Football and pool lover ⚽ 🎱 MUFC, Ballyclare Comrades and Northern Ireland ♥♥💚
Ballyclare, Northern Ireland
Joined August 2017
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Wayne Lewis retweeted
Terry Devlin's strike sees Northern Ireland produce a memorable victory over Ukraine in Nations League Group B2 💪
A win or draw for Northern Ireland against Hungary on Tuesday and they will seal promotion to League A 📊
Wayne Lewis retweeted
HOW THIS GOES
Mauricio Pochettino’s appointment is likely to make an immediate positive impact at United; boosting the players’ morale, increasing the tempo and intensity, and re-organizing the defensive block will do wonders in the short run.
For a few games, United will seem suprisingly dynamic, focused and intense, and to some, even reborn. Clips of high pressing sequences will be shared; a return to United’s ethos of attacking quickly will be hailed.
A few games in, opponents will now know what to expect; the high tempo approach, useful and fresh, will strart showing its cracks by Christmas. Shots will be conceded and goals shipped; every transition will expose the gaps.
Pochettino, a smart and experienced man with a full understanding of the situation, will be forced drop some of his ideas and adapt to the players at hand. There comes a time for building and there comes a time for surviving, and this ain’t the time for building.
Mid block will be used more often than not, intensity will be dialed back to conserve energy and help avoid yet another Shaw or Mount injury. All things considered, United will finish OK, in the upper part of the table, with a decent cup run rousing the faithful.
Then the summer comes, the club will sell and buy, conduct its pre-season; Mauricio Pochettino will believe the time has come for building and soon he will learn two important things:
A) the promised war chest to remake the squad won’t be there, and neither will the executive accumen to do so
B) his ideas, though good, might not be as good as he thought, or at least not good enough in today’s PL
That’s what has happened to almost every recent manager we’ve had: after a period of pragmatic compromises, in which they mostly swear on Obama’s doctrine of “Don’t do stupid shit”, in Year 2 they begin to implement their true vision, in order to raise the ceiling; and instead of raising the ceiling, which is never raised, the floor suffers a drastic collapse.
My fear is that this will happen with Poch, as well. But at least United are likely to stop playing and losing like relegation favorites, which is not a bad outcome to begin with.
Wayne Lewis retweeted
🚨 POINTLESS STAT OF THE DAY #224
🌍 FOOTBALL'S UNIQUE FOREIGN CUP WINNERS
A shout-out to @waynelewis147 from Ballyclare and his team @BallyclareFC for flagging Derry City's unusual FAI Cup story.
It sent us down a rather large rabbit hole which we hope you will find interesting...
How many clubs have won the principal domestic cup competition of a country they aren't actually based in?
Here's what we've found so far. 👇
1. CARDIFF CITY – WALES 🏴
Won England's FA Cup in 1927, beating Arsenal 1-0. 100 year anniversary coming soon!
Still the only club from outside England to have lifted the FA Cup.
2. DERRY CITY – NORTHERN IRELAND 🇬🇧
Based in Northern Ireland but play in the Republic of Ireland's football system.
FAI Cup winners SEVEN times:
1989, 1995, 2002, 2006, 2012, 2022 and 2026.
3. AS MONACO – MONACO 🇲🇨
Based in the independent Principality of Monaco but compete in French football.
Five-time winners of the Coupe de France:
1960, 1963, 1980, 1985 and 1991.
4. RAPID VIENNA – AUSTRIA 🇦🇹
Won the German Cup in 1938 (the final was played in January 1939).
An unusual one because Austria had been annexed by Nazi Germany earlier in 1938. Austrian clubs were incorporated into the German football structure.
5. FIRST VIENNA – AUSTRIA 🇦🇹
Also won the German Cup, in 1943.
Another Austrian club winning Germany's principal knockout cup during the period of annexation.
6. BANGKOK GLASS – THAILAND 🇹🇭
Won Singapore's Singapore Cup in 2010, having been invited to compete in the tournament.
A genuine foreign club winning another country's cup.
7. BRUNEI – BRUNEI XI 🇧🇳🇧🇳
Won Malaysia's Malaysia Cup in 1999.
This was a representative team rather than a conventional club, but an interesting cross-border winner.
8. SINGAPORE FA – SINGAPORE 🇸🇬
Won Malaysia's Malaysia Cup 24 times between 1921 and 1994.
Singapore's representative side was a major force in Malaysian football for decades.
WHO HAVE WE MISSED?
Are there clubs anywhere in the world that have won the principal domestic cup competition of a country they aren't based in?
South America, Africa, Asia, Europe... We're interested in all suggestions.
Please give us the club, the cup and the year.
Use this information wisely. 🤓
Wayne Lewis retweeted
Completely overwhelmed by all the messages I have received since my statement.
As I continue my treatment and my recovery now know that I simply have to raise more awareness around mental health in the future
Best part of 6 weeks before the UK Championships starts and all being well I’ll be in a better place by then but for now it’s just one day at a time
Thanks again for all your support. It’s meant so so much to myself and my family
Wayne Lewis retweeted
QPR keeper Pierce Charles is only 21 and coming of age judging by these impressive past few weeks. Played every minute of Northern Ireland’s four games in the international break and kept four clean sheets against Georgia (home and away), Hungary and Ukraine. Saved a penalty from Georgia’s Kvaretskhelia and made an astonishing stop from Mikautadze in Tbilisi. Contributed an assist against Ukraine.
