It’s been so long since we lost a goal it feels like there should be an inquest today. A couple of mistakes in a wide position, followed by two deflections, which confused Craig Gordon, and that’s all it took. I’m OK with this. We’ll make mistakes and lose goals, this is one of the better ways of doing so.
Of slightly more concern was how St Johnstone match us for possession and chances created or long period during the game, belying their bottom half of the table position, some 7 points shy of Hamilton. Ronny will be keen to turnaround this specific ill for next week’s game against Accies, but the plan for Thursday will be altogether different.
Had a great time on Friday at the Irvine CSC, a very impressive club in the Ayrshire town. Get along and support it if you are in the area, they are doing a lot of good work. There’s no better way to prepare for a game against Inter Milan than to listen to Stevie Chalmers and Bobby Lennox telling you how it’s done, as they did at Irvine.
Thanks in particular to the man who put a bunch of tenners in my hand for Mary’s Meals. What a club!
Big week ahead……
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delaneys dunky,
Bitterly disappointed not to have made it pal.
However, delighted to see you all had a ball.
Was just thinking there mate.Haven’t been home for nearly a year.Time I was in the Mounty or the Horse and Barge.
Morning all.
Delighted that the Belfast hootenanny was a resounding success, as I knew it would be.
BMCUW
Don’t tell me you missed the ferry back?!
Talk soon and seeya next month for a curry and some liquid refreshments!
Say hi to the auld yin.
HH!!
TCR
Sorry you never made the Belfast Hoot. Was looking for you all day. See ye soon ma Bankie mucker. Would back you in a square go wi Ian Wallace. ;)
TRC
Yep. Bheaver posts occasionally. Gr8 Tim from Doire. Used to meet him on the plane on the way to matches. (although if he’s reading this I’m jesting about him being a good lad).
Think he knows you from Waterloo St hostelries.
Lovejoy
I wouldn’t believe it until mate showed me some of the stuff on their site. I hope they go on Willie Frazers Dublin March and get battered like fish suppers.
Micktt
Defo email before you come over and I will sort a few things.
Better go getting “that” look again. Mrs says to say to blonde one it was Bearsden St Andrews.
Ktf all. Out and about.
From ForrestDee
So, has the SMSM journalist posing as a bampot been outed yet? I suspect there may be more than one.
.
FA Cup: From Beckham’s petrol money to the making of Moyes
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/31253499
Just 34 miles separate Manchester United and Preston but for the first time in 43 years the two will meet at Deepdale in a competitive fixture on Monday.
The FA Cup fifth-round tie brings together two sides who may not have shared the same pitch for a while, but elements of their respective histories are intertwined.
From David Beckham’s Preston loan, David Moyes cutting his managerial teeth and an FA Cup hat-trick hero’s near miss in the Munich air disaster, BBC Sport takes a look at some of the stories linking the two clubs.
Alex Dawson played in FA Cup finals for both Manchester United and Preston, but only after fate prevented him from being involved in the 1958 Munich air disaster.
The Scotland-born forward began his career at the Red Devils and was one of a number of impressive youngsters starting to make an impression in the first team.
To gain experience, he had been involved in United’s 1957-58 European campaign, travelling with the squad for away games, and had fully expected to be making the trip to Belgrade for the game against Red Star Belgrade.
“I’d got my passport and visa sorted,” Dawson told BBC Sport. “United had just played Arsenal and we were waiting for a call from London, but the coach, Bert Whalley, came in and told us Matt Busby was leaving us behind. He needed cover at full-back because of a last-minute injury, so I missed out.”
A few days later, the Manchester United team that travelled was involved in a crash that was to claim the lives of eight players.
When Dawson heard about it he had to phone his mum, who thought he had travelled for the game, to let her know he was OK before he and the rest of those players left behind had to start thinking about rebuilding.
Just 13 days after the crash, United were in FA Cup action, a fifth-round tie against Sheffield Wednesday.
The possibility of resigning from the competition had been considered, but Dawson and his team-mates were determined to continue.
“It was hard, just to think we would need to take some of those players’ places,” continues Dawson.
“Jimmy Murphy, who took charge of the team, was allowed to sign a couple of players, but we had a great reserve and youth team, so we all just said: ‘this is it, we’ll give the lot’.
FA Cup
Manchester United were beaten by Bolton in the 1958 FA Cup final
For that game against Sheffield Wednesday, 60,000 spectators packed out Old Trafford, a further 60,000 gathered outside.
“The entire country was behind Manchester United,” recalled Dawson.
United won that game 3-0 and support from throughout England only became stronger as they progressed all the way to the final, where they were beaten by Bolton.
