Friday July 26 - Douglas and Ramsey

Part Two of our pre-season tour diary with TED BLAIR.

Off to Douglas on the bus - we see the team working out on the outskirts of the town - TT and Mick putting out the training cones whilst the team go through some warm-up exercises. They're training on a sports ground next to the local Police HQ. The actual pitch that they're using though belongs to St George's AFC - is there no escape from that man?

We wander from the bus station down the quayside and to the railway station - from here we take the small steam train for a couple of stops to Sander - some great coastal views along the way and it is relaxing to take things at an even slower pace than usual. Major track maintenance (even in the world of steam sadly..) mean that to continue down to Port Erin we need to take a bus to skip the workings. Quite frankly we can't be arsed so we have a 30 minute wander around, although there is not a lot to see and then we get the train back to Douglas.

Whilst Steve and Neil wander off to the pub, Liz and I go back to the T-shirt shop along the promenade and then go for some fish 'n chips - it is Friday after all. From our vantage point in the café, we see all varieties of footballer Darlingtonicus. Collett and Betts wander past together; Liddle and Wainwright sit on the promenade railings and watch the world go by and then comes Sheeran, Kilty and McGurk - young lads sticking together. We catch the bus back to Ramsey - after the traditional siesta, we reconvene in The Trafalgar and watch England in the process of beating India in the Test Match.

There are quite a few Burnley fans around - they always seem to be wearing their replica shirts, even the elderly ones - is that all they ever wear? I only wish Darlo had equivalent replica shirt sales... The match between the Isle of Man and Burnley - for the wooden spoon - was never going to be very tight.

Two seasons previously the IoM team had beaten Burnley - their first victory over a professional English league side - but this never looked on the cards today. Burnley never needed to get into top gear but made more work of beating the IoM than they really needed to. It was slightly disconcerting when ref Eddie Wolstenholme came and sat next to us, all smiles. Various things go through the mind - shall I do football-kind a favour and do him in? Shall I give him a mouthful and tell him what I think of his performances in our past games? As ever, discretion proves to be the better part of valour. The ref for the game itself - a taxi driver by day who had transported Mark and Richard earlier in the week - performed OK so we didn't really get the chance to do some real ref baiting. Shame.

Robbie Blake played for the whole game and was quite busy but was very frustrating. The IoM keeper made some very good saves and their central defenders worked their collective socks off but finally Blakey squeezed the ball into the net after some jinking about in the box. Burnley extended the lead before half-time and Blakey scored a further goal in the second half as Burnley ran out 5-0 winners. The papers a few days earlier had said that all of the Burnley players were available for sale - can't say that there were many that clubs would be chasing on the basis of this performance.

Saturday July 27 - v Wrexham, Douglas
The big day dawns and what a lovely day it is here in Ramsey! Unfortunately as soon as we travel a few miles on the bus towards Douglas, the rest of the island seems to be overcast and grey. An omen though we did not know it. We get to Douglas at 11am but annoyingly the pubs do not open until noon - except for some salubrious venues down by the quayside which are maybe best avoided based on our previous experience.

Instead we have a bit of a wander to the internet café and catch up on the news - still very little. At 11.55am we're waiting impatiently outside the door of The Rovers Return - we're let in but they're not exactly in a hurry to get us served. By this time we've been joined by a group of Wrexham fans - a nice bunch who have been up all night apparently and been through every bottle behind the var. They all look like they're survivors from a Status Quo gig - maybe the fashions are slow to change in that part of the world. Some Burnley and Rochdale fans also turn up - a right league of nations. We take a taxi and meet up with Neil in The Quarter Bridge - the pub next to the ground at the NSC. G&G are also in attendance along with a Darlo-supporting father & son but mainly the pub is full of Wrexham fans - all very friendly.

It was no surprise when we went 1-0 down and the players seemed to decide they couldn't be arsed to make a concerted effort to equalise. TT was none too happy after the game and intimated that a few might just get thrown off the ferry on the return trip later that day. It was difficult to see if he was serious...