And then back to Championship action. Against West Ham, the QPR keeper on loan from Manchester City saved a shot from Bowen, a shot from Piroe, a penalty from Bowen and Engels’ headed follow-up. Some of his long passes to left and right flanks were superb. As QPR head coach Julien Stephan observed, Charles is as good in possession as out of it. (Sheffield Wednesday also deserve praise for their part in Charles' development 21-26).
This all came on the night when West Ham and their fans movingly saluted the memory of a much-loved goalkeeper, club legend Ludek Miklosko – and were joined by fans of QPR where he spent three seasons. #WHUFC #QPR
Wayne Lewis retweeted
⚽️ At the end of the first international window of the season, @NorthernIreland are the only one of the 'Home' Nations to top their group and also not to concede a goal. This rarely happens, so I'm making the most of it 😀
Wayne Lewis retweeted
⚽️ @NorthernIreland last 1⃣1⃣ games at Windsor Park
Drew 0-0 v Georgia
Drew 0-0 v Hungary
Won 1-0 v Luxembourg
Lost 0-1 v Germany
Won 2-0 v Slovakia
Won 1-0 v Iceland
Drew 1-1 v Switzerland
Won 2-0 v Belarus
Won 5-0 v Bulgaria
Won 2-0 v Luxembourg
Won 2-0 Denmark
Wayne Lewis retweeted
Massive win for Northern Ireland ☘️ on a tough away ground in Georgia 🇬🇪.
Goal in 90'+9'!
NIR ☘️ now favored to avoid B v C relegation Playoffs, and could potentially attack League A or Pot 2 for EURO qualifiers!
Wayne Lewis retweeted
⏱️ (65') Pierce Charles saves a penalty vs Kvara 🧤
⏱️ (90'+9) Shea Charles scores the winner ⚽️
What a night for the Charles family! 👏
#NationsLeague
Wayne Lewis retweeted
Have been thinking about writing about identity in Northern Ireland for a long time so here goes.
This is about not defining someone by one aspect of their identity & then building assumptions around it - because in NI it is complex and evolving.
✍️ craiglfc7.substack.com/p/cea…
Wayne Lewis retweeted
Steven Davis ➡️ David Healy. The rest is history 🤩
21 years ago today we secured an incredible win against England 💚🤍 #GAWA
Wayne Lewis retweeted
Had a few late withdrawals from the golf day this Sunday, 17th May. If anyone is interested please get in touch with David McKee. His details are on the poster below. Everything else running smoothly. Looking forward to a great day on Sunday.
Thanks as always to @amcleanbookies for being my main sponsor. They’ve supported pretty much every fundraiser I’ve been involved in for the last 15 years. Can’t thank Paul and his team enough
Big shout to the guys at The Scotsman’s Lounge and The Ping Group for their major contributions
These days are made so much easier with all this help. We have 37 different sponsors and we’re approaching 150 golfers playing on the day
If anyone is interested in simply donating, please go to themarkallenfoundation.org and click on the donate button
Thank you
Wayne Lewis retweeted
Wonder what "northern born players like Conor Bradley" means? Hands off FAI 💪
FAI director of football accepts they need to do more to secure northern-born players like Conor Bradley
independent.ie/sport/soccer/…
Wayne Lewis retweeted
Out of nowhere!
Brian Healy with a huge goal for the Reds to turn the game on its head 🔄
#BBCFootball #BBCIrishPrem
Wayne Lewis retweeted
"There aren't enough adjectives to describe how good this is" 🤩
Kofi Balmer with an absolute STUNNER for Bristol Rovers 🔥
Wayne Lewis retweeted
Michael Carrick’s tougher than some of the headlines suggest. Tough enough to leave home at 15 for West Ham, move into digs with a bunch of Aussies, go out on loan to Swindon and Birmingham, fight his way up the professional ladder, argue with Daniel Levy in protracted departure from Spurs to Manchester United....
....take Roy Keane’s old 16 shirt at United, convert his penalty in the 2008 CL final shootout, deal with many challengers to his position at United, win 18 trophies, play 34 times for England in the era of Gerrard, Lampard etc (and should have played more, especially at 2006)....
....work his way out of a depression in 2009 (only 4 people knew what he was going through), play again after a heart scare in 2017, take interim charge in 2021 man-managing characters like Ronaldo, Fernandes and Rashford and leading them to two wins and a draw in his three games in charge.
This doesn't guarantee success in his current assignment. It's a really tough job given the imbalanced squad, the mood, the tensions between fan and board, and challenging imminent fixtures against City and Arsenal. But just because he's a polite, respectful individual, slightly "reserved" by his own admission, doesn’t mean Michael Carrick lacks resilience. And many of the experiences he's been through could help in man-management of United's players. Good luck to him. He's a sensible short-term caretaker solution while United look for a long-term manager in the summer.
Wayne Lewis retweeted
Time for @NorthernIreland to have its own unique anthem. GSTK just isn't doing this 🔽
