Ups and downs and ins and outs

Nothing much has happened CUFC-wise in the last week or so.

Various players are ruminating over new deals, others are seeking alternative employment, and Jez George is still walking the length and breadth of the country in the company of a plethora of minor celebrities, but other than the usual deathly calm of the close season has descended upon the Abbey.

It's somewhat busier elsewhere, with the make-up of the Conference play-off finals having been decided in the last couple of days. Alfreton face Fleetwood in the North, Bath and Woking square up in the South, and one of York or Oxford will be joining Stevenage in League Two.

York saw off Luton to make the Wembley final, and as you've probably seen on television, the Luton fans didn't take too kindly to being condemned to another season of trips to the likes of Histon and Tamworth, invading the pitch to try and get at the York fans and players.

The scenes at Kenilworth Road were quite extraordinary, but maybe they will force the Hatters hierarchy to get a grip of their problematic supporters. It may, as chairman Nick Owen has said, be a minority causing the trouble, but it's a sizable minority, and they've been at it all season, as we found out at first hand. There's no place for that kind of behaviour in modern football, and the hefty fine which should be heading their way will perhaps help to lift the collective denial which seems to afflict their more sensible supporters.

From a purely footballing perspective, it would have been better for us had Luton got promoted, as I suspect they are the only one of the four play-off sides who will be stronger next season. Still, it's quite funny that they've got to do at least another year of purgatory, and fair play to the chaps at FC Boro for this amusing little piece rubbing their noses in it.

Meanwhile, the Villagers are on the look out for a new boss, although they apparently haven't told the old boss. Good, professional, stuff from Bridge Road as usual. The brief job advert on their website doesn't give much by way of a personal specification, but presumably anyone with experience in tree surgery will shoot to the top of the short-list.