'Winning mentality' from clubs can help NI
Northern Ireland defender Trai Hume says he hopes the success players have had with their clubs will translate on to the international stage. Hume and Ballard won promotion to the Premier League with Sunderland, Conor Bradley helped Liverpool to the league title and Justin Devenny won the FA Cup with Crystal Palace. Northern Ireland face Denmark and Iceland in a double-header of friendlies over the next week in the final matches before the start of 2026 World Cup qualifying in September."There are four players there who won a lot this season and hopefully we can bring that winning mentality," said defender Hume."It definitely helps the team. Hopefully that can push the squad on further, we can keep pushing and get where we want to be as a nation."
Ballard added that the friendlies with Denmark in Copenhagen on Saturday and at home to Iceland on Tuesday, are good preparations for the start of World Cup qualifying. Michael O'Neill's side will face Luxembourg, Germany and Slovakia in their bid to reach a first World Cup since 2986."We have six really important games coming up towards the end of the year," said Ballard."We have been trying to nail down a few small things and there are a few new additions to the group. "Playing against tough opposition like Denmark will help us against the likes of Luxembourg, Germany and Slovakia."
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Club appoints manager after years of being so allergic to success that there is a very word for their devotion to disappointment. Manager wins club their first trophy since 2008 to stop them from being so 'Spursy'. Club sacks manager. Make it make sense. I can't. Daniel Levy took his sweet time, and even then he came to the ridiculous conclusion that Tottenham are better off without Ange Postecoglou. It's their loss, not his. Tottenham fans had been craving an entertaining brand of football after being bored to tears for too many seasons. Postecoglou delivered them that, certainly in their first season. He lost Harry Kane, led them to fifth in the Premier League, and got them into the Europa League. The second season was a struggle, but he won them that European competition, even though he had to deal with being vilified as badly as Graham Taylor when he was branded a turnip. 'To Dare Is To Do.' That's Tottenham's motto. Postecoglou dared and did. But now? Now, he is available to go win silverware for someone else, and he will, I'm sure. His sacking sums up football, really. Don't get me wrong, Thomas Frank is an excellent, elite, experienced manager. He's turned Brentford into a stable Premier League club. Levy now wants Frank to turn Tottenham into a consistent Champions League club. Because clearly, that's the Spurs priority. Forget trophies. Levy wants to top the balance-sheet table. And yet I wonder what those fans who were in Bilbao will remember when they're old and grey and boring the grandkids by telling them the same story for the 1,000th time. Will it be the year they finished fourth? Nah. It'll be the glorious night they beat Manchester United to become winners in Europe. Postecoglou can leave with his head held high. He stuck two fingers up to his critics who mocked him for saying he would win in his second season. Now we'll never get to know what would have happened in season three, thanks to Levy, who did not even have the courage to add a quote into the club statement confirming Postecoglou's sacking, like when they got rid of Antonio Conte or Jose Mourinho. Cheers, mate.
