Monday 30 November 2009

U's:1 Minstermen:2

Bah, who wants to go to Stoke anyway? It's freezing cold, their fans are miserable gits, and Dave Kitson doesn't even play for them anymore. Unlucky York.

Having said that, United were the unlucky ones in a second round FA Cup game which they dominated, save for a mad three minute spell just before half time which ultimately put the visitors in round three. Highlights here, courtesy of MatBro51:



The early signs were promising, with our new young midfield pairing of Ives and McAuley showing up well in the middle of the park and the Pittster carrying on his impressive form of Tuesday night. The only disappointment was that, for all our possession and passing, we didn't force their keeper Michael Ingham into action very often. Holroyd put a header wide and a shot over after latching onto centres from Pitt, while clever play from Ives saw wriggle away from a couple of challenges in the box, but his flighted centre was just too high for Holroyd and Crow.

Part of our problem was that York looked solid as a rock at the back, and while their midfield wasn't up to much, the front pairing of Michael Rankine and Richard Brodie were giving us a lot of problems. After about ten minutes I made the mistake of reasserting my view that, based on his time at Rushden, Rankine is a "spectacularly inept" footballer. He of course rammed that back down my throat by opening the scoring in a fashion that was just plain spectacular. Chesting down a long ball from Ingham, he turned Gleeson and rattled a shot into the top corner from 25 yards. On the day I felt Potter possibly could have done better, but having seen it on tele he would've done well to save what was a really powerful effort. 0-1.

Moments later it was two. A United corner was cleared, and Brodie broke away down the left. Leaving a couple of players in his wake, he loped into the area, pursued by Willmott, who clumsily bundled him over near the edge of the box. You have to suspect that if Carden had been on the field the York top scorer would have been stopped in his tracks further up the pitch, but he dusted himself off to stroke the penalty low to the right of Potter who, as usual, helpfully dived out of the way. 0-2.

Everyone knows we're at our most dangerous when 2-0 down, and in the second period we laid siege to the visitors goal, winning numerous corners and free kicks but again failing to warm Ingham's gloves. Ives hammered a shot just wide from the edge of the area, McAuley failed to connect with a corner with the goal gaping, and then put a shot just wide at the far post.

On the rare occasions that the ball left the York half, Brodie and Rankine had taken to falling over at the merest hint of contact, a tactic which got them plenty of sympathy from baldy ref Mr Ruston. The injustice of it all eventually got too much for Hats, who crudely felled Brodie on half way and ran off grinning as he received an inevitable yellow card. Brodie was soon back on his feet, and almost put the match beyond doubt when, despite looking suspiciously offside, he raced onto a hanging through ball and poked a shot just the wrong side of the post.

By now Lingy had introduced Adam Marriott, who joined Crow and Holroyd in attack, and United kept up the pressure, halving the deficit in the 83rd minute. The goal came from the unlikely source of Tonks, who latched onto a half-cleared corner and drilled in a low half volley which found the net via the inside of the post.

It set up a tense final seven minutes, but despite a few oohs and ahhs from the crowd, we couldn't force an equalisers, and after Ingham had clutched a final corner from Willmott, Mr Ruston signalled the end of the match and York's progress into round three.

So despite playing a good deal better than they did against Rushden last Tuesday, United's cup dreams are over for another year. Never mind though, at least we've still got the Trophy...

Man of the Match: Courtney Pitt - Dangerous both on the flank and in the more central position he adopted in the second half. Had a hand in most of United's best moves.

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Wednesday 25 November 2009

U's:2 Diamonds:2

The Pogues are on the radio, Iceland are flogging frozen meat products of dubious origins, and the X-Factor is chugging predictably towards a hysterical climax; it must be nearly Christmas.

So I think I'm justified in dusting off the trusty festive cliches, despite the fact it's still November. Rushden must have thought Christmas had come early when United giftwrapped them a couple of goals in a truly awful first half. But they showed good presents (sorry) of mind to pull it together in an encouraging second period.

Despite the massively variant nature of our recent performances, I'm growing in confidence that the Linguist is indeed a wise man. I liked his comments at the end of last night's game, particularly when he spoke about wanting his charges to show a bit of bravery in their play. I find it incredibly frustrating when players treat the ball like a hot potato and look to offload it at the first opportunity. If he can build a team of good characters who aren't scared of a bit of responsibility, I reckon we'll do alright.

Until that time, our participation in the race for the play-offs must be in serious doubt. It would help if we stopped giving teams above us in the table a two-goal start, and to be honest it could have been more in a first half totally dominated by the visitors. Lee Tomlin, who was the best player on the pitch by a distance, gave them the lead with a 30 yard free kick which beat the badly positioned Potter at his near post.

