Stuff

Hmm, so two departures on deadline day so far, one of which probably represents a much bigger blow to our season than the other.

Given the amount of strikers we now possess, it's probably not a massive surprise that the Lemu is on his way. Even though he doesn't really do anything apart from whinge and wind people up, I think his nuisance value and reputation made him a useful member of the squad. But then again, at £1,000 p/w (allegedly) it's probably a good thing that he's (at least in part) off our wage bill. All the best Leo.

Incidentally I'm a bit worried because on this day last year we released a veteran striker (Deano Holdsworth) and ended up re-signing a rubbish former player (Chilli). Lets just hope those reports of Danny Webb (left) being spotted at the training ground earlier today prove to be unfounded.

Alan Lewer's departure was not quite so forseable, and moving to Weymouth, a struggling team who are probably aren't going to progress beyond this level (no offence to any Terra's fans reading) seems an odd career move, even allowing for his friendship with John Hollins. I'm not sure I know exactly what an assistant manager does, or how much influence they have on things, but he's been credited with playing a big part in a number of the signings so we should say thankyou for that I guess.

Nevertheless, Quinn appointed Fester in the first place so one would hope he can find a replacement of similar quality. After all, "We're going up, with just Jimmy, on his own" doesn't really scan.

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U's:0 Grecians:1

So, this week we’ve had a new chairman, a new striker, and another defeat. I’ll be glad to see the back of January to be honest – five losses in seven games is a record quite out of context with the rest of our season. Hopefully we’ll fair better in Feb.

Despite only arriving at the Abbey at 6pm, and having never met his team mates before, long time transfer target Mark Beesley was thrust into the action for an immediate debut, playing in behind Evil and Rendell. The visitors lined up in a defensive 4-5-1 formation, looking content to sit deep and hit us on the break.

Beesley showed some good movement early on as United took charge of possession, but for the most part looked like a man who had, er, turned up at 6pm having never met his team mates before. It soon became clear that chances were going to be at a premium, as Exeter had bodies everywhere closing United players down and blocking shots almost before they had left the shooters boot. When we did get chances from set pieces, Stephen Reed’s delivery was again generally poor, and one wonders how many bad games he has to have before he gets benched.

Reedy did put in one good centre from open play, which Beesley met at the near post but couldn’t quite get his effort on target. Wayne Hatswell drilled a volley across goal that was well saved, while Evil rose well to meet an Albrighton pass but headed inches wide.
Up to now the visitors, led by the best-dressed man in the Conference, Paul Tisdale, hadn’t offered much as an attacking force, but as United began to get sloppy, giving the ball away unnecessarily on several occasions, they found their feet. Just before half time they got their first corner, which Dean Moxey arced across the goal for Dan Seabourne to head in at the back post.

If JQ hoped that the goal would draw a positive response from the players, he was sadly mistaken, and Exeter began the second half looking to add to their advantage. Adam Stansfield, who gave an adroit account of himself as loan striker for the Grecians, muscled his way past Morrison, but the young defender recovered well to block his shot. Matt Taylor met the resulting corner but saw his header blocked by the face of Taylor.

After this the match fell back into a similar pattern, with United huffing and puffing but not really getting very far. The only outlet was Dan Gleeson who consistently found space on the right, but even then the standard of final ball was hit-and-miss. On one occasion he saw his initial effort blocked, did brilliantly to win the ball back, but then pushed the ball tamely into the keepers’ arms. Glees also had a decent looking penalty shout turned down by generally excellent referee Sarginson when he appeared to be tripped in the box.

Despite the pressure you never got the impression United were likely to score, and indeed Exeter could have added to their lead when fleet-footed substitute Lee Elam broke away but curled an effort wide of the post.

Probably the best cross of the night came from Danny Potter, who raced up to join the attack for an injury time corner. He looped the ball over to the back post, where Evil rose like a big fat scouse salmon to flick a downward header towards the bottom corner. It seemed to have goal written all over it in big letters with marker pen, but Marriott flung himself down to tip the ball round the post.

0-0 would have probably been a fair reflection of the match, but that’s not to take anything away from Exeter, who were well organised and took their chance when it came along, much like we did to numerous teams earlier in the season in fact.

Man of the Match: Dan Gleeson – At least tried to get us going with some sporadic bursts of enterprising wingbackery.

