If anybody was in any doubt about how difficult it was going to be this season they know now. The two squads were both depleted with players being away for the first game against Gymns (which I for one cannot understand) and this is likely to continue for the next two months (nine games).

The first team match at Balleira Road was a reasonably even affair and the only difference in the two teams was their Striker Cierran McNullty who showed total quality and class in taking his two goals. I did mark the players on the day with comments and would like to share this with you.

Bez 8/10 - For a stand in keeper was outstanding and infact several of the Gymns players asked where we had signed him from. Was at fault for their third goal.

Perksie 7/10 - A very steady game at right back showing all his usual composure, effort and experience. Was part of the four defenders that let their striker ghost through them for the second goal.

Dave 7/10 - In my opinion he is becoming one of the very best central defenders on the Island, looked extremely comfortable on the ball and is becoming very assured at organising the back four, again should not have let their striker get in for the second goal. He also was quick to spot that the team needed reorganising to create a threat infront of goal.

Quinny 6/10 - A typical Quinny performance, quality but at times just lacking that little bit of effort. Caused them problems when he went upfront.

Rob 4/10 - A mixed performance and maybe a few nerves got the better of him. Rob did demonstrate that he has the ability to be a regular first team choice with a few more outings.

Stu 6/10 - A battling gritty performance. What he lacks in pace he more than makes up for in determination and enthusiasm.

Chris 5/10 - Not upto the standard he set in pre season but did demonstrate that with his ability he is a match for any full back.

Crowie 6/10 - An "im everywhere performance" again from Crowie and a level of commitment that is an example to everyone around him. His passing let him down on the day.

Mikey 6/10 - He managed to control his temper throughout the game and at times was superb on the day. Took his goal extremely well. Not involved enough in the game but when this happens he has the ability to be the star man for the team.

Fordy 3/10 - A bad day at the office. A performance that I know he was disapointed with but I am sure he will put right as the season goes on.

Louis 8/10 - The find of the season so far. Played the loan striker role extremely well and layed on a superb cross for Mikeys goal. Gymns defence struggled to cope with him. His work rate was exceptional.

Quiner (sub) 4/10 - When he came on he did reasonably well and signs are that he is getting back to his best. Has the pace to trouble any defender.

Nathan (sub) 2/10 - Came on with about 5 minutes to go. Disapointing that he turned upto the game in a p...d state.

Raj (sub not used) - Although Raj was not used it was apreciated that he helped run the team from the sidelines including going off on a regular basis to find the ball.

What can I say about the combi 9-0. According to Tony "I hope that is the worst it gets".

So all in all not the start we wanted but I believe we will cause a bit of a shock over the next two weeks, darw with St Georges and beat Peel.

With only three weeks until the start of the season my thoughts on the pre season certainly have a certain amount of optimism which was boosted on Saturday with the fact that Moffy confirmed he was staying at the club , the first sight of the new signing James Ford and Crowie returning from injury. Our squad size certainly looks a lot healthier than it did at this time last year boosted by new signings and the return of Chris Hancox, Phil Richardson, Mikey Hammond, Rob Christian and Stu Woodward. The possible loss of Johnny Holland to St Marys does not now seem as major a problem as first thought. The commitment to training so far has been first rate and lets hope this is maintained during the cold wet winter months.

The 5-0 win over Douglas Royals demonstrated the gulf between the Premier League and the second division and as said by the players after the game a level of football that this club does not want to go back to. All in all PROMISING with a taint of CAUTION. 

With the start of the season only a month off the first friendly was held against St Marys last Saturday. The first game saw the Combi take on the green and yellows from Douglas with some of our new signings on show for the first time and with some impressive performances from the likes of Ben, Darren, Gavin and Nathan and it was also great to see both Phil Richardson and Rob Christian back. The result, a 5/5 draw although meaningless probably did justice to both teams. Some of the interplay from the lads was a joy to watch with three of the goals coming from decent build ups, the best being quick one twos between Kenny Diak and Chris Blackburn resulting in a quality finish from Chris. On this showing there is at least four or five players who will be in Nicks thoughts for the first team.

The first team although weakened were shown how to play football by a very impressive Marys outfit, who on this showing will challenge at the top of the league. To be fair to the lads they did compete in the first half and went in 3/2 down but with the loss of Quinny in the second half and a couple of others who played a half for the combi, gaps appeared resulting in a final result 2/6.

Douglas Royals this Saturday gives a chance for the lads to get some confidence back.

Due to various complaints and suggestions that I have recieved from the true members of Michael United who were concerned about the damage that "childish idiots" were doing to our club I have had no other option but to close the guest book until such times as the new security system is in place which will involve individual posters having to register with a legitimate email address. Apologies to the majority who use the guest book for information and a bit of harmless fun but as has been said to me by many, personal insults and vendettas agains individuals will not be tolerated by the Club. I am also pleased to say that the "net" is closing in on those involved and certainly it is the intention of certain Club members to deal with these idiots in a manner fitting to their immature behaviour. Some of you will not have seen quite a lot of the postings because I managed to delete them within a short time of them appearing on the site.

It is now time for the club to start looking forward to the new season with the AGM shortly with us all having some very important decisions to make which will decide the destiny of the club for many years to come.