At this point United, the excellent Courtney Pitt aside, weren't at the races as an attacking force, but they could have equalised when the Pittster released Parky with a super through ball, but the winger blasted his shot over the bar when a square pass to the unmarked Holroyd would have left Super Chris with a tap in. I feel slightly embarrassed rubbishing Parky again, but he was absolutely woeful during his time on the pitch, contributing nothing in the final third and giving Gleese no cover when Tomlin and his full back Kurt Robinson roamed forward menacingly.

It was 2-0 just before half time thanks to Jefferson Louis, who as usual against United did little of note except score a goal. Some swift passes across the edge of the box released Mark Byrne, and he crossed for Louis to sidefoot home with the defence appealing in vain for offside.

We didn't even really look like scoring at the start of the second half, as referee Barrett began interupt the flow of the match with seemingly random blasts of his whistle. It took a moment of inspiration from the hitherto anonymous Carden to bring us back into the game. Sliding in to win a challenge in midfield, he brought the ball away from two players and lamped a 35 yard effort over the stranded Nathan Abbey. Wind assisted perhaps, but spectacular none the less, 1-2.

And four minutes later it was all square, after Crowy was brought down on the right corner of the box by Stuart. Pitt delivered the free kick, and unlike our usual set pieces it was a good one, fired into the six yard box with pace and curl, allowing Brian Saah to escape his marker and head in from close range. Comeback-tastic, 2-2.

United were in the ascendency now, but couldn't capitalise, and by the end the visitors had recovered their poise and looked the more likely scorers. But there wasn't really any other goalmouth action of note, and the match ended all square.

If they can hang on to Tomlin, Rushden look a good bet for the play-offs, so a point against them isn't a bad result, but we need to start turning draws into wins. If we are going to make the top five, I don't think we can afford to be more than six points off the pace at the turn of the year, and with a difficult looking festive programme, the results of our next two league games, against struggling Chester and Eastbourne, could shape the rest of our season.

Man of the Match: Courtney Pitt - The only player to emerge with any credit from that awful first half, he was a constant menace to the Rushden defence.

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Monday 23 November 2009

United to meet Luton again in the FA Trophy

Meh, can't get rid of the buggers can we. Still, judging by our last two encounters it should be a good match, hopefully played out in front of a decent crowd.

And given the amount of riot police that were needed for our last encounter at the Abbey, rumour has it that Ian Darler is planning to bring in some temporary stands to house the visiting Hatters:

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Saturday 21 November 2009

Hatters:2 U's:2 - wooooooooooooooo

Hahahaha, in your face Luton. In. Your. Face.


I love you Danny Crow you sexy sexy man. That is all.

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Thursday 19 November 2009

AOB: Hypocrites hammer Henry for hand ball

I bet Thierry Henry is feeling thoroughly ashamed of himself this morning.

As he sits in the kitchen of his multi-million pound mansion, being served an expresso and a croissant by his glamorous girlfriend, and contemplates the prospect of appearing at a fourth successive world cup, I'm sure he is overwhelmed with grief that his blatant cheating has denied us the chance to see such footballing luminaries as Glenn Whelan and Darren Gibson at the finals in South Africa next year. Shame on you Thierry, shame on you.



Admitedly his indescretion in the France versus Ireland game was a fairly obvious one, but judging the hysterical reaction today you'd think he'd murdered Princess Diana then drowned a litter of puppies for good measure.

It was amusing watching Tony Cascarino getting more and more angry on Sky Sports News last night, and today he has channeled his anger into column form on the Times website: "Henry speaks so eloquently, but to me now he’ll always be insincere, a faker, someone who cares only about himself (...) They [FIFA, UEFA, The United Nations, any other regulatory body you can think of] will turn a blind eye, and another piece of football’s credibility, another little part of its soul, will quietly die."

To be fair to Tony, he admits in the piece that he is "no angel", but is the man who openly admits that he played for Ireland throughout his career despite having none of the requisite qualifications - such as being Irish - really in a position to call someone else an insincere faker?

The problem with people in football getting on their high horses is that most of them, be they players, managers, or officials, will have benefited from cheating at some point in their careers. Some incidents, such as the Hand of Henry, are more clear cut and high profile than others, but that doesn't make them any more right or wrong. And, apart from the odd exception, most of them won't have done anything to try and remedy the situation. I'm not au fait with the nuances of Ireland's World Cup Qualifying campaign, but it seems unlikely they went through the entire group stage without getting the benefit of any dodgy decisions.