Hat of the Match: Tisdale’s Badly Drawn Boy-esque beanie is the clear winner, with JQ’s flat cap lagging behind on -1million style points.

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U's:2 Alty:1

Ahh, the return of the 2-1 win. It’s been a while since United triumphed by their favourite scoreline, although in truth it could have been a more comfortable victory had the players not spurned so many chances.

To be fair, the U’s came up against a visiting keeper in inspired form. Stuart Coburn gave us a taste of what was to come early on, when he blocked a Lee McEvilly shot after the striker had latched onto a nice through ball from Dan Gleeson.

United spent most of the half on the front foot, dominating matters in the centre of the park where Convery looked more mobile than usual, putting in a number of good tackles. It was no surprise when we took a 23rd minute lead through big Evil. Wolly played a superb pass down the right for Rendell, who cut into the box and crossed for the Accrington loanee to sidefoot home from about six yards.

Alty, backed by a small but vocal group of fans in the South Habbin, mounted vaguely dangerous counter attacks on a couple of occasions, but in the main we continued to looked the more likely scorers. Gleeson, who like the rest of the team seems to have recovered some semblance form in the last couple of games, had a shot deflected behind, while Albrighton got a half-volley in from a Reed free kick which looked a certain goal until Coburn leapt across to parry the ball over the bar.

To Alty’s credit, the teams were more evenly matched in the second half, with the action switching from end to end at a frenetic pace. Potter parried a Colin Little volley, and denied Chris Senior, while for United Evil failed to connect with a Convery cross and Rendell almost got on the end of a Gleeson centre, but saw Greg Young nip in to head the ball behind. Convery also missed a glorious chance when he met another Gleeson pass but saw his close range shot saved by Coburn.

With United passing up so many opportunities, you always feared the visitors would conjure up an equaliser, and Robbie Lawton fired a warning shot across our bows when his powerful drive from the edge of the area beat Potter but hit the underside of the bar and bounced to safety. Six minutes later Reed, who had another poor game, gifted possession to Joe O’Neil, who slid an inch perfect pass through to Little. Potter raced off his line but didn’t get to the ball, and the veteran striker nicked it past him and rolled a shot into the empty net.

But Alty’s joy was short lived, as United regained the lead five minutes later. Convery picked up the ball about 25 yards out, and got a shot in that looked to be trundling wide until it took two deflections and snuck into the corner despite the scrambling attempts of Coburn to keep it out.

There’s no doubt the winning goal was a lucky in terms of its execution, but it was probably a deserved break for the U’s, and it’s good to see that the players kept going after conceding a late equaliser. While they were facing limited opposition, hopefully this is a sign that the ‘never know when they’re beaten’ mentality that was so prominent earlier in the season is returning.

Man of the Match: Wayne Hatswell – I wasn’t overly impressed with the own-goal maestro on his debut at Grays, but he’s beginning to look the part now, with some assured tackling and excellent distribution.

View of the Match: The sunset over the Habbin. Nice innit.

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Power outage part two

I very much like the statement by Norman Gautrey which appeared on the CUFC website yesterday afternoon.

It’s refreshing to see someone from the clubs hierarchy issue a communiqué which addresses the matter at hand and doesn’t just regurgitate a load of waffle without actually saying anything (like this for example). That's not to say that I believe his version of events to be the definitive one, but more that it's pleasing to know what his take on Lee Power's exit is, rather than having to rely on the sensation-tinged tit bits supplied by the pen of Aaron Mason.

And, while I’m not privy to the work he’s doing behind the scenes, it strikes me that if he displays similar levels of straightforwardness and clarity in his decision making, the club is probably in safe hands for the time being.

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U's:5 Bloods:0

At least all was well again on the pitch last night, as United got back to winning ways with a victory so comfortable that it could have been on sale in the luxury section at DFS.

Over the last two and a bit seasons we’ve faced some really terrible opposition (many of whom have beaten us) so it’s not lightly that I say that Droylsden are the worst team I’ve seen at Conference level. Usually these part-time sides that come down from some Northern hell-hole you’ve never heard of are at least well organised and hard working, but Dave Pace’s side looked unfit and out of their depth throughout.