“I felt sorry for Bolton to be honest, they were the most hated team in British football then for beating us,” Dawson added.
However, it was for his exploits in the semi-final win against Fulham that Dawson secured his place in history, the then 18-year-old scoring three goals. To this day, he remains the only player to score an FA Cup semi-final hat-trick.
“The goalkeeper had a good game, although he let a few slip through his legs,” Dawson said.
“Jimmy Hill, who played for Fulham that day, said to me: ‘you did me out of a cup final’. I just turned around and said: ‘Jim you weren’t good enough’. It shocked him.”
Dawson left United in 1961 to join Preston and went on to become a legendary figure at the club, earning the nickname The Black Prince.
Alex Dawson scored in the 1964 FA Cup final for Preston, but could not prevent them from losing 3-2 to West Ham
At the age of just 24 he was to play in his second FA Cup final in 1964, and although he scored he could not prevent Preston losing 3-2 to a West Ham side that included future World Cup winners Geoff Hurst and Bobby Moore.
“We had a good side when we reached the FA Cup final, a very good side,” said Dawson. “Leeds were the big team then and we were in the Second Division, but Bobby Collins, who played for them at the time, told me their players were not worried about any other team but Preston.
“The current teams reminds me of that one, actually. Can they go all the way? Why not.”
Bend it like Beckham – the first sightings
A 19-year-old David Beckham went on loan to Preston in 1994 before establishing himself in the Manchester United side
David Beckham spent just one month on loan at Preston after arriving from Manchester United at the end of February 1995 but the scrawny and quiet 19-year-old made a big impression.
“Frail but confident,” was how team-mate David Moyes described him.
He came off the bench to score direct from a corner against Doncaster on his debut and struck a peach of a free-kick in a 3-2 win over Fulham on his first start – the core skills that underpinned his career were clearly already in evidence.
Beckham, with North End paying a portion of his wage and, apparently, stumping up the young midfielder’s petrol money, played five games in total before Sir Alex Ferguson decided that a boy had become a man and recalled him to Old Trafford.
PNE missed out on promotion that year – a familiar story of play-off defeat – but the following season Beckham was in the stands at Leyton Orient, sat next to his father Ted, to see his old team-mates celebrate the 2-0 win that ensured they would be going up.
By that time Beckham had become a first-team regular at United and was a month away from winning the FA Cup, defeating Liverpool 1-0 in a stinker of a final, but he never forgot where it all started for him.
The last time they met
In 1972 the computer game Pong was released, cinema goers were enjoying The Godfather for the first time and Donny Osmond’s Puppy Love was riding high in the music charts.
It was also the last time Manchester United made the trip to Deepdale.
Just as it has done this year, the visit of the Red Devils captured the imagination of Preston fans back then, with over 27,000 – 12,000 more than their average crowd for that season – packing out the ground.
Manchester United
Preston, then of the Second Division, certainly gave a United side featuring George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law a run for their money, with the visitors needing two late goals from Alan Gowling to avoid an FA Cup fourth-round upset.
“It was a difficult match,” Gowling, who finished his career at Preston, told BBC Sport.
“You go to clubs like Preston and you know it is going to be a battle. The crowd wanted an upset, particularly with a big side like Manchester United in town, and it made for a really great atmosphere at the ground.
“You hope your skills win out and, fortunately, that day they did.”
United legends cutting their managerial teeth
His manager then was Charlton, who was in the Manchester United side in that 1972 game.
“I loved watching Bobby Charlton play that night, and a couple of years later when I signed for North End as a teenager he was the first manager I ever had,” recalls Lawrenson.
“Bobby did not really enjoy being a manager, but he absolutely loved training with us kids and it was just fantastic for me as a 16 or 17-year-old to be coached by one of the best players ever.
“His ability was frightening and his balance and strength too. In the shooting drills he used to do at the club’s old training ground at Willow Farm everybody would just stand there watching him bang them in. He would be hitting the ball with both feet and we would be saying ‘my goodness, how good is this fellow?’
“Another United legend Nobby Stiles was Charlton’s assistant and he was instrumental in my career.
Nobby Stiles (left) and Bobby Charlton (right) pictured here with former Manchester United team-mate George Best, were the management team at Preston for two years from 1973
“Everything about Nobby was fantastic – his mannerisms and his modesty. He was fantastic with all the players he worked with and he really looked after us all.
“I lived in Blackpool at the time even though I was playing for Preston and I used to have to get a bus every afternoon after training into Preston railway station to get the train to Blackpool.
“Nobby lived in Manchester but would go 20 or 25 minutes out of his way to take me to the station to let me get the train back. He didn’t have to do that.
