Old News - August 2006
31st Aug 06. Tolan away? Walker for sure ... Biggest rumour today is that Jody Tolan has been loaned to Donegal Celtic for 3 months. What you may not have heard though is that Big Chris has finally succumed to the long-term advances of Armagh City (remember what I told you on Aug 7th below?) ... and also left us for 3 months! No Rumour!
(Both now confirmed)
29th Aug 06. Newry City 2 Glentoran 1 ... Newry were down to 10 men for nearly an hour of this one too, and I still don't think we can have any complaints. Who was it said we should start the League in August ;-( It's been comin ...
I think it's fair to say we've just been found out!
You can all relax ... Rory Hamill has signed for Dungannon ;-)
27th Aug 06. Donegal Celtic 1 Glentoran 3 (Halliday 2, Hamilton)
25th Aug 06. UEFA Cup 1st Round Draw ... Derry City v Paris Saint-Germain! ... & ÅTVIDABERGS (Should'a been us) v Grasshoppers Zurich! Others of interest ... Newcastle v Levadia Tallin (Est), Rangers v Molde (Den), Blackburn v Salzburg (Aus), Hearts v Saprta Prague (Cze), West Ham v Palermo (Ita), Tottenham v Slavia Prague (Cze).
Donegal Celtic - Match betting: Donegal Celtic 5/1, Glentoran 8/15, and a draw 5/2. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
24th Aug 06. I see SK Brann kick off at 6.30 tonight, 3-3 from their first home leg. Latest at the 'Live' goals link above.
Update - Brann are out! A 1-1 draw tonight means they go out on away goals to Swedish second division side Atvidaberg!
What an opportunity we missed out on there to reach the UEFA Cup 1st round porper :-(
22nd Aug 06. Donegal Celtic - NEW travel arrangements - Supporters travelling to Donegal Celtic this Saturday should note that initial travel plans have changed. Fans were originally expected to use the Park-and-Ride facility at the bottom of Blacks Road, whereby Supporters Buses and Private cars would rendezvous there for police escort to the ground. Due to Donegal Celtic now being unable to use the Park-and-Ride facility, your attention is drawn to the latest directions on the Glentoran official website - HERE
20th Aug 06. Glentoran 3 Newry City 0 ... 6 points out of 6, delighted, but we have a long way to go yet. As you'd expect at this early stage, very rusty at times, and Newry can consider themselves very unfortunate not to have gotten on the scoresheet in that first 45 minutes. I was right when I said we needed these 6 CIS games before the League starts.
18th Aug 06. Donegal Celtic ticket update - As of 5 o'clock this evening only 125 tickets remain for the CIS Cup game at Donegal Celtic. They will continue to be sold to season ticket holders only from 5.30 - 7.00pm tonight, and then again before tomorrow's match with Newry. Should any remain unsold by kick-off time they will be made available first-come first-served at half time to anyone providing photographic ID ... I'm afraid your Xtravision card wont do ;-)
Oh, by the way - Playing Squad page now updated at the link above :-)
Newry City game - 3 games last season, 3 wins for the Glens, 2-1, 3-1 & 3-2. In fact I've gone back 4 years and 16 games, and the best I can do for Newry in that time is 2 draws! Fairly safe to say we're not their favourite game. No matter, 2 teams qualify from this League Cup group, and with Newry defeating Donegal Celtic 2-1 in their first outing, they'll be happy to take anything away from our first game of the season at the Oval. Coyler of course looks after the border side nowadays, and you'd expect he'd know a wee bit about us ... of course that was that other Glens team wasn't it ;-) Eleven points was good enough to qualify last season - a win tomorrow and we're more than half way there. I hear Glens scout Billy Spence's son John will be sitting in as assistant manager as of tomorrow by the way, while Andy's off on holidays.
Match Betting: Glentoran 8/15, Newry City 5/1, and a draw 5/2. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
16th Aug 06, 12.15am. Donegal Celtic Tickets - Just an update on the Donegal Celtic tickets for Saturday 26th, which were supposed to go on sale at the Oval today. As of noon the tickets still hadn't arrived from Donegal Celtic, no fault of the Glens, who have been waiting patiently all morning. Rather than disappoint though, season ticket holders can still head down to the Oval from today (10.30 - 1-30 & 5-30 - 7.00), and should the tickets still not have arrived by the time you get there, you can pay up front and your match ticket will be left for collection at a suitable time. (Tickets now arrived)
Is BJ away? - We may have just seen the last of young BJ McMenamin. The tricky little winger, who bagged a hat-trick in our recent Dundela friendly, looks like he's off to Sheffield Wednesday at the end of the month. BJ, who of course spent most of last year on the books at West Bromwich Albion, returned to the Glens homesick at the end of the season and signed on at the Oval with a year's contract. He's now off on trial at Hillsborough with the English Championship side and looks all set to be offered terms. Best about it is ... he tells me he doesn't wanna leave the Glens!
14th Aug 06. Man Utd for the Oval! News is breaking this morning that Premiership giants Manchester United have agreed to a glamour friendly at the Oval next year to mark the Glens 125th anniversary celebrations. Club Secretary Alex McWilliams was telling me of his delight this morning on opening the envelope from Old Trafford to read the news. No date has been decided as yet, but we're assured it will take place as part of the 2007-08 pre-season. Wonderful news for the club, and what a tremendous opportunity to address some of the ongoing financial concerns.
Well done Alex, and congratulations to all concerned.