I’ll try and be less patronising for the rest of this report, but the fact remains that it’s hard to judge whether this was a particularly oustanding performance given the paucity of the opposition. Certainly scoring five goals shouldn’t do confidence any harm, but one suspects a better team would have taken advantage of the gaping holes left by our gung-ho 3-4-1-2 formation.

Still, you can only beat what’s in front of you and all that, and a home win never looked in doubt after Scott Rendell opened the scoring in the tenth minute. The chavy-sounding Ashley Burberry lost possession on the touchline to Evil, who shrugged off the attentions of Ged Murphy and picked out Rendell, who nonchalantly strolled past one defender before wrong footing keeper Paul Phillips. Murphy was incandescent with rage, and picked up a booking for his troubles after aiming a few choice words at the lino.

The Bloods made a few half hearted attempts at looking for an equaliser, but aside from a couple of crosses which were dealt with by Albrighton, Hatswell, and co, they didn’t get near enough to Potter to seriously threaten the goal. Meanwhile their backline were struggling to deal with Courtney Pitt, who was roaming dangerously around behind the two front men. Several times he was hacked down by crude challenges from visiting defenders, and United’s dominance was such that goal number two seemed only a matter of time.

Evil nearly got it, pushing aside a defender as if he were an oversized weeble, but seeing his powerful shot turned round the post by Phillips. However, Droylsden’s reprieve was short-lived, as from the resulting corner, the ball was worked out to Wolly, who unleashed a trademark blaster from 25 yards which flew into the top corner beyond the despairing dive of Phillips.

Within a couple of minutes of the second half beginning, it should have been three. Rendell controlled a long ball over the top, and played the perfect pass into McEvilly, who whistled a shot just over the bar when he should have hit the target.

But the big Accrington loanee didn’t have to wait long for his first goal in a U’s shirt. Reed and Pitt combined well on the left, with the former floating in a cross that eluded three defenders and allowed Evil to slot home with aplomb. Three became four when Rendell nodded in a sumptuous centre from the Pittster, and moments later JQ introduced ex-Bedford midfielder Ben Farrell for his debut in place of Reed.

Farrell made a good early impression, keeping possession well and using the ball sensibly, unlike Danny Brown, who I’m sorry to report still looks off the pace. Fellow sub Mark Convery buzzed around in an uncharacteristically energetic fashion, and it was his pass that allowed Rendell to complete his hatrick with a neat turn and shot into the bottom corner. That’s 22 for the season now for Scotty, who looked suitably happy to be going home with the match ball.

There was still time for Convery to be denied what looked like a clear cut penalty by whistle-happy ref Hopkins when he was bundled over in the box, and for Robbie Willmott, on in place of Rendell, to shoot narrowly wide.

We’ll need to take this form into Saturday’s game, and while Altrincham will surely provide a stiffer test, three points are still a must with in-form Exeter, and Stevenage on the horizon.

Man of the Match: Scott Rendell – Our latest hatrick hero is destined for better things. But hopefully not for a while yet.








Other Men of the Match: The eleven (I counted nine, so there must have been a couple hiding somewhere) Droyslden fans who made the long trip south in the knowledge that they’d probably get tonked. Die-hards of the North-West, I salute you.

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Power outage

Hmm, well I don't think anyone saw the resignation of Lee Power coming.

Reading the messageboard, opinions seem to be polarised between those who believe this to be a disaster and those that think he didn’t really do anything anyway and is therefore no great loss. As ever I suspect the answer is somewhere in between.

By all accounts Lee was not at the club on a day to day basis, and living in Oxfordshire cannot have had a huge effect on the running of the place. He also admitted in an interview with Radio Cambs recently that he wasn’t in the picture with regards to the finances, so on the basis of that you would have to say he was not exactly a vital cog in the, ahem, well oiled machine that is Cambridge United. It's also fairly widely known that he didn't have much of his own cash tied up in the club by way of shares.

On the plus side he always seemed to be heavily involved in footballing matters, and with his background in the game certainly brought skills and contacts to the table that the remaining directors probably don’t have. And of course, he picked Jimmy to be our manager and, possibly more by luck than judgement, stuck with him during the bad times last January. I don’t think anyone thought that was a good idea at the time, but if he hadn’t who knows whether we would be in the position we are in now.

Above all, for the last 18 months we’ve had stability in the board room, and have seen the club rise from rock bottom to a place where returning to the football league looks like a distinct possibility. While I don’t know how much of this is directly down to Lee Power, it would be unfair to not give him any credit at all, and having to make more changes to the structure of the club is unlikely to be a good thing.

