasn't been updated), the 'great' Aaron Black experiment has gone down the plughole and the player has retired (reports he has joined Larne Tech O B, haven't been confirmed as yet).

As for the two defenders that signed for us, Dick Vouls and Liam Watson, we cannot honestly see them making much of an impact, at least not for a few matches. I'm sure D.C. will not want Watson playing tomorrow night at any rate, or is he so underrated they just don't care. If Vouls plays, do we want to have a good game, or just to show promise, how many times have we seen a player have a good debut and turn to be a flop (and no we weren't thinking of Danny Crainie here). As for the make-up of tomorrows team we don't have a clue, the only man in the back four who was anything like the thing, Tony Kane, has to serve a two match ban and is not available for selection.

With the news that Eamon Murray is available, get him on, push Jordan Baker upfront, he's not as good in the air as were led to believe, but he's the best we got. Tell Cutch if he misses another a 'free header' or tries another lob, he'll be stuck on a rowing boat and have to paddle his way back to Scotland. Elvis you'll have to leave on the bench, to see whether he's any use coming on as a sub and get Rory Carson on the right-wing where he can do some good, because he's lost inside. You maybe could try Ally Teggart inside, after the promise he showed the first two matches, he's kinda went off the boil, but then who hasn't. It's not the end of the world, we can get out of this mess, as long we're United, so come Sky Blues, lets shag those Suffolk sheep!

Defensive Errors!

2011-08-19T23:08:00.003+01:00

We at 'Sport had been emphasising the point in the last few seasons, but it's fallen on deaf ears. We reiterated the point in the close season when Roy was finalising his squad, but on the evidence on the first two games it hasn't been heeded. We are hopeless at defending set-pieces. We've conceding four goals on our first two matches and three come about at our inability to defend set-pieces. In the last two games they've been 2 corner kicks and 1 free-kick, but we still haven't mastered the marking of throw-ins and seem content to let the other team have a free hand. But there's one thing we are more guilty of, we allow crosses to come in. No wonder we can't find a reliable keeper, he must have his head turned seeing crosses flash by wily nilly. We don't know what the answer is, our management don't seemingly even know what to do about, but something got to be done and done quickly, the situations going to get worse.

Manger Roy Walker has intimated that they'll changing in his defence because of events last Saturday which saw us ship 3 goals after going 3 goals up. But the long and the short of it is, we were being outplayed and Roy could have done something about it, but he didn't. Elvis Costello was having a 'stinker' and every time the ball went up to him he just gifted Glenavon possession. In fact he was so bad we were practically a man down before Aaron Black's sending-off, but Roy dug in his heels and kept him on. Admittedly we got a raw deal by the histrionics of Glenavon player Niall Henderson, who conned the referee as to extent of his injuries, by rolling and yelling like a stuck pig, but Aaron did commit the foul, there's no doubt about that.

Tomorrow our opponents are Crusaders, if you think it was tough last week, it's going be tougher when Crues players like Timmy Adamson and Coates will no doubt seek to exploit us at set-pieces. Reading between the lines we expect Roy to drop, Kerr, Ross Black and Cookie Munster while bringing in Dwayne, Kane, and Denver. We think he'll let Elvis keep his place, putting his crap performance down to playing against his former club, but reading in the programme an article by Michael Scott about Glenavon, he states Elvis to be 'hot and cold', not something we want to hear. Rory Carson might get a rare start in Sparky's position, but he's really better on the wing, but we have nothing else. Well we must hope for the best, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those toothless tigers!

Returning Hero(es)!

2011-08-12T22:44:00.003+01:00

Tomorrow afternoon at the Showgrounds the Sky Blue fans will witness the appearance of a former hero, in Glenavon striker Kevin Kelbie. But on the plus side, we'll also get a chance to see the 'heroes' that took us to summit of the Premier league and maybe if we can get a win, will keep us there for at least another week. Its really early days, but there were signs last Saturday that this team means business and we're are not going to be depending on one man getting the goals and there's plenty more to come. Kevin will no doubt get a rousing reception from the United fans, it's only to be expected, but our own team deserves a good reception too and hopefully they'll deliver on the field.

We're only guessing as to what team Roy's going to pick tomorrow but it looks that he'll definitely have to make two changes to the team that started last Saturday. New rightback Tony Kane must serve a one game ban for his harsh sending-off at New Grosvenor and Conor Downey was unable to train last night with an ankle injury. The 'Sport team is somewhat reluctant to make predictions, but feel a good option is to move Sparky to rightback, Archie to centre half and bring in Ross Black at leftback. Of course we tipped Ross Black to get a starting role last week and we were completely off the mark, but feel that is the only logical solution, but realise Roy may have other ideas.

Who will fill Downey's position if he's indeed ruled out and the manager wants to continue with his tactics of playing three strikers? One option would to move Ally Teggart inside and restore Eamon Murray to the line-up. Or he could bring in Rory Carson to play alongside Jenks or Aaron Black, who scored a goal in the reserves 4-2 win on Tuesday night. He may be reluctant to play Elvis Costello against his former team and give the nod to Aaron Boyd instead. But the considered opinion is he will not want to drop a man that was instrumental in our victory, despite missing a penalty. Elvis is our leader and hopefully we'll send Glenavon home pointless and Kevin goalless, so come Sky Blues, let's shag them (Lurgan) spades!

Twenty-five Minutes!

2011-08-05T22:38:00.004+01:00

There's an old Johnny Cash song that goes, 'They're building a gallows outside my cell and I got twenty-five minutes to go, and the whole Towns waiting for to hear me yell, with twenty-five minutes to go.' Now United manager Roy Walker has got 25 players in his squad and the whole town is waiting to see him deliver or to fall flat on his face. But will he pay ultimate penalty this time, losing his job, or are we getting complacent and thinking that bottom half in the league table is as much we can expect anyway. Roy has publicly stated that he hopes we can pick up a trophy like the League cup, or the County Antrim Shield this season, but if we don't, will he tender his resignation, we at 'Sport don't think so. But away with the negative thought process, let's get positive and see we can get away to a winning start for a change.

What the formation going is to be we don't have a clue, but wonder if Roy gave us a heads-up to what he was thinking in the last two friendlies, away to Larne and home to Ballymoney United, with an attacking 4,2,4. The Sky Blue Sports team can't remember the times when 4,2,4 was a regular ploy and can only remember one United 4,2,4 line-up in the last twenty years. That happened under manager Alan Frazer when we turned on the style away to the scum in a knock-out cup match, with Deckers McGreevy and Paul Muir in midfield and we won with plenty to spare. Somehow we can't see our present manager Roy Walker having the nerve to try that formation away to the Whites tomorrow, anyway Alan Jenkins and Conor Downey haven't the young legs of Deckers and Muir. But what is the line-up going be we wonder, but here's what we think, for what's it's worth.

We are undecided if it's new signing Aaron Kerr, or the reliable Dwayne Nelson in goals. Kerr looked decidedly jittery in the match against Larne and didn't start against Ballymoney, which makes us doubt whether he'll start against the Whites, going on body language alone, we'll go for Dwayne. We stick our necks for the fullbacks, Tony Kane and Ross Black, definite starters, but our central defensive pairing is going be harder to anticipate. Walker has been impressed by Chris Rodgers, but he also picked Archie for vice-captain and we can't see him pairing the two of them for this match, too much inexperience. Far more likely to go with Davey Munster and Archie, with Rodgers and Denver on the bench. Three certain starters in midfield, if fit, should surely be Ally Taggart, Alan Jenkins and Conor Downey.

The other midfield berth is up for grabs and we see as a straight tussle between Rory Carson, Sparky and Eamon Murray. The manager might decide to select Jordan Baker in that position, but we feel the side would have a better balance if the final midfield role was between Rory, Sparky and Eamon. The strike force should pick itself, Cutch and Elvis. We will be surprised if these two don't deliver the goods as long as they get the service. Jordan Baker may have to settle for a place on bench, but somebody has to miss out. So for the first time this season we will give the rallying call, 'Come on Sky Blues let's shag those lily Whites'!

Changes! Changes!

2011-07-30T12:11:00.002+01:00

United manager Roy Walker has used the 'proverbial brush' and swept clean, in fact he has made wholesale changes to the United squad, bringing in no fewer than 11 players. The Sky Blue Sport team are divided on whether these changes will knit together and form a team to alleviate United's trophy famine which has been going on for 22 years. But the Sky Blue Sport team is in unanimous agreement in condemning the releasing the United's talisman, Captain Gary Haveron. Gazza has been the beating heart of this United team for six years and the 'Sport team is definitely in mourning at his departure, we think it is a mistake, but only time will tell if we are wrong. Having witnessed five pre-season friendlies the 'Sports team has taken on itself to 'rate' the new signings as we see them.

Firstly goalkeeper Aaron Kerr, suffice to say we are not impressed, but on the plus side he's seems to be okay with the back-pass, but definitely a worry with his shot-stopping as evidenced in the match against Larne on Wednesday. We decided to to give him a 5.

The new right-back Tony Kane, has a hard job to follow in the footsteps of not only Mike Smith, United have been blessed of having a long list of successes in this position and some abject failures. Marco Carlisle is one of the successes, Joe Gray is only one of the abject failures. Kane started off well, scoring from a free kick at Ballyclare and followed this by an abysmal miss in the match at Larne. We decided to give him 6.

One of the first signings Roy made was left-back Ross Black and we have nothing but praise for Larne man's capture. He's a powerful and gifted player, the sort to stand no nonsense and has a terrific shot, just what we been lacking and not afraid to mix-it. We decided to give him 8

As for central defender Davey Munster, the jury is out on the big stopper who seems to blow hot and cold. He was impressive in the 2nd half against Ards, but not so against Ballyclare or Larne. Maybe it's too early to judge him but we'll give him a 5

Chris Rodgers has impressed both Omar and Sammy when he's been on the pitch but we would like to see him against sterner opposition in order to judge him, but we decided he's worth a 6

Midfield has been revamped and we we're going to start with the impressive signing, Alan Jenkins. The ex- Morton player comes with great credentials, but has only made one appearance in the match against Ards, as he's nursing an injury. It's hard to rate a player on only one appearance and he is for intents purposes Gary Haveron, so he has a lot to live up to. We decided to give him a 6

Ex Portadown player Ally Taggart has been impressive and when he gets to know his forwards likes and don't likes, he'll get better and better. He opened the scoring against Larne on Wednesday with a delightful quick free-kick and then missed three chances which were all makable. We decided to give Ally a 7

Another impressive signing is the former Linfield, Cliftonville and Newry player Conor Downey, a player with a lot of skill and not afraid to mix-it, whether he'll an asset or a liability is anybody's guess but he's competitive and that's no bad thing. We decided to give him a 6

The enigmatic figure that is Aaron Black is more harder to rate, he has an impressive CV, having starred wherever he's been, but injury prone. If United can get him fit and playing every week, no doubt he will a tremendous asset. He's a player with lot to prove, let's hope he fulfils that potential, we decided to give him a 5

Roy believes he's got his dream striker, 6 foot 2, eyes of blue, in Jordan Baker, another ex-Portadown player and he certainly knows where the goals are and he should be perfect foil for the other ex- Portadown marksman, Cutch, no doubt United's 'little and large'. If he could hold the ball up so that Jenkins & co can get up in support, he will provide a very worthwhile asset indeed. We look forward to see him perform, we decide to give him 7

Now for last and by no means least, James (Elvis) Costello , the 'Sports team are unanimous in heralded this man as the messiah we have waiting for these long many barren years. Strong, resourceful and knows where the goals are, hopefully he'll be a Sky Blue legend, dare we say it, in many years to come. With that in mind we don't want to put too much pressure on him, so we give a 7

Hopefully we'll be way off the mark with these ratings and the boys will prove us wrong and silence our criticism. But we have seen false dawns before today and hope this is the 'real' thing. Come Sky Blues!

New Team!

2011-05-28T11:10:00.004+01:00

United manager Roy Walker has been true to his word, being active in the transfer market,making a further three signings, bringing the total of new faces at Showgrounds up to seven. The latest recruits are Jordan Baker and Alan Teggart both from Portadown and the injury prone Aaron Black, from our close friends, the Coleraine scum. Black, Sky Blue Sport understands, has being signed on 'pay as you play' contract, because he was plagued with injuries over the last year. The competition for places in the starting line-up should be fierce and we are sure the existing members of the first team squad will feel pressure to perform instead the complacency which was evident last season.

Baker has been reputed to be the enigmatic striker, 'six-foot two, eyes of blue', United have long coveted. The saying goes 'many have tried, but few have been chosen', but Roy hopes to have got his man this time. This in turn will be put pressure on the Cutch as his stats making interested reading, a goal every 4 games, this ratio needs to improve if he is going remain the main striker. Defensive wise we feel Roy needs a one addition to his squad, a sweeper. It was obvious last season that there was no 'general' in our defence, organising things, some of the marking at corner kicks was juvenile to the extreme, we need that sorted.

We earnestly hope we have the keeper situation sorted, Roy says 'he was the best keeper in the first division' last season, we wonder we have heard that before? We hope he, or one of staff went to watch to confirm Kerr is comfortable with back-passes and not rooted to his line with those cross balls. We know he played a couple of games two seasons ago but we were going a through goalkeeping crisis and at the time Ryan Brown would look like the find of century. Omar says there have been many successful United keepers in that the past, the trouble starts when you ask to name them, we hope Aaron Kerr is the number one in the list when we ask him to name them two months into new season.

Painful Season!

2011-04-29T22:57:00.002+01:00

Tomorrow we play our last game of the season in the hope of getting our highest ever finish under Roy Walker of a lofty 8th, however there is still the chance of finishing in the same place as the last 2 season, 10th. We play our fellow underachievers Gleanavon, who could leapfrog us if we lose. All in all, a most depressing season, promised so much, delivered so little, but still we live hope and and not much a faith, but hope for the best.

We have no team news but expect the team to be the same as Tuesday's game against liars of Dungannon, we just hope that we play with two up front. With a lack of goals a leaky defence and a terrible home record we have to hope for a sudden change in fortunes tomorrow. Sky Blues Sport's Bruce Balmer, went A.L.W., I citing 'I'm fed up with this crap', lets hope his enthusiasm returns of the summer months, the rest of 'Sports team remian intact, so for the last time this season, 'come on Sky Blues, lets shag those spades'!

Pants Fires!

2011-04-25T22:13:00.004+01:00

Two games to go in another disappointing season for Roy Walker and United,though there is still the hope of our highest league finish under Roy, as we sit in the dizzing heights of 7th. Tomorrow we play the Tyrone liars with the hope of being able to record one of our best set of seasons results against them. A possible two wins a draw and a defeat against the Swifts and a chance of finishing 6th in the league would be seen as a small progress.

With the away stand not being opened again due to a lack of fans and only £1200 brought in on Saturday with over £400 paid on officials, we really are seeing the cost of not finishing in the top six. Not only no fans, directors speak forked tongue, 'liars, liars, pants on fires', in short, liars.

The team will probably be the same as started on Saturday as we have no real squad to pick from, lets just hope we are not as wastefull in front of goal as against Newry as the Swifts will make us pay for the missed chances. Hopefully Roy will have recovered from his training ground injury and be there to lead his team as we look for our 5th home league win of the season. So come on Sky Blues lets shag those Tyrone liars.

Sinking Ship!

2011-04-14T14:17:00.002+01:00

It's been said that only 'rats' desert a sinking ship! Does that mean then that United are deemed to be a sinking ship as the rats are departing in droves. From Sky Blues Sports perspective 'rats' like Wesley Gregg (why we would ever employ someone from scumland is beyond us)and Andy Smith have probably done us a favour. Gregg, we assume had some impact on team selection, which is at best has been 'baffling' and at worst 'insane'. As for Andy Smith, we at 'Sport can never forgive him for two penalty misses last season, firstly against the 'scum', when we were in the ascendency and then handed the initiative back to them and lost and against the Glens when they had given themselves a life-line and a goal for us would have clinched the win, Andy of course, missed again. Yes we doubt either will be missed and to Gregg's replacement Terry Moore we wish good luck, even though it won't be a hard act to follow.

Eamon Murray, who promised so much, but in the end delivered so little has 'hinted' all along that he was bound for Australia in the summer and not sure whether he was returning. It now has been rumoured that Lee Colligan is going with him or at least going to Australia in the summer at any rate, both Lee and Eamon have blossomed at United. Mikey, has been on the radar of quite a few clubs since coming to prominence in a Sky Blue shirt and we can't really be surprised if he wants to move on, but like the other two it was 'us' who gave him his chance, loyalty in football is poor. Albert, such a stalwart at United for the last 9 years may decide to move to Linfield and if he goes, he goes with our blessing, he owes us nought.

