U's:0 Rovers:4

I know inflation is an unavoidable problem in these credit-crunched times, but prices are spiralling dangerously out of control.

For example, when did chocolate become so expensive? You can't get any normal sized bar in Royston's WH Smith store (here at U's Blog we're not afraid to name and shame) for less than 65p, it's ridiculous.

The same issues are apparently afflicting football matches. I paid £15 to watch United play Blackburn on Tuesday night. £15! For a friendly! It seemed like a good idea at the time, but after about 20 minutes of "action" I was seriously questioning my sanity.

It would have been ok if Rovers had a few star names in their line up, but the only faces I recognised from their first half team were skipper Craig Nelson and everyone's favourite spitting llama, El Hadji Diouf. The latter went up in my estimation by taking the wind up attempts of the Habbin in good humour, even displaying his freakishly large tongue on one occasion.

From what I remember United played alright for about 20 minutes. Parky made a couple of sprightly bursts down the right, and Phillips looked his usual busy self upfront, but twice got into good positions before shooting weakly at the keeper. Generally our attacking play wasn't especially threatening, with neither of the central midfielders, Reason and Farrell, straying beyond the half way line very much. The absence of Carden, confined to the dug out, was keenly felt.

Rovers on the other hand looked dangerous every time they got near our box. Their opening goal was a bit fortunate, with Keith Andrews' free kick taking a deflection off the top of the wall and wrong footing Danny Potter. The second came via a defensive cock up, with Reason, Coulson and Hatswell contriving to present the ball to Diouf, who ran clear and slotted the ball into the net.

It was all change at half time for the visitors, who brought on an entirely new line up. United made several changes as well, and these only accentuated the gulf in class between the two sides. Jason Roberts got on the scoresheet twice with close range finishes following a couple of slick passing moves, while United didn't really have an effort on goal of note, aside from a Reason corner which nearly dipped straight in under the crossbar. Some light entertainment was provided by Blackburn's Jason Brown, usually a keeper but pressed into service on the right wing after another player went off injured. He was cheered by the travelling fans every time he touched the ball, and rewarded them with a bit of Ronaldo-esque showboating.

So yeah, for a lot of the match we looked ponderous and ineffective, and while much of this is probably down to the fact that we were up against far superior opposition, you have to worry about the depth of our squad. All we've got on the bench at the moment are kids, and as talented as they may be, our team is going to end up looking very lightweight if we have to chuck too many of them in at once. Best cross our fingers for a relatively injury-free season.

Man of the Match: Jai Reason - Tried his best to keep a grip on midfield.







Muppet of the Match: The tannoy man, for turning a simple announcement about raffle tickets into a 20 minute monologue.

Lilywhites:2 U's:2

It may seem like a million years ago, but we actually played a football match on Saturday.

What turned out to be the Brabinator's swansong ended in a vaguely entertaining draw, with City once again looking impressive under the tutelage of Gary Roberts. If they can keep their players fit, they'll surely have another tilt at promotion from the newly named Zamaretto League.

For United the future is less certain after yesterday's events. Looking back, the starting line up was certainly one that screamed managerial defiance, with Holroyd on the left wing and world player of the year-elect Daryl McMahon on the right. The obvious flaw in this plan is that McMahon's right foot is strictly for standing on only, which meant time and time again he got the ball in space, only to check back and cross from deep, rather than surging on to the byline.

City scored first through ex-U Ashley Fuller. A quick counter attack following a United corner saw Antonio Murray feed Steve Gentle, whose cross was emphatically finished by Fuller from just outside the box. 1-0.

At the back for United, trialist Rhys Day looked like the kind of cool, commanding presence we could do with to replace Bolly, although if he has any sense he'll be getting his agent to seek out alternative employment as I type. He was certainly more impressive than Hatswell, who seems to treat pre-season friendlies with the contempt of a man who'd rather have stayed on the beach for a couple more weeks. Hats looked decidedly dodgy on a number of occasions, but I'm sure he'll pull his socks up before the season starts.

United equalised from the unlikely source of Gleeson, who went on a Carlo Alberto-esque overlapping run, playing a quick give and go with McMahon and slipping the ball past City keeper Zac Barratt from close range. 1-1 at half time should've been 2-1 to the home side, but another former United man, Dave Theobold, missed a simple headed chance at the far post just before the whistle.

Murray hardly stuck out like a player who should be at a higher level, and missed a simple chance in the second half when he got free of his marker but glanced a header wide. He made no mistake moments later though, after Josh Coulson got in a muddle and gifted him the ball in the box in front of goal. No chance Potter, 2-1.