I suppose time will tell whether his resignation was justified, or whether he’s thrown his toys out of the pram because he's cocked up/heard something he didn’t like, but I do hope we get some clarification of the situation from the club, and don’t have to suffer weeks of innuendo and speculation. That certainly wouldn’t do our promotion push any favours.

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Blue's:2 U's:1

Is there a town in the country more aptly named than Grays? It might be because I’ve only ever visited during the winter, but the whole place seems to be permanently shrouded by a layer of grey grime. The townsfolk wandering the grubby shopping centre are similarly ashen-faced, and although it’s not as bad as Canvey Island or Stafford, it would certainly sit comfortably in my top five worst places I’ve been to watch United.

Travelling down the M11 on Saturday morning, it seemed highly unlikely that the game would take place at all, as rain of monsoon-like ferocity buffeted my car. But as we passed Brentwood the skies cleared, and a couple of shop-tastic hours spent at Lakeside later, we were welcoming the teams onto the pitch at Grays’ (again aptly named) Recreation Ground home.

United, with new boys Wayne Hatswell and Lee McEvilly making their debuts, found themselves immediately on the backfoot, with Ben Watson and Aaron O’Connor stretching our back three with some skilful running down the flanks. Watson fired wide and O’Connor blazed over the bar, before the best chance fell to Danny Kedwell, who sent a shot soaring over the top from 15 yards.

Evil impressed early on, putting himself about and linking the play effectively. One flick header sent Reed away down the left, and his cross found Gleeson, who blasted high and wide. The largely-anonymous Mark Convery was also off target with a shot from outside the box, while Reed whacked a disappointing free kick straight into the wall.

The match settled into a more even pattern, with both sides enjoying periods of possession, and it was United who hit the front in the 26th minute following their best move of the match. Gleeson and Wolleaston exchanged passes on the right, allowing the former to race to the byline and cut the ball back for Rendell to finish from close range. 1-0.

Glees went looking for a penalty shortly afterwards when he burst into the area and was blocked off by a defender. Unfortunately the referee was unmoved, and despite JQ’s claims that it was a definite spot-kick, from where I was standing it looked like the correct decision.

But for the most part United retreated into their shells following the goal, and Grays spent the rest of the half on the offensive. O’Connor forced Potter into a good save, before driving a low cross/shot across the face of goal which somehow eluded a clutch of players lurking in the area.

While I was not privy to Jimmy’s half time team talk, I suspect that conceding a goal within 45 seconds of the restart was quite high on his list of things not to do. Almost straight from kick off, Karl Murray burst into the box, evading half-hearted challenges from Reed and Hatswell with ease. His cross took a deflection, looping up over Potter, who did brilliantly to get a hand on it and deflect the ball away from goal. The rebound fell to O’Connor, and although Pottsy blocked his shot too, Michael Standing was on hand the blast the ball into the empty net. Calamity. 1-1.

Earlier in the season you would have expected United to take this in their stride, but heads dropped following the goal and Grays attacked with renewed intensity. Although Albrighton had a goal ruled out for pushing, this represented an isolated attack, with United struggling to retain the ball, leaving Rendell and Evil increasingly isolated.

The inevitable second goal arrived about 15 minutes from time. The U’s defence half cleared a free kick, but the ball dropped to Standing who, under no pressure from any defenders, fired a superb volley into the corner. No chance for Potter. 2-1.

The introduction of Pitt and Wilmott added a bit of impetus to our attack, but it was to little real effect. Evil saw a shot deflected over, and we got a couple of corners, but nothing unduly troubled Grays’ youthful custodian David Button, and in the end the home side were comfortable and worthy winners.

We’re still in the play off places on goal difference, but there will have to be a considerable improvement in performance if we are to remain there much longer. There has been a lot of talk about the formation hampering us, but I believe the problem to be mostly confidence-based. The players will have no better chance to restore some much needed self belief than a match against the leagues bottom team, and it will be interesting to see what their response is on Tuesday night. Certainly after the Droylsden and Altrincham games we should have a better idea of the squads capability of sustaining a promotion challenge.

Man of the Match: Dan Gleeson - Comfortably his best performance of recent weeks, defending solidly and providing useful support to the attack.

