Damo gets his jaw broke

Damien Johnson will be out of action for several weeks, after having his jaw fractured by West Brom defender Paul Robinson on Saturday, in a match Birmingham won 2-0. Steve Bruce:
“I like Robinson as a player. I think he is the best full-back in the Championship but there is no need, especially in the light of what has happened in recent weeks, to mount a challenge like that.
“It was horrific, it was awful, it was intended. He knew what he was doing. It is too late for apologies.
“I don’t think in my 10 years of management I’ve ever criticised any individual but the more I see that challenge, the more I am appalled by it. I have defended players and have been among players when we have had fisticuffs and fights down tunnels and all sorts of things. We all know what goes on.
“The big debate with the (Stephen) Hunt and (Petr) Cech incident rumbles on – but this one is as clear as you are ever going to see. We saw the Ben Thatcher incident a couple of weeks ago and, for me, this one is just as bad because Robinson has turned his whole body to make sure he gets his elbow through. That can only damage people.”
(ht Pete)

McCartney – Not playing ‘probably a big mistake’

…but he won’t play for his country again.
West Ham defender George McCartney has said that he won’t play for Northern Ireland again. Last year McCartney said he wouldn’t play again while Sanchez was boss.

“What’s done is done – I can’t see me playing for my country again,” the 25-year-old told the News Letter. However, McCartney added that his decision not to play for NI was “probably a big mistake”. The full-back, who has won 22 caps, was angered after Sanchez hinted that he ‘picked’ his games. “I should have put the disagreement to one side,” said McCartney. “I would never fake injury and, in fact, played for Northern Ireland when I was injured. “I have to think of the supporters and what is done is done. I will not be ringing Lawrie Sanchez and he has not been in contact with me.”

Sanchez rollercoaster overtakes Republic

Northern Ireland are back in the top 50 of FIFA’s world rankings for the first time since 1995, overtaking the Republic of Ireland for the first time since the FIFA rankings came into existence. Following the latest rankings we are up 13 places to 45th, while the Republic slip to 49th. We were 124th when Lawrie took over.

Reaction to Latvia win

First of all – more highlights:
UEFA – more extended highlights with all the main chances
(The UEFA site has lots of qualify highlights, including our win over Spain.)
BBC NI extended highlights, Sanchez & Hughes interviews, English MOTD reaction:
They’re back to being a bit patronising – but a great quote from Hansen to Lineker and Shearer: “His goals record at international level surpasses anything that either of you two have done”
(YouTube Denmark highlight: We’re not going home)

Speaking of Healy’s goals record (24 in 54), the Yorkshire Post had this to say:
“It is a record that stands comparison with most of the Home Nations’ modern day greats with a scoring ratio of a goal every 2.25 games being substantially bettered by only England’s Gary Lineker and Denis Law of Scotland.”
More from the same article – pointing out that such a great record included our goal drought!
Northern Ireland manager Sanchez last night told the Yorkshire Post: “David needs to be playing at the highest level as I have no doubts he would be a success. Hopefully, he can get into the Premiership with Leeds United and if not this year then next. But I am shocked that a Premiership club have not come in for him yet. If he was a foreign striker with a record like his, there would be a host of clubs chasing him from all over Europe. David has proved over and over again that he has what it takes to score at the highest level. The hat-trick against Spain was superb with the third goal showing exactly what David is all about. It came against one of the top 10 defences in the world. David deserves the platform of playing at the highest level.”
Healy joined Leeds almost two years ago from Preston North End but has spent much of his time playing out of position on the right or left flank in a 4-5-1 formation. The striker refused to complain publicly about his plight but there was little doubt much of his attacking threat was negated by not playing through the middle. Since John Carver took temporary charge, however, he has pledged to play Healy up front in a 4-4-2 formation designed to suit his considerable talent. Sanchez said: “Any international manager wants his players to be happy and doing well for their clubs so it has to be good news for David, good news for Northern Ireland and I would expect it will be good news for Leeds. David spent a lot of time on the bench under Kevin Blackwell and that did surprise me. He still managed to finish as Leeds’s top scorer last season (with 14 goals). Since we took over (Northern Ireland) two-and-a-half years ago, we set the team up to create chances for David. If we do that, he usually takes them. We play with a big man alongside David to provide the knock-downs and it has worked very well. The great thing about David is he creates chances too. Along with the goals he has scored for me he has set up at least four or five for other people.”
Sanchez’s reign in charge of Northern Ireland amounts to 28 games and despite Healy having missed four of those through either suspension or injury, the Leeds striker has still managed to net 16 times. He said: “That is a phenomenal record by anyone’s standards. I am pleased for David because he is a decent lad. “He carries no airs and graces, is down to earth and a very good professional. David has proven himself by scoring against the big countries such as Germany, Spain and England, as well as against Latvia. When you consider that there was a spell of 14 games before I took over in which Northern Ireland failed to score at all, it makes his recent record even better,” he added. “Throughout that run, David never once failed to make himself available despite playing in a system that did not suit him (4-5-1). He was not getting any chances and yet his professionalism meant he came back every time and gave everything. That is why his team-mates are so pleased for David because they know he is a team player.”
Healy himself was quick to point to team unity as a factor in our success:
“The boys love meeting up. We have a good time together. The spirit in our camp is, I would imagine, up there with any squad in the world.”
And the team are no longer worried about our Great Expectations:
“There are great expectations now and we honestly don’t mind that. We are known as poor favourites, but we actually enjoyed it on Wednesday night and proved we can cope with that added pressure when it comes along. And I genuinely feel there is much more to come from this team.”