Danny Crow was one of many United substitutes, and if his performance is anything to go by he has (unfortunately) not changed much since last season; lots of nice touches in the build up but no end product. He was denied by Barratt from close range after being set up by Carden, and could've won the match but headed a Parky cross wide with the goal gaping. There is definitely a good player in there somewhere, but if he doesn't improve his finishing I doubt he'll last long under the new regime.

In between times a more deadly striker, Holroyd, had equalised. Again it stemmed from good work by Gleeson, who reacted quickly when a Sam Ives shot was blocked, and sent over a low cross which super Chris tapped in from three yards.

I guess any conclusions that could've been drawn from the match are now null and void. It will be interesting to see how we line up against Blackburn tonight, with Cardy presumably having taken the reigns. You would imagine a few prospective managers will be in the stands as well, crowd watching could be more interesting than the match itself.

Man of the Match: Dan Gleeson - Scored one, made another, and generally looked solid. If we don't sign another centre half, I reckon he'd do a job there too.





Banter of the Match: Day to Gleeson during the second half - "I feel like I've had five heart attacks". Pre-season fitness levels are obviously high for our prospective new number five.

Bye bye Brabin

Well what can you say? Except for bugger. And arse. And other such expletives.

It's been clear for the last week or so that all has not been well in the good state of Cambridge United, but I didn't expect it to come to a head in such dramatic fashion. The to-and-fro'ing between Brabin and Rolls in the CEN was, frankly, pathetic from both men, although the Brabinator trumped chairman George in the stupidity stakes with the bizarre elevation of the previously out-of-favour Daryl McMahon to world class status ("Daryl McMahon can play any position and he's another quality player," he said in what turned out to be his final press conference).

You'd have hoped they could've worked through their differences rather than just ripping it all up and starting again, if for no other reason than we will now be using a portion of our (already limited) budget to pay off yet another manager. Our chairman/board of directors have managed to fall out with two managers in just over a year, and while I suspect neither were totally blameless for their demise, it seems there are too many egos battling behind the scenes for the club to function properly for any lengthy period of time. Are we going to keep changing managers every year until they find one that is totally compliant and never makes a fuss? It's a very strange way to run an organisation.

For whatever reason we're now back to square one again, only this time we have a squad full of contracted players who the new manager may or may not fancy. Plus there's the issue of what happens to Carden, because it will surely be a bit arkward if he reverts to a playing role from a position of relative authority.

The main priority now is that the board need to act quickly and decisively when appointing a next boss. We don't have time to mess about, and it's important for the new man to have time to come in and make his mark on the squad before the season starts.

Bolland gone

"He is interested in getting involved in [club name] in its own right but also with a view to raising awareness of and involvement in football globally. It certainly has the potential for a mutually beneficial and great partnership."

Although I'm not entirely sure what all that means, it's a grand statement of intent isn't it? So who do you think the club involved are? Real Madrid? Man Utd? Chelsea? No, it's our beloved village neighbours of course, announcing the imminent arrival of a new investor from overseas. I look forward to the new man using the Histon brand to raise awareness of the game globally, I'm sure all the kids in China will soon be swapping their Ronaldo posters for pin ups of Jamie Barker in no time.

I'm not too fussed that we're not making any attempts to re-build the British Empire, but it would be nice if we could flesh out our squad in the centre-back department. Following today's announcement that Bolly will be playing his football at the far edge of the known universe (Barrow) next season, we now have just Hatswell, Coulson, plus youngster Darryl Coakley, to cover at the back.

Chairman George had been making noises about offering Bolly a new contract recently, so there must be a bit of money there. However, I'm a bit worried the Brabinator may choose to spunk it on Darryl McMahon instead of a player we actually need.

"Daryl McMahon is a quality player and I think he showed he was the best player on the pitch," said our leader following Tuesday's win over Ely. "It just shows his attitude that he's desperate to come back and play for us."

An unemployed player desperate to get a job, who'd have thought it eh? I think McMahon is ok, and in an ideal world wouldn't mind having him in the squad as cover. But if we're going to challenge this year, we can't afford to go into the season with one senior centre back on the books. And while we're at it, we should probably be looking for a back-up keeper, and a left-winger if Courtney leaves, before we consider signing another average Conference central midfielder. We'd better hope the Brabinator gets his priorities right.

Here we go again

Despite being relentlessly boring and incident free, this closed-season has passed awfully quickly. I suppose one of the benefits of being regular play-off losers is that it shaves a good three or four weeks off the football-less period between May and July.

I always struggle a bit to get excited about pre-season games. Nick Hornby memorably described friendlies as "methodone football", and indeed surely only an addict would consider trekking out to Ely tonight, especially when two of the principal joys of pre-season will be absent: we won't get a first look at the new players because, er, there aren't any, and the stereotypical pre-season warm weather seems to have done a runner as well.

