Good Guys!l

Something I personally have been marvelling at all season is our disciplinary record, which is as good as any in the league, from my point of view. Here we are with almost eight months of the season elapsed and we haven’t had a player suspended so far. That of course will all change when we meet Ards in our next home league game on Saturday 11th March, when by a strange quirk of fate, former Ards player of the year, Aiden Watson, will become the first United player to serve a ban this season. This also by a strange quirk of fate will allow the young midfielder another week to recover from his broken foot, it’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow some good, isn’t it? It’s highly unlikely that Aiden will be the only United player to have been banned this season, but even so I believe it’s something of which we should be really proud. Too many teams in the Irish league have the ‘win at all costs’ attitude displayed so vividly by unbeaten league leaders Linfield last Saturday. United had two players, King and Kelbie booked in that game, while the league leaders were allowed to get away with countless fouls and time-wasting tactics by probably the most incompetent referee in the league. Well maybe I’m exaggerating here, there’s still Michael Ross around, isn’t there? Some of the bookings our players have picked up this season have been pretty ludicrous and in the case of Kelbie at times, acts of ‘stupidity’.  This was not the case I must say in Kelbie’s defence last Saturday, when all he did was challenge for the ball, but when Noel Baillie went down yelling the referee was fooled yet again. Baillie of course is quite famous or better still, infamous, as far as United are concerned, as a few years ago he went down screaming in a tackle with former United striker Glenn Hunter, when no contact was made, the referee on that occasion fell for the ruse also. Stuarty King was unfortunate also as he challenged Linfield defender Winky (or is it Wanker) Murphy, who also went down like a ton of bricks. Surely as this incident happened early in the game the referee should have used some common sense and merely warned the United man as to his future conduct. Of course he is from Dungannon and common sense as we know is rather scarce in those parts. If United can escape the referee’s wrath over the next nine games they will have an enviable record, but if this comes at the expense of finishing fourth or better in the league, then I’m afraid, it won’t be worth it!    

Whistling Chicken!

Just heard the news today that former United player Dessie ‘chicken’ Loughery has been selected to referee the Armagh City / Ards game this Saturday. Dessie was full of enthusiasm as a player and hopefully he’ll bring this to his role as a referee. I wonder how we’ll feel (United fans that is), when Dessie officiates at our first game, will we expect him to err on our side? There would be little or no conflict of interests between him and our players as Boydie is the only player left on the books who played alongside him. In fact Dessie will come up against a former playing colleague on Saturday as another former Sky Blue stalwart is on Armagh’s books. I refer of course to Mark Carlisle who said that Dessie always promised to give him some cover all the times he played in front of him, but it never happened. So maybe he’ll be reminding Dessie of this on Saturday, maybe it’ll be time to call in the favour. One thing we know for sure is they’ll never be a dull moment with Dessie around as he always tried to enjoy his football and had a bit of ‘crack’ with the supporters as well. So I wish him well and it got me thinking about all the players, who played the game in the correct spirit, who when their time was up just faded into obscurity. Some do go into management it’s true, but the vast majority are lost to the game and I for one think that’s sad. These players have a vast knowledge of the game and not only could put something back, but in my opinion should put something back. We fans are admittedly so fickle, we praise them when things are going well and curse them when things aren’t. But I think they, ex-players and managers as well, should put something back, after all most of them do very well out of it, financially and famously or infamously. There are a few who are trying, ex-United player Neil Candlish, who is involved in the United football academy is one that springs to mind, but people like Neil are as scarce as ‘hens teeth’. So ex-footballers I call on you, take a leaf out of Dessie and Neil’s books and put something back into the game, after all without your participation, there wouldn’t have been a game. I wonder is it a coincidence that Dessie and Neil were both wingers? Do you remember the old saying about goalkeepers being mad?  Does that mean that wingers are to be judged similarly? I personally like to think that wingers are just people who love the game and are glad  that they are able to put something back into it!

No Chance!

