Distant Memories!

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!

Man United Demolish Arsenal

 by Alex Ewing

Manchester United have not only beaten but demolished Arsenal today by 8-2 meaning that they now move to the top spot of the Premier League by a single goal difference after Manchester City beat Tottenham earlier tday 5-1.

Rooney bagged himself a hat-trick with two superbly taken free kicks and a goal from the penalty spot.Danny welbeck, who was later injured, headed in an early goal passed by Anderson while Ashley Young struck with the second for United after a good save from United keeper David De Gea denying Robin van Persie from the spot.

Wayne Rooney's hat-trick put Manchester out of reach and to add salt to the wound for Arsenal not only were three more goals scored by Nani, Park Ji-sung and Youngrespectively but Arsenal also hadCarl Jenkinson sent off, meaning that Arsenal have played their first three opening games with less than 11 men on the pitch.

Robin van Persie's and Theo Walcott's goals only served as compensation for Arsenal as they were in fact lucky not to concede more and are looking more and more unlike their former selfs with the absence of Cesc and Nasri. Looks like troubled times for the Gunners if they don't buck this trend.

Another Honor

Barcelona's Lionel Messi has won yet another individual accolade after netting the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe award on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Argentina international beat Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo and his Barcelona teammate Xavi Hernandez for the award, which was handed out at the Grimaldi forum in Monaco.

"I am honored to win this award and I want to thank my teammates. We all want to win more and all the time and this is what pushes us to continue. The cohesion of the dressing room is what gives us the strength," Messi said. 

Missed It!

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!

Manchester United 3-0 Tottenham

The Red Devils begin Premier League title defense at Old Trafford with convincing second-half display, as De Gea enjoys clean sheet.

Manchester United remained perfect through two games as it secured a 3-0 victory over Tottenham in its first match of the season at Old Trafford Saturday night.
Danny Welbeck, Anderson and Wayne Rooney provided the second-half goals for the Red Devils, who proved to be way too much to handle for Spurs' American goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
Welbeck repaid the faith shown in him by Sir Alex Ferguson since the start of the season by being influential in both United’s first two goals, while Rooney grabbed his second of the season to cap off a fine evening for the reigning Premier League champions.
The home side got off to lively start, but couldn't beat Friedel until the 61st minute when Tom Cleverley’s fierce cross was met in the air by Welbeck, who drifted in between the Tottenham center backs unmarked and guided the ball into the left corner of the net. 

Defensive Errors!

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!

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti rules out Wesley Sneijder sale

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti says midfielder Wesley Sneijder will not be sold this summer, describing the Dutch playmaker as "untouchable".

Sneijder has been linked with a move to Manchester United and recently revealed he could be sold for the right price after "unofficial talks" had begun.

Moratti has denied those comments, saying there has never been any such negotiations to sell the 27-year-old.

"Sneijder is going nowhere," Moratti told told Gazzetta dello Sport.

Moratti revealed his resolve to keep Netherlands international Sneijder has been strengthened further by the imminent departure of striker Samuel Eto'o, who is set to join big-spending Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala. 

La Liga - Real and Barcelona draw first leg

Real Madrid and Barcelona kicked off the Spanish season with an entertaining Supercopa first leg 2-2 draw at the Bernabeu.

Madrid spent the majority of the game in charge and took the lead early on through Mesut Ozil, only to go into the break behind after Barca strikes from David Villa and Lionel Messi.

A rare goal from Xabi Alonso brought them back on level terms, and the Whites created plenty of chances from which they could have taken a lead to Catalonia on Wednesday for the second leg.

But Barcelona, without several key players through injury, held on and will fancy their chances to best their fierce rivals in the traditional league champions versus cup winners tie for the first time in five attempts. 

Returning Hero(es)!

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!

Arsenal prepare to sell £60m duo Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri by early next week

By Wayne Veysey | Chief correspondent
Arsenal are preparing to sell £60 million duo Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri by early next week, Goal.com can confirm.
Barcelona are finally closing in on a deal to land Fabregas after offering £35.1m including add-ons while Nasri has told his France team-mates that he is on the brink of joining Manchester City.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has accepted that both players will go and the club are now trying to wrap up the best possible deals for two of their most valuable players.
Goal.com can reveal that Fabregas has agreed to forego £880,000 for each of the five years of the contract that he has provisionally agreed with Barcelona to push through the move back to his boyhood club.

Franz Beckenbauer hails Mario Goetze as the new Lionel Messi

Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer believes his country have unearthed the next Lionel Messi in the form of Borussia Dortmund starlet Mario Goetze.

The 19-year-old is earning rave reviews ahead of his country's friendly with Brazil on Wednesday.

And Beckenbauer believes the midfielder has the skills to rival Argentina and Barcelona playmaker Messi.

"It is not possible to stop Mario Goetze," he said. "He has the same assets as Messi."

Goetze played a starring role in Borussia Dortmund's 3-1 win over Hamburg on Friday, their opening game in defence of the Bundesliga title.

He set up Kevin Grosskreutz for the first goal before adding the second with a deft chip.

Xavi: Fabregas will join us soon

The Camp Nou star told RAC1 that he remains positive of seeing his international team-mate join the Spanish champions before August 31, after a summer of intense speculation regarding his future.

"We look forward to Cesc joining, and it seems that it is in the final stages now," the 31-year-old admitted. "We hope that the signing goes through as it is what we all want.

"It's a matter of agreement between Barca and Arsenal, but I am optimistic and I think Cesc will arrive at the club."