This means that United will have to build an almost completely new defence for next season and in some ways that may not be an entirely bad thing as we have leaked 51 goals so far this season and 9 of them in three games against Donegal Celtic, who currently occupy 11 place in the league standings. Will manager Walker and his assistant Terry Moore try out a new combination defence in the closing games starting tomorrow? Would it be an idea to try out Gavin Taggart as sweeper as he's quite happy at making back-passes (just our little joke). Maybe it's time for us to attempt to get our defence into a 'you shall not pass' mode as our forwards (3rd lowest scorers in the league), continue to pass up chance after chance.

United are crying out for a striker, Gary McCutcheon, who promised so much and delivered so little, 12 goals from 40 appearances, has been extremely disappointing and we need someone who, not only promises, but can, deliver the goods. If we have to 'pay' over the odds for this player, whoever he is, it will be money well spent. Six more goals in close game in which there were quite a few would have seen us safely into the top six, big games against the top teams, instead of the meaningless drivel we're now facing. Sky Blue Sport is not without it's 'rats' as Bruce Balmer has deserted the cause this week and we'll be relying on Rusty Ray for our match report. We're a day early with our preview, but we haven't got a clue who Roy and Terry are going to select anyway so it doesn't really matter. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Suffolk ewes!

Final Scour!

2011-03-31T23:07:00.002+01:00

United go into tomorrow night's game against the Coleraine scum knowing this is our last chance to give the scum a good cleansing. They are of course long overdue a good pasting but unfortunately the United team spirit is at such a low ebb, a massive injection of pride will be needed in order to right recent wrongs. With United already slipping back to 9th position in the league table, courtesy of Glenavon losing to Dungannon Swifts tonight, the Swifts now move ahead of us, by a slender single point. We can go a long way to alleviating the situation by recording a win at the home of the gas men tomorrow night.

United need to field their strongest starting 11 and if that means playing Boydie from the start, then so be it. Scoring goals has once again been our downfall, or should we say the 'lack' of scoring goals has been our downfall. With the gas men also missing out on the coveted top six position, no doubt they will be out to prevent United from gaining the upper hand, but gain it we must. No-one could fault our fans if they failed to make the journey to Ballycastle Road tomorrow night, they have been let down so many times in the past, but we still expect them to turn up for this one. With our fans behind us anything can happen, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those stinkin gas men!

If But!

2011-03-25T23:18:00.003Z

Or should that be but if? We are like Roy Walker and the Sky Blues, we haven't got a bloody clue. Can United, with a 4-0 win and defeats for Coleraine and Distillery, claim an unlikely and undeserved sixth place? If the United manager had addressed the two problem positions that United have had since he took over, poor to average goalkeeper and below average goal-scoring ratio, we would surely have had the coveted sixth place weeks ago. Instead he chose to sign a keeper he obviously never watched, or at least we hope he never watched, because if he had watched him, surely he would never have signed him. He then released Kevin Kelbie without offering him any terms and signed Gary McCutcheon who only averages a goal every three games, if this is progress we can't see it.

But maybe we're being premature here, maybe Roy has an ace up his sleeve, some young striker he's going to unleash on the unsuspecting Newry City defence tomorrow. We think not, surely his selection of Mr negative himself, Gavin Taggart, for the game away to Dungannon just about sums up our attack minded management. Taggart's philosophy seems to be, 'why make a forward pass when you can pass it back'. Caff, having served his suspension on Tuesday night will be available for selection, if the manager wants to select him. Surely we're at the stage where its 'win or bust' and we must come out with 'all guns blazing', admittedly a positive result will only count if other results go our way, but if we must fail, let's fail with a bang.

Even the prospect of four home games if we are doomed to the bottom six would be of scant compensation, given these two big factors. Firstly, except for Glenavon, not one of the likely candidates for bottom six (Newry, Dungannon and D.C. are definitely in there), can bring anything but a mediocre crowd. Secondly our home form is so crap we'd be lucky, nay very lucky, to get more than two points from our home games. Much better to be in the top six and only at home to Cliftonville and Linfield, two draws in these games and seven points from the other three will do very nicely. OK, so we're dreaming, but it doesn't cost nothing, so why shouldn't we. Let's hope our dream is still alive after tomorrow's game at the Marshes. So here we go, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those canal boys!

Swift Decision!

2011-03-21T23:05:00.003Z

United are in dire need of a win at Stangmore Park Dungannon tomorrow night, but a close win won't do, as our goals against column is none too good. Just winning at the home of the 'chicken' supporters will be tough enough, but the need for goals is paramount if we are to gain a top six place. Three points in their last two games would secure a top six finish for Portadown, while the Coleraine scum are catchable but their goal difference is superior to ours, hence the need for goals. The scum's last game is against D.C. who are involved in a relegation dogfight with Newry and they could have a big influence on who makes the top six. It's still all up for grabs but since our defeat on Saturday we must get two wins from our next two games and score highly or we will need a favour from someone else.

United will go into the game without on-loan midfielder Caff who is suspended, but with central defender Albert restored to the fold after serving his suspension on Saturday past. Ex-Linfield player Paul McAreavey looked fairly impressive when coming on as a sub and he may get the nod in place of Caff, where his tough tackling and competitive approach may be significant. Whatever permutation the United manager chooses in the end they will need to be up for this game and need to improve their goal-scoring ratio to chances created, which at the moment is pretty poor, create ten openings, score just two goals, it just won't do. Sky Blue Sport won't be there as we continue to boycott the home of the liars, so United will have to manage without us, but we'll still be rooting for them, that's for sure, so come on Sky Blues, go shag those chicken stuffers!

Muddy Waters!

2011-03-18T22:47:00.003Z

We've been on the Carling web site and studied the proposed fixtures when the split occurs. All we can say is it's as clear as mud, we can't make head nor tail of it and feel it's like trying to explain the 'offside rule' to the uninitiated. The best scenario is if Lisburn Distillery finish 5th and we finish 6th, otherwise it will be pandemonium. Only the I.F.A. could make such a simple task so complicated and why the panic, surely they could've waited another couple of weeks, instead of going off half cocked as usual.

But on to more important things, United take on Glentoran tomorrow, having dropped to eighth in the table and surely 3 points are a must if United still harbour thoughts of entering the top six. Archie came through a midweek reserve game unscathed and should fill in at central defence for the suspended Albert. Also missing from the United starting line-up, are Andy Smith, Aaron Boyd and Westy, while Eamon Murray failed to train on Thurs past. If Lee Colligan is fit to resume at left back, Captain Gazza, should be released to his midfield role alongside Caff. Barring the unavailability of Murray the rest of the United line-up should be the same as that which started at new Ballyskeagh. So it's all hands to the pump, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those east Townies!

Chicken Run!

2011-03-11T19:00:00.004Z

United undertake what should hopefully be their last Chicken run this season or with a wee bit of luck any season for at least a year. It´s our understanding that United still haven´t been paid by the Swifts for the signing of goalkeeper Sean O´Neill. Surely by this stage even the I.F.A. will have little option but to deduct points from the Swifts, which would then plunge them into relegation trouble, we at ´Sport won´t mourn their passing. In fact it would be poetic justice as far as we are conserned, as the old saying goes, ýour lies will find you out´.

There´s no need for us to go over the old ground about what lies we are talking about and Sky Blue Sport will continue to boycott the Stangmore Park fixture as we have done since the concocted story about our supporters, but Rusty Ray may be there. But enough chit chat, United must keep focused on the task ahead as they strive to secure a top six finish. Unfortunately our fate isn´t entirely in our own hands as other teams need to drop points as well as us winning them. But all we can do is our best and if we do that as a team, we at ´Sport believe it´ll be enough.

Hopefully United will have a full panel to select from as Archie and Lee will be badly missed as United face three potential ´finals´ in the next fortnight, while the two trialists should return. The game of course may not take place tomorrow as snow is forecast and yet another postponement could mean a midweek trip to Dungannon for the Sky Blues. If this happens, which it could, it´d be better to get the game played sooner rather than later as we wouldn´t want it to be a vital game for us, would we? We have enough on our plate without worrying about the vagaries of the weather, or whether the game is played sooner rather than later.

Albert, will need to be on his toes once more, as he was last week. Never have we seen Glenn Ferguson as quiet as he was last Saturday, in fact Albert had him spiked! His adversay tomorrow, Timmy Adamson, needs no introduction to United players or fans as he generally leaves a big impression on both. With fans it´s with his goalscoring, while with players it´s generally with his studs and he always gets away with it. But maybe his luck will run out tomorrow, maybe for once it´s the turn of the good guys, so come on Sky Blues, let´s shag those Chicken farmers!

Hanging On!

2011-03-04T23:21:00.002Z

Believe it or not we're still in with an outside chance of a top six finish, but it's no longer just up to us, we'll also need somebody to give us a wee leg-up as well. Having said that, there's an old saying about 'helping yourself' and that's what we have to start doing. Ten points might be enough to help us sneak into the top six, but 12 would be even better, but we'll still need a wee bit of help from other clubs. So it's vital that we get back to winning ways tomorrow at Ballyskeagh, this was always going to be a crucial fixture for us, but now thanks to our recent slump it's probably the 'biggest' game of the season. If that in itself wasn't enough there's also the wee bit of unfinished business from our last visit to this footballing wilderness, when we were falsely accused of abusing an injured Distillery player, who in the end wasn't badly injured at all.

No doubt Tommy 'never' Wright, who walked out on United with hardly a 'by your leave', won't even consider an apology's necessary, but we will remind him. United fans will be cheered by the news that flying winger Eamon Murray should be fit to resume, but on the 'flip side', Archie, Aaron Boyd and Andy Smith are all out injured. In the absence of a striking partner for Cutch we believe United should go for a 4,5,1 formation, which looks negative on paper, but can also be an attacking formation. Gazza, who had a horror in defence, against the Crues, should be pushed into central midfield alongside Caff and George Young. With Murray on one wing a start could either be given to Mo or Ryan Berry on the other. The back four should be, Mikey, Lee, Albert and Denver and of course Cutch up front, but Murray and Mo/Berry, encouraged to get up along with him when possible.

This formation of course will confuse Tommy Wright, if nothing else and hopefully by the time he figures it out United will have the points all wrapped up. Sounds good doesn't it, but it'll hardly be quite that simple, although it is basically a simple game. Simply score more goals than your opponent and you will be the victor, it's only human tinkering that makes it complicated. Our defence will have to be strong as well for the Whites are a big strong side, while former United player Dessie Loughrey, will do us no favours as referee. It's going to be tough, it's going to be rough, but it can be glorious and definitely victorious, so come on Sky Blues let's shag those Lambeggars!

Not Guilty!

2011-02-28T22:54:00.002Z

United manager Roy Walker, obviously clutching at straws, chastised United fans in Saturday's programme for transmitting 'negative thoughts' to the players. We at 'Sport are really annoyed that the manager, who has been treated extremely courteously by Sky Blue fans, should adopt this attitude. In our humble opinion his time would be better spent in trying to find out why this United team can play so well in some games and so poorly in others. There are rumours of a 'gambling' culture at the Showgrounds but as their are about 7 ever present players on-side when these lapses have occurred, it sounds a bit far fetched, but where there's smoke, there's generally fire.

Of course fans have been quite scathing in their comments recently and with plenty of reasons too. Since beating Portadown on January 4, our record has been abysmal to say the least. In that period we've played 7 league games drawing three and losing 4 and all lost at home. Actually given this abysmal record Roy can count himself lucky he hasn't had to sneak out the back door, like many before him. If he knuckles down and finds a way to motivate his team he could still come out of this okay, but make no bones about it, it's going to be tough. As we haven't been able to glean any news from various sources, we can't say if Eamon Murray has recovered from his knee injury, but we sure hope he has.

We had no guile in our team last week against D.C. and we'll surely need some tomorrow night when the 2nd placed Crues come to town. If previous games against them are to be taken as the yardstick, then things look pretty grim for the Sky Blues, but Roy's always saying that we 'fear nobody', tomorrow night would be a good time to go out and prove it. We at 'Sport are trying our damnedest to be remain positive and fly the flag, but we need a wee bit of help from the players, in short lads it's time to stand up and be counted. You've had it too good for too long, it's time to roll your shirtsleeves up and get on with it. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those tiger cubs!

Horse Bolted!

2011-02-25T23:11:00.002Z

There's an old saying about closing the stable door when the 'horse has bolted' and the news from the Showgrounds this week takes on a similar slant. United manager Roy Walker has signed up three players on 2 year contracts, namely Sparky, Denver and Westy, while occasional scorer, Cutch has signed on for another year. Walker says he took this action after the defection of Nathan, 'sleight of hand' Hanly and Richard, 'big dickhead' Gibson, to Belfast's big two. That means we'll have at least four players plus Gazza next season, what a relief that is. Hopefully the on/off quest for a top six finish hasn't bolted as this is now the defining aim of our season.

With six fixtures to be completed before the 'split', we figure United need 10 points to be in the 'mix' (top six). The easiest way to achieve this is with two wins and four draws, ideally beating D.C. tomorrow and Newry on Friday March 25, while drawing with Crues, Glens, Whites and Swifts. None of these results will be easy to come by, but if we are to progress (improve), this is the kind of form we'll need to show. By a strange quirk we only play one team who are realistically vying with us for the coveted top six place, the Whites and we play them next Saturday. No matter what the outcome of our next two games (D.C. tomorrow and Crues on Tues, both at home), next Saturday's game will be a humdinger. Draws of course are second nature to our team, we have by far the highest number in the league, ten, but wins, they're a different kettle of fish entirely.

In fact next Saturday's rumble, may be the game that defines our season and there will be a wee bit of 'needle' as well after the 'play acting' and 'lie telling' by the Whites on our last trip to Ballyskeagh, in short it won't be a place for the faint-hearted. After that it's pretty mundane stuff with a trip to 'chicken country' (Dungannon), at home to the Glens and finishing with a trip to the 'marshes' (Newry). We are joking of course about the mundane stuff, we are (unless we've missed our guesses by a mile), going to be on tenterhooks for the next month and when has it ever been any other way we ask you. Tomorrow's game will be tough, D.C. are fighting for their existence in the Premier league and we'll need to be both mentally and physically tough if we are to overcome them, but we must prevail.

We're not sure if Archie will make his comeback tomorrow, maybe a place on the bench will be his lot, while Eamon Murray is doubtful with an injured knee, which could mean a rare start for Mo. Aaron Boyd will probably start alongside Cutch, who's only averaging a goal every three games and in fact has only scored one league goal this year (New year's day). That sort of average is okay for a back-up striker, but our main striker needs to average a goal every two games or close to it. Caff, who got better as the game progressed last week will surely partner Captain Gazza in central midfield, with the back four of Sparky, Albert, Lee and Denver. Mikey, who is rumoured to be off to Kilmarnock on trial after the Whites game next Saturday, will continue in right-midfield. Ryan, or should we, in fact dare we, say the improving Ryan Brown, will continue in goals. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Suffolk lambs!

Unenviable Record!

2011-02-18T23:40:00.003Z

United manager Roy Walker, who endeared himself to United fans in his first season in charge, with a winning start against our greatest rivals the Coleraine scum, is now staring down the barrel of a fifth defeat in a row against those 'stinking gas men'. This situation has been brought about by our players giving lack lustre performances in these the most important games of the season. We fully realise that we are going to lose occasionally against them, but to lose five in a row, now that's just a wee bit over the top. All can be put right tomorrow, no matter who takes the field as Archie is still out and Gazza still carrying this mystery injury. These two men would be a huge loss to any team, but to us they're even more as they are our backbone and without them we are vulnerable. But if our attitude is right we can still overcome these setbacks, but if we don't, it would be advisable to have the ground 'open up and swallow' the players as walking to the tunnel will be a nightmare.

Of course this can all be avoided if we can get back to the positive attitude that has helped us so far this season and surely we need Mikey in right-midfield, where he can channel the ball into the path of Cutch and whomever his partner is. If Andy Smith is to play surely he must be a striker, with Taggart fit once more and Rory ready to resume after a reserve game under his belt, Andy isn't needed in midfield anymore. We at 'Sport of course don't think he ever was and feel it was just a ploy to have him in the team, but it was a ploy that we paid a heavy price for. The United manager did some pruning at the end of last season, releasing a few players who he thought weren't good enough, two of them that spring to mind (we'll call them A&C), would be the kind of guys to have in tomorrow's team and you know they'd give 110% for the cause.

