SouthStandSays

BATE BORISOV 2-0 LINFIELD (3-1 on aggregate)

Same old, same old for Linfield. To be honest we acquitted ourselves well, and it is no disgrace, but as always small margins decide things, and the big slices of luck do not fall our way. One of their players should have walked after 6 minutes. But let's not kid ourselves, we weren't good enough.

Would summer football help?
If not, an earlier start to pre-season?
Any other ideas?

Short of a lucky, kind draw, I don't see how we are going to progress. I'd have fancied us to beat the Gurns' and Reds' opponents, but we lack the resources to compete with a team whose annual wage bill is reportedly €6million.

We're just a very small fish in a tiny pond.

Yet again, Linfield get the toughest possible draw. Top seeds, a hell of a journey to the other side of Europe, no hope of progressing (our ultra-professional preparation consisting of one friendly really puts us in the best possible shape), I actually don't know why we bother. Consider our CL draws over the past 6 seasons:

2006 - Gorica (Slovenia) (top seed)
2007 - Elfsborg (Sweden) (second top seed)
2008 - Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) (top seed)
2010 - Rosenborg (Norway) (top seed)
2011 - BATE Borisov (Belarus) (top seed)

That is taking the p*ss.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has read the story (http://www.linfieldfc.com/latestnews.asp?nid=6808) regarding mascots for the Linfield-Rangers (125th Anniversary Celebration Game) and found the fact that we are asking parents to pay for their children to be mascots most unedifying.

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The draw for next seasons Champions League venture into Europe for Linfield takes place on Monday 20th June.

At the minute the potential opponents for Linfield are listed below, these teams are the seeded team from the Northern Section.

FC BATE Borisov - Belarus
Rosenborg BK - Norway
Sturm Graz - Austria
HJK Helsinki - Finland
Malmö FF - Sweden
Shamrock Rovers - Ireland

Curtis Allen seems the biggest casualty in tonights contract talks. Curtis didn't get his contract renewed and joins O'Kane and Tomelty in leaving Windsor Park.

The following players got 1 year deals tonight - Addis, Lindsay, Murphy, Douglas, McCaul and Kane. Jim Ervin signed a 2 year extension

A certain glentoran player was yesterday telling people in the bar that he had signed for the Blues.

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The Linfield Annual General Meeting takes place this Friday night at Windsor Park. Earlier in the week SSS met up with the new candidate for election to the Management Committee, South Stand regular Tom Wright.

We had a few questions for Tom, and here are his answers - (more...)

A move for Daryl Fordyce seems to be on the cards after talks last week, a major stumbling block will be the wages offered by Portadown FC which blow us out of the water. It will be interesting to see if Fordyce follows Stephen Carsons hunger for money or trophies.

Albert Watson has left Ballymena and eventually joined Linfield after many years of us chasing him. Albert signs on a 2 year deal.

Good signing?

I always thought he was older as he has been around for a long time but he is only 26 and still plenty of football left in him. A no nonsense type player who wins plenty of balls in the air and is also quick on the ground.

I think he will do well with the Blues, what do you think?

Quite a few of us at SSS Towers have had to eat our words in relation to David Jeffrey. You can't really have an argument against a manager whose team are about to lift their 5th League and Cup double in 6 seasons.

Certain issues will still remain with the manager like him coming across bigger than the club but it's time for me to sit back and enjoy the continued success and hope that some of his previous failings don't crop up again over the summer.