Healy, linked with Spanish clubs since the 3-2, is now being linked with Wigan & Charlton, with the asking price reckoned to be about £4 million.
However – on to the rest of the team. Jimmy Quinn came on to an almighty roar to win his 50th cap on Wednesday:
“I didn’t think I was going to get on the way things were going. I warmed up for about 25 minutes during the second-half and then when I came back to sit down Lawrie sent me away again. I looked at him and he said he was only joking and then told me to get ready to come on.
“I would say that winning my 50th cap is the greatest moment of my career. I have been privileged to have played for Northern Ireland right since my first cap ten years ago. Reaching 50 caps makes all the travelling and all the hard work worthwhile.”

And on to the boss – here’s a quote I haven’t seen anywhere but on football365’s quotes of the week:
“If we continue at this rate we’re going to be number one in the world by the time I finish” – Lawrie Sanchez on Norn Iron’s climb up the FIFA rankings
Last – and certainly least – the press. While the Guardian seem to have swallowed the rubbish our press are sending out, Goal.com know what’s going on:
“No doubt about which of the five nations from the (geographical) British Isles enjoyed the latest round of Euro 2008 qualifiers most. Yes, it was Northern Ireland, who collected four points out of six, which must have irritated those incomprehensible factions within the Ulster football press who seem to want team manager Lawrie Sanchez to fail. ”

Northern Ireland 1 – 0 Latvia

Northern Ireland finally showed a bit of consistency tonight as we put in a 3rd great performance in a row to beat Latvia at Windsor Park. The first half display was as good as I’ve ever seen Northern Ireland play. We were all over the visitors, and they hardly had a look in at our end. David Healy scored another great goal on 35 minutes, which was the least we deserved for all our pressure.
The team was as expected – however we switched back to 4-4-2, with Damien Johnson on the left wing. Clingan and Davis were in the middle. Clingan was immense, while Davis, now with his own song, put in his worst performance in an NI shirt. He wasn’t terrible, but was a far cry from the Davo we’ve become used to. The 4 at the back defended like heroes yet again. It’s hard to believe that that was only Jonny Evan’s 3rd international appearance as he put in another classy, assured performance at left back. (2 clean sheets in a row for us btw! – heady stuff!)