After the presentation - each player got a commemorative shot glass - and a few goodbyes to some of the other fans we'd met, we trudged the mile or so back to the centre of Douglas and had a few consolation pints back at the Rovers Return. After a little while a group of Wrexham fans turned up as well - obviously flush with success but not cocky about it - we all know pre-season form is not the best of guides.

We rounded the day off with a trip to local restaurant John Henry's - recommended by G&G for a good steak and chips. And then a final wander along the promenade before getting the bus back to Ramsey. Another pre-season tour done and dusted - time to go home tomorrow and prepare for the season proper.

Ted Blair's Tour verdict

A very enjoyable visit to the Isle of Man for the Steam Packet Tournament - the managers and players seem to enjoy getting away from things (not surprising in our case) and TT said that the facilities were excellent - he'd tried to get Orient into this tournament in previous years but it would appear that its very popular. Although the island is not the most swinging of places it can cater for those who like it loud and cheap (Douglas) or those that prefer to take things a bit easier (the rest of the island).

We'll certainly be back next year if invited... In terms of the squad, I think that we all feel a bit more positive about the forthcoming season that we have for two seasons.

In defence we have a range of starting options open to us though we would appear to have a lack of goalkeeping cover at the moment as Chris Porter was still injured. Still it was great to see Andy Collett back at his commanding best- if his attempt at a Beckham hair style, complete with dodgy highlights was far less reassuring. Both Simon Betts and Ryan Valentine looked steady and were not hoofing the ball out of defence but preferred to play sensible balls to midfield - interestingly both players can use both feet and can play left- or right-back. Valentine also gave the impression he may have a decent shot on him. It will be interesting to see who makes up the central pairing - Adam Reed and David McGurk made a good pairing but they're very similar players in terms of how they play (and look). I'm not overly impressed by Matt Clarke - his distribution is not brilliant and he is a bit clumsy in the way he plays. I suspect he'll start with Craig Liddle (when fit) but that eventually it may be McGurk and Liddle who make the dominant pairing. It was interesting to see that TT play Paul Campbell at right-back on a couple of occasions on this tour.

Ashley Nicholls has made a great impression in most of the pre-season games and not just here. He tackles well, using a sliding-in style, and he seems to have developed a good understanding with Neil Maddison who is looking strong and fit. I have high hopes that they'll now provide the crux of our midfield.

Adam Rundle worked very hard too - linking well on the left with Valentine on many occasions. Mark Ford played most of the final against Wrexham and I've yet to be convinced that he actually does a great deal - a few near-the-mark tackles which were completely unnecessary which leads me to suspect he'll pick up as many bookings (and suspensions) as he did last season. Hopefully he can channel his enthusiasm.

Neil Wainwright and Glen Naylor played part of some games - mixed results from Wainwright who has still not regained the form he had when we first got him on-loan. I'm not sure how much we'll get out of Naylor - he was not wonderfully affective for us in the IoM though he had apparently was complaining of "sore knees" and nearly went home early.

Ian Clark worked very hard and got into some good positions and will force the ball and take on the defence. He was responsible for setting up Bazza's first goal of the tournament and was unlucky not to score a few himself. From close quarters it was also interesting to hear how much of a moaning git he was, either to the ref or the linesmen.

Big Bazza Conlon continues to divide opinion amongst the Darlo fans. I'm still to be convinced he is the answer (assuming the question to be something like "who will score us 20+ goals and provide chances for other players"). I don't think he is best utilised as a target man who simply flicks balls onto other players since he does not win his fair share of headers in that respect. Personally I like to see him be given the ball in front of him so that he can attack the goal - I also wish he'd shoot a bit more (though this is something a few other players seem reluctant to do). If we only had one player to bring into the team then it would have to be a forward.

On the basis of what I've seen so far, I think we'll finish in mid-table but with a proven and reliable striker than I'd say we'd maybe reach the play-offs. I think that the one thing we have to hope for, apart from GR not sticking in his oar and stirring things up amongst the players, is that we stay as free as possible from injuries. Just for once...

Go back to the first part of tour diary

Go to DAFTS home page

Go to Isle of Man tour 2002 match reports

Go to Manx tour 2000 page