Tuesday 2nd March 2010 - by Martin Mawhinney

New Comber Boss Bailie: We CAN beat Relegation

NEW Comber Rec manager John Bailie has told his players to forget what has gone before as he looks ahead to making the second half of their league campaign a successful one.
The former Bangor and Ards captain is the man charged with lifting them out of their relegation-battle blues, after reportedly beating up to 11 other hopeful candidates to the post last week.
And although Bailie is yet to take charge of a game - as Saturday's scheduled encounter with Abbey Villa was rained off - he made sure to set a positive tone ahead as they roll up their sleeves to find a way out of their current bottom-two predicament.
He said: "What's happened has happened... there is no point dwelling in the past.
"For whatever reason, the players weren't doing what they should have been doing for the last manager Jim O'Rourke - that is not for me to talk about.
"What I have to take encourage­ment from is the fact that under Gary [McKibben] and Mark [Knell, joint caretaker managers], they took seven points from a possible nine in the league.
"Those last three results show that the club should be capable of pulling themselves out of this situation - if they want to."
Quite why a team of Comber's stature has found themselves facing up to the very genuine possibility of a place in Division 1A for the second time in the last five years is perhaps a question that only O'Rourke and his former players - if anyone - can answer.
But if there has been any hint of complacency within the team, Bailie will ensure that his new players will take nothing for granted. And that includes their, place in the starting line-up.
He continued: "It is always a surprise to see a bigger team down there... but this has been an unusual season - all the teams have shown that they can all take points off each other.
"You have no divine right to be in any league. I met with the players on Thursday night and told them I shall bring hard work, dedication and loyalty, and that I expect the same from them.
"It is important I assess the club as a whole, and give all players a chance to impress."
Bailie certainly impressed the Comber committee in his interview, particularly given that their chairman had recently alluded to a very high standard of applicants for the post.
David Browne sounded like even his eyebrows were slightly raised by the calibre of applicants applying for the job.
So why does Bailie believe it was such an in-demand position?
"Living down the Peninsula, Comber Rec and Ards Rangers would be the so-called big two clubs in the area outside of the Irish League.
"I have always been aware of the stature of Comber Rec - it is a club that anyone with any ambition about them would be delighted to take charge of.
"Also, if you look in the Irish League, you'll see a lot of clubs struggling financially, and in my view there isn't a lot of difference between the Amateur League and the First and Second Division of the Championship. In fact, some of the better-run amateur clubs are on a sounder financial footing.
"You see big clubs like Bangor and Ards having to restructure their wage budget and all of a sudden players aren't playing football for the money. All of a sudden the Amateur League is an attractive option."
Although he was a player who made his name in the Irish League, Bailie is well-versed in the Amateur League with a host of contacts, not least of all his father William, the Ballywalter Rec boss.
He was playing for his father, having signed at the beginning of the season, but the opportunity to manage Comber was too good to pass up.
And even though he is only 35, he has already been in a couple of managing roles, namely of the County Down Milk Cup squad and Bangor Reserves.