The second half wasn’t fun and games like the first half however. The Latvians were getting annoyed at their ineffectiveness, and resorted to kicking our boys – and rather than clamp down on it, the ref kept giving them free kicks! Lafferty especially was picked on just like Quinner always is – just because he’s tall! The referee was assisted in his madness by a linesman who in the second half must have given about 70 offsides against us – including ruling out a Davis goal that I’ve been informed was in fact onside.
So the world was out to get us, and the players were tiring, but Lawrie showed no signs of bringing on subs, till eventually Quinn came on to a great roar to make his 50th appearance. But Lafferty had been walking about totally wiped for about 20 minutes before that. Feeney soon followed for Healy, and Jones was about to come on but the final whistle finally went. A tough second half then, but we ground out the result, and restricted Latvia to about one decent shot at Maik Taylor.
There weren’t any anti-Beacom chants or anything (apparently there were a lot in Denmark, altho not at the actually match) – I suppose people really don’t want to think about him when NI are playing so well. Sidebottom still refuses to give it a rest however, going on to Lawrie about his coat in the post-match interview. The fans however made their feelings known, singing “There’s only one Lawrie Sanchez” for about 5 minutes solid in the second half.
One of the funniest moments in the match was when it was announced for the few people standing in the South (?) stand to sit down. Predictably, as happens ever time they try it, the announcement was immediately followed by boos and “Stand up for the Ulstermen” – every single person in the stadium standing up.
As far as the group stands, we’re still 2nd equal (3rd on goal difference). Sweden just about managed to beat Iceland 2-1 – a draw there would have been great for us. The win leaves them a long way ahead. There’s a long way to go however – it’s nice even to be talking about qualifying! As Lawrie says “We can have a great 5 months looking at that table!”

A few quotes about the fans from Sporting Life’s minute-by-minute report:
35 mins: Every fan is on their feet, bouncing and chanting as their side look for the opening goal.
46 mins: Windsor Park is rocking at the moment as the second half begins with Northern Ireland aiming to preserve their one-goal advantage. Is there a better atmosphere than this anywhere else in the world?
54 mins: The chanting and singing from the Irish supporters is relentless and their team is certainly benefiting from this 12th man.
Highlights (BBC) | Lawrie Interview (video)
NORTHERN IRELAND: Taylor, Baird, Craigan, Hughes, Evans, Gillespie, Davis, Clingan, Johnson, Healy (Feeney 85), Lafferty (Quinn 80)
Not Used: Carroll, Capaldi, McCann, Sproule, Jones

Sproule in for injured Elliott

Hull City winger Stuart Olyott has returned to his club to see a specialist about an ongoing stomach problem, and Lawrie Sanchez has recalled ex-Institute forward Ivan Sproule, who hasn’t played for us since he scored the winner against Estonia in March.

Aaron Hughes interview (video)

Denmark 0 – 0 Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland put in a fantastic defensive performance in Copenhagen tonight to go 2nd equal in our qualifying group and set us up for a massive match against Latvia on Wednesday night.
Lawrie Sanchez kept faith in the side that beat Spain in our last match, with Maik Taylor playing from the start this time. Damien Johnson returned to the Northern Ireland set up after a year suspended (well, 2 games – but a year all the same). Jonny Evans put in a man of the match performance at left back, but the whole team are heroes once again after putting in a phenomenal amount of work to close out the Danes on their home patch.
Evans was pushed the whole way for his MOTM award by Steve Davis who showed his class in midfield once again, and was involved in most of the few chances we had. Johnson did make his comeback soon after half time for Sammy Clingan.
The Danes had a shedload of shots, but Maik stood firm. Not being at the match, I had the pleasure of listening to Jackie, and he was coming out with some gems “That was the best shot of the match by a mile – and it was hit from about a mile out!!” It was a nervewracking 90 minutes though – Northern Ireland matches must take years off your life!
It wasn’t all desperate defending however, we did have a few half chances going forward. Laffs and Healy were replaced by Jones and Feeney as they tired, and it was good to see those 2 trying to run at the defence near the end rather than trying to take it to the corner and sit there. We did nearly catch the Danes out a few times on the counter attack as they committed men forward.
Michael Duff improves with each game at right back, but will be suspended against Latvia after picking up another yellow card tonight. Chris Baird will slot back in at right back though, so not a major disruption.
But after that performance, Lawrie declared “that’s the easy part! – the hard part is Wednesday night”. If he’d said that before tonight, you would have felt that all this media pressure had finally got to him and he’d gone loopy, but coming after a 4-0 win for Latvia against Tescos Sainsbury’s Iceland, it doesn’t seem that far out. On the positive side, at least we won’t be going into the game as big favourites and hopefully we won’t underestimate them. The question now is whether we change back to 4-4-2 or stick with the 4-1-3-2 system that we’ve had so much success with in the last 2 games.
The 3,000 fans looked well too – it was class to see them still rocking the place after everyone else had gone home!
NORTHERN IRELAND: Taylor, Duff, Craigan, Hughes, Evans; Baird; Gillespie, Clingan (Johnson 56), Davis; Healy (Feeney 84), Lafferty (Jones 63)
Not Used: Carroll, Capaldi, Elliott, Quinn