Oh Dear ... see Brann got chinned again ... HERE
12th Aug 06. Loughgall 0 Glentoran 2 - A Halliday goal on 40 minutes, then Gary Hamilton about 10 minutes after the restart doesn't really tell the true story, this was a stroll in the park. All 6 strikers used today too, Halliday, Hamilton, Browne and Hill all on from the start, then Morgan, Tolan and Sean Ward off the bench! Did anybody count those corners!
Stop Press - Tim McCa.. ahhhhh FFS !! (Update 9.00am - panic over, hold that fine, seems it was that postmans fault again ;-)
11th Aug 06. Bring yer boots ... My wee birdy tells me you might get a game if one of the players cars breaks down!! You might even spot a player or two hoofin it ... Jeezes I know things are tight, but pulling the plug on the team buses!!!
Let the games begin ... At last, and away to lofty Loughgall in the CIS Cup, mouthwatering stuff eh ;-)
In our 2 meetings with Loughgall last season we won both by just a single goal, both League games, 1-0 at the Oval and 3-2 down there. You'd expect that would do again tomorrow and 3 points, but I suspect most of you are (probably unfairly) looking for more. Most would privately say that after last seasons' awful showing, this team and new manager Windy need to hit the ground running. Much as that would be very nice, personally I'll settle for the 3 points and be more than happy if we have it right for the start of the League. Actually I have always been an advocate for beginning the season with the League Championship, no disrespect to the League Cup and their generous sponsors, but over the years I believe had the season started with the League the Glens (notoriously good starters) would have won many more titles than we have. However ... this season I'm happy to wait for the Championship til September. Despite the European ties, and the many many friendlies we've played, I think with a squad of 23 players to hone down to 14, this side will benefit greatly from the 6 competitive games before the serious stuff begins on September 23rd. Don't get me wrong, I still fully expect us to win our section and qualify for the knock-out stages of the CIS, I just think these next 6 games will prove invaluable experience for the manager and players for what we all rightly expect will be a serious attempt to wrest the title from across the bridge.
Anyways, all roads lead to Loughgall tomorrow, and hopefully on our way to one better than last seasons' runners-up spot!
Delighted to see the signing of Tim McCann by the way, still got it, he will turn ugly games into wins for us this season.
Mon the wee Glens .. it's good to be back :-)
Match Betting: Loughgall 7/2, Glentoran 8/11, and 9/4 a draw. All odds supplied by TOALS bookmakers
(Free Premiership & English League winners tips on the RUOnTheBall.com website by the way, worth noting too they had a treble winner in their first week)!
10th Aug 06. Brann Bergen ... SK Brann face Swedish side Atvidaberg tonight in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup. Only just realised Atvidaberg actually play in the Swedish 2nd Division, and are only in this competition courtesy of Djurgarden doing the double and beating them 2-0 in the 2005 Cup Final! They would'a done us :-( Anyways, Brann are at home tonight and are short odds at 2/7, but then again they were 1/8 to beat us! Considering Brann's boiler is in grave danger of burstin in the league (beaten 1-0 at home on Sunday, they've gone from 7 points clear at the top to now only 3 ahead of Lillestrom with a game more played), it should be an interesting evening. Wonder will they put a full team out this time ;-) Drogheda and Derry City play tonight as well by the way - follow all the scores at the 'LIVE' link above.
8th Aug 06. Playing Squad page - Started updating the Player Pics page at the 'Squad' link above ...
7th Aug 06. Donegal Celtic game ... Keep your ear to the ground regards tickets for our upcoming CIS Cup match at Donegal Celtic on the 26th ... I hear our allocation is only going to be 450!
Beat Ballinamallard 8-1 just in case you hadn't heard. Oh aye, and big Chris has been offered to Armagh City - I hear he told them to take a hike :-)
4th Aug 06. Clear as mud ... Todays 'Tele' - Windy, "I am trying to build a squad here to challenge for honours again and you don't do that by letting your best players go to other clubs." "As well as that if they do come knocking for a player like Darren Lockhart or anyone else they would need to get their hand in their pocket."
Two players on the way out are Chris Walker and Peter McCann! Full article - HERE
EMERGENCY STOCK CLEARANCE ... All in immaculate condition, Full Service History and average milage. A range of current contract models, but all good runners, taxed and with at least 1 year left on their MOT. Four to choose from, one with sunroof. Trade in considered. Genuine reason for sale, owner has handling problems. (From 'How to reduce the Oval wage bill in one easy step!') Bah Humbug! FFS wise up!
2nd Aug 06. SK Brann ... were beaten 2-0 tonight by another old foe Lillestrom, who now move into second place in the table just 6 points behind with a game in hand. There are now 12 games left to play. Norwegian League Table ... HERE
Dundela friendly - Result: Duns 3 Glens 7, a BJ McMenamin hat-trick, and Gary Browne on as sub midway through the second half. Kyle Neill, Tolan, Browne and a Duns OG accounted for the rest.
BTW - If you seen Ian Mannus on the bench tonight I hope you got his photo - he's been farmed out to Ards on loan as of tomorrow ... for the entire season!
1st Aug 06. Ballinamallard friendly - Ballymac are running a bus to the Ballinamallard / Glens friendly this Saturday, with a departure time from Wilgar Street of 12.00 noon to accomodate the early 2.30pm kick-off. We've booked a 53-seater so there'll be plenty of room should any of you want to come along, all visitors are of course very welcome to travel :-)
