Blind Ambition!

I happened to mention to a United official a short time ago that it was a 'blessing' in disguise when Tommy Wright resigned. The man in question was quick to spring to Wright's defence, saying that the big man did some sterling work for United. I was equally quick to point out that we were no better off when he left, than we were when he took the job. The official then went on to sing his 'praises', about the good work he did with the youth set-up at the club, his attempts to broaden the clubs appeal to minorities and the 'healthy' financial state we were now in. I decided it was time to leave this man, recalling the old saying, 'that there's none as blind as those who cannae see', or should that be 'wannae' see. Tommy Wright was a goalkeeper plying his trade in England and when he returned he was signed by United. He made about half a dozen or so appearances, then got injured and announced his retirement from the game. United duly released him from his contract, he took on the job of goalkeeper coach at Linfield and then, surprise! surprise! declared himself fit and able to play, this in my opinion was an act of downright skulduggery. Not that this sort of thing has never happened before or since (aka Darren Murphy, but that's another story). Tommy then became manager of Limavady United, enjoying limited success and then was appointed manager at the Showgrounds. After three years of little or no success (a County Antrim Shield final) and after two extensions to his contract, he once more 'announced' his retirement and of course the United board bent over backwards and acceded to his request, instead of insisting he see out his contract. History of course repeated itself once more when Tommy (who according to himself was disillusioned with football), took up a goalkeeping coaching job in England. I for one was astounded, firstly that this man so 'highly' valued by our board had 'shafted' us once again and secondly by our 'board' who in their blind ambition couldn't see that they had been 'shafted'. Now we have embarked on yet another journey into the unknown, albeit with a manager who has all the 'right' credentials, but has been out of the game for quite some time. Let's hope he knows what 'loyalty' means, for we seemingly don't have a clue!

Ground Rules!

The 'irony' that is the Irish league never fails to amaze me, here we are with a so called 'new' set-up for senior football in our wee province. First we had the 'farcical situation of the referee's strike which wiped out (totally unnecessarily I might add), the entire programme and meant the start of the new league was delayed by a whole seven days. Then it was Glentoran, who, thought they might bring forward their Count Antrim Shield game by 5 days in order that their striker Gary Hamilton would be available for selection having served his one match suspension. This was originally 'okayed' by the County Antrim F.A., but then the I.F.A. said 'no'. The reason for their refusal apparently, was because they hadn't been asked first. This created yet another farcical situation which could have been easily avoided, but then as the I.F.A. likes to remind us, rules are rules. Then there is the 'case' of Donegal Celtic, remember them, they are one of the teams who didn't make the new set-up because their 'ground' was not of the accepted standard. I find this somewhat peculiar as Cliftonville are using Donegal Celtic's pitch as their home ground while theirs is not quite ready yet. Is this not a 'double standard', Celtic are kicked out of the league, but it's okay for another Irish premier side to have their ground as their 'home' pitch. Does this in fact mean that Donegal Celtic could've approached Linfield and asked to pay rent for the use of Windsor Park while their ground was being developed in order to comply with what can only be described as 'bizarre' rules and regulations. Hopefully the fact that one of Cliftonville's directors was the former President of the I.F.A., has had no bearing on their being able to use Celtic's ground on a short term basis. The next thing you know they'll be telling us that the Showgrounds, the ground with the best facilities by far, isn't suitable for European games, now that would be just ludicrous, but stranger things have happened!

Dirty Dancing!

So much for a new beginning, what we had last Saturday was a complete and utter fiasco and all because those plonkers at the I.F.A. were dragging their collective heels, as usual. They had known for a considerable time that referees were unhappy with their lot, they could and should've avoided a confrontation at all costs, but no, they had to shoot themselves in the foot. Then to make matters worse they were talking of playing the postponed games next March, when teams could possibly not have any interest in the outcome therefore affecting the gate receipts adversely. Last Saturday's games coincided with the commemoration of the closing of the gates of Derry/Londonderry by the apprentice boys, which meant some gate receipts would have been affected anyway, so a midweek match wouldn't have put any real added burden on most home clubs. Yet another fiasco has been created by the abandoning of the traditional Boxing day derby games which will now be played on the following day, Saturday December 27. This is a complete and utter piece of administration gone mad and will greatly affect the takings of almost every club in the league. One generally bumps into 'strangers' (Football fans who generally don't attend games), on this special day, who attend this game as it's almost a tradition for them. Many a time I've heard people say it just wouldn't be like Christmas if there wasn't a football match, well this year thanks to the wonderful I.F.A. it won't be. We had already lost the return Easter derby last year, which disappeared with barely a whimper, so now they're trying to eradicate the Christmas one as well. I personally believe the new league wasn't needed and expect it to be an unmitigated disaster and no-one can deny it has started quite badly to put it mildly. Former I.F.A. president Jimmy Boyce, who saw things through 'rose tinted spectacles', Cliftonville fans with their Irish tricolours, were actually bedecked in 'red' according to Jimmy, made this and many another 'gaffe' during his term of office. But there's an old saying that still rings true, 'better the devil you know, than the devil you don't know'. There's some very dirty dancing going on at the moment, there's a lot of talk, but nothings actually being said. I would caution the I.F.A. to be very careful how they tread, because if they're not extremely cautious, it could all blow up in their faces!