"They probably won't grant it as we are minnows in world football but let's put them on the spot," said Irish justice minister Dermot Ahern this morning when calling for a rematch. Perhaps once the Irish have removed the chip from their shoulder they will realise that, to mix my metaphors, they are just going to have to suck it up and take the swings with the roundabouts.

Incidentally, I should add that it's the French we should feel the most sorry for in all this. The goal means they are stuck with the completely hopeless Raymond Domenech for at least another seven months.

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Monday 16 November 2009

U's:0 Poppies:2

I don't know what was worse on Saturday; United losing to Kettering or Mssrs. Fry and McAnthony lording it up in our stadium as they confirmed the identity of their new manager.

Fat Barry was even on his feet celebrating when the second goal went in; presumably he's looking forward to Mark Cooper bringing a few of his giant players - and Kettering's easy-on-the-eye brand of total football - to London Road.

If that sounds like sour grapes, then that's because it is. Kettering bear more than a passing resemblance to JQ's 2007/08 United vintage; strong, physical, and hard to break down at the back, they get the ball forward quite quickly and let their skillful attackers do the rest. It's probably the ideal set up for this division, though whether Cooper will be able adapt his system for The Championship remains to be seen.

Back to United, and while I didn't think we played that badly, we struggled to impose ourselves on the Kettering giants; a lot of our possession ended with unconvincing shots from distance, and when we did get a proper chance of course it had to fall to Crowy who, as usual, was about as deadly as a viper with dentures.

I have to question a couple of Lingy's choices as well. Firstly I felt the move from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 was a strange one, considering the success we were having against the Poppies back line was coming from the flanks. Pitt was probably our most dangerous attacker, so to remove him and Willmott in one go was a bit counter-productive, and just seemed to make the (already crowded) middle of the pitch even more congested.

Secondly, why wasn't one of Maz or JP on the bench? I imagine it was with an eye to CRC's FA Vase game, but surely the first team takes priority? I fail to see the point of having two central midfielders (Ives and Challinor) in reserve when one could have been sacrificed for a more attacking option.

Ho hum, onwards and, er, onwards. I'm not usually a pessimistic sort, but I think there's more chance of George Burley still being in a job come Saturday than us getting three points at Luton. I'll wait to be proved wrong.

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Tuesday 10 November 2009

AOB: Fergie Jr not too Posh to get the push

Another day, another set of amusing stories emerging from our near neighbours.

Both P*sh and the villagers seem to have been reading The art of communication according to CUFC given their latest faux pas.

Gareth Baldwin has followed the lead of our dear ex-chairman Rolls, and decided to carry out all communication by text message, much to the chagrin of Tony Roach. It's not all bad news for Histon though, as the new chairman is confident their financial difficulties will soon be a thing of the past.

"I feel very optimistic that we can get through this period and I don't think we're going to have to sell loads and loads of our players," Roach told the CN, while trying to lasso a nearby flying pig. "Our aim is to have cleared all overdue debts by January." That's alright then, they'll be able to turn down those multi-million pound offers for Danny Wright which have no doubt been flooding in over the weekend.

P*sh meanwhile are following the other golden CUFC rule and not saying anything at all about the future of their manager Darren Ferguson, despite the fact that news of his departure is about as secret as Paris Hilton's bedroom preferences.

It's hard to feel sorry for convicted wife-beater Ferguson, and given the amount of cash he's spent I wouldn't go along with those who claim him to be one of the best up and coming managers in the game. But on the other hand, the poor bloke can hardly do more than win automatic promotion in consecutive seasons. The scummers haven't had a great start, but seeing as they have very few players with Championship experience in the squad this season was never going to be a walk in the park.

Still, if you accept the money of a millionaire on an ego trip I guess you have to live with the consequences. Hopefully Barry Fry will be named caretaker, I'm sure he can keep them ticking over at the bottom of the table for a few weeks.

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Monday 9 November 2009

U's:4 Robins:0 - Magic of the cup

A cliche-tastic weekend of action in the "worlds greatest cup competition" saw United book a second round date with York City.

"This is what the FA Cup is all about," screamed the ITV team on more than one occasion during Northwich's win over Charlton, neglecting to mention that more often than not these so called "David v Goliath" clashes involving "potential banana skins" like Paulton Rovers end up with David getting trounced by Goliath. Still I'm sure Paulton went out and "enjoyed their cup final" against Norwich - after all there's nothing like getting beaten 7-0 to lift the spirits.

While we're on the subject, well done to ITV for keeping the romance of the cup alive and selecting an imaginative choice of live games - who would have thought they'd chose to show plucky underdogs Leeds, Norwich, and Charlton? I look forward to watching Northampton v Southampton (who could resist a battle of the Hamptons?), Kettering v Leeds, and Carlisle v Norwich in round two.