"The lads all came back in good shape and I'm proud of them for the way they've looked after themselves during the summer," said the Brabinator in his first Bland-a-thon of the season. "We've been working had on fitness straightaway, but I don't believe in hiding the ball for three or four weeks and making them work exclusively on their fitness like some managers do."

Speaking of losers who are obsessed with fitness, it's all go over at the Glassworld, with the potential arrival of United rejects Shane "Too good for the Conference" Tudor and Adam "Too good for the Conference" Tann. Having described Cambridge as "boring" in his legendary Four Four Two interview, Tudor must surely be relishing the prospect of experiencing the cultural smorgasbord that is Histon and Impington. Do they still do kareoke at the Railway Vue?

The more things change, the more they stay the same

To keep my mind occupied as we wait with bated breath for the fixtures to come out (come on, it can't be just me who wants to know when to book that romatic weekend in, er, Gateshead) I've been reading a very good book.

Published by When Saturday Comes, it is entitled Power, Corruption, and Pies vol. 2 (it is, as you've probably guessed, a follow up to Power Corruption and Pies vol. 1), and contains a collection of the best articles published in WSC between 1997 - 2007.

As befits a publication from Britain's most consistently interesting football magazine, there are some extremely excellent pieces. One which caught my eye was an interview with Claude Le Roy undertaken during the 1998 world cup, in which our erstwhile manager and then custodian of the Cameroon national team says football offers "une jouissance permanente" - a permanent orgasm. One suspects he may have revised this view after coaching the likes of Ashley Nicholls and Danny Webb, because if not I feel very sorry for Mrs Le Roy.

Another which struck a chord is entitled Crossing the Vauxhall Bridge, and concerns overspending chairman in the (then) Vauxhall Conference. What hit me most was how little has changed in the 11 years since Simon Bell wrote the article in November 1997. Consider the following quotes:

"One of the most irritating things about the Vauxhall Conference wants to be - really wants to be - the Football League. It's bit embarrassing."

"The result is a league in limbo, a small pool containing a few potentially league-sized fish and a rather larger shoal of tiddlers living beyond their means in the fond belief that they will one day grow legs and scramble out of the swamp - and to hell with the cost."

"Division Five', wherein 22 thrusting and ambitious clubs would joust for the right to play Hartlepool has never quite become a reality."

Sound familiar? If you changed a few of the names the article could still apply today. For Colne Dynamos and Sittingbourne then, substitute Farsley Celtic, Salisbury, or any of the other teams currently on the financial precipice.

It's depressing on two levels really. One, because chairman are still stupid enough to bankroll these nothing clubs in the vain hope of achieving some modicum of success. And two, because despite their claims to the contrary, the Conference management continue to do nothing of consequence about it. Instead they prefer to fiddle at the edges, everytime promising a tough regime but allowing teams like Weymouth overpsend again and again and again.

So despite these boasts of Setanta-enforced austerity from all and sundry, what's the betting that by January they'll be more than one chairman overstretching themselves to try and push their club into the promised land? Who knows, our own Chairman George might be one of them.

Location location location

I've been severely lacking inspiration of late; it's like someone has snuck into my flat in the middle of the night and removed my blogging-mojo with a syringe, Austin Powers style.

But then again, this has been such a boring close-season so far that there has been little worth writing about. Is anyone really that interested in the Abbey getting a new-yet-meaningless official name, or the Brabinator picking up a manager of the year award, or even Marvin the Moose standing for parliament? I've changed my mind on the merits of stability, it's just too dull for words.

Although if half man/half moose Jeremy Izod does get elected, perhaps he can bring some pressure to bear regarding a new stadium for United. This particularly old chestnut has been getting a bit of coverage in the CEN this week, and is already following a familiar pattern:

1) Someone from "our" side - in this case the Cambridgeshire FA's Jim Hill - makes some optimistic noises, usually involving the words "very positive talks", "10,000 seater stadium", "community facilities that can be used all year round".

2) A faceless council bod pours cold water on the idea, citing traffic, or preservation of the green belt, or some other unintelligible planning issues beyond the understanding of us mere mortals.

I suspect I am not the only United fan not to be giving this story much credence. We've heard it all before, several times, and I believe if we are to ever get a new stadium, it won't be with any local authority assistance. Even with the weight of the Cambridge Horizon project and the Cambs FA seemingly behind us, it looks like the councils are going to drag their heels again, just like they have every other time the sites at Milton and Cowley Road have been discussed. Perhaps if we subtly changed our name to Cambridge University FC they might be a bit more co-operative?

At the moment I think United need to concentrate on maximising income from the stadium that we do have, something they've been doing pretty well of late. In the long term we probably need to get out of rented accomodation and onto the property ladder, but if the team are running out at a new arena by the start of the 2015/16 season, I'll eat my hat.