| 31 August: Next Weekend's Game in Doubt |
| Next Saturday's Premier League game with Glenavon at Mourneview is in danger of being called off due to International call-ups. Northern Ireland U21s are due to play their Scottish counterparts next Friday evening and included in the squad are Andrew Hunter and new signing Ryan McCann, while listed on the standby list are Alan Mannus and Hugh Dickson. If one of those two are called into the squad, then the Linfield game would in all probability be postponed as happens in England. If the game is called off it would leave Linfield in the ludicrous position of being 3 games behind so early in the season. |
| 31 August: Irish Premier League Results |
Cliftonville 0 Ards 0 (played Fri)
Crusaders 0 Omagh 3
Glenavon 3 Institute 1
Newry 0 Coleraine 2 |
| 30 August: Blues Greet Transfer Deadline with Four New Signings |
| Some may see it as desperation, others as forward planning, but on the eve of transfer deadline day Linfield today announced a mammoth four new signings. Cliftonville winger Pat Wall finally completed his much anticipated move, while David Jeffrey also got his hands on the back-up goalkeeper he had been looking for with the signing of Gregg Shannon, a former Sunderland and Scarboro player. The final two signings, as mentioned earlier in the week are ex Rangers duo Ryan McCann and Paul McKnight. |
| 29 August: UEFA Cup Result |
| Linfield 1 (Ferguson) Stabæk 1 |
| 28 August: Blues Look South in Hunt for Keeper |
| News reaches me that David Jeffrey has turned his sights south of the border in his hunt for a new keeper with former Derry City stopper Tony O'Dowd a possible target. O'Dowd has seemingly fallen out of favour at current club Shamrock Rovers and Hoops boss Liam Buckley has said the player can go for the right price. It remains to be seen whether the Blues can afford 'the right price'. |
| 28 August: Two on Trial |
| It seems that David Jeffrey has been busy as he attempts to turn fortunes around at Windsor. Not only does he have his sights on a goalkeeper as backup to Alan Mannus, but apparently Ryan McCann and Paul McKnight have both been training at Windsor with a view to signing. Midfielder McCann will be out of contract at Rangers at the end of the season but will be allowed to leave now on a free transfer if he can find a new club, while striker McKnight, another former Rangers player, is currently out of contract after being released by St Mirren. |
| 27 August: Morgan Out of Euro Game |
| Chris Morgan has been ruled out of Thursday evenings UEFA Cup game with Stabæk due to a groin injury. The striker had sustained the injury during the opening League game at Omagh but had been expected to have recovered in time to play in the first leg of the UEFA tie until he had a recurrence of the injury whilst warming up. It's now expected he won't be fit to play for another couple of weeks, and with Lee Feeney, Jamie Marks, Robert Robinson, Darren Murphy, Garth Scates, Andrew Hunter, Davy Larmour and Winkie Murphy all carrying injuries of one form or another, boss David Jeffrey must be feeling as if he's trapped in a never ending dark tunnel. |
| 24 August: Time to Restore Some Pride |
In this evening's Ireland's Saturday Night Justin McBride has called for Linfield to restore some pride when they play Stabæk this coming Thursday in the second leg of their UEFA Cup tie. Of course the Blues go into the game trailing 4-0 from the 1st leg last week in Norway and Justy feels the team have a point to prove:
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"Everyone at Windsor Park was stung by what happened in Scandinavia and the severity of the press criticism which followed it. Whilst they were the better team, there is no way that there was a four goal margin between the sides. We created several decent chances over the 90 minutes and for most of the second-half looked the most likely team to score, but we conceded two late goals and that gave the final result an unrealistic look."
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"If we have the kind of night which they had against us in Norway, and the breaks all go in our favour, then anything is possible, but that probably won't happen. Therefore our objective has to be to win the match and keep a clean sheet in doing so. Anything that we achieve beyond that will be a bonus."
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"I have played against Olympic Marseille when they were European Cup holders and Sparta Prague, another one of Europe's elite clubs, and on those occasions there was a massive gulf in class between us and them. Stabaek were not in that league or anything like it so we really should have come home with a much better result. But Thursday night offers us an opportunity to repair some of the damage done to pride and reputations ten days ago and we'll be pulling out all the stops to do that."
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| 24 August: Irish Premier League Results |
Institute 1 Linfield 0
Ards 2 Newry 1
Coleraine 1 L Distillery 4
Glentoran 4 Crusaders 0
Omagh 3 Glenavon 1
Portadown 1 Cliftonville 0 |
| 20 August: Blues Miss out on Keeper |
| According to the BBC Northern Ireland website, Linfield have missed out on the signing of goalkeeper David Wells. The player had been expected to sign for Portadown but reports early last week were that he was on his way to Windsor Park. The Blues are now left with Tommy Wright as the only back-up to Alan Mannus as Robert Robinson requires an operation on his injured ankle and could be out of action for a number of months. |
| 18 August: Irish Premier League Results (played Saturday) |
Crusaders 0 Coleraine 0
Institute 0 Omagh 0 (played Fri)
L Distillery 1 Ards 0
Newry 0 Portadown 0 |
| 18 August: Site Updates |
| Well that was enjoyable! Bar the result of the game on Thursday, the trip to Oslo was superb. Expensive, but certainly superb. If any of you haven't had the chance to visit, I would seriously recommend it, but please do save plenty before you go. I know it's a city I would have no hesitation in returning to. Just in case you have taken to living like a recluse while I've been away, Linfield lost the game 4-0 but I'll put more about that online when I'm not so tired. |
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| 13 August: Site Updates |
| Due to the tiny matter of a little game in Norway this coming Thursday, there will be no site updates until probably late on Sunday. For anyone going, have a great time, see you there, and mine's a cheap pint :-) |
| 13 August: Another Season, Same old Problems |
It would appear that David Wells' move to Linfield is not as straightforward as it seems. According to various sources, the goalkeeper yesterday agreed to sign for the club, however today Portadown boss Ronnie McFall is claiming that the player has already signed for them.