But we don't have those two boys and we just have to get on with it with what we have. Cutch needs to get back to scoring goals, why did he not go on and score against the scum after rounding Davey 'fat' O'Hare in our last meeting, instead of passing is beyond comprehension. Strikers don't pass, well only if there confidence is shot to pieces, hopefully that's not the case here. Eamon Murray seems to have his mind somewhere else, they'll be plenty of time for dreaming come April 30, now's the time to get on with it. Caff, who started so brightly against Linfield, is way below par and has got to get it together sooner rather than later, or is he just a Portadown saboteur (joke). Lee Colligan is still not back to his best and surely has to start tomorrow or else it will be too late. We're afraid we're stuck with Ryan Brown in goals, he's not getting any better, but hopefully he won't get any worse either. So Sky Blues, this will probably be the last decent gate for a wee while, so come on and give a good account of yourselves, come on with pride and let's shag those 'stinking gas men'!

Arched Doubt!

2011-02-13T22:46:00.002Z

Yes folks we start off with some bad news, the 'backbone' of our team is extremely doubtful for tomorrow night's game, Archie is rated as only 40/60 for the game. But then again those boys down in Castledawson are made of real stern stuff and where there's life, there's hope, but hope is all there is. The same could be said of United's chances of finishing in the top six come the end of March, its looking extremely doubtful. We at 'Sport were of the opinion, that we needed at least 4 or 5 points from our last 3 league games. Having done the hard bit, taking a point of both Linfield and Cliftonville away, we sadly fell down against our dear neighbours from the Bannside, the Coleraine scum. This was a game destined for a draw until Leon Knight demonstrated the full 'Oran Kearney diving manual' to it's full potential.

Rather surprisingly referee Brian Turkington (who had booked a scum player early in the game for 'diving'), this time ruled in favour of the most surprised man on the pitch, Leon Knight and the rest as they say is history. But of course a draw was no earthly use to us anyway, but if we wanted to win it and surely we did, why did we select the team we did. It was nice to see Roy show faith in on-loan striker Aaron Boyd, but where was the 'local' boy in our ranks who would 'die' rather than lose to the Coleraine scum. Alas the only locals, Denver Gage and George, 'son of goosey' Young, were sat on the bench, while that other 'adopted son', team Captain Gazza, is carrying a mystery injury which means he can't start. Get one thing straight Roy, we can tolerate losing 4-0 to D.C., we can even live with a lack-lustre performance in the C.I.S. against the Crues, but we won't stand still for capitulation against the Coleraine scum.

On paper we should be able to blow them away and with the proper team selection we have no doubt we 'can blow' them and a few others away. We don't need Andy Smith running about like a 'headless chicken' remonstrating to all in sundry because somebody failed to read his mind and who the hell could anyway. If Andy can't cut it as a striker, he'll never make it as a midfielder either, it's against his nature. Caff too, after one good game against Linfield, looks out of his depth, but maybe he needs time to settle in, we'll give him that. We need Gazza back, but only if he's fit and if he's not, get him fit. Denver should come back in for Archie and Sparky after his suspension should be restored, at least that'll mean a couple of locals starting which is something of a bonus.

Roy has said he's of a mind to start with the same team against the Glens as he doesn't think they could be as poor as they were against the scum. What is the wee man thinking about, not only could they be as bad, they could be even worse. What he needs to do is threaten them all with the sack if they don't get their act together. We (United fans), are paying your wages and we demand a massive improvement on the 'dross' you gave us last Tuesday night. There's no other word for it lads, it was shit, sorry about that, but it had to be said. We need you to give us 100% effort, we also need you at times to go beyond that, if you're not up for that or as the old saying goes, 'if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen'. Hopefully you're made of sterner stuff and you'll want to live and fight for many more days, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those wise men from the east!

Scum Game!

2011-02-07T23:08:00.002Z

It's that time again, time to wash away the scum which gathers even in the cleanest places imaginable. Of course the 'scum' in question here is our old adversaries the Coleraine 'scum' and they're even dirtier than ever. Not that we at 'Sport were Davy Platt fans, but he was treated rather shabbily even by 'scum' standards. Well technically speaking they don't have standards, they are after all scum. In his place they've taken on that 'diving past master' Oran Kearney, no doubt he'll have the scum players well trained to dive even if there's contact or not. For that reason our boys will have to be very careful with their tackles as they will go down at the slightest touch.

United may have a defensive problem for tomorrow nights game as Sparky (Mr Versatile), is serving a one game ban and if Albert hasn't recovered from the ailment which afflicted him on Saturday, we may have to go with Archie and Denver as our central defenders. Both are perfectly capable but still a bit raw but when the going gets tough, the tough get going. With Sparky missing, Gazza should hopefully return to partner Caff in centre midfield and Eamon on the left. After his scintillating debut when he came on as a 2nd half sub, we wonder will Roy give a starting role to Aaron Boyd, or continue with Cutch and the inept Andy Smith. Ryan Berry, probably our best player in the first half on Saturday, may then get a start in right-midfield.

If Roy is bold enough to start with the on-loan Boyd, Berry may have to settle for a place on the bench, as Walker appears loath to drop Andy, but for why nobody knows. Ryan Brown will no doubt continue in goals (there is no-one else), while Lee and Mikey should fill the fullback roles. However Lee's selection hinges on whether Albert's fit or not and he needs to be fully fit as it's going to be a tough match. The scum have slipped back a few notches lately, but as we well know, form means nothing in these games, it's all about taking your chances when they arise and it's the one thing we have been failing to do of late. We need another big effort from you boys, we need a big vociferous crowd behind us driving us on, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those ewes from Windy Hall!

Last Stand!

2011-02-04T22:57:00.002Z

United make the last trip this season to the 'carpet' that passes for a playing surface at Solitude, the home of Cliftonville, hoping for a much better outcome than our last trip there. On that occasion we got a drubbing, there's no other way to describe it and it's true to say we deserved it as we failed miserably to compete on the day. Admittedly the surface is not conductive to good football, but it's still no excuse for our slip-shod performance on the day. The news on the grapevine is that big Denver doesn't think he can give of his best on the artificial turf and that may initiate a change to United's starting line-up. Archie or Gazza look like the likely replacements for Denver, with possibly Colligan reverting to his leftback role if Archie gets the nod.

If Archie moves inside, Gazza will surely be recalled to centre-midfield alongside Caff who showed enough at Windsor to retain his starting place. Murray may switch to the left-midfield slot, with Sparky moving to rightback and Mikey to right-midfield. Rumour has it that on-loan striker Aaron Boyd may get a starting role but we at 'Sport think it more likely that he'll get a place on the bench. It's not known if Paul McAreavey will be on the bench tomorrow or not but one man who definitely won't be there is former Sky Blue, Ruari McClean. Ru turned down the chance to switch from 1st division Institute, saying he wants to stick with them until the end of the season as they have been good to him. He may have cause to 'rue' his decision as United need players to step up to the 'plate' now and if those who step up grab their chance, Ru may find himself left out in the cold.

One of the players in that category is George Young, who in our humble opinion showed enough when he came on at the Oval in the cup replay to warrant a start at Windsor last week. Unfortunately for George, Roy Walker didn't see it that way but we feel it'll only be a matter of time before young George makes the breakthrough. Reserve striker Matthew Boyd, who only came on for the final 13 minutes, is another who looks as if he might have something to offer and it will be interesting to see how he progresses between now and the end of the season. With both ourselves and our opponents Cliftonville out of all cup competitions, tomorrow's game should be a humdinger but hopefully United will prevail in the end. This is our last stand, we must make the best of it, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those cavemen!

Open Heart!

2011-01-28T23:06:00.002Z

United manager Roy Walker must be astounded at developments over the last few days. First we had the Hanly and Gibson bombshells plus the on-going Michael Smith saga, but now suddenly we find ourselves with four new players on the books and there's still a couple of days to go in the transfer window. Roy said he might look for a couple of players in the transfer window, he was just looking to perform a wee operation, but it has turned into 'open heart surgery' instead. Rumour has it that Paul McAreavey is still short of fitness and won't make his debut tomorrow, while the terms of new striker Aaron Boyd's loan deal from parent club Linfield, means he can take no part tomorrow either. Neil McCafferty though should be available but we expect him to start on the bench.

Walker could do worse than pair Captain Gazza, with George Young in central midfield and continue with the ploy of Murray on the right and Colligan on the left. With Cutch and Andy upfront it'll be interesting to see if Roy selects Michael Smith at rightback or takes Omar's advice and gives the want-away a rest. Sparky of course is the natural replacement, but for all we know Walker may want to convert Ru McClean into another Joe Gray. A couple of things though will need to be worked on before tomorrow's game, who takes the free kicks, the corners and in Gibson's absence any penalties awarded. Not that we expect to get any penalties tomorrow as they're mighty hard, if not impossible, to get when you visit Windsor Park, hopefully though we won't need them.

The sad news that keeper Dwayne Nelson will miss the rest of the season may work in favour of back-up custodian Ryan Brown. Ryan was given the job at the start of the season but lost it after a couple of games and then injured his hand and allowed Dwayne to establish himself. When he did come back he dropped a real 'clanger' against tomorrow's opponents and then another against the Crues back on November 27 and that means he has being playing catch-up ever since. But now the 'football gods' have given him a chance to redeem himself and hopefully he'll grab it with both hands (and the ball as well), when the opportunity arises, anyway we wish him well. Tomorrow's game is going to be tough, we are playing the league champions in their backyard. 95% of all decisions will go against us and we'll have to keep our discipline, but we can do it. So come on Sky Blues, let's show Hanly, Gibson and Smith that though they may be 'rats', we're no sinking ship. In short lads, let's shag those Townie boys!

This Time!

2011-01-24T23:36:00.002Z

United will attempt to get to the next round of Irish cup when they visit the Oval tomorrow night. When the draw was made for this round we knew it was going to be tough. We also knew our best hope was to win the game at the Showgrounds, even though our Oval record is quite good. Unfortunately we didn't manage to do the business when we had the chance, so tomorrow night we'll have to do it the 'hard' way. Due to suspensions we'll have to manage without transfer listed Nathan Hanly, bad enough, but even worse we'll have to manage without our inspirational Captain, Gazza. The loss of Gazza, who is the 'heartbeat' of our team, will be a huge loss to bear, but somehow we must bear it.

Hanly, may in fact have already played his last game in a Sky Blue jersey, as both Linfield and tomorrow night's opponents Glentoran have asked to speak to the young midfielder. Manager Roy Walker may need to find a permanent replacement for Hanly, while a stop-gap will do for Gazza. Rory Carson is rumoured to be almost a month away from a return to first team action, so Walker will have to dip into his reserves tomorrow night. Lee Colligan, out of favour lately might well get the nod, but he's not noted for his attacking flair, while the obvious choice, Ryan Berry, tends to 'flit in and out' of games, which will not do tomorrow night.

We have a good back four in Sparky if fit, Albert, Denver and Archie. A good front four of Eamon, Cutch, Gibbo and Andy, we just need to find the two in between. You may have noticed that we haven't mentioned Mikey as yet and yes that is deliberate as we don't have a clue if he's going to be giving his all for the Sky Blues or looking to where the grass seems greener. We at 'Sport are of the opinion that Belfast's big two are just trying to undermine us ahead of out two crucial fixtures, the replay with the Glens tomorrow night and the league game away to Linfield on Saturday. If they can bring a bit of unrest to our camp, then we may take our eyes off the big prize.

So for that reason we must be extra vigilant, whatever selection we go with, we'll need everybody fighting for the cause. We have played everybody at least twice this season, except for our dear friends at Coleraine (scum), so therefore, although we respect them all, we believe that on our day, we can beat anybody. Tomorrow night needs to be one of those days or nights to be exact and there's no reason why it can't be be the 1st leg of a big two double. Knock the Glens out of the cup tomorrow night and knock the stuffing out of Linfield on Saturday. Tomorrow night is the time to stand up and be counted, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those old hens!

Ruari Returns!

2011-01-21T22:54:00.002Z

With all the talk of players wanting to leave, or at least wanting to talk to other clubs, it's refreshing to see a former player wanting to come back. The former player is Ruari McClean (hereafter referred to as Ru),who spent some time at the Showgrounds during Kenny Shiels tenure as manager. Ru has developed into a tough tackling midfielder and it's a position United are needing to fill as Nathan Hanly seems destined for either Linfield or Glentoran. Mikey, to the best of our knowledge hasn't committed himself to the Sky Blue cause yet and it'll be interesting to see if the United manager selects either player for tomorrows game. Hanly is due to miss next Tuesday's Irish cup replay at the Oval due to suspension anyway and Walker may want to try something different with that game in mind.

Captain Gazza is doubtful for tomorrow with suspected flu, but they make them tough down in Larne and we'll be surprised if he's not available for the game. He of course will miss the Glentoran game through suspension also and Walker may want to experiment with a new midfield combination tomorrow. With Sparky doubtful due to injury he may have no recourse but to select both Mikey and Hanly, as his options are somewhat limited. Lee Colligan could be drafted into a wide left position, releasing Eamon Murray into a central role where he has played before, but we expect Ryan Berry and Ru to get the central roles even though Ru is cup-tied and can't be selected for Tuesday night's replay. United cannot afford to take their foot off the pedal tomorrow, even though the Irish cup is our best hope of a trophy, a high league finish is not out of our reach and we need to try and get a result.

If Mikey decides to take the 'gravy train' to Belfast, United will be in the market for a fullback and no doubt Walker is scanning the country looking for such a player. Only trouble is there aren't many Mark Carlisle's about at the moment and unearthing somebody of that calibre will be no mean feat. Still there must be someone somewhere who's not getting a fair 'crack of the whip' or feels he isn't and it'll be up to the wily Walker to persuade him to sign for United. Once here maybe we can mould him into a decent team member, for that's what we really want, someone who wants to play for the shirt, if they give us their best, they'll get no complaints from us. Whoever's selected for tomorrow needs to be a team player, committed 100% to the cause, even if he is talking to other clubs. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those tiger cubs!

Double Hatchet!

2011-01-17T23:17:00.002Z

United face the Crusader's 'Hatchet-men' in the first game of a double header, in the much delayed C.I.S. cup game and the winners will be rewarded with a 'lucrative' semi-final game away to Distillery (okay we're just poking fun here). The Crues will return to the Showgrounds for a league game on Saturday, as the saying goes, it never rains but it pours. The hatchet men are really living up to their name at the moment as they seem to have a player sent off every other game and it'll probably be a no quarter asked or given game tomorrow night and similar on Saturday. United were dealt a body blow with the news that midfield dynamo, Gavin 'Westy' Taggart will be missing for two months with his broken nose. With this in mind United manager Roy Walker has signed former United player Ruari McClean and his battling qualities will maybe cushion the loss of Westy somewhat.

Unfortunately Ruari isn't eligible for tomorrow night or for the Irish cup replay at the Oval next Tuesday, but will help to bolster our numbers as injuries and suspensions start to mount over the coming weeks. Albert Watson is set to make his 300th appearance for United tomorrow night, a ten year veteran and only 26, he is the backbone of our team. Barring injuries it's entirely possible that United will start with the same 11 players who started on Saturday, but manager Walker may want to 'tinker' with his selection a little. It would be fair to say that one or two of our players were below par last week and we can ill afford a repeat tomorrow night. The game will be played to a finish and if it goes to penalties, we just hope we're better prepared than we were in last season's Irish cup semi-final, the body language of our players said it all.

It was nice to see 'big' Denver break his scoring duck on Saturday and now that the pressure's off perhaps we'll get a few more from the Clough crusader at set-pieces. According to press reports, Denver, Gibbo, Sparky,Taggart and Nathan have all shook hands on an extension to their contract and Mikey is expected to follow suit in the next few days. The Cutch, who had already agreed an extension, is still on course to equal Kevin 'King' Kelbie's goal ratio of last season. Cutch has 11 goals from 26 appearances, while Kevin notched 14 from 30 appearances, it would be nice to see him reach the milestone sooner rather than later. Eamon Murray, suffering with breathing problems last week will hopefully be back to his torturing best and his resourceful wing play should bring the Sky Blues closer to a possible trophy so craved by the long suffering United fans. The game is there to be won, we have the players to win it, so let's go out and do it, let's shag those paper tigers!