Arsenal are said to have already rejected a €35 miliion offer for their captain from the European champions.

Xavi was then quizzed about the upcoming Supercopa clash on August 14 with arch-rivals Real Madrid, and the World Cup winner spoke confidently of his side's chances.

"At home we have the upper hand and we are the benchmark in football, but I do not wish to talk too much about Real Madrid."

Barcelona made a return to winning ways on Saturday, after a comprehensive 2-0 win over Mexican outfit Club America, and will now prepare for their Super Cup encounter in the coming week.

'Genius' Paul Scholes bows out with a goal in Manchester United testimonial victory against New York Cosmos

By Greg Stobart at Old Trafford

“Genius” was the word used to describe Paul Scholes by Manchester United fans as they held aloft a mosaic to greet his final appearance in the club's shirt.
He then went and proved it. Playing at Old Trafford for the last time and, wearing the captain's armband, he smashed home a typically luscious strike after eight minutes to prove that, if he wanted to, he could play for another year.
Walking out onto the pitch with his three children, Scholes looked typically sheepish, desperate not to be the centre of attention. After an 18-year career during which he always shunned the limelight, he was the centre of attention.“I'm glad it's all over,” he said with a sigh of relief after the game. That view was not shared by his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who lamented a "sad parting", and spoke of Scholes leading his life and career with "the right values".
New York Cosmos, who have plans to become a team of Galacticos, were the opponents here, and fielded the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires and Gary Neville in their side.
But make no mistake, Old Trafford was packed to the rafters because 76,000 people wanted to show their respect and appreciation for Scholes, one of the greatest British players ever.
Scholes may have wanted the ground to swallow him up, but he knows what people think about him in these parts. At 36, he felt he could no longer do himself justice at the top level, but his intelligence and passing ability allowed him to continue for five years after what he described as his peak.
Cheered with every touch, he produced some typically sumptuous passes as well as a couple of his trademark feisty tackles, including one on his old friend Nicky Butt.

Twenty-five Minutes!

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'!

Mancini plays down Tevez swap deal

The Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, has downplayed suggestions Carlos Tevez could move to Internazionale in a swap deal involving the full-back Maicon.

Mancini said there had been no approach to City from Inter, and added that the Argentinian striker will return to normal training next week. Tevez is not available for Sunday's season-opening Community Shield match against Manchester United, having been granted a 21-day break following the Copa América. The 27-year-old has made clear his desire to leave City, but a deal with the Brazilian club Corinthians collapsed last month.

Mancini expects Tevez to continue playing a full role if a move does not materialise. He said: "He doesn't have another team. Carlos is a professional player. If he doesn't have another team in the next 10 days or two weeks I think he will play for us and play serious like last year, like always." Read more:

Mancini plays down Tevez swap deal

Hernandez Gives Sir Fergie A Headache

The United manager said he would resist getting "emotional" about the match even though the last time the clubs met at Wembley was in April when City triumphed in the FA Cup semi-final.

Ferguson told a news conference at United's training ground: "I have always viewed the Community Shield as a stepping stone to the first game of the season.

"It's very easy to get emotional about this type of game but I don't think we will be changing our policy.

"There may be two or three players who need the game on Sunday."

Ferguson revealed that Michael Carrick is likely to miss the Community Shield match after picking up a slight Achilles problem in Edwin van der Sar's testimonial on Wednesday.

Darren Fletcher, Antonio Valencia and Rafael are all back in training however.

Ferguson confirmed the young Mexican striker Javier Hernandez will miss the start of the league season as a precaution after he suffered from a concussion last month.

He added: "Chicharito won't be involved for maybe another two or three weeks - considering he had a concussion some years ago we are just playing safe with that but he should be back by the end of August."

Thursday's gossip column - transfers and rumours

Inter Milan are keen to swap Brazilian defender Maicon for Carlos Tevez but Manchester City do not agree with the Italian club's valuations of the players. 

Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o has pleaded with his club Inter Milan to sanction a move to Manchester City after falling out with the Inter management. 

Arsenal target Juan Manuel Mata is likely to stay with Valencia, according to the club's manager Unai Emery.

Chelsea will step up their efforts to land Spurs midfielder Luka Modric this week by tabling a £30m bid for the Croatian.

Tottenham are interested in bringing Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra to White Hart Lane but insist a clause offering the Spanish club first option to buy Gareth Bale would not be agreed upon.

Gunners' bid for Mata rejected

Juan Mata's father and agent claims Valencia have rejected an offer from Arsenal - but the Gunners are expected to return with a second bid.

The 23-year-old is a man in demand as he is now into the final year of his Los Che contract, meaning he could leave for free next summer. A host of clubs are circling for the player's signature and Arsenal are reportedly vying with the likes of Tottenham and Inter Milan for his signature. However, it seems Arsenal will need to increase their offer for Mata if manager Arsene Wenger is to get his man before the summer transfer window closes. "Valencia simply rejected their offer," said Mata's father to calciomercato.com. "After some hesitation they answered 'no' to the Gunners' offer. Mata's father, Juan Manuel Mata Rodriguez, also says his son has great respect for Italian giants Inter Milan, although the Italian giants are yet to table an offer. "So my son remains a Valencia player, for now. But I don't think it's their last offer. "There are several offers for Mata and I think that Arsenal will come forward again. The situation is still evolving. "Are Inter Milan one of the interested teams? I know my son holds Milan in high esteem. We'll see if Inter will come forward directly."