Billy Chadwick scored Linfield's only goal last night in their 3 -1 defeat to Ballymena in the league cup quarter-final. Ahmed Salem came on as a 77 minute sub.
Billy Chadwick had an assist for Linfield's Goal to put them 1-0 up, he was subbed on 60 minutes when 1-1, they then went on to lose to Crusaders 2-1. Ahmed Salem was an unused sub.
If you were to compare it to a league in England, probably the National League, but even then most of the NL clubs are professional now. Only four of the clubs, Linfield, Crusaders, Glentoran and Larne are professional. The other professional team, Derry City, play in The ROI top flight, which is considerably stronger by their standards, but is still the equivalent of League Two. It's a decent move because Linfield are probably the biggest club in NI right now, they regularly feature in European qualifying rounds and that's experience you can't buy by playing for the likes of Dover or Solihull.
It's probably difficult if not impossible to make a comparison because there's huge variation within the league itself. It's a lot like Scotland. How can you compare Rangers with Kilmarnock or St Mirren for example. I agree though with your view about Linfield. Strongest club by some margin so better off with them.
That Chris Manzinga seems to be scoring a few goals for them, I wonder how effective he would be at a higher level? Edit: Looking at his record he hasn't really cut it at a higher level, played in France and for Motherwell but nothing out of the ordinary.