Blue Riband!

2011-01-14T22:36:00.002Z

It's that time of the season once more, the time when you put aside most of your worries, it's the magic of the 'cup'. With a minimum of five games facing them United couldn't have drawn a much tougher opening round, at home to Glentoran. Quite a lot of the other Premier league teams are no doubt delighted that at least one top six team is going out at this stage and it'll be a financial disaster for them as well. The Glens have just come back from the 'brink' of oblivion, as the 'Winding up' order taken against them by the Inland revenue was dismissed on Thursday past, thanks to a mystery benefactor who allegedly ploughed £450,000 pounds into their coffers. It's perfectly plausible to think this might give them the edge in tomorrow's encounter, but it is a cup match and anything can happen.

The make-up of United's team is a closely guarded secret, but barring any injuries we expect our strongest possible line-out to be on view. Gavin Taggart,if fit will be vying for a start in centre midfield with Nathan Hanly and if Ryan Berry has recovered from his illness, he may grab the wide right berth against his former team. Another player hoping to start against his former team will be Andy Smith, but it's not known if he'll be partnering top scorer Cutch (who signed an extension to his contract this week), or Gibbo. Cutch limped out of United's last game at home to Portadown with a hamstring injury, but if he's fit he'll definitely get the nod. With Eamon Murray, 7 goals and Gazza automatic selections, the only really tough decisions Roy Walker will have to make will be concerning his defensive formation.

Does he give a vote of confidence to the four guys who performed so well in a hard physical encounter against Portadown or will he tinker with it a little bit, maybe bringing in Colligan, who's long throws could heap pressure on the ageing Glens defence. Our gut feeling is that barring injuries he'll stick with his M.A.D.A. Mikey, Albert, Denver and Archie, ably backed up by keeper Dwayne Nelson. With the infamous 'ham shank' referee Mark Courtenay in charge there could be a few 'thrills and spills', but hopefully no more controversy, we can well do without that. It's going to be tough, it's going to take guts and it's going to take skill, but we can do it, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those East Belfaster's!

Blast Off!

2011-01-07T22:55:00.002Z

United go into tomorrow's league game at Ballyskeagh with a 4 point lead over the home team and a good chance to blast them out of the water. Our biggest enemy may be the weather as it's freezing hard outside and a pitch inspection is scheduled for tomorrow morning. If the game gets the go-ahead, United manager Roy walker will have one or two headaches as definitely out is Gavin Taggart with a broken nose, while Ryan Berry has yet another illness. This leaves Roy with a decision to make about who gets the wide right berth, while top scorer Cutch is hopefully available for selection. If Cutch is available one option would be to play Cutch and Gibbo up front, with Andy on the left and Murray on the right.

Of course Rory or even Sparky could be fit enough to resume first team action, we just have no way of knowing. We would expect the back four to be the same as that which did the honours in our victory over Portadown on Tuesday night, but Roy, as he often does, may want to tweak his defence a wee bit. Dwayne looks to have reclaimed the keepers jersey, but with United playing 6 games against the top four teams in the league after tomorrow's game, 2 each at home against the Crues and the Glens and one each away to Linfield and Cliftonville, Ryan Brown make get a chance to re-establish himself somewhere along the line.

As if these fixtures aren't tough enough, we then have back-to-back games against the Coleraine Scum at Warden St. with a possible Irish cup game sandwiched in between. 'Exciting' or given our penchant for not putting teams away when we are in the driving seat, 'nail biting', times, lie ahead of us. The Whites tomorrow will be no push over either but it's a match we need to win to maintain a wee cushion between us and the teams, including tomorrow's opponents, in the bottom six of the league. Hopefully our top scorer Cutch will be fit to resume and with the live-wire Murray raiding down whatever wing or maybe both, the Sky Blues will win through. So let's get behind the team tomorrow, come on Sky Blues (Reds), let's shag those Lambeggars!

Unwanted Double!

2011-01-03T23:15:00.002Z

United are staring an unwanted double in the face when Portadown visit the Showgrounds tomorrow night. In order to avoid that double they have to make sure they don't lose to Portadown, as they lost to their mid-Ulster rivals Glenavon on Saturday. Of Course if our forwards are still in a benevolent mood similar to Saturday, then defeat is most likely and that would most likely push us out of the top six. Admittedly there is a long way to go before the split, 12 games, but once out of the top six, it'll take a big effort to get back in and that's where the money is. One crumb of comfort for United tomorrow night is the return from suspension of midfield maestro Nathan Hanly. His motivation, probing runs and finishing was badly missed on Saturday and it will be good to have him back in the fold.

On the down side, Sparky, carried off after a bad tackle, unseen by the three brass monkeys, will miss the game with torn ligaments, courtesy of Glenavon's Kyle Neill. This tackle happened within a 10 yard radius of referee, linesman and 4th official, but neither saw anything untoward, they were obviously in 'see no evil' mode. Sparky's absence will entail Mikey dropping back to right-back, which should mean a start for either Ryan Berry or Mo, wide on the right. Gibbo, who was way below par on Saturday, will hopefully be more like himself and get in among the Ports defenders instead of standing around watching, while his strike partner Cutch, will hopefully have sharpened up his shooting boots. He scored a great individual goal on Saturday, but fluffed three easier chances, failing to trouble the keeper at all, a mortal sin.

We wonder if Walker will tweak the United defence for this game as Archie seemed a little out of sorts at the weekend and the Ports, even missing the suspended Braniff will be quite a handful and everybody needs to be on top of their game. Dwayne, who got the nod in goal last Saturday, made a blunder for their first goal and this could mean a recall for Ryan Brown, or maybe Walker will give him another chance, for once we're glad it's Roy who has to decide as it is a crucial decision. Lee Colligan, despite an early caution on Saturday, appears to have rediscovered his form and will surely keep his place as will 'man of the match' Albert. That only leaves the decision of whether to persevere with Archie alongside him, drop Gazza back or recall Denver, decisions, decisions, who'd want to be a manager. With Hanly and Murray, certain starters, it'll be interesting to see who gets the nod if Gazza is in defence. But whoever gets it, lets hope they grab the opportunity with both hands. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Porta Downers!

Six Pointer!

2010-12-31T22:40:00.003Z

United take on Glenavon at Mourneview Park tomorrow with a potential six points at stake. The Sky Blues ensconced in 5th place in the Premier league standings are currently 3 points ahead of tomorrow's opponents and with a game in hand and a win would stretch the gap between us to six points with a game in hand, giving us a wee bit of breathing space. Of course winning will not be easy as the Lurgan Blues are one of the most formidable teams in our league, although they will be missing former United talisman, Stuarty King, who had the misfortune to break a bone in his ankle on Monday past. No doubt Marty Quinn will have a suitable replacement for the injured Stuarty, while the rest of his forwards could walk into almost any team in the league, excepting ourselves of course.

United's own front line of Murray, Gibbo, Cutch and Mikey will have to shoulder the burden up front and they are the men to do just that. Cutch with ten goals to his name already this season will be a constant thorn in the flesh for the home defence, especially as he's had an enforced 2 week rest. He will be ably backed up by the human cannonball, Gibbo, the silken skilled Murray and the penetrating runner, Mikey. This is why we believe we can take all three points tomorrow, it won't be easy, but we have the ability to do it. Of course Donegal Celtic proved today that no-one has the right to win every game, but we still think we can do it. In our last game against Glenavon we looked like a beaten team until a certain Albert Watson, (see below), came to our rescue, which just goes to prove we are an all round slick moving machine.

With the United forward line almost picking itself, manager Walker will also have five top performers to pick from in defence, Albert (goal of the month winner in November, see above), Archie, Denver, Sparky and Lee, with Gazza there should any emergencies arise. Midfield should be Gazza and either Taggart or Berry, or has Rory made a miraculous comeback, who knows? Our only problem position, which has lingered since 'Goosey' and Tommy, 'he's never right', fell out, is who to put in nets. Manager Walker thought he had solved the problem when he brought in Ryan Brown from Larne at the start of the season, but he has had one or two expensive gaffes and it meant a recall for Dwayne in our last game and tomorrow's game could hinge, not only on who gets the nod, but on how they perform under pressure. But we still believe and we need the United fans to believe, so come on United, lets go shag those Mourneviewers

Golden Chance!

2010-12-13T23:19:00.003Z

United go into tomorrow night's rearranged C.I.S. cup quarter-final with a golden chance to progress to the semi-final stage. All any team can ever hope for in a knock-out game is home advantage and we have that tomorrow night. Of course given our poor home form, it's not a great advantage, but as tomorrow night's game is the first of 3 crucial games all at home this month, United need to start as they mean to carry on and hopefully we can finish the year in top form. United will be minus Nathan Hanly who completes his suspension with this game, while Sparky is a doubt after coming off injured in the victory over Dungannon Swifts.

That hard fought victory over the Swift's could leave United manager Roy Walker with a bit of a puzzle as to his starting line-up. Does he start with Gibbo and Cutch, up front, leaving Andy Smith on the bench or give Smith another go, with the option to bring Gibbo on. If Sparky is passed fit, might he continue with the back four of, Sparky, Albert, Archie and Lee, knowing he has Denver as back-up and Gazza for emergencies. With Murray and Mikey automatic selections, the big choice is about who partners Gazza in central midfield. Despite his 'rash' tackle, which gifted Dungannon a penalty on Saturday, Gavin could get the nod ahead of Ryan, who is a good man to have on the bench. This will probably be another close game, as the previous 3 have been and it will be vital that we keep our defence intact against the Crues.

According to the United official website, Alan Black will referee tomorrow night's game and that will put added pressure on United, as he rarely sees thing our way, but as the saying goes, 'there's a first time for everything', but we won't hold our breath. The discipline of our players leaves a lot to be desired and maybe we should remember the character from the kids programme Rainbow and keep it 'zipped'and not allow Mr Black to have his way. As our wee striker Cutch has plundered 10 goals so far, he will no doubt be out to add to that tally tomorrow night and with a wee slice of luck we could be into the semi-final in this the final year of sponsorship by the Co-op. It's all there to play for, if we have the courage and the skill to reach out and grab it, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Tiger Bay pussycats!

Rusty May!

2010-12-10T19:53:00.002Z

The ´Sports team will be boycotting tomorrows fixture away to Dungannon Swifts, as United have yet to receive an apology for the complete fabrication and downright lies levelled against our supporters for alleged racial abuse of former Swifts keeper Alvin Rouse. It´s been well documented that referee Trevor Moutray only admitted to hearing ´something´, but under pressure from some Dungannon officials he falsified a report accusing United fans of racial abuse. If the vast majority of United fans are willing to carry on with this stigma hanging over them, we at ´Sport are not. As for team news for tomorrow´s game, we just don´t have a clue as we are all abroad at present in warmer climes. We know for sure That Nathan Hanly will definitely not be playing as he serves a 2 match suspension for alleged serious foul play.

Remember what he did or should we say what he didn´t do, he didn´t go in with a late tackle after the ball had gone, he didn´t punch anybody, nor did he break anybody´s leg, he just made an honest tackle to win the ball, but when his opponent went down crying ´like a baby´, an unsighted referee, Steven Weatherall (remember this game was played in semi-darkness), judged it to be serious foul play. United fans were also falsely accused of abusing the injured player, which they didn´t, but in the light of what has happened, they would have been entirely justified. Two referees have levelled false accusations at us now and we have to assume it will contnue as they are after all of the one ilk. The bad news for Nathan is that when he returns for the the league game against the Glens on Christmas Saturday, the referee will be our good friend Alan Black, as they say it never rains but it pours. Okay we´ve had our rant, so come on Sky Blues, let´s shag those Tyronians!

Gibbo Pain!

2010-11-26T22:59:00.002Z

What a body blow, we've just heard that United striker Richard Gibson, who didn't scream, or try to get his assailant sent off (Andy Devlin and Tommy Wright, please take note), will be missing with a broken bone in his foot, for at least 6 weeks. Six weeks that will most definitely define our season and we are left with only one fully fit striker, Gary McCutcheon, as Andy Smith struggles with a hamstring injury which could flare up at any time. United in fact will play 8 games inside the next 6 weeks, surely too hectic a schedule for part-time clubs like ourselves. These are the times when the clubs with money behind them can really amass an unassailable lead, surely that can't be fair. But that's the hand we've been dealt and tomorrow's opponents Crusaders will no doubt pose a few fresh problems for us.

Manager Walker has promised to deliver something of a surprise with his selection for tomorrow's game and what that could be is anybody's guess. Does he have an ace up his sleeve, a player who can come on and change things drastically enough for the Sky Blues to take the points? We admit we are completely in the dark over this development, Mo and Berry are reportedly both struggling with injuries, while Rory is still a few weeks away from a return to full fitness. Maybe Roy has convinced the Yeti to don a United jersey, it's definitely cold enough for him, given the snow-showers which have been prevalent over the last two days. Rumours about a former United striker making a cameo appearance have been denied by the club, so we'll just have to wait and see.

The United defence, much maligned after the Solitude debacle (and rightly so)and which regained a bit of dignity last week at the Marshes, will need to be on it's toes when the 'hatchet men' come to town. Games between the two sides have been pretty close in the last couple of seasons, with just one goal separating them in their last two meetings, with the visitors winning both, something that United need to address tomorrow. Then as luck would have it, we'll meet again at the same venue in the C.I.S. cup next Saturday, December 4, don't try to tell us that there aren't too many fixtures in this wee league of ours. Hopefully our new Irish F.A. President, a man native to the Ballymena area, Jim Shaw, will look at things a bit more realistically and not before time. It's yet another corporate lunch tomorrow, so a good crowd is to be expected, let's hope we have something to celebrate come 5 o'clock. Let's get stuck into the hatchet men, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those toothless tigers!

Dire Straits!

2010-11-18T22:56:00.002Z

With only 3 points gained in their last 4 games, United suddenly find themselves in 'dire straits'. Tomorrow nights game at Newry, which is never an easy venue for United teams, has taken on gargantuan proportions as the teams immediately below us in the league are literally breathing down our neck. This would be bad enough if we had lost a hard fought game last time out, but as we were well and truly trounced, it's the last thing we want to contemplate. But contemplate it we must and it really is time for the experienced men in our team to stand up and be counted. The managers 'logic' (Gaffe),in withdrawing Gazza at halftime last week, backfired almost immediately when Cliftonville drove their midfield 'articulated' lorry through a wide open gap, will surely not be repeated once more.

Yes admittedly we were three nil down and action needed to be taken, but why would you take off your best player, when your defence was having a nightmare, it beggars belief. Surely Albert Watson, who appeared to be 'punch drunk' should've been withdrawn, instead of being moved to rightback where he continued to struggle. Sparky wasn't at his best, while Denver struggled and in fact only leftback Colligan showed us his best side. Ryan Berry looked good when he came on and in fact got a good shot on target, more than can be said for our inept strikers. Gary McCutcheon expressed his surprise at Kevin Kelbie's goal scoring feats when he joined United, reckoning he'd net at least twenty in a season. At this stage last season Kelbie had made 10 starts and 3 appearances as subs and scored 7 goals, Gary has scored 7 goals also, but made 20 appearances, not a great ratio in our book.

We're not saying Gary should be dropped, as let's face it we have nobody else, but maybe it's something we should be looking into come the January transfer window. Hanly, who missed last weeks game due to suspension, will surely earn a recall in midfield, while keeper Ryan Brown, a Walker close season signing will probably hold onto his place, but only just. Who partners Hanly in central midfield will be the crucial decision, we at 'Sport would plump for Gazza, although he may be needed to shore up our leaky defence, in which case it's a toss-up between Taggart and Berry, although Roy may have other ideas. Gibbo, who struggled on the artificial surface at Cliftonville last week (but who didn't), will probably earn a recall, he is after all our only 'target man'.

United fans were saying last week, 'when did we last concede 5 goals'? They were racking their brains, but it's not too distant, in fact it was only 3 months ago when they lost 5-0 away to Limavady United in a pre-season friendly. Before some 'smart Alec', states that that wasn't a full United team, it was after all the nucleus of our team and obviously we learned nothing from that defeat. It's an old old saying, we learn from our mistakes, but obviously this doesn't apply to Ballymena United football club, as they go on repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Tomorrow night we need to bounce back, if we don't we'll be back on the slippery slope and once there it's bloody hard to get going again. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Marshmen!