Bad haircut of the match: Danny Potter – Oh dear, I don’t know where to start with this one. DP’s new shaved back and sides look makes him resemble Gordon Ramsay’s younger brother.

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New signings

Honestly, you wait ages for one then three come along at once.

All three of the new players look like decent acquisitions on paper. Wayne Hatswell looks like the kind of player JQ loves (in a totally heterosexual way of course) – big, strong, and experienced. Rushden have one of the meanest defences in the division after ourselves, and a quick browse of the Diamonds forum reveals that their fans are pretty gutted to lose him. He should make a good replacement for Morro if/when he leaves, comedy own-goals not withstanding.

It's interesting that Rushden claim we have paid a substantial fee for his services. I suppose substantial could mean anything really, but I'd be a bit surprised if we'd paid more than, say, 20k for a 31-year old.

Lee McEvilly is another one who has been round the block a few times, and while I would have preferred us to go for a little nippy striker in the Boylan/Guy/Ademeno mould, he has a good record at this level and above. There seem to be a few question marks over his attitude and temperament, so hopefully Jimmy and Fester will keep him on a short leash. He also has a brilliant nickname – Big Evil – which is a good start for any player in my book.

The other newbie, Ben Farrell, is a bit more of an unknown quantity, and I’m hoping he’s an attacking midfielder rather than a Brown-esque stopper. However, if he shows as much promise as our other graduate of the Bimmo-academy, Gavin Hoyte, then I’m sure he’ll do fine, and it’s certainly good news that our ginge-quota is on the rise again.

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Stutes:2 U's:0

Isn’t it amazing how a game about which one is so blasé about before hand can still cause you great annoyance 24 hours later. While I’m pleased we’re now rid of the FA Trophy, it’s a shame we had to lose to them again, and will now have to put up with the insufferable gloating of Baldwin/Fallon/Random die hard (sic) fans on Histon FM, I mean Radio Cambridgeshire.

To be fair to the Stutes, they deserved their win and place in round three, as once more United failed to deal with the strong-arm tactics of Geppetto, Pinnochio, and their band of loveable part-timers. United actually played quite well in the first half, but heads dropped after the second goal and we never really looked like getting back into the match after that. The late dismissals of Carden and LFW were unfortunate too, and although I doubt we’ll miss the Lemu that much, Carden will be a big loss.

Histon had the better of the early exchanges, with Potter tipping a Langston header over the bar and comfortably dealing with a shot from Antonio Murray. However, United gradually began to play their way back into the match, putting together some good moves, despite the bog-like pitch, with the busy Carden pulling the strings. Unfortunately there was little in the way of telling end product, with Pitt and Wolleaston shooting wide and Convery blasting a free kick into the side netting.

On the balance of play 0-0 would probably have been a fair half time score, but on the stroke of the interval United conceded a stupid soft ‘percentages’ goal, the kind on Histon have built their success and one which really should have been prevented. Adie Cambridge scudded a throw into the box, where Nat Knight-Percival rose highest to flick a header over the advancing Potter and into the corner of the net. 1-0.

Half time saw LFW charging around the pitch in ominous fashion, sharpening his elbows and sticking pins in his Craig Pope voodoo doll. The outcome was nothing if not predictable.

But before the fun started United managed to shoot themselves in the foot and concede another farcical goal. Morrison looked to have things under control on the by line, but lost out to Murray, who cut the ball back for Danny Wright to fire a clinical low shot into the net. Quite out of character with the rest of the big strikers game, but a great finish none-the-less. 2-0.

JQ then surprisingly withdrew Boylan, who was providing a good outlet for United despite little help from a jaded looking Scotty Rendell, and replace him with Leo. Of course this ended any chances of us trying to play football, and instead we took the usual lazy route of knocking long balls up to the front two. Unsurprisingly, given that the entire Histon defence look like they are put in grow-bags between games, it didn’t work.

Leo’s first contribution was to clatter Mr Pope into the advertising hoardings, for which he was deservedly booked. Moments later he tried an overhead kick which landed closer to the corner flag than goal, while Wolleaston guided a tame header into the arms of Naisbett.

Unfortunately (or not, depending on your point of view) I can’t really comment on the sendings off as I had already left the ground at this point. I think I’ve only left two games ‘early’ in the last 18 months, and coincidentally they’ve both been at the same location. Anyway, however much JQ bleats about provocation, they should have known better. It’s not like we haven’t played Histon before.

