Financial What?

Howard Wells has broken his silence at last and what is his big 'scoop', the I.F.A. had no financial plans, no 'budget' to work within. Howard seems to have been surprised at this turn of events, but if he had any knowledge of Irish football, he'd soon realise that this is commonplace in the running of local clubs. That is why Coleraine went into administration, they foolishly believed that success would bring the fans flocking in and so they spent money like it was going out of fashion. Coleraine of course are not alone, most other clubs are in the same 'boat', but they just haven't let it get out of hand,yet, but I'd lay odds that they're all well over their limits. In the times of plenty, although not good 'accounting practice', this method is okay, but in times like the present where the economy is going into (or as some would say is already in), recession, then quite a few clubs may be 'found out'. Before any Sky Blue fans get to feeling smug I'd also lay odds that our finances are not good either and I wouldn't be surprised if our panel will have to be trimmed drastically during the January transfer window. Glentoran for instance are a case in point, they have their ground mortgaged up to the hilt, this was of course okay when the building boom was in full swing, but I'd warrant that the developer will be in no hurry to start levelling the Oval in order to build houses in the present economic climate. The belt 'tightening has begun and don't be surprised if a few clubs go to the wall, maybe it's time they trimmed their spending, especially as they haven't got the money to spend in the first place1

Damned Lies!

Someone, it could have been a U.S. president, or it could have been Eric Trevorrow for all I know, once said, there are lies, damned lies and statistics, with that in mind I thought tonight I'd trot out some statistics. As an avid Sky Blue's fan these do not make for 'comforting' reading, but maybe, just maybe, it'll help us get over the difficult months that lie ahead. I decided to look at my old programmes and the one fact that stands out is the team that were bottom of the league in mid-November, over the last 3 seasons, were either relegated or at least finished bottom come April. In 2005/6 it was Ards, bottom in November and bottom in April, 2006/7, then it was Loughgall, bottom in November and bottom still in April, while last season Institute were bottom in November, but although they were bottom in April they stayed up at the expense of clubs who had not 'put their houses in order', so to speak. Another interesting statistic is that at this stage last year, we had played 17 games, scoring 29 goals and conceding 32. This season we have played 20 games, scoring 18 goals and conceding 41. Looking at these statistics one would think that our defence is to blame as we have conceded an average of just over 2 goals a game, but actually it's just a little bit more complicated than that. The fact is that last season at this time our strikers had scored 15 goals amongst themselves, our midfielder's had scored 12 goals, while our defence had chipped in with 2, not a lot, but 2 more than we have this year. This year our strikers have scored 16 goals, our midfielder's 2 and as I said earlier our defence this season have scored none. So never mind the defence letting in a lot more goals, the midfield is way behind with their goalscoring. Added to this their tackling is, to put it mildly, 'pathetic' and I believe this was a contributing factor to the Aiden Watson sending off last week, when nobody was willing to tackle, he took it on himself and paid the ultimate penalty to an over-officious referee. The bottom line is that if our midfield don't start weighing in with some goals pretty soon, we will after all be seeing quite a few new grounds next season. Roy Walker has a tough job ahead of him, the going is 'tough', but it's 'high' time, for United, to get going!

Lethargic Supporters!

The papers have been raving in the last couple of days about the 'young' team that Arsenal sent out for Carling cup duty on Tuesday night. Don't get me wrong I'm all for giving youth a chance, but surely it's taking a big chance when a manager puts out untried youngsters against a major team, if it works he's a hero, if not he's a villain. I wonder how the Arsenal fans felt, did they feel cheated at having to watch youngsters play instead of the usual stars, or were they quite happy just to watch their team, no matter who was wearing the jersey. The latter I believe is the answer and this isn't just true of Arsenal fans, it's true of fans the world over. I myself come into this category, my wife just laughs when I say I've seen enough and won't be going to the next game when we're on a bad run, she knows I'll be there for the next game, no matter who we're playing or who's playing for us. That's why I was astounded when I turned up at the Oval a week past on Tuesday to find the small handful of United fans in attendance. One of United's top men even admitted on Monday night that he hadn't attended either, a 'damming' indictment on his loyalty. Then I picked up my copy of the Ballymena Times on Tuesday to find that there was no report on the Glens game in the paper, not even a reference to it, for gods sake even Wakehurst got a headline for losing to Dundela, but we the Premier team in the Town didn't even warrant a mention for our valiant effort against the Glens. I just wonder if United fans have resigned themselves to the inevitable belief that the team's in a hopeless position and what's the point of attending games where on paper we have little chance. Lethargy is the enemy of ambition, without ambition we are nothing, so let's get our act together and get back to supporting our team, they're tried their eyestrings out, can we do any less!

Old Gripe!

I know I´ve said it many times before but it needs saying again, we, spectators get a raw deal when it gomes to ´spectating facilities´ at most league grounds. I was one of the few Sky Blue fans who was at the Oval on Tuesday night to witness our first away victory for 44 weeks. I say witness, but I say it tongue in cheek, as the view was to say the least, pathetic. In fact I finally went down to the edge of the terracing to get a better view, well at least I could see along one touchline from there. Car parking is never easy at away grounds anyway, but it is almost non-existant at the Oval now as the area is so built up by new houses, in fact the houses are now almost on top of the ground at the visitors end of the park. Surely the time has come for the authorities to get their act together and give spectators a better view, in fact to make that their number one priority. We are somewhat spoiled at Ballymena, as any seat in the ´new´stand affords a decent view of the whole park, surely then this should be the yardstick for all other clubs. Glentoran keep promising us that they´re just about to move to a new stadium and if this is true let´s hope they provide us with decent viewing facilities, anything else would be a waste of revenue. Cliftonville have just opened a new stand at Solitude and of course it is at the ´home´end of the ground and as much use as a ´chocolate fireguard´if you get my drift. Would the fact that the present President of the I.F.A. is a director of Coleraine have any bearing on the jaundiced view at most league grounds, for the sake of our wee game, I hope not!