Plastic Farce!

2010-11-12T23:17:00.003Z

United travel to North Belfast tomorrow for their first game on Cliftonville's new 'plastic pitch'. When Crusaders announced that they were going to be playing on a plastic pitch in future, we thought, yeah! yeah! and Santa Claus really does come down the chimney. But lo and behold they were not joking and now Cliftonville, whose pitch it must be said used to resemble a cabbage patch, have installed an artificial surface as well. They are not conductive to good football it must be said and unless they're laid properly, they are more of a hindrance than an asset. But it looks like they're here to stay and if rumours are to be believed there could be at least 2 more Premier clubs signing up to the plastic revolution.

As for tomorrow's line-up we just don't have a clue, Nathan Hanly will definitely be missing as he serves an automatic one game ban following his harsh sending off on Tuesday past. The rest of the team, barring injuries of course, almost picks itself. Gibbo and Cutch up front, Mikey and Murray on the wings, Gazza in central midfield, with Taggart or somebody else as his sparring partner. The back four is a matter of picking any four from five, from Albert, Sparky, Denver, Lee and Archie, while we would expect Ryan Brown to retain the keepers jersey. Of course Roy may astound us and go for a 4,3,3 system, bringing in Andy Smith, instead of Gavin Taggart, but we feel it's imperative that our hosts aren't given too much time on the ball and for this reason believe that a 4,4,2 system will prevail.

Cliftonville have struggled over the last few games, as we have done ourselves and the 'winner' tomorrow, will definitely take it all. If United win they will move above their hosts and if Cliftonville win they'll attain a bit of a gap between themselves and the dreaded bottom six. After tomorrow's game we will be past the halfway stage in the league, but we must disagree, with the claim made by Omar last night, that doubling our points tally will see us safely into the top six, when the split arrives after 33 games. As some one once said 'there are lies, damned lies and statistics' and acquiring 48 points may be enough in some seasons, but it can't be put down as a 'marker' for every season, we will just have to suck it and see. With that in mind let's get behind the wee Sky Blues tomorrow, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Cavehillers!

White Light!

2010-11-08T23:05:00.003Z

Seemingly when we die (well according to people who have had out of body experiences), we will see a white light and we should walk towards that light. What is beyond that light is anybody's guess, no-one's ever gone beyond it and came back to tell the tale, at least we don't think so anyway. Tomorrow night United go to play the Whites under lights (well maybe not all the lights as they're infamous for not putting them all on), but we definitely don't want to be drawn to their lights. Nor do we want another draw as tomorrow night's game is almost a six pointer, we trail the host by 2 points and a win would mean we'd leap frog them, while a defeat would push us towards the bottom six and that is unthinkable. Manager Walker has intimated, once again, that he may tinker with his selection.

We at 'Sport cautioned him last week not to 'tinker' too much with his selection, in the end he only made one change, with Gavin Taggart replacing Sparky. For whatever reason this had a major effect on the team, who having got off to a dream start with Cutch giving them the lead after only 5 mins, just seemed to lose their way and were decidedly lucky to get a point in a game where they should've been comprehensively beaten. Maybe it was an anti-climax after holding the league champions, Linfield, the previous week, but whatever it was, it must be driven from our midst. Lee Colligan, out of favour of late probably did enough to earn a recall in the short time he was on the field on Saturday at the expense of Archie and along with Sparky, if fit, would surely merit a start tomorrow night. Ryan Berry didn't do a lot when he came off the bench at halftime, but he did set up Cutch for the equaliser and you can't ask much more from a midfielder than that.

Murray was more like his old self on Saturday, but we need Hanly in centre midfield to feed the ball to him, which means deciding between Gazza and Taggart for the other central midfield role. Of course Roy might want to go with a 5 man midfield, but we doubt he'd want to break up the blossoming partnership between Cutch and Gibbo up front. Goalkeeper Ryan Brown, who made a major gaffe on Saturday that led to Glenavon's first goal, did redeem himself with some good stops when the visitors threatened to blow us away in the 2nd half. In fact if it hadn't been for him, we might never have been in a position to snatch the afore mentioned undeserved point. As that was his first match back after injury, we believe the manager will give him the nod once more, but name Dwayne on the bench just in case or to keep him on his toes at least.

Denver and Albert, not at their best on Saturday, are still cementing their defensive partnership and Albert as we now know can come up with the goods when the chips are down, if fit we expect they will both be retained. If Sparky returns at rightback and Berry is selected wide right, will that mean no place for Mikey Smith, one of the few players to try his 'eye strings out last week. This would be a hard decision for Walker to make, but that's what he is paid for after all, but we don't envy him the job. We will no doubt come up against one or two former players tomorrow night, Paul Muir and David Cushley are two that spring to mind, also ex-manager Tommy Wright (who of course ran out on us when the going got tough) and this will add a bit of extra spice to the game. It's going to be tough tomorrow night, with old campaigners like Muir and Glenn Ferguson in opposition, but when the gong gets tough, the 'really tough' get going. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Lambeggars!

Looking Up!

2010-11-05T22:59:00.002Z

After tonight's results in the Carling premiership, an away win, 2-1 for the I.F.A. (Linfield) and a draw between Newry and Distillery 1-1, United have a chance to move into 5th place with a win or maybe even 4th place depending on the result between the 'scum' and Chickenville when Glenavon come to the Showgrounds tomorrow. United manager Roy Walker has intimated that he may change things a wee bit for tomorrow's game or in his words, 'tweak things a wee bit'. We at 'Sport would counsel Roy to proceed with caution, always remembering the old adage of not changing for the sake of changing. The team that started against Linfield last week is our best starting eleven of the players fit and well at present and that team should be good enough to see off Glenavon tomorrow.

Admittedly there was a wee concern about the apparent ease which Peter Thompson shrugged off the challenges of Denver last week. But Denver is still finding his feet and Thompson (whether we like it or not), is an International and probably the top striker in our league at present, now that Hamilton has gone into the doldrums. Denver just needs to be a little more assertive and our next two games where he'll come up against first the experienced Tony Grant and then the 'I've seen and done it all' Glenn Fergusson, will be the perfect games for him to perfect his technique. The game beyond that, away to Cliftonville could match him against yet another top striker, Chris Scannell, so you see it's not going to get any easier, but it's all a learning curve and will stand him in good stead.

There's always Gazza for back-up if things do get tight, he slotted in last Saturday, just as if he'd been playing there all season, instead of only starting a handful of games this term. If Eamon Murray isn't 100% fit and he hasn't been for a few weeks, then surely he'd best not start against his former club tomorrow. We realise we'd miss his silken skills, but we did manage two goals last week against Linfield, when he didn't come out for the 2nd half. We also missed two 'sitters'and we're left wondering when Cutch is going to start delivering his promise of goals when he signed. Gibbo, a low key signing, has been a revelation and looks set to carve his name in United history along with the best of them. It was nice to see 'Sparky' back among the goals last week too, although we doubt he knew much about his 2nd effort.

With Gavin Taggart and Andy Smith, both fit again, will manager Walker give them starting slots tomorrow? Surely even Roy would be reluctant to bite into his prime eleven in such a fashion. But of course it may be a matter of tactics, or 'horses for courses' as seems to be the in-phrase at present, after studying recent reports on Glenavon's exploits. The visitors have shipped a lot of goals this term and we have missed a lot of sitters and these wil be the deciding factors in tomorrow's game we think. Manager Walker also hinted that he might 'rest' Dwayne Nelson, with Ryan Brown now recovered from injury, that also might be a bold move? Tomorrow's game could go a long way to defining our season and it'd be nice going to New Grovesnor on Tuesday night a place above the Whites and in order to do that a win tomorrow is a must. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Mourneviewers!

Fluffy Landing!

2010-10-29T23:55:00.002+01:00

The league champions come to town tomorrow no doubt hoping for a repeat of the goal glut they inflicted on Kilmore Rec in the County Antrim shield on Wednesday past. We at 'Sport can tell the 'fat controller' and his overpaid stars, there will be no 'fluffy landing' for them at the Showgrounds tomorrow. We are on a roll, they have had a couple of easy passages lately and sandwiched in between a wee blip last week down at Newry, while the Sky Blues have had to battle for every precious point. That we believe will be the difference between the two teams tomorrow, the Blues will think, maybe even believe, they can take us tomorrow with consummate ease, we on the other hand know it will be a battle from start to finish.

United manager Roy Walker has been quiet on the likely make-up of his team, but barring injuries we expect United to start with their most cohesive unit. That will mean a place on the bench for Andy Smith, as United's strike-force of the terrible twins, Cutch and Gibbo, with 10 goals between them in all competitions will surely get the nod. The midfield four of, Mikey (Smith), Nathan, Gazza and Eamon, would be hard to displace, while we expect the fullbacks to be Sparky and Archie, which means Lee Colligan will have to wait to play his 90th game in a Sky Blue shirt. Then there's the two men who have been our 'man of the match' in our last 2 games, the veteran Albert and his young apprentice Denver. These two guys backed up by Dwayne in goals are the vital cogs in our defensive machine, another top class performance from them tomorrow and victory will surely be ours.

Linfield will of course have other ideas and we had hoped for a strong referee, but if that wasn't possible, then a fair one. The referee on this occasion is Antrim official Alan Black, who needs no introduction to United fans. We had two really bad experiences of him last season, but in his one and only game this season, we had little cause for complaint, so fingers crossed, maybe tomorrow he'll be as irrelevant, as referees should be. Tomorrow sees the first corporate dinner of this season and it should ensure a good turn out of 'home' fans, while the visitors could maybe partially fill our newly refurbished Warden Street stand, but filling the 2,200 seats is maybe beyond even Linfield. All in all it should augur well for a good atmosphere and with a bit of luck and a lot of skill the right result. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Donegal Road ewes!

Heroes Return!

2010-10-22T22:56:00.002+01:00

Someone remarked to us the other week that we had loads of ex-players plying their trade with other Irish league clubs. This is of course true, but we're sure the same could be said of most clubs in this day and age, when players can move so freely between clubs. It's fairly prevalent in the Premier league, but even more so in the first division. Take tomorrow's opponents, first division club Ards, whom we meet in the C.I.S. cup. They have four former United players in their line-up and their manager, Justin McBride, is a former player also. It's fair to say, we believe, that the player most fondly remembered by United supporters will be midfielder Darren Lockhart. The big man was a star in our midfield during his spell here and when he decided this season that he wanted an easier passage, it was a disappointment to us all.

Of the rest the one to make the biggest impression, in our opinion, was goalkeeper Aaron Kerr, as neither Mark Picking nor Fitzy (Darren Fitzgerald), realised anywhere near their full potential in a United shirt. The term flattered to deceive is the one that springs to mind when considering, not only these two players, but many others who have donned the United jersey over the years. That's not to say that they will give us an easy passage tomorrow, far from it we imagine, in short they will be out to show that they still have something to offer and we'd best be on our guard, or things could get very embarrassing. With Andy Smith and Ryan Berry coming through a reserve game unscathed, both may make tomorrow's panel, but we still expect Roy to pick his strongest starting eleven.

This in turn should entail that Albert Watson plays his 31st league cup game in a United shirt, beating Nigel Boyd's long standing 30 game record in the process. In the previous round United accounted for Banbridge Town and manager Walker picked a strong team for that game and we expect nothing less from him tomorrow. Our four top marksmen, Cutch (5), Gibbo (4), Murray (4)and Hanly (3)will need to be on top of their form if we are to progress to the next round of this money-spinning competition. It's unlikely that Walker, barring injuries, will tamper too much with his selection, as the team almost picks itself, but he may want to tweak things just a wee bit. Whatever team he picks, they will have to do the business, Ards will see to that, so we need to be up for it from the start. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Scrabo Towerians!

Rory Crocked!

2010-10-15T23:30:00.002+01:00

Rory Carson is the latest player to join the injured list at the Showgrounds and it seems it's quite serious as his injured knee requires a scan. Manager Roy Walker must be at his wits end as it seems as if just when he gets someone fit, somebody else gets injured. Ryan Brown has returned to training, but is still some time away from a return to full fitness, while Andy Smith will have his groin injury scanned this week. The United team will show little change from last week, when we overcame Donegal Celtic, as Gavin Taggart is suspended, but still injured at any rate. This game is the first of four in a row, which will go a long way to defining our season. At the moment we're in joint 4th, but a win tomorrow coupled by other results could see us jump to joint 3rd, so it's a vital game for us.

Portadown will want to try and upset our apple-cart, as our 'home form' has not been good to put it mildly, but surely Roy will have figured out the problem, whatever it is. Our defensive formation will need to be on their toes as the Ports forwards are not renowned for their niceties and are usually quite a handful and not adverse to 'roughing' the goalkeeper if the chance arises. At the other end the United forwards could have a field day as the Ports defence has been shipping a few goals and United's strike force of Murray, Cutch and Gibbo, should be too hot to handle. The game is there to be won, but have we the 'balls' to go out and win it? That as they say is the $64,000 question, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Apple Pickers!

Simples Plan!

2010-10-08T16:23:00.005+01:00

United go into tomorrow's match against D.C. at Suffolk, in West Belfast, trying to limit the damage inflicted upon them in their last 3 games. Three games in which they only gained one point and a 'lucky' one at that. If Justice had been done (we know it rarely is in football), we would have got what we deserved in the three games, nothing. So it's even more important to get a point at worst tomorrow, as we have three home games in succession and with our unenviable home record. one win, one draw and 3 losses so far this season, there is no such thing as home comfort. Will our manager tweak our defensive formation a wee bit, as Denver and Archie have both struggled, lately or will he give them both another chance.

The midfield that performed so well against the Glens, appears to have lost it's touch and may also need a bit of a tweak, but in the absence of Berry and Taggart, the under-performing Hanly and Carson may keep their places. Team Captain Gazza, one of the few decent performers on Tuesday night, should surely retain his place, while Mo McDowell, showed enough in his subs appearance to merit a start. In the absence of Mackers, on-loan to Portstewart, our striking options are somewhat limited, but if Roy wants to tweak things, why not give Cutch a place on the bench and try Sparky and Gibbo to see if they can form a partnership. We have nothing to lose as the goals have dried up for the Cutch lately.

The last meeting between ourselves and D.C. resulted in a heavy defeat for us and proved the old saying 'that every cloud has a silver lining'. The 'silver lining' in this instance being us dropping,for the most part anyway, our attempts to play football out of defence, as on that occasion we were punished severely for it. Admittedly the thump it up and hope somebody gets it ploy, which so typifies our local game, isn't pretty to watch, but it's a lot less frustrating than watching your team being punished as they attempt to play football out of defence. Football is a simple game, take as few risks as possible, keep it tight at the back and never allow any crosses into the box if you can stop them. In attack one pass can be more telling than six, in other words the more shots you get on goal, the more goals you can score. Listen to the Meerkats, it's 'simples'! Come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Suffolk's and come on Norn Iron, lets shag those Azzurri!

White Knight!

2010-10-04T23:24:00.002+01:00

Tomorrow night sees the return of the white knight, Tommy, never ever, Wright right. Our former manager, who promised us plenty but in the end 'scurried' off with his tail between his legs. He has revitalised the Whites it's fair to say, saving them from relegation last season when their situation looked impossible and then taking them into joint 4th this term with ourselves and Cliftonville. But we know Tommy of old, we know that when the 'chips' are down, he'll be found wanting again. That of course doesn't mean we can dismiss him and his team tomorrow night. On the contrary, he and the armada of ex-United players he has acquired, will be looking to lower our colours and no mistake. With that in mind United will need to be fully focused to the task in hand and will need to shrug off the lethargy which has crept into their last 2 performances.

Barring injuries, of which we know nothing, we expect the United line-up to be similar to Saturday past. Hopefully Carson will move back to wide right, Hanly will go inside and Gazza will at least warrant a place on the bench, if not a starting role. Surely when faced by arguably still one of the top strikers in the league, Spike Ferguson, it would only be sensible to have a stalwart like Gazza, at worst, waiting in the wings. Our strikers need to get back to scoring goals too, it's all very well playing in midfielders, but we need goals as well and that's a fact. Eamon Murray is hot at the moment, but he can't do it all on his own, so Cutch and Gibbo, it's time to stand up and be counted.