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"David signed a contract to join us on October 3 when his contract ends at Cliftonville. We have done everything by the book and expect David to be with us in just over a month's time. We contacted Cliftonville, who wanted £5,000 for the player. There was no way we were going to pay that with him coming out of contract so soon but we were prepared to negotiate, they weren't. I know Linfield were sneaking around trying to get him last week but David told me he was only interested in joining us. As far as I am concerned he has signed for Portadown - not Linfield."
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| This begs the question, if Wells has indeed already signed for Portadown, why has he seemingly signed a contract at Windsor? |
| 13 August: Goalkeeper Agrees Terms |
| According to the BBC Northern Ireland website, David Jeffrey has agreed terms with former Northern Ireland U21 goalkeeper Davy Wells who was with Cliftonville last season. It had been expected that Wells would sign for Portadown. |
| Meanwhile Jamie Marks has been ruled out of Thursday's UEFA Cup game with Stabæk due to an injury picked up in Saturday's draw at Omagh. Justin McBride is also a slight injury worry but it looks as if he will make the game, while Glenn Ferguson will captain the side in the absence of the suspended Noel Bailie. |
| 12 August: Man of the Match Poll |
| For those of you who haven't noticed yet, the link to the Man of the Match poll has moved to the right hand side of the page. |
| 11 August: Stabæk Lose Ahead of European Game |
| UEFA Cup opponents Stabæk warmed up for Thursday evening's First Leg game with a 2-0 defeat at lowly Sogndal. Maybe all is not lost after all. |
| 11 August: Murphy on the Way Back |
Defender William Murphy has revealed that he could be back in first team action by the end of September. Murphy has been out of action since tearing a cruciate ligament last October but it appears his injury battle is almost at an end:
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"After a very frustrating nine or ten month period everything is going to plan and it looks as if I am well down the road to making a full recovery. In fact I am starting to get quite excited at the prospect of playing again after being out for so long."
"Terry Hayes has been tremendous. He took time out during May and June to put Davy (Larmour) and I through our paces twice a week up at Stormont. I can't tell you how worthwhile that was. To be honest it is thanks to Terry's dedication as much as anything that we are both feeling so fit at the moment."
"I've had the all clear from the consultant to begin playing again as soon as Terry and the other medical staff at Windsor Park reckon that I am ready. Whilst no firm decisions have been taken, if I keep progressing as well as I am at present, I definitely aim to be involved in a game next month." |
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| 10 August: Irish Premier League Results |
Omagh 1 Linfield 1
Ards 2 Crusaders 2
Cliftonville 1 Newry 0
Coleraine 3 Glenavon 2
Glentoran 4 Institute 1
Portadown 3 L Distillery 0 |
| 10 August: It's Here! |
After what seemed, in spite of the World Cup a slightly longer summer than usual (or maybe it was just me), the new season is finally upon us. Two new teams in the Premier Division and a ludicrous new format, but the prize at the end remains the same. Today's fixtures are:
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Omagh v Linfield
Ards v Crusaders
Cliftonville v Newry
Coleraine v Glenavon
Glentoran v Institute
Portadown v L Distillery |
| 7 August: Haylock Pours Scorn on Rumours |
Garry Haylock has spoken out following the widespread rumours that he was set to return to Windsor Park. The following is taken from a message board on a Dundalk fan's website:
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Linfield!!
by Garry Haylock
It's rare that i reply to messages posted about me but i felt i had to as this was so utterly ridiculous!! i haven't spoken to anyone even remotely connected with Linfield.
My contract will be honoured, unless the club states their desire for me to leave and i haven't received the slightest indication that this is so
Posted on Aug 6, 2002, 8:12 PM |
| 2 August: Blues Linked With Former Player |
| A rather worrying rumour reaches me today that sees Linfield being linked with a move for a former player. If it's true it would surely rank as an even bigger sensation than Justin McBride's transfer last July, but I can see two major obstacles to the move ever happening. Firstly as far as I know the player is still under contract at his present club, and secondly would be the reaction of the Linfield fans. The player in question? Garry Haylock... |
| 3 August: Thank God Pre-Season is Over |
Linfield completed their pre-season campaign with another 4 goal defeat this time at the hands of English First Division side Sheffield United. The Blades ran out 5-1 winners, with Andrew Hunter scoring the Linfield goal.
The Linfield team was:
Tommy Wright, Stephen Collier, Stuart King, Jamie Marks, Darren Murphy, Hugh Dickson, Justin McBride, Lee Feeney, Glenn Ferguson, Stephen Shaw, Noel Bailie
Subs: Alan Mannus, Peter Thompson, Andrew Hunter, Garth Scates, Miguel Chines |
| 2 August: Site Updates/Redesign |
| Apologies if site updates are a bit erratic at the moment but I'm currently working on the redesign for the new season which is taking a bit longer than I had originally envisaged. Hopefully things should be back to normal by the start of the league campaign on 10 August. |
| 2 August: CIS League Cup Fixtures |
Just like last season the CIS League Cup will operate on a geographical group basis with matches being played on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of a specified week to avoid clashing with ‘live’ television coverage of European Champions League or UEFA Cup ties. Linfield's games as they stand at present are:
week commencing Monday 2rd September 2002 - Linfield v Bangor
week commencing Monday 9th September 2002 - L Distillery v Linfield
week commencing Monday 23th September 2002 - Glentoran v Linfield
week commencing Monday 7th October 2002 - Linfield v Ards |