One game which is unlikely to feature on the television schedules is Cambridge v York, although if the quality of goals in that match is similar to those we scored against Ilkeston then viewers will be missing out. If you haven't already done so, check out these badboys:



Given our run of luck in cup competitions in recent years, you can't ask much more than a home tie in the next round. York are a decent outfit, but a beatable one, and this must present an excellent opportunity to progress to round three and a match with a really big team. Or P*sh.

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Thursday 5 November 2009

Hol-ding on to super Chris

I've had an enjoyable week so far chuckling at other peoples misfortunes.

Targets of my mirth have included the scummers, mired as they are deep in the relegation zone; Liverpool, for putting themselves in a position where their only striking options not named Torres are David Ngog or Andrei Voronin; Newcastle, for coming up with a worse name for their ground than the Trade Recruitment Stadium; and Histon for, er, well, where do you start. I fear that some kind of footballing karma is going to come and bite me in the ass this weekend when United make a pigs ear of dispatching Ilkeston.

And even if we do get past the Blue Square Norf'ers, bad times are surely just around the corner, as the clock is ticking down to the opening of the transfer window when Chrissy Holroyd will surely be hot footing it towards pastures new.

"I’ve got no concerns about it. We’re still two months away from the window opening, so at this moment in time it hasn’t really entered my head," the cool, calm, and collected sounding Linguist said of his top scorer, who has today been linked with a move to Bournemouth or Norwich. Admittedly this link has been made up unearthed by that bastion of investigative journalism The Daily Star, but you would assume there must be a fair bit of interest in our 14-goal hitman.

Personally I can't see him being a United player come February 1. Our over-budgetness is well publicised, and while it would be nice to think that if we're still in with a shout of the play-offs after Christmas we could keep hold of him until the end of the season, any decent offer will surely see the board cash in. I'm sure the player himself would welcome a move back to the north, given that he stated in his programme interview earlier this season that his favourite place in the world to be is "driving down the M6 on my way home."

In terms of cash, I guess we can expect £50k - £80k in total. I'd be happy with the latter, but suspect any fee will be nearer the former. What is for certain is that if he stays till the summer and any move goes to a tribunal, we are unlikely be looked upon favourably. It's all very well for Ling to talk about the "protection" afforded to us by Chrissy being under-24, but seeing as we essentially brought him as fully grown player I'm sure we'd be looking at a rerun of the Robbie Simpson situation.

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Monday 2 November 2009

Meanwhile over at the Glassworld...

What a pleasant change it is to see United going about their business quietly and efficiently, while our near neighbours have endured more departures than the government's drugs advisory panel.

I like this interview with new Histon chairman Tony Roach, where he says the Villagers will need to play decent football and attract bigger crowds to survive, but in the next breath adds that they're going to sell all their best players. Still, anyone who's seen Danny Wright play will know he's clearly a championship striker in the making, and P*sh will be getting the chequebook out in the next few days. Don't worry Stutes fans, salvation is in sight. Maybe.

Meanwhile, new pictures have emerged of the Baldwins, John Beck, and Peter Webster departing the Glassworld Stadium.

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U's:2 Kiddy:0 - Some observations

I've already written a match report on Saturday's game, and I'm not inclined to inflict another one on you, so here are a few thoughts on our win over Kidderminster.

Despite achieving a comfortable victory over a team above us in the table, I still didn't come away from the match feeling that we played particularly well. In fairness I think that might have something to do with the way the Linguist sets his team up - we seem to be aiming to counter attack all the time which of course means that the opposition have a fair bit of possession - but Danny Potter was probably the busier of the two keepers, albeit that a lot of the shots he had to deal with required fairly routine saves.

For me the outstanding player from a United perspective was Jai Reason, who was back to something like his effervescent best, popping up all over the place and providing good support to the front two. Brian Saah also had a good game, putting in a number of crucial last ditch tackles, although his distribution wasn't the best, and he almost scored an Andy Duncan-style comedy own goal.

On the down side Carden was quiet, and neither of the full backs got forward much, although perhaps that's the price we have to pay for defensive solidity. Willmott's delivery from set pieces was good, but left a lot to be desired in open play, while Parky ran around a lot but didn't really influence the game at all. ML said afterwards that he did "a lot of unselfish work for the team" but do we really need a holding midfielder playing on the wing, especially in a home game where the onus is on us to dictate play?

So yeah, no Halloween frights for the U's during what was a fairly low key event. Perhaps similarly solid-but-unspectacular performances are the best we can hope for this season.

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