Our defence has gone back to the bad old ways and if they think they were punished for allowing two crosses to come in, in their last two games, all we can say is, you ain't seen nothing yet. Spike built his reputation on putting away crosses and he will relish playing against a benevolent defence like ours. Of course our new team coach may have sorted this particular malaise out, but somehow we doubt it, as it's been part and parcel of our make-up for too long. A win tomorrow night could see us into 4th place on our own, a false position we realise, but something to build on as we play our 11th game, only 22 games to go before the 'split'. A win of course would also set us up very nicely for our trip to Suffolk on Saturday, to face the D.C., hoping lightning doesn't strike twice. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those White Boys (Non-racist comment)!

Roaring Back!

2010-10-01T23:29:00.002+01:00

Expect Rory Carson to come back into the United starting line-up tomorrow at the expense of Mo, as his industry was sadly missed at Coleraine last Saturday. United manager Roy Walker has hinted at other changes, which could mean a recall for team Captain Gazza after the inept display by our central defenders against Paul Brown last week. Tomorrow's opponents Dungannon Swifts, have a similar striker at their disposal in Timmy Adamson, who definitely needs no introduction to United defender Albert Watson. Adamson needs to be hit early and often, as he is a constant thorn in the flesh and he usually gets away with 'blue murder'. Tomorrow's referee, Keith Halliday will need to keep a close eye on Timmy's flailing elbows, but we can expect nothing from the incompetent Crangle who will be the 4th official.

Walker wouldn't be drawn on whether he would rest Gibbo after his poor performance against his former club, Coleraine, but we expect it all hinges on the fitness or otherwise, of the versatile Sparky. United's utility player was suffering from chest pains at Coleraine last week and even though he played the whole 90 minutes for the reserves on Tuesday night he may not be risked tomorrow, unless Walker is 100% sure of his fitness. With Mackers out of favour, it may mean a place on the bench for recent recruit Chris Dowie, who scored twice for the reserves in the same match. George Young and Lee Colligan also got a match under their belts and played a vital part in United's 2nd string's victory over Cliftonville Olympic.

On the downside, Ryan Berry picked up another injury, which may delay his return to first team action, while Andy Smith's return is still a couple of weeks away yet. We would have liked to have asked the United manager, the big question, which is. If Andy was fit, would he come into the reckoning for United's home game against Portadown in two weeks time, somehow we doubt it. But we digress, onto tomorrow's game and for once it's not us that's in the 'smelly stuff' but our opponents. Of course if they were to stay in that position and be relegated, we wouldn't shed a tear, as we know them for the bunch of lying, snivelling dogs that they are. If there's any justice in this world, which we doubt, three points will surely be ours come 16-50 tomorrow. Our new stand will hopefully be open and it'll surely show up the paltry support of our visitors, who will be lost in it's magnitude. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those boys from the 'green hills', in fact let's put them to the sword!

Scum Drum!

2010-09-24T20:42:00.003+01:00

United go into the first derby game of the season with the realisation that three points will put them into 2nd place in the Premier table. These heady heights would have been unthinkable after United suffered an embarrassing 4-0 home defeat to Donegal Celtic, in only their 2nd league game of the season. But with wins over Ports. Glenavon and Newry City, before outclassing league leaders Glentoran, despite the efforts of referee Davey Malcolm, we have moved into joint 2nd place with Linfield. Linfield and Glens don't play tomorrow and so a win will move the Sky Blues into 2nd on their own at least for a couple of days anyway. That of course is not to say that a win tomorrow is a foregone conclusion, it is a derby after all and form tends to go out the window on these occasions, but all things considered we believe we've got too much firepower for the Bannsiders.

We have no idea what Roy's thinking may be on his team selection, as both goalscorers, Murray and Gibson were substituted in the Glens game and it's not apparent if they were injured. But as he rightly says it's a matter of 'horses for courses' anyway and he may want to tweak things a little bit. Barring injuries, we expect the back four of Mike, Albert, Denver and Archie to be certain of selection, while if fit, Murray, Hanly and Taggart, with one or two others, as Roy sees fit, will fill the midfield area. In the absence of Carson, serving an automatic one game ban, could Ryan Berry make his comeback, or will the wily Walker, give Mo McDowell his first taste of a Derby game. The strikers, both bang on form, again if fit, pick themselves. Dwayne Nelson, despite his gaffe of gifting the Glens an undesrved goal on Tuesday night is the best man to have between the sticks and will no doubt get the nod tomorrow.

Not to dwell too much on last Tuesday's result, but it's quite ironic that referee Davey Malcolm booked 8 United players, Carson was booked twice, which resulted in him being sent off and he also sent our manager off at halftime, while only booking one home player and they were feigning injury from the word go. Also it should be noted that Davey was possibly getting his own back on Carson, for his gaffe in not bringing the physio on at Mourneview when Carson was clearly suffering from concussion. We at 'Sport thought that was the lowest that Davey could come, obviously we were well wide of the truth and he had quite a few more tricks up his gigantic sleeve. Hopefully we won't have him officiate at one of our games for a wee while but knowing the I.F.A. anything's possible.

Sky Blue Sport's Bruce Balmer will miss tomorrows game and we may have no match report, although we're hopeful someone will step into the breech. Bruce says he's boycotting tomorrows game as United were fined for a bottle throwing incidrnt on our last visit to the Coleraine slum, while scum keeper, Davey 'fat' O'Hare, who goaded United fans wasn't even censored. Noble as this may sound the rest of the 'Sports team don't believe a word of it and we are convinced that Bruce like us all is just doing as he's told, that as they say is how the cookie crumbles. But we digress, this is just the first instalment of what we hope will be a profitable rivalry, as we're guaranteed two home games, including 'Boxing Day' against the Coleraine scum. So it's all systems go for three points, let's drum the scum into the ground, so come on United, let's shag those Coleraine ewes!

Red Rory!

2010-09-20T23:43:00.002+01:00

United pay a visit to league leaders Glentoran tomorrow night and it'll be a chance for our recent recruits to gauge themselves against the top team in the country at the moment. The Glens have been scoring goals for fun and the United defence will have to be at their best if they are to thwart, Matty Burrows and Daryl Fordyce, who shared five goals as the Glens swept aside 2nd division side Queens Uni in the C.I.S. cup on Saturday. It'll be a good test for United central defender Denver Gage, in the Oval cauldron, where mistakes are much magnified. But young Gage has so far demonstrated that he is hard to faze as he continues to make himself an automatic selection in United's rearguard.

Will United manager Roy Walker, continue with the midfield formation he unveiled last Saturday, which pitted Gazza alongside the 'wonder boy', Rory Carson? In fact it's hard to know if he'll continue with the same 4,4,2 formation or change to the more defensive minded 4,5,1 which worked so well against Portadown. Whatever selection the 'wily' Walker comes up with, they will have to perform with the highest quality if United are to take anything from tomorrow night's game. The wide spaces at the Oval will be in massive contrast to the narrow confines of Crystal Park, Banbridge, but that's what football is all about, adapting to the different conditions and still getting your act together.

The man in the middle, Davey Malcolm, is not famous for giving us much and does have a tendency to lean towards the home side, so we can expect a few biased decisions. With that in mind tackling will have to be crisp and fair especially in the last third of the pitch as free kicks in that area can be costly. Hopefully Davey won't ask any more of our players to continue with head injuries, as he did when we played Glenavon, though a similar result will do very nicely. Sammy Patterson has been 'raving' about the conditions at Crystal Park in his latest edition of 'Away View' and no doubt we'll see a major contrast at the Oval tomorrow night. No matter what conditions are though, we'll still be there, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those EastEnders!

Crystal Gazing!

2010-09-17T23:32:00.002+01:00

As we gaze into our crystal (hang on a minute), we just realised we were going to commit the biggest 'gaffe' of all time by uttering the immortal word, 'balls'! This is the unforgivable, this word despite being the name for the receptacle we love to see being booted around a football pitch, is really taboo in general parlance. Many phrases using the word ball or balls 'are' acceptable, but we men refuse to admit to gazing into or at any balls, at any time. Enough on the subject of balls, let's get down to the specifics of football as we know it. Tomorrow United make their first ever competitive journey to Crystal Park, Banbridge, to play the locals in the C.I.S. cup. This will not be an easy task and we need to field our strongest team in this knock-out competition, if we are to progress to the next stage.

This game will not be about style, it'll not be about skill, it'll be about whoever has the 'balls' (there's that word again), to go out and take the game by the 'scuff' of the neck and win it, a classic it will not be. That's not to say good football won't be possible, it just won't be the most important part of the programme. Tomorrow, from our point of view, is about winning, if we can achieve that early on, then there's no reason why we can't turn on the style, but the victory is of paramount importance. With that in mind we expect Roy to field his strongest starting eleven, which we think means no place for Gavin Taggart. His replacement last Saturday, Rory Carson, must surely get the nod tomorrow.

The rest of the team, barring injuries, almost picks itself, although there may be a case for bringing back Lee Colligan if fit, as Archie continues to struggle on the left flank. Mackers will hopefully at last get his place on the bench, which would give us more options if needed and also hopefully we've sorted out who's going to take any future penalties after last week's feeble efforts, but don't bank on it. Speaking of 'bank', we fervently hope that the good news about our season ticket sales bringing in much needed revenue of £20,000 (roughly a guaranteed £1,000 for every home league game), the board won't go overboard on the wage issue and keep within the proposed structure already in place. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Crystal gazers!

Home Comforts!

2010-09-10T23:13:00.002+01:00

Surely it must be time for United to be enjoying some home comforts, instead of dreading playing at home, but really looking forward to playing in front of their home crowd. Admittedly the home fans are a little quiet at the moment, but we believe it's because they've had so many disappointments, they are afraid to be too vociferous, just in case they put the boys under too much pressure. On chances alone on Tuesday past we should've won the game, but we failed miserably in front of goal, while at the other end we 'messed' up allowing them to score a soft goal. With that in mind maybe it's time we began playing at home as if it was an away cup-tie, you know what we mean, make sure we don't concede and try to hit on the break.

We realise this won't be very entertaining, but needs must, we just cannot go on leaking goals at home against teams we are capable of beating. Our record against tomorrow's opponents Newry City, is none too hot, though we did manage to avoid defeat against them back in February and a similar result tomorrow though not ideal, would be better than a defeat. Tomorrow is our fourth home game this season and already we've lost two and drawn one, another defeat is unthinkable, but not inevitable. Maybe a 5,4,1 formation tomorrow would be a good way to go about things, a strong defence and a quick breaking attack, this could be our recipe for success at home. Roy of course may have other ideas, but then so had Marty Tabb and look what happened to him!

On our day we are capable of beating anybody, but our defence is suspect and late collapses have been all too prevalent and need to be stopped. Our attack without Gibbo was pretty punchless on Tuesday night, so why wasn't Mackers (James McLaughlin), at least on the bench? How long is Roy going to keep him under wraps? We needed him on Tuesday, but he didn't even make the panel. If he's not getting his chance he'll soon become disillusioned, drop back into junior football and maybe come back to haunt us in a couple of seasons when somebody can manage him and make the best use of his unquestioned ability in front of goals. By heck it's hard to enthusiastic, but we must try, so come on Sky Blues, lets shag those Marshies!

Shield Yield!

2010-09-06T22:48:00.002+01:00

Tomorrow night sees the quest for a trophy begin in earnest when United entertain the hatchet men (Crusaders), in the first round/Quarter-final, of the County Antrim Shield. This is probably our best hope of stopping the trophy famine which is entering it's 21st year. Admittedly it won't be easy as the Shore Road men are the holders of the trophy and in any case matches between us are usually pretty much, nip and tuck. Maybe after our last gasp defeat to them at Seaview last Tuesday, we will get the breaks this time. But don't count on it, football by it's very nature, is an unpredictable sport and tomorrow night's game definitely falls into that category.

United manager Roy Walker has promised to field his strongest eleven and as this is our best hope of winning a trophy, we expect nothing less. This means that Cutch will journey over from Scotland tomorrow afternoon and can hopefully add to his impressive goal tally (4 goals already),in tomorrow night's game, which will be played to a finish. We expect the rest of the team to line-up as on Saturday, barring any injuries, sustained against the Reds, which in such a brutal game could only be expected. Referee Burns gave us practically no protection last Saturday, but hopefully we'll have a good strong official in charge tomorrow night.

The Sky Blues have a chance to gain some revenge for our last minute 'mugging' on the plastic pitch at Seaview last Tuesday, when a mishit shot by Coates cancelled out Cutch's early goal, before Jordan Owen, notched an even later winner, which left a bad taste in the mouth. United will need to come out strong and to stay strong, there will be no call for 'namby pamby' football, just good hard graft and oodles of skill. If we apply ourselves to the task, there's no reason why we can't win, if we are found wanting, the quest will go on. As Gazza likes to say in his Blog, 'United we stand, divided we fall', so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those paper tigers!

United Front!

2010-09-03T22:31:00.002+01:00

United must try to return to winning ways, when Chickenville come to town, for what may be their only visit this season, depending on the 'split' later at the end of March 2011. Both managers will want their teams to recover after both were defeated on Tuesday night, Chickenville at the Oval and United at Seaview. But United also need to recover after their last cock-eyed performance at home, when Donegal Celtic were the visitors. That was one of the worst results witnessed at the Warden Street venue for many's a day. In fact United were so inept that day, that they bore no resemblance to the team that have played 4 games away from home and collected 7 points. Not people to give in to superstition, it's ironic that our two defeats have occurred when we have been wearing our beloved Sky Blue rig.

What tactics will United manager Roy Walker employ tomorrow, does he stick with his 4,4,2 formation which came so close to delivering the 'goods' last Tuesday night, or revert to his tried and trusted 4,5,1 formation that gave us two wins in a row? Decisions, decisions, decisions, who would ever try to second guess a manager, especially one like Roy Walker, who at times just appears to do the opposite of what is expected of him. Rory Carson and Nathan Handley will most likely make their home debuts and Gibbo could also get the nod, while Mackers must surely be pushing for a start after scoring 7 goals for the reserves so far this season.

Whatever line-up the wily Walker comes up with tomorrow, one thing's for sure, they'll need to come out with all guns blazing, as the visitors will want to dictate the pace of the game and we simply cannot allow that. Anything short of a 2-0 victory tomorrow and questions will inadvertently be asked about Roy's long term future as Sky Blue manager. As he is wont to say, United we stand and it's definitely time for us to stand up and be counted. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those slum dwelling Ballysillianites!

Rock On!

2010-08-30T19:55:00.004+01:00

This is the only advice we feel is appropriate for tomorrow night's game away to Crusaders at Seaview, kick-off 19-45. As for team news, we don't have a baldy, but then what else is new. Rory Carson must be rated as doubtful after coming off at halftime in our last match at Mourneview Park, with suspected concussion. It was disappointing to see such a promising debut brought to an end in such a manner and what was even worse was the attitude of referee Davey Malcolm to the players obvious distress. Surely United officials should complain about the referee's non-caring attitude to our player in this instance, he showed an utterly callous disregard for our player's weelbeing..

But enough about referee's shortcomings, they are after all many and varied, but onto more important things. This will be only United's second game on Seaview's artifical surface and it's a surface they will need to get used to as Chickenville are installing a similar surface on their ground as well. As we seem to have abandoned our play from the back policy at the moment we should do quite well as it'ds only when you attempt to play football that the trouble begins on this type of surface. We assume Roy will continue with his five man midfield in the first half and then bring on Gibbo at halftime.

So far this formula has worked well for us in our last two games and it's not as negative as it appears and it reminds us of the old Alan Fraser system that was such a success for a short time with Barry Patton leading the line. Of course we had some willing midfielders in that team, Peter Murray and Phillip Knell being two of them. We wonder if Mo (McDowell) and Nathan (Hanley), will be soon spoken of in the same breath as these two great players. That team system was broken when we foolishly signed Glenn Hunter and things then went from bad to worse. Hopefully we won't make the same mistake again, but it's early days yet. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those tame tigers!

Lion Tamers!

2010-08-26T23:12:00.004+01:00

United make a return trip to County Armagh tomorrow night for match number four against Glenavon at Mourneview Park, kick-off 19-45. This game should've been played at Ballymena Showgrounds tonight, Thurs, but a F.I.F.A. ruling about matches on a Thursday means games (other than European games), are a non-starter. So it's all go for tomorrow night and despite 'rumblings' in the press we doubt there will be many changes to last Saturday's starting eleven.

Manger Walker, could of course do worse than begin with the 11 players who took the field in the 2nd period of last Saturday's game. The link-up play between Gibbo and Cutch, augured well for the future and proved that an impressive understanding has built-up between them already and hopefully a rich seam of goals lies in store for future United games. Rory Carson has been mentioned in dispatches, but we at 'Sport expect him to keep the bench warm for at least an hour of tomorrow's game.