With a lot of the lads away in Magaluf I felt a bit left out (must be an age thing) so I thought anything they could do I could do better (apart from Kev the legend) which started in the Casino on Friday night and finished on Wednesday night in the Indian in Peel with Andy Ritchie (ex Man U, Oldham etc). In between a function at the Mount Murray with Dr Vince Cable, a round of golf with Dean Windass (Hull) and a function at the Hilton with some of the legends of yesteryear such as Phil Neal, Alan Kennedy, Duncan McKenzie, Ron Yates etc oh I forgot some other celebs of both sport and entertainment Dennis Taylor, Stan Boardman and Ken Lynch to name a few. Anyway i was pretty impressed with my performance over the six days (for an old b...rd) and at least managed to get to work this morning at 8AM unlike a certain Mr Hurt who took the day off after only one night trying to keep up with me.

The day and evening spent with Dean Windass was an eye opener into the life of a professional footballer and Im afraid I cant say anymore as his parting words were "whats said at the table stays on the table". I must admit though I was amazed at the number of phone calls he recieved which were due to him being out of contract with Hull in July and the job offers were just flooding in, all a bit off putting when your teeing off. Ron Yates stole the show on the Golf Course at Castletown getting lost on his buggy going back to the clubhouse by taking the wrong turning off the sixth and ending up on the main road on his way into Castletown. At the presentation at night he was quite rightly awarded the prize for the longest drive of the day.

So Im now officially on a detox week getting ready for TT week and off we go again aaaaah what a life.

Gone has the Observer now we have "the player". Obviously "the player" dosent realise that although anybody who reads the site cant work out the real identity of the player  the Administartor to the site can via the IP Address. Whos the Administrator ???? ME. Under data protection I cannot disclose his/her identity but it would show  true commitment to their comments and maybe even give some credibility to the same if they had the balls to stop posting under a pseudo name and let the rest of the club know who they are.

Anyway lets get onto the topic of this Blog, when you are involved in a club and give up your time for free hopefully to the best of your ability for the enjoyment of others personal insults do get to you especially when the person saying them would rather hide behind an alias and not discuss their grevience/point of view with you. This type of annonymous attack on a web is cowardly and purely stinks of somebody that is so sad that they get a thrill in winding other people up. Regardless of Moffys insults to me on the guest book at least he had the conviction of his thoughts not to remain nameless and put himself up in a public forum which also left him open for personal attack. Everybody is entitled to their own point of view and active argument and debate is healthy, but only if you actually know who is saying it (yes I do) and the actions of player does to an extent stop other people joining in as your own argument for or against a posting could be affected by reasons behind the posting if you knew the individual. So player "be a man" and let the rest of the members of our club know who you are.

From players last posting I would like to clear up some of his points with FACTS

• Bez s posting was in relation to him going in goals on the ocassions that Gary was away. In the match against Gymns Bez had a serious groin injury and played through the pain barrier in order not to let his team mates down. He has been a great substitute for Gary but it musnt be forgotten that Gary has demonstrated that on his day he is the best keeper on the Island. Remember the saves he pulled off in the Union Mills game that gave us three points.
• Nicks sending off at Corinthians was a a very negative point of the season for me. I was not just critising him for "gobbing off" but for verbal abuse to a referee, losing us two points on the night and the fact that he will probably be banned until about Christmas which will be a loss at the start of next season.
• "Player" has referred to three players in his posting, one named and two annonymous. Firstly I will deal with Quiner. Quiner has been selected on five ocassions in the starting eleven every other time it has been as a sub. By his own admission it hasnt been a great season for him which in part was caused by injury. However he has attended majority of the training sessions and has always been willing to sit on the bench of a first team game unlike others who have "spat out the dummy" etc and made team selection difficult. In relation to the striker I am assuming that is a reference to Moffy and the defender to be Quinny. Both of these players are probably two of the most naturally talented players we have at the club and I agree can at times be frustrating, however during this season as a whole they have both had some exceptional games with Quinny being included in the Islands team of the week on four ocassions and Moffy playing an extremely difficult position of lone striker finding the net when it matters. The game against Ayre at Andreas demonstrated Moffys commitment with his constant chasing of the ball resulting in him getting a bad injury with their keeper.
• "Player" has also questioned the players commitment during matches which is a total insult. This alone could be demonstrated with four players being from the club being rated in the Islands elite for the months March/April, more than any other club on the Island.
• "Player" has also stated that the club was lucky this year which is another insult to the players. Luck has played no part whatsoever in the results this year and infact if it had we probably would have been relegated. Next season will be difficult especially if we lose any of this years squad which if it happens will be down to people like "player" who can destroy a team spirit single handedly but with hopefully both Woodys back, Mikey and Bez returning from injury the future is looking brighter.

The season is now over and I thought a summary of what I have seen as the positives and negatives might make interesting reading.

POSITIVES

• Michael United remain a Premier League team for 2009/2010 season
• Nick Hurts return to form and general leadership shown this season
• Semi final of the FA Cup
• In general the effort given by all the players in a match
• Playing at places like Peel and Rushen
• Playing in front of larger crowds
• Massive improvement in the quality of players like Dave Reynolds
• Michael United being taken seriously by the Islands best

NEGATIVES

• Attitude of the majority to training and lack of commitment which could result in the loss of at least two influential players for next season
• Loss of important players during the season; Mikey, two Woodys, Bez
• Gaz becoming a season ticket holder of Man City
• Lack of help in relation to the running of the club and to this end more particularly the loss of Mark Kelly
• Lack of respect at times shown by the younger players to officers of the club
• Nick Hurts outburst against Corinthians
• Continual chasing of monies owed by players, subs and fines
• Number of injuries that the squad suffered
• Lack of numbers for the Ladies team

In general I have enjoyed this season but have found it very difficult and time consuming and it is obvious that next season more people have to get involved not just with talking about the club but actually doing some work or else you may find the ones doing everything at the moment may say enough is enough.