So yeah, overall it was another 'meh' performance, we need to rediscover our x-factor sharpish. I’ll consol myself with the fact that we won’t have to pay the villagers another visit this season, unless we get them in the play offs that is.

Man of the Match: Josh Coulson – I would have given it to Carden had he not be red-carded, but young Josh also played well, allying some tough tackling with accurate, thoughtful, distribution. Any scouts who had come to watch Morro might now be having a rethink.

Chant of the Match: Probably not a new one on those of you who were at the two matches over Christmas, but “Histon till July” made me chuckle.

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AOB: I heart Newcastle

Usually I would condemn chairman who sack managers after six months in the job, but I must confess that I had a little chuckle when I heard that Sam Allardyce had become unemployed. Perhaps he can spend some of his ample severance pay on plastic surgery to remove that earpiece thingy that seems to be attached to his head.

But, if a fat northerner couldn't succeed at the club supported by a million fat northerners, and controlled by a fat northern zillionaire who thinks he can keep it real by wearing a replica shirt to matches, then who could, I asked myself. Surely there wasn't a more appropriate manager out there for the toon army?

Apparently I was wrong.

The random return of Kevin Keegan is, in my opinion, the best thing to happen in the Premiership this season. No one personifies Newcastle's style over substance approach to football more than the ex-Liverpool striker, and while his second spell with the Magpies seems more likely to end in failure than success, it will undoubtably make for an interesting watch. I wonder if he still has Tino Asprilla's number...

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It's raining again...

And my love of the FA Trophy is certainly at an end (that’s the first and last Supertramp reference that will ever feature on this blog, promise).

Given that it has been raining pretty solidly since yesterday I would imagine there is a big question mark over our re-arranged Trophy tie at Histon tomorrow night. If it is called off, it will be re-scheduled for next Tuesday and our much more important league fixture against Droylsden will be moved for a third time.

On Saturday, while such local footballing powerhouses as Royston Town, Fowlmere, and (somewhat bizarrely) Histon ‘A’ managed to stage home games, the club whose ground has, according to Radio Cambridgeshire, been declared fit for the football league, could not provide a playable pitch. I doubt Histon FC wanted the game to be postponed any more than we did, but they’ve been having problems with their playing surface every winter for a number of years now and it’s about time they got their house in order.

Oh well, I guess there’s no point moaning too much. Hopefully JQ will be getting some reinforcements in before the window closes so our squad can survive any fixture backlog. I guess having a lot of games in a short space of time can also be a good thing, if we can get some momentum going that is. Interesting times.

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Histon

“We have a plan B!” announced Steve Fallon in today’s Evening News ahead of tomorrow’s, er, not-very-eagerly-anticipated-at-all Trophy match.

Luckily for Jimmy Quinn and co, U’s Blog managed to infiltrate a Stutes training session earlier this week and get some pictures of the players learning the new system. Given that John Beck (who I like to think of as Geppetto to Fallon’s Pinocchio) is involved, it is perhaps unsurprising that Plan B amounts to little more than an extreme version of Plan A. Apologies for the poor picture quality:

Showing that at least someone involved with Histon FC has a sense of humour, Fallon added: “We have thoughts on how they play but we keep them to ourselves.”

Must be about the only thing you do keep to yourself these days matey. The continual stream of negativity directed at United by the villagers is getting a bit boring now, and is certainly not very becoming of on organisation purporting to be a friendly little family club.

Hopefully we will beat them tomorrow and put them back in their place, but I’m not overly optimistic. Certainly we’ll need to try and get the ball down and play, as we did against Wolves, but of course that’s sometimes easier said than done, especially with weather conditions looking like they may necessitate a more direct approach.

Still, I’m looking forward to the match. Having attended the opening of a public toilet today (I wish I was joking), an afternoon at the Glassworld should be just about bearable.

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In other news...

Despite being founded by ex-Scum chairman Peter Boizot, Pizza Express have formed an appreciation society for everyones favourite wingback. This sign is on display at their Jesus Lane restaurant:

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AOB: Get out of my face

This is just a short rant so bear with me. I like Facebook. My working day would be considerably less full were I not able to play scrabble, stalk people I used to go to school with, or join fantastic clubs like the Danny Potter appreciation society.