United go into the 'Lion's den' tomorrow with their strongest line-up of late, with only two players not expected to report fit. Andy Smith, 'mark our words', will report fit for tomorrow's game and manager Walker will hopefully come to the correct conclusion as regards 'his star' striker's role. The odds are staked against us, but as they say, 'hope springs eternal', so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those non-marchers!

Rory Hanley!

2010-08-20T23:55:00.003+01:00

No this isn't bad grammar (admittedly we are guilty of that at times), it's merely the name of the two new signing's who should make their début for United at Shamrock Park, against Portadown tomorrow. Of course we could've had another headline, like Nathan Carson, but we thought not. Hanley, a left sided midfielder, is the latest player to join the Sky Blues (Carson's signature has been expected for weeks)and gives Walker and his team yet another left-sided option. After last Saturday's debacle, we at 'Sport are anticipating major changes especially in defence where no-one emerged with any credit. With Sparky back from suspension, Mike Smith should be 'rested', alongside Albert and Colly. The only player in the back four who emerged with any credit last week was Archie and he should probably keep his place.

This would mean a start for Denver Gauge, with Gazza dropping back to partner him, while Rory Carson should make his début in centre midfield partnering Eamon Murray. With Mo on the right-side and Hanley on the left, it only leaves the striking partnership to be sorted out. Surely it's time we had a look at Dicky Gibson, while Mackers showed enough in his subs appearance last week to merit selection from the start. With the Cutch and Andy 'the headless chicken' Smith, showing little last week, surely a place on the bench is all they can merit.

In an interesting footnote last week a certain David Cushley scored the winner for Lisburn Distillery at Seaview (well Tommy Wright did once dub him the best young player in Ireland and then bluntly refused to let him do his own thing), while Sean O'Neill (Oggers), had a match-winning performance in goal for Dungannon Swifts at home to Linfield. Stephen Alexander in The Ballymena Times (B.T.), said that last Saturday's result was almost as bad as the loss to Kilnore Rec. during the reign of Kenny Shiels. We at 'Sport think you're way off the mark there Stephen, as actually in our opinion last Saturday's was a much worse result.

Not to make excuses for Kenny Shiels, but in the end he merely underestimated Kilmore, by fielding a weakened team. Last week we had out the eleven heroes who went to Windsor Park and fought a gallant draw against the reigning champions. This same starting eleven flopped miserably against newly promoted Donegal Celtic. Four nil was quite a drubbing, but we all know it could and should've been a lot worse. We were outfought and worse still out-thought. When our team came out for the 2nd half, we had made one substitution, but our tactics were still the same and of course we paid the ultimate penalty, a deserved 4 nil drubbing. Enough is enough, a vast improvement is required over the next 3 games, all away from home. Otherwise a bleak future awaits us all. No final punchline form us this week, we just expect some honest endeavour, with that anything is possible!

Walker's Warning!

2010-08-13T23:24:00.002+01:00

United manager Roy Walker has told his boys that their draw at Windsor Park last Saturday against league champions Linfield, set the standard for the remaining matches this season. What the man means is, last Saturday's effort will have been for nothing, if they don't consolidate it with a win, when they meet newly promoted Donegal Celtic at the Showgrounds tomorrow. United should be at full strength with Murray and Berry deemed fit enough to make their home débuts. This will be United's only home Saturday fixture in August, as their game against Glenavon, scheduled for August 28 will be played on Thursday August 26.

Tomorrow's opponents suffered a home defeat last week and will no doubt want get a result against the Sky Blues and avoid falling further behind early pace-setters, Glenavon, who ground out a one nil win at home to Portadown tonight. Newly appointed manager, Marty Tabb, was a great battler during his playing days and will no doubt have his boys all fired up for this game. With every man expected to be fit Roy Walker, will have to decide, who to leave out of his 14 man panel, rather than being restricted as to whom he can has fit for selection.

With the United forwards shooting blanks against Linfield last week, it will be interesting to see which player has his scoring boots on tomorrow. This is a game we have to win, it's not that vital as far as points go, but it will tell us if we are still carrying our hang-up of the last few season (our ineptitude against lower placed teams), or if we have definitely laid that statistic to rest. If we could, we at 'Sport believe it just might give us the incentive to go on to bigger and better things. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those westies!

Seeing Red!

2010-08-06T23:04:00.002+01:00

No this isn't a description of the embarrassment felt at Windsor Avenue following the news that Raymond 'I put my foot in my mouth every time I open it', Kennedy, has decided to not resign after all. Neither is it that United fans will be seeing red at being herded into the Spion Kop stand at Windsor for tomorrow's opening league encounter against league champions Linfield. It will be because United will be donning their new away red strip, instead of their customary Sky Blue. We at 'Sport will still refer to them as the Sky Blues, we are after all 'dyed in the wool' United fans.

What the make-up of tomorrow's team will be is anybody's guess as at least four first team players seem set to be missing. Sparky is definitely missing as he serves a two game suspension, while local boy Mo McDowell (pronounced Mac Doughall), is still carrying a groin injury. Defensive stalwart Albert Watson is struggling with a facial injury and striker Andy Smith is extremely doubtful too. This may mean a version of little and large leading our forward line aka Gibson and McCutcheon. Also making their competitive débuts tomorrow will be goalkeeper Robert Brown and midfielders Ryan Berry and Eamon Murray.

Local boy Denver Gage could also get the call-up if manager Walker is averse to having three principally left-footed players in defence, namely Gazza, Archie and Colly. Would the manager be bold enough we wonder, to give a start to Mike Smith mark 2 on the left, in the absence of the versatile 'I can play anywhere' Sparky. Tomorrow will probably be a damage limitation exercise and Walker would probably settle for a narrow defeat 2-1, 3-1 or be over the moon with a hard fought draw.
We on the other hand see things a lot differently, Linfield are expected to brush us aside and for that reason there is a just a little bit of extra pressure on them.

Also it'll either be Alan Blaney or 'Alice' Addis in goals for them and we have first hand experience of both their shortcomings. On the downside the referee appointed is Richard Crangle and we have good reason to remember his biased nature at work and a strong character like the bigoted David Jeffrey could surely sway Crangle into making decisions in the home team's favour. But let's not get paranoid, it's the first game of the new season, hopefully fair play isn't just a pipe dream, so come on Sky Blues (Reds), let's shag those village idiots!

Summer News (1)!

2010-05-07T23:27:00.002+01:00

This is the first of what we hope will be many editions of summer news during this close season. Omar, who had intimated that he was retiring this year from the 'Sports team, has been persuaded (well to tell the truth he's been threatened by various folk), to carry on, at least on a part-time basis. The big news is of course that our manager has released a big handful of players and begun to recruit one or two as well. Richard Gibson, a striker, formerly with our dear neighbours from Ballycastle Road (Coleraine scum), has signed a one year deal, while Archie Stewart has penned a one year extension to his contract as well. Now we'll just have to wait and see who follows suit.

No doubt our manager would like to be in a position to bid for Glentoran striker Andy Waterworth, whom Tommy Wright allegedly passed up the chance of signing, during his tenure of management at Warden Street. If he's also interested in Kyle Neil a gifted left-side player, he hasn't indicated, but he will probably go back to mid-Ulster, where the pickings appear to be sweeter (apples we're told). Michael Halliday has been approached by the United manager, but Marty Quinn has been linked to him too and if it's just money he's after, it's doubtful if we can compete with those big spenders. This has already been emphasised when Crusaders player Aaron Black opted to sign for the cash strapped Coleraine scum instead of United.

This makes us wonder just how dire our financial situation is when we can't compete with the likes of Coleraine, no doubt all will be revealed at the forthcoming shareholders meeting, we hope. The will he won't he sign has been round Albert Watson's neck all season as he ponders the wisdom of moving on or staying with United for another year. Our gut feeling is that Albert will leave, taking the view that a 'bird in the had is worth two in the bush' or in plain Norn Iron speak, take the mid-Ulster money, instead of the chancy testimonial money in this his benefit year at the Showgrounds. Albert has been a loyal servant at the Showgrounds and owes us nothing, so we wish him well whatever his decision. That's all for now folks, remember the old adage, the only good Coleraine supporter is, what are we saying, everybody knows there's no such thing as a 'good' Coleraine supporter!

Final Countdown!

2010-04-30T23:48:00.003+01:00

Here we are, we started the season so full of optimism, but as is usual we have flattered to deceive. We promise so much, but deliver so little, so much so that it's a wonder we have any fans left. The will he wont he saga about Kevin Kelbie refuses to go away and it will be interesting to see if United manager Roy Walker, selects United's leading goalscorer for tomorrow's game away to Glenavon at Mourneview Park, Lurgan. It would be understandable if our manager omitted King Kevin from his starting line-up, but maybe he will select him in a bid to secure a win and therefore the 3 points which could vault us back up to eight position.

Even if by a late reconciliation, Kevin decided to tie himself to United for another season, I believe a reliable striker is a must find for the wily Walker, while a tough central defender would also be a great asset, in fact we actually need to recruit a new spine for the team as central midfield also needs strengthening. If perchance a new keeper was available, he would be a mug not to snap him up also and release one or even both his current charges. I have no words of wisdom to impart to Roy, either for the future or for tomorrow, all I can do is issue the rallying call, so for the final time this season, come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Lurgan boys!

Last Homer!

2010-04-23T23:43:00.002+01:00

As United approach their last home game, free from the threat of relegation, we wonder if there is any motivation in them to deliver a win against the Whites. There should be plenty as a win would at worst keep them in touch with the team in 8th place, Glenavon and a victory against them in the final league match next Saturday would see us replacing them in eighth place. It would be hard for them to produce as lack lustre a performance as they did against Newry last Tuesday night, but stranger things have happened.

We must assume that we are committed to bringing Gary Muir over for games as on his present form he's not worth his place in the team and definitely not worth his air fare either. United manager Roy Walker does seem to be struck by him, or does he feel obliged to play him also, given the fact that we have flown him in specially. For whatever reason Muir appears to be a fixture of the team, while Cushley and McConnell, have no chance of getting a start. Obviously they don't figure in Roy's plans for next season and we think he may live to regret releasing them to be picked up by someone who can bring the best out of them.

With Sparky serving an automatic one game ban following his sending off at Newry, there should be a place for McConnell alongside Kelbie, with Andy Smith still missing with a gashed shin, or will Roy opt for his favourite ploy of playing with a 4, 5, 1 formation, which in turn delivers sweet fanny Adams. One things for sure, changes will have to be made, as we cannot continue with this devil-may-care attitude as it tends to drive fans away and doesn't reward the die-hard supporters with any due thanks. Hopefully the boys will be fully focused for what may prove to be the last home game for some of our panel. So for them for the last time all we gotta say is, 'come on sky blues, let's shag those lily whites'!

Travelling Light!

2010-04-19T23:39:00.003+01:00

After having four players removed from the team due to injury on Saturday and at least one other soldering on while not 100% fit, we imagine the Sky Blues may be a little light on players tomorrow night. Added to that is the fact that reserve striker Mackers, has begun a two match suspension and United may be down to the bare bones tomorrow night. With doubts hanging over our two Scottish players, re-transport, just what sort of line-up United will have is hard to estimate. Things are so bad that Omar is threatening to resurrect his rowing boat in an attempt to get Kelbie and Muir over for tomorrow night's game.

While we don't quite think that will be really necessary, as, if flights are still grounded, ferry transport would be possible, it nevertheless is a grave situation we find ourselves in. Thankfully we gathered 3 points on Saturday past and that just might give us some breathing space. If we can somehow scrape together a team for tomorrow night's game and sneak a win, then that will be like the great escape and our last two games will be even more meaningless. The benefit of our large panel of players should give us the ability to field a decent team, just not our first choice eleven players.

Newry are in a bit of a tight spot and will no doubt see us as a stepping stone to get them clear of the relegation trap-door and for that reason we'll need to be prepared for a battle. Hopefully referee Burns will not be in as lenient a mood as last Saturday's official, Crangle, was. At least two of the injuries affecting our players on Saturday were as a result of Crangle's leniency and another horror story at the Marshes would leave us in 'dire straits' for our last two games. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Carlingford Loughers!

Biggest Game!

2010-04-16T23:39:00.002+01:00

United play their biggest game of the season tomorrow when they entertain the 'Stute at the Showgrounds. A win would go a long way to securing Premiership football for next season, a draw would keep us well within the mix, whereas a defeat would start the alarm bells ringing. We'd do well to remember that Glenavon are safe and although pride is at stake in their game at home to Distillery tomorrow, a defeat would not be viewed as a disaster. Then there's United's trip to Newry on Tuesday night, where points have been hard to come by, before entertaining the Whites next Saturday.

So nothing easy on the horizon, but the time has come for the players who are 'really' committed to the cause, to lead by example tomorrow. On paper we should blow the 'Stute away tomorrow, we have too much fire-power for them, but then again games aren't won on paper, they're won on the pitch. And we haven't been doing that lately, so now would be a good time to get our act together. With no new suspensions this week, it'll just be a case of checking on the walking wounded, before selecting the team tomorrow.

Gary Muir should return after being ineligible for the cup last week and Kelbie should partner Andy Smith once more. But it's in midfield and defence where United have the problems and it's where this game will be won and lost tomorrow. Noel Anderson surely deserves a start tomorrow, as he came on as a sub last week and volunteered for the penalty duty also, a player with the right attitude. Otherwise the manager has quite a few permutations at his disposal and hopefully he'll come up with the right one on the day. So come on Sky Blue, let's shag those drummers from the Hoe!

Crunch Time!

2010-04-09T23:37:00.002+01:00

Since qualifying for the Irish cup semi-final, it's fair to say that United haven't been at their best. In the opinion of most fans, they had one eye on tomorrow's semi-final against Portadown. Now the big day has arrived and there's no more room for excuses, it's time to stand up and deliver. The record between the two clubs, this season tells us nothing. Portadown adherents may point out that they had two victories to our one, but believe it or not, past victories mean sweet Fanny Adams when the 'crunch' comes. It will be down to whoever performs on the day and even though the Ports have the experience, we hope that the hunger of our players will win the day.

People like Mike Smith, Lee Colligan and Archie Stewart, playing in their first Irish cup semi-final at such a tender age, could shape the rest of their careers in the years ahead. While the veterans like Locky, Andy Smith and Kevin 'the king' Kelbie can write their names in our sparse history books. As we don't know the make-up of the team it's hard to say if all of these six players will be on the team, but one man who 'is' a United veteran and still in his early twenties and 'is' certain to start, is Albert Watson. Albert, with over 260 appearances for the club, is the rock on which our team is built and the one thing that you can count on from Albert is 100% commitment to the cause.

Just who will partner Albert in defence is unknown, but if Sparky (Surgenor),is fit we at 'Sport expect him to get the nod, but then again Roy may have other ideas. If Sparky isn't fit the United manager can opt for two or three players in Archie, Gazza and Kit Ramsay. Another man who looks like an automatic choice given his form of late is midfielder Aiden Watson (no relation to Albert), whose tough tackling and defence splitting passes will be vital in tomorrow's game. Will the manager be bold and pick the Cush tomorrow in left-midfield? If we had to guess we'd say no and he's more likely to go with Archie at leftback and Colligan in the wide left position.

That was the surprise selection he used at Glenavon in the previous round of the cup and it worked, but will it work tomorrow? That as they say is the $64,000 question. Noel Anderson also played a vital role in those two games against Glenavon and he may get the nod tomorrow and in fact the team could only show one change from those two games, Albert instead of Gazza. Dwayne Nelson has the keeper's job tied down and he will be vital to us tomorrow and his leadership qualities will stand us in good stead, while Gavin Taggart looks set to return after serving his one match ban. The time for talking is over, it's time to stand up and be counted, so come on United, let's shag those apple pickers!

Walkers Dilemma!

2010-04-05T23:08:00.003+01:00

United manager Roy Walker is faced with a major dilemma for tomorrow night's derby at home to the Coleraine scum. Dare he pick his strongest side and risk the chance of some of them picking up injuries which would rule them out of Saturdays Irish cup semi-final? Or should he field a weakened team and risk the wrath of the Sky Blue following, who would find capitulation to the Coleraine scum hard to stomach. It is a decision only he can make and it's one we don't envy him, a real Hobson's choice. Is their any point in flying Gary Muir over for tomorrow's game also, as he is ineligible for the cup match?