LS interview (video)

Denmark Preview

The word from Denmark is that “He’s tall, he’s thin, he looks nothing like Quinn, he’s Lafferty” has caught on en-masse amongst the GAWA. Fantastic!! Hope to hear it lots over the next 2 games, with a few anti-Beacom / Telegraph chants thrown in too.

One of the big selection talking points, amazingly enough, is whether Damien Johnson will return to the side following missing the last few games because of suspension. Sammy Clingan did alright like, but I would put Damo straight back in for him without even thinking about it. Lawrie, however, hasn’t decided yet it seems:
“That is a decision I have not made yet. I need to sleep on it. If I change the team and we lose it is a bad decision, and if I bring Damien back and we lose it is a bad one.”
According to the BBC site, obviously expecting something similar to the 4-1-3-2 we played against Spain, the player that will make way if Damo does start will be either Baird or Duff. Again, I would keep Baird every time.
Another selection dilemma apparently is whether Maik Taylor will start. I hadn’t even thought it would be an issue, but some are predicting that Royston will start one of the two matches.

Sproule & Brunt back for Latvia

‘Sanchez said that leaving in-form Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Brunt out of his squad for Saturday’s game against Denmark had been “difficult”.
“Chris is obviously very disappointed at being left out. But both of them are stars of the future and they are likely to be brought into the squad at the weekend. I didn’t feel it would have been right to have brought them here (Copenhagen) with the possibility that they wouldn’t be involved.
“Also, Stuart Elliott has always done well for us.” ‘
Healy Interview
Meanwhile the media predictably still haven’t forgiven Lawrie for not speaking to them after the Spain match, but LS is coming out fighting:
And I’ve bent over backwards to accommodate the media. If we’d gone 14 games without a goal, I’d expect everything to be thrown at me but the fact is we haven’t. I answer all the questions that I’m asked and if I’m confrontational, it’s because I think that the questions are confrontational. I return calls (from journalists) which most managers don’t do. I’ve done everything I possibly can do to accommodate the media in my time in charge. But I believe the media don’t give us the credit that we deserve.”
He even said he wouldn’t rule out staying on after the current set of qualifiers.

Sproule & Brunt back for Latvia

‘Sanchez said that leaving in-form Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Brunt out of his squad for Saturday’s game against Denmark had been “difficult”.
“Chris is obviously very disappointed at being left out. But both of them are stars of the future and they are likely to be brought into the squad at the weekend. I didn’t feel it would have been right to have brought them here (Copenhagen) with the possibility that they wouldn’t be involved.
“Also, Stuart Elliott has always done well for us.” ‘
Healy Interview
Meanwhile the media predictably still haven’t forgiven Lawrie for not speaking to them after the Spain match, but LS is coming out fighting:
And I’ve bent over backwards to accommodate the media. If we’d gone 14 games without a goal, I’d expect everything to be thrown at me but the fact is we haven’t. I answer all the questions that I’m asked and if I’m confrontational, it’s because I think that the questions are confrontational. I return calls (from journalists) which most managers don’t do. I’ve done everything I possibly can do to accommodate the media in my time in charge. But I believe the media don’t give us the credit that we deserve.”
He even said he wouldn’t rule out staying on after the current set of qualifiers.