“He was a massive influence on me – he turned me from a winger into a defender at half-time of a game against Aston Villa reserves. He said ‘You know what, I want you to play there’, and that was me sorted.”
The making of Moyes
Underwhelming would perhaps be the best word to describe the appointment of player-coach Moyes, 34, as successor to Gary Peters in January 1998.
Many saw it as another appointment that lacked imagination or ambition; the cheap option by a club that had done nothing but rattle around the bottom two divisions for years.
But then again, the majority of fans who had watched the committed Scot battle manfully in the centre of their defence for the last five years had little idea that he had been preparing for an opportunity like this since he was 22.
“Long before I took him on as my assistant he had been taking notes, after every single session,” explained Peters.
Darren Ferguson, the son of Sir Alex Ferguson, managed Preston for a brief spell in 2010. He arrived in January and was sacked in December that year, with Preston bottom of the Championship.
After his departure, Manchester United recalled their three players on loan at Deepdale – Joshua King, Ritchie De Laet, and Matty James – while Tony Pulis also recalled two on-loan Stoke players. Preston, already struggling, could not cope with the departure of five key players, and were relegated that season.
Sir Alex Ferguson will be back at Deepdale for the first time since his son’s departure on Monday.
If Moyes could look unsure and clumsy in possession, it soon become evident that on the touchline he was feisty, in control and hugely talented.
Team-mate Kevin Kilbane enjoyed working with him, saying: “He always listened and always focused on the little details that made you a better player.”
Despite losing four and drawing three of his first seven league games in charge, he kept North End up that season. His team then won the third-tier title the season after and reached the Championship play-off final in 2001.
Nobody was hugely surprised when a Premier League team took a punt on the brightest young manager in the Football League and he left for Everton in 2002 with PNE eighth in the table, before moving to Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
But while Moyes moved on from Deepdale he remained a resident of Preston throughout his time as boss of Everton and United, only leaving his adopted city when he was appointed boss of Spanish side Real Sociedad late last year.
001
Ps..How many great Young Managers had someone say of their Appointment..Lacking Imagination..Big Risk..
tricoloured ribbon
10:42 on 16 February, 2015
gearoid,
bheaver?
₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩
I thought I knew what it meant till he said he knows you…
HH
DD
It really 2 as Gr8 tO meet you. When it comes to Partying we are rank aamateur 8 comparison to.you bhoys but I found that out a long time ago. Hoot only confirmed it. Posted last night hoping you enjoyed the 2nd best tribute act.
Ktf DD
TCR
The Huns are in desperate trouble….the level of interest from the fans is on the wane…they don’t do second best with any grace
Unless someone is stupid enough to throw a large sum of money at them thus allowing for instant success
They may survive or reincarnate …..they won’t be a force for some time
gearoid1998/MickTT
What years were your respective better halfs at St Andrew’s?
.
Bordeaux Ultras Visual Display..
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/31458520
Summa
Alfie Noakes –
That happened over a year ago. I’m talking about the Twitter abuse, not the tragedy.
Why are you regurgitating a year-old story to make some random point?
I smell desperation.
========================================================
I am aware when it took place – November 2013 – and I am NOT ‘regurgitating’ (one of my favourite words) it – you are obviously not ‘up’ yet and are posting from bed.
This is today’s news – you’ll get round to it, when you vacate the futon.
As for what you are smelling – quite frankly that’s too much info and really none of my business.
nb – to whoever said I should not be commenting as I abuse people on this forum – utter claptrap. I have strong views which unlike most I always endeavour to back-up with evidential and/or anecdotal information – I do NOT abuse individuals – however I do get called all the names ‘under the sun’
micktt
10:59 on 16 February, 2015
tricoloured ribbon
10:42 on 16 February, 2015
gearoid,
bheaver?
₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩
I thought I knew what it meant till he said he knows you…
………
Hahahahaha
I just KNEW somebody would comment on that.
gearoid,
if he frequents Waterloo St then I will know him.
Cup final ticket news on website
gearoid1998
10:57 on 16 February, 2015
TRC
Yep. Bheaver posts occasionally. Gr8 Tim from Doire. Used to meet him on the plane on the way to matches. (although if he’s reading this I’m jesting about him being a good lad).
Think he knows you from Waterloo St hostelries.
Lovejoy
I wouldn’t believe it until mate showed me some of the stuff on their site. I hope they go on Willie Frazers Dublin March and get battered like fish suppers.
Micktt
Defo email before you come over and I will sort a few things.
Better go getting “that” look again. Mrs says to say to blonde one it was Bearsden St Andrews.
Ktf all. Out and about.
₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩
Bearsden too… just getting the year..