Sitting in a queue of traffic at the Forwilliam roundabout on Tuesday night, I thought to myself this is completely unnecessary. Here we all are attempting to get into a real traffic ‘bottleneck’, when we could’ve been rolling into either Windsor Park or the Showgrounds, both miles better as regards spectator comfort and accessibility. I refer of course to the offer from the County Antrim F.A. to the two clubs, United and Linfield, to toss a coin for choice of venue. United thought this a good idea and agreed while Linfield for some reason known only to themselves, refused. Now there has been much speculation as to why Linfield refused, did they think that if they refused to toss the coin, the game would be played at Windsor Park anyway? Or did they think to themselves, which is the more likely in my opinion, that the match will at worst be played in or near Belfast and it would mean less travelling for them and their fans? We will probably never know the reasoning behind this non-decision, but surely the County Antrim F.A. should’ve taken the initiative and brought the match to the Showgrounds or threatened to do so and then maybe Linfield would’ve had a change of heart. Having said that Ballymena Showgrounds is not the easiest place to get in and out of, although if the Borough Council had delivered on at least one of it’s ‘famous or infamous’ promises, we would now be entering the ground through the Ecos centre. To stage what is probably the second biggest final for this ancient and historic competition on a ground which has been badly neglected over the years was to say the least a ludicrous decision. But I suppose the County Antrim F.A. who let’s face it are mostly ‘townies’ anyway, came up with the best they could with the continued unavailability of the Oval. Glentoran who own the Oval are of course ‘huffing’ because I.F.A. chief executive Howard Wells said their ground was unsafe and are refusing to provide it for a neutral venue. The chief exec’s comments came after the infamous riot last April when Linfield fans and Glensmen fought a ‘pitched’ battle. Of course the I.F.A. in their wisdom has still to take action over that incident. I wonder is their any chance of a twenty point reduction being applied to both clubs, it would certainly tighten up the league race, wouldn’t it? Of course it will be swept under the carpet, they’ll both get a rap on the knuckles and things will go on as before. As much chance of them taking punitive action as there was of the County Antrim F. A. bringing the final to Ballymena, not a ‘snowballs chance in hell!

Joe's Moan!

Dungannon Swift’s manager Joe McAree was airing the opinion recently that the ‘transfer window’ shouldn’t apply to Irish league clubs. Joe, in his wisdom, allowed that clubs such as Dungannon were at a disadvantage when players picked up lengthy suspensions. Surely this was one of the reasons for introducing the ‘window’ system, as it would encourage teams to play the game, as it is meant to be played, fairly and without malice, instead of the ‘win at all costs’ attitude which mean players fall foul of the referee’s notebook. Realistically this does not stop players committing the professional foul when a player looks likely to score, but it does in my opinion make players think before they act. We are of course dependant on referees to deliver these cautions fairly and without bias and herein lies the real problem. During the County Antrim Shield semi-final last week, we witnessed this bias at work first hand. Larne substitute Wilson, committed a not only late but violent tackle on United midfielder Gary Haveron. Referee Davey Malcolm, who it must be said had an otherwise decent game, merely talked to the culprit, instead of the mandatory yellow card which these sort of tackles generally warrant. Then in the 89th minute United substitute Gerard Rowe committed a late but not vicious tackle on a Larne player and was promptly booked. Without showing any prejudice at all I believe they were probably both justifiable cautions, but when the first one wasn’t a yellow, then surely the second definitely wasn’t. As the old saying goes, ‘justice not only has to be done, it has to be seen to be done’. But to get back to Joe’s point about leaving clubs in the Irish league outside this European law, I think this is a non-starter. If clubs here want to take part in European competitions and believe me they do, then I’m afraid we have to abide by the rules. The rules are there for a reason, mainly to protect the weaker clubs, who generally play the game more fairly than their more successful and stronger teams. Short term fixes rarely work anyway and Joe has ample evidence of that, hasn’t he just released the ‘much travelled’ Kevin Keegan after a short stint at Stangmore Park. I’m afraid Joe you’ll just have to ‘soldier on’, after all that’s why managers get paid the ‘big bucks’, not just for managing teams when things are going well, but for coming up with the ‘goods’ when everything seems to be going wrong!