Our manager may argue that at least he hasn't to worry about him getting injured and he's the sort of player needed for this type of game. On the plus side United's fringe players could get a rare start and one who will want to play is team Captain Gazza, who's out of favour at the moment. If Roy does go with a weaker selection, we'd expect Ogers to don the keeper's jersey, while Nathan McConnell could get a belated call-up to first team action. If Mackers is still about this would be an ideal start for him and Locky too could at last grace a Derby fixture, or is Roy holding him back for the semi? Kevin Kelbie, who came off injured last Saturday, should get a well earned rest as he's vital to our plans for next Saturday.

Maybe of course Roy will want to give his intended semi selection a run out tomorrow, but we at 'Sport believe it to be a risk too far, as these games tend to be real humdingers. In other words no quarter is asked or given and there should be a wee bit of atmosphere with both sets of fans in the one stand and in a holiday mood to boot. Another minus believe it or not is that 'fat' O'Hare is serving a suspension and we'll miss him as he's usually good for one or two gaffes against us. But as far as we fans are concerned, it's all systems go, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Coleraine lambs!

White Knight 2

2010-04-02T23:03:00.002+01:00

We have no news, for as far as we know the same team as that selected for duty last Tuesday night, will take the field in the rearranged game tomorrow, weather permitting. The weather is a very big factor, as the cup replay between Newry & Loughgal, scheduled for tonight was cancelled once more, so our game at Ballyskeagh might be in doubt also. As if the fixture headache wasn't bad enough, we now have a Setanta cup semi-final involving Linfield tomorrow, which along with the Scum/Ports game and the cup replay, means only one current league game being played.

As Omar said in his column this is 'organised confusion'. If, as looks likely, we have no match on Easter Tuesday, we will have three weeks to play our 5 remaining league games, before the official end of the season. This of course is an accident waiting to happen and if tomorrow's game falls foul of the weather, the situation will be exacerbated even further. So we are hoping for a dry night and knowing our weather is at best unpredictable, all we can hope for tomorrow is light April showers.

The three points on offer are more vital to the Whites, but as this is possibly our last game before the cup semi-final against the Ports in 8 days time, a good display is called for, to get us out of the rut we are in at present. Tomorrow is Easter Saturday, but surely all true Sky Blue fans will make the trip to Lambeg and cheer the wee team on. It's not the best venue by any means for watching a match, too wide open for one thing, but at least we can get close to the action, if it's not raining. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Lambeggars!

White Knight!

2010-03-29T23:52:00.002+01:00

United for the 2nd time this season come up against former manager Tommy Wright and his Lisburn Distillery side. A vast improvement on our last meeting is called for against the rejuvenated Whites, where Tommy has actually turned them around of late. Hard as this is to believe for United fans who watched the Ballyclare man splutter, while we drifted down the table, the facts nevertheless speak for themselves. A win for the Ballyskeagh team would almost certainly make them the team of the month and we wonder how the hell we can stop them.

A vast improvement on our last showing on Thursday past at Seaview is called for, where we were jammy to escape with a point. Hopefully Roy will have learned from his selective fiddling that it's not a good idea to play your top scorer on the wing and restore Kelbie to the main striking role. It's also to be hoped that he'll give Gary Muir his head and allow him to play his own game and maybe he can start to deliver some decent crosses. What the make-up of our team will be is anybody's guess, will Locky get the chance to play himself back to full fitness with a starting role. What about Gazza we wonder, will he return in midfield or replace Archie at the centre of defence, as he, 'Archie', looks too light to tackle Spike 'Mr Elbows' Ferguson & Co.

One thing's for sure whoever gets the nod will need to be up for the fight as they can expect no quarter from the home team, who are battling for their Premiership survival. Tommy will have them fired up, never mind it being his former team, he'll want to lower our colours as we're in the cup semi-final and leave us with that horrible 'what if' scenario to think about. It's time for the Sky Blues to step up to the mark, roll up their shirtsleeves and get knuckled down to some serious football. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those lily Whites!

Chop Hatchets!

2010-03-24T23:31:00.002Z

The time has come, nay we digress, the time has been long overdue, United need to put their Irish cup semi-final game on the back burner and get back to winning ways. We are the only team with two games to play before the split and our opponents in those two games, Crusaders and Lisburn Distillery, will be desperate to beat us for two very different reasons. Crusaders, whom we play tomorrow night at Seaview, require the 3 points to bring them level with 3rd placed Cliftonville and put them right in the hunt for the Gibson cup, while Lisburn, our opponents next Tuesday at Ballyskeagh, require the 3 points to consolidate their rise from the bottom of the league.

Back to tomorrow night's game and the bad news from the Showgrounds is that the ever present Mike Smith, may miss his first game since signing for the Sky Blues, his chances are rated 50/50 at the moment. Smith is a vital cog in the United machine and despite what the B.B.C. commentators say, did score the goal of the season at Mournview Park in our drawn Irish cup game with Glenavon. But on the plus side, United's best player in that game and the subsequent replay, Aiden Watson, is fit again after missing the 2nd half of the Portadown game and our pointless trip to Windsor Park on Saturday. Aiden's all action enthusiasm could be the fulcrum that tips the match in our favour tomorrow night.

If Smith is not available the versatile Sparky could get the nod at rightback, where he has played in the past, but then again where has Sparky not played this season? Left-back is one that springs to mind, as he has at times been tried in most other positions, including the keeper's jersey in United's game against tomorrow night's opponents at the Showgrounds way back in August. If United manager Roy Walker wants to 'gee' his side up for tomorrow night, maybe a reference to that game on August 22 would just do the trick. We cannot afford to be drawn into the relegation dogfight that now looks set to be fought between Institute, Lisburn and Newry. Six points in our next two games would go a long way to ensuring we're not involved. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag, those paper Tigers!

Windsor Knots!

2010-03-19T23:37:00.003Z

United go into what should,ve be their final league game with six players just one booking away from a one game suspension. The players should in fact be alright for the cup semi-final, as United have a game pencilled in for decision on Easter Tuesday and any suspension should run from the previous day, Easter Monday, but can we trust the I.F.A. not to alter things. The answer is quite probably no, as we have fell foul of local legislators on more than one occasion this season and probably will again. As for tomorrow's game the make-up of the team is anybody's guess, as it will be a question of who the manager feels needs a game. This could mean a recall for local boy Albert Watson (still to sign a new contract), which should in turn release Gary Haveron into midfield, where his presence has been badly missed.

The rest of the midfield is a bit of a minefield at the moment and Gary Muir will need to improve if he's to win an extension to his contract, which expires at the end of this season. Nathan McConnell has slipped badly down the striking 'pecking' order, but might warrant a rare starting role tomorrow, as Walker endeavours to rest key players, as the season draws to a close.Ogers appears to be completely out of the picture at present, but could also earn a recall in place of present custodian, Dwayne Nelson. United really need to get something out of this game as our next two games are anything but easy. So come on Sky Blues, let's shag those village people!

Bad Timing!

2010-03-12T17:22:00.003Z

Greetings from sunny Spain, well if truth be known not so sunny Spain, but somewhere a little warmer than Norn Iron. But enough about us as we prepare to fly home to attend the 'theatre of dreams', the old Showgrounds, for the ill-timed meeting with Portadown. Both managers are no doubt insisting that tomorrow's game has no bearing on the cup semi-final meeting in 4 weeks time and depending on where the Ports finish in the league at 'splitting' time, there could be another meeting at Shamrock Park before the 'big' game anyway. Such is the 'organised confusion' that is the Irish league, that the only thing we can depend on is, that we can depend on nothing!

But enough chit-chat, onto the game itself, vital league points are at stake for both clubs tomorrow and for entirely different reasons. United have four games including tomorrow's encounter to play before the 'split' and the other three are away from home, so tomorrow is their last chance for home advantage before the meaningless games after the 'split'. We say meaningless as it would take a 'herculean effort' from the Whites if they were to climb clear of the relegation trap-door, but the 'Stute are a little too close to us for comfort and we need to be mindful of them. The Ports meanwhile are chasing a possible top six position at the expense of our dear friends from Ballycastle Road. Much as we'd like to help them we don't think we can, so we' need to be looking for all three points tomorrow.

How we go about getting them is anybody's guess, supposedly all we can do, is as Roy says, believe! None of us on the 'Sports team believed last week when we saw the team sheet at Lurgan, but with 15 minutes left we were converted. It turned out to be a false dawn, but the same team did the 'business' in Tuesday's night's replay and there no reason to doubt that a similar team could'nt triumph tomorrow. Neither manager will want to show his hand too much, but both games will be entirely different scenarios and with that in mind all we can say is, come on United, let's shag those apple pickers!

Die Dog!

2010-03-05T23:12:00.003Z

There's an old saying about when things are desperate, choices have to be made and United are at that point tomorrow. In such a situation it has been known for desperate people to utter the immortal words, 'die dog or shite the licence'. United desperately need to win tomorrow in order to reap the financial awards of a semi-final, which is the stepping stone to the final. With an almost fully fit squad to select from, minus the two ineligible players, Muir and Mackers, manager Walker will need to be bold in his team selection. Surely this will mean a start for the mercurial Cushley, not a place on the bench as United need to go for the jugular early on.

Glenavon's last two results have been poor, but tomorrow is a different 'ball game' and Marty will have them fired up for this one. Tony Grant is rated as doubtful for the home side, but United will do well to ignore this bit of information as injuries have a habit of disappearing when there is a cup game to be contested. Former Sky Blue, Stuarty King, will be hoping to get a start, but United have the players to nullify anything Stuarty has to offer. King's shortcomings are well known to us, as he spent four years at the Showgrounds most of which were non-productive. Albert Watson, after his horrific injury sustained at the hands of Timmy Adamson (who freely admits to hate Ballymena), is fit and raring to go and will surely come into the reckoning for a defensive place.

If Albert plays as looks likely, this would in return release Mike Smith into a more attacking right-midfield role. This would leave five players vying for the central midfield role, while up front only Kelbie is assured of his place and Andy Smith may lose out to Sparky as Kevin's strike partner. As we said earlier the manager must be bold in his team selection for tomorrow's game as we don't want to be falling behind and must take the game to the home team. If we can get among them and our midfield can limit the supply to Molloy and Costello, we can frustrate them a wee bit. If we fail in this task then we're afraid this will prove to be be our undoing. So come on United, let's shag those Armagh boys!

Panel Gutted!

2010-02-26T23:35:00.002Z

United had a full panel of fit players to select from last Tuesday, but after the game at Dungannon, we have four players out injured and two others unavailable due to being selected for the under-23s, what a difference four days make. Albert Watson was on the end of yet another vicious attack from Timmy Adamson, once again missed by the referee. Big Timmy raked his boot into Albert's face and he required 7 stitches to the gaping wound. Albert, who already has a plate in his jaw, thanks to an elbow from Gault of Linfield (again unpunished by the referee), must wonder what's going to happen to him next, while referee's and Linesmen turn a blind eye. Video evidence is not allowed in the Irish league or to be more precise, completely ignored as we know only too well.

Dwayne Nelson will probably continue in goal for the Sky Blues (despite his gaffe for the first goal at Dungannon on Tuesday night, reportedly), as Ogers has been selected for the under-23s. As for central defence it's perm any two from the three of Sparky, Archie and Gazza. Due to the shortage of personnel United could start with two wingers in midfield or maybe Andy Smith will be pushed onto the left wing once more, allowing Cushley to partner Anderson in the centre. One thing's for sure, after their capitulation to Dungannon for the 3rd time this season, United badly need to get a win under their belts tomorrow against Newry City, another team they haven't beaten this term.

We need the three points in order to put some daylight between ourselves and tomorrow's opponents as our next league opponents will be bottom club Lisburn Distillery on Tuesday March 9, if there is no cup replay. This will be followed by a visit from the much improved Portadown who are striving for a possible top six position, it doesn't get any easier does it? It's time for our well paid stars to earn their wages, Gazza needs to lead by example, maybe if he can, the rest will follow. It's all up for grabs now, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Newry sheep!

Quiet Lambs!

2010-02-22T23:45:00.003Z

What a strange atmosphere awaits our team at the 'strangely' named Stangmore Park, Dungannon, tomorrow night, weather permitting. United fans have intimated their intention to boycott this game in protest at the false accusations levelled at us regarding racial chanting. We at 'Sport (us three), have decided to support this call for non-support, although it will be a difficult pill to swallow, but swallow it we must. We will however not be attending the reserve game at the Showgrounds, as it is not a 'home game' for us (based 30 miles from Ballymena as we are), but we are hoping to attend the 'legends' night on Wednesday. What a treat it promises to be for Omar, who says Norman Clarke knows him personally (in his dreams) and Eddie Russell is his all time favourite player.

As for the team for tomorrow night's game, we just don't have a clue, but imagine Saturday's selection will get the 'nod' again as a win is vital for us in our attempt to move up the league standings. Chris Ramsay is serving the second game of his 2 game ban, but as far as we know everyone else is available. Dungannon will have to manage without star striker Timmy Adamson and former United defender Craig McClean, who are both suspended. Adamson is usually a thorn in the flesh in these games, but United will have to avoid complacency due to his absence as they strive for the three points. Even though we won't be there in body we will be there in spirit, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Tyronians!

White Time!

2010-02-19T23:30:00.002Z

United travel to Ballyskeagh tomorrow with Chris Ramsay still missing through suspension. We don't know if manager Roy Walker will persist with Gazza and Albert in central defence, or if he will revert to Archie and Albert, releasing our Captain into his central midfield role. Gazza's ball winning qualities were sorely missed in midfield last Tuesday night, but he did dovetail perfectly with 'man of the match' Albert in a solid defensive display. Gary Muir will be returning to his old stamping ground tomorrow and hopefully this will give him an edge and hopefully he can continue with his good form. He has really settled in quickly since signing for the Sky Blues and already looks like one of Walker's more astute signings. If Gazza returns to midfield it may mean Gavin Taggart returning to the bench, but it will only be a temporary thing we think.

Mike Smith and Lee Colligan, two ever presents in the United team, owe their presence in the team solely to Roy Walker. Just a little over a year ago he plucked Mike from Ballyclare Comrades, while he gave Lee a baptism of fire against Linfield in September 2009. These are the sort of decisions managers must make if they are to succeed and Walker definitely has the courage of his convictions. While many United fans are calling for the inclusion of David Cushley, Walker stands firm and prefers to bring him on as a sub, if at all. That's how we expect it will be tomorrow, but Walker may give a debut to young striker Mackers, who came off the bench on Tuesday night to good effect.

But whoever gets the nod tomorrow, they best be up for it, as the 'Whites' are fighting for their premier league existence. Their manager Tommy Wright, formerly at the Showgrounds, has targeted four wins out of their next seven games, starting with a victory tomorrow. For that reason we will have to be at our best, confident after beating both Cliftonville and Glenavon, but not overconfident. There's 3 precious points up for grabs which could take us closer to a possible top six finish and all the potential money earners, with Linfield, Glentoran and Coleraine all due to visit the Showgrounds. So come on Sky Blues, let's strive towards that goal, Let's shag those Lambeggars!

Dress Rehearsal!

2010-02-15T23:51:00.002Z

United face their opponents in the next round of the Irish cup, Glenavon, at the showgrounds tomorrow night in a postponed league game, with vital points at stake. Anyone who attends tomorrow night's game thinking it has no bearing on the cup encounter, think again. We're not saying that whoever wins tomorrow night, if any team does, will win the cup-tie, but it will put them in a vary strong position. United manager Roy Walker will have to ring the changes, with Ramsay suspended and Gary Muir eligible once more we can envisage at least two, but we wonder will he restore Andy Smith, free from suspension, in his line-up also or peresevere with the 'budding' strike partnership of Kelbie and Sparky.

Cushley we feel missed a glorious chance to play himself back into the team with Muir's unavailability on Saturday and he may have to settle for a place on the bench this time. Locky is another player who may be recalled for this important game, hopefully Glenavon's last at the Showgrounds this season, barring a cup replay. The veteran midfielder had a well earned rest on Saturday, but his experience will be vital over the coming weeks as United mount a push for a top six finish. Three points are vital tomorrow night if that quest is to continue, a draw would not be a complete disaster, but it would dent our hopes somewhat, a defeat is unthinkable. With that in mind it's all systems go for tomorrow night's game, so come on Sky Blues, let's shag those Mourne Viewers!