HH
Re my last post – the late riser was Tom McLaughlin – and the abuse accuser was Foghorn Leghorn – a well know ‘chicken’ rounds these parts
HT
Mrs at St Andrews 96/97 doing her PGCE.
Hope you are well skin. Now get back to teaching.
HalftermsarebrillCSC
.
l have Said it since Before Christmas..
Rangers will be in a Play Off with Motherwell..Hibernian and Falkirk..
3 Opponents that will take at Least 3 Goals off them in the First leg..
televised..;-)
Summa
Hope the Play-Offs are T
gearoid1998
Ha I’m on my break which is about to end. Enjoy Sligo, well enjoy it as much as you can :-)
hamiltontim,
St.Mary’s?
Astounding wee history behind it too.
Micktt
He’s called Bheaver because it rhymes with his surname. Defo no Jim Goodwin lol.
Well it’s time for my swally seeing you Belfast Brigade have had yours.
Anyone in Derry City Centre today in need of a good Celtic ear bashing around 2 bells then I’m yer man.
gearoid1998
11:20 on 16 February, 2015
HT
Mrs at St Andrews 96/97 doing her PGCE.
Hope you are well skin. Now get back to teaching.
HalftermsarebrillCSC
₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩
Not got back to me yet with the year, play time must be over…
Aye there’s Hamiltontim picked his jaicket aff the grun and running into class too…
Ayrshire is Green and White
gearoid1998
11:24 on 16 February, 2015
Micktt
He’s called Bheaver because it rhymes with his surname. Defo no Jim Goodwin lol.
……
McKeever?
Ah feck it,I give up.
What about Bhoylo?.
Is he a young lad?
TCR
Spot on about St Marys. Vast majority of funding for Church raised by Belfast Presbyterians in defiance of established Church of Ireland. First Catholic Church built in City Centre.
gearoid1998
11:32 on 16 February, 2015
TCR
Spot on about St Marys. Vast majority of funding for Church raised by Belfast Presbyterians in defiance of established Church of Ireland. First Catholic Church built in City Centre.
₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩
Beautiful wee church… The blonde one and I plan to attend every parish church in Scotland when we retire… But do wee tours the now..
Like my Dad the first thing I look for when away from home is a Church…old “Habbits” die hard…
That’s true but I’ll get my jacket anyway…!
HH
Cliftonvillecelt,
If you are around,
My youngest lad’s pal is playing with you now.Caiomhin Bonner.
I was advised to get off that”feckn” blog. Obviously learned nothing from St Andrews. Then she disappears into shower. Every cloud and all that…blog time.
TCR
Boylo Gr8 craic. A young one alright…young head on old shoulders lol if you’re reading Bhoylo.
Bheaver….
Geezer
Retriever
Sneezer
Ye canny get a name out of that…
HH
Micktt@11.31
Real lol there.
3 sleeps till paradise
HH
Inter boss Roberto Mancini expressed his delight at being given the keys to the training ground of Scottish lower league club Sevco.
“I watched Sevco against Alloa in the Petrofac Training Cup earlier in the season and they did very well, scoring two goals and almost holding out for a draw. If we can use their training facilities maybe we can try to emulate their qualities, although I know their manager at the time of that game is one of the all-time greats.
I have told my players they are not allowed selfies with any of the Sevco players. They are all big admirers of Ian Black, Lee McCulloch and Kris Boyd, but they have to be professional and put that to one side for this week, although it will not be easy meeting your idols.
Whoever built this training ground was a true visionary, as the amount of talent to have come through is quite staggering – Kyle Hutton, Fraser Aird and all the others. It really was a magnificent investment and worth every penny.”
St Mary’s in Belfast is an absolute necessity for me when I go up.
It’s so uplifting.
A good breakfast,Mass in in Irish.
Then 16 roads ready for a right good swally..
Belfast? Magical.
I see no letters are coming out to tell you if you have a ticket for the final, you need to look on line to find out.
What about the people who don’t have Internet access or haven’t a clue how to use a computer I take it they just miss out
Wonder if any of the I
TRICOLOUREDRIBBON
Bhoylo needs to get his parents to unlock the parental control before he can post on here,the young whippersnapper!
Canny half tank the beer for a teenager,mind. Him and his minder Aiden. I was in awe.
Rats! Stupid computer posted before I finished typing…
I was going to say, I wonder if any of the Inter boys have been reminded of the no blessing yourself policy.
delaneys dunky
10:56 on 16 February, 2015
TCR
Sorry you never made the Belfast Hoot. Was looking for you all day. See ye soon ma Bankie mucker. Would back you in a square go wi Ian Wallace. ;)
…….
G, no sweat pal.
Wallace was always an old enemy of mine .
He was from Wood Quadrant in Whitecrook.
As I say he went on to be a good player.