Own Man!

Norn Iron have dropped back down the F.I.F.A. world rankings, they are now at No. 52 and methinks they still have (like the credit crunch),a ways to go yet. Who I wonder is responsible for this sad state of affairs? Sad to say it is mainly down to one man and it greatly pains me to say it, International team manager Nigel Worthington. Nigel is not only a Ballymena boy, but he is also a Sky Blues hero, having been a member of the team that began that wonderful run that culminated in three Irish cup wins in the eighties. He was a 'cultured' leftback, a long throw specialist and a man to call on in a crisis. Got a free kick late in a game, let Nigel take it, got a penalty, let Nigel take it again. I could go on and on about how Nigel broke into cross-channel football and the career he carved out for himself, both as a player and a manager, but suffice to say he enjoyed a good lifestyle. When he was appointed Norn Iron manager to replace the 'charismatic' Laurie Sanchez, I was glad to see a local boy get the 'plum' job, but sceptical of how successful he could be. After scrambling a couple of good results he showed his hand in our last game of the European Nations qualifiers. Norn Iron needed to beat Spain to even have an outside chance of making the finals, no doubt Laurie would have went in with 'all guns blazing', but not our boy he went for a containing game and the inevitable happened, we lost and failed to qualify. That was the beginning of the rot that has seeped back into our International game and will in my opinion continue to ferment while Nigel is in charge. The only thing we have going for us is surprise and the fact that 11 Ulstermen turn into giants when they strap on the green jersey, take that away and very soon we will be scraping the bottom of the barrel once more. Even our 'talisman' David (God) Healey's attitude has been questioned by our Nige and told he needs regular first team football. I think in David's case the opposite is the fact, when he plays club football he's under pressure to perform, but when he plays for Norn Iron the pressure's off and he plays for fun. I know Nigel wants to be his own man, but for the sake of our wee team he has to forget his defensive tactics, let's instead go for the jugular. As Jonesy in dad's army is fond of saying they don't like it 'up em', so let's give 'em' what they don't like. We may end up not qualifying again, but at least we'll have had some fun doing it and after all, entertainment is the name of the game!