But I’m beginning to get irked by some of my ‘friends’, who seem to think the status function is there so that they can subject me to the banalities of their daily lives. For anyone who doesn’t use Facebook, you can type in your current status so that it appears next to your name – ie what you are up to (Matt is bored at work, Matt is looking forward to Wolves), or perhaps something humorous (Matt is the king, tehehe).

Quite a fun feature you might think, but not when you have people bombarding you with the most retarded things throughout the day. I’ve tried everything I can to hide status updates but a few still seem to be seeping through. Lets take the example of one person I have on my list, who we’ll call X. Status updates from the past two days:

X is awake
X is working
X just had chicken and chips (I particularly like this one)
X is home
X is doing her filing
X is finally finished!! (note the use of double exlamation marks)

And then this morning
X is awake
X is at work
Etc etc et bloody cetera

I'd like to say this is an isolated case, but I could've picked on a few other examples from my friends list. It amazes me that anyone would a) want this much information about what they are up to published on a public website, and b) that they think the world at large would be interested. I assume it’s to show what busy and varied lives they lead, but in my opinion it does precisely the opposite and just highlights the fact that they spend too much time on Facebook, grrrrrr.

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Wolves:2 U's:1

I may have suggested in this blog in the past that the Magic of the Cup™ is in fact a load of bollocks. However, I can now confirm that it does exist. There were magical moments aplenty on Saturday, notably the sight of a convoy of 20-odd coaches negotiating the mean streets of Wolverhampton, and ticker-tape welcome that accompanied the players entrance onto the pitch. Unfortunately the magic ran out about three minutes from the end of the match.

There was also nothing magical about the particular coach we travelled on, which broke down en route to the match meaning we had an unexpected 45 minute stop at Brampton Hut services. It was coach number 13, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.

Nevertheless, we made it to Molineux intact and on time. The stadium itself isn’t as big as I imagined, but nevertheless it is a proper ground in a proper location (ie in the town centre not in the middle of nowhere by a motorway). The match hadn’t particularly captured the imagination of the Wolves public, with the fans that filled the whole of the lower tier of the Steve Bull Stand and a bit of the stand behind the goal making up almost a third of the 15,000 strong crowd.

When the teams came out it seemed like every midfielder ever associated with United had been included in the team line up. I was half expecting to see the gold-toothed grin of Terry Fleming, the blonde mullet of Justin W*lk*r, or the gangly legs of Kingsley Mbome emerge from the Molineux tunnel. In the event JQ had settled for just the six, with Gleeson, Brown, Carden, and Reed sitting in front of the back three, and Wolleaston and Convery supporting loan front man Rendell.

Our great plan was obviously to frustrate Wolves, but this almost came unstuck inside the first couple of minutes when Albrighton had to charge down a goalbound shot from Jay Bothroyd. Going forward we were looking to get the ball down and pass more than we have in recent games, with Convery in particular revelling in the kind space he is not usually afforded by the kick-and-rush merchants of the BSP.

The ex-York midfielder had a header cleared off the line following a good cross from Stephen Reed, and also drew a save from Wayne Hennessey after latching onto a Rendell back heel. Wolves applied more and more pressure as the half progressed, although they were mostly restricted to long range efforts that Potter fielded comfortably. The home side were being given a helping hand by referee Mr Friend, who seemed happy to give free kicks out to anyone prepared to throw themselves to the ground. From one such set piece, won in dubious fashion by Michael Gray, Darren Ward got a header in which forced Potter into a marvellous leaping save.

But when a goal did come, it was at the end. The lively Convery latched onto a poor clearance from the lumbering Neill Collins, and looped in a cross which the aforementioned defender blocked with his arm, penalty! It looked liked a soft decision, but as the Wolves players protested and the amber nation held its breath, Scott Rendell kept his cool, shooting into the roof of the net as Hennessey helpfully dived out of the way. Cue delirium in the Steve Bull Stand, and a 4,000 strong bounce, the like of which Wolverhampton probably hasn’t seen since, er, West Brom’s last visit.

Wolves could’ve equalised before half time, but the inspirational Albrighton somehow managed to get his knee to Stephen Ward’s goalbound effort and clear it to safety.

It was obvious that it was going to be a long second half, and sure enough United were under the cosh for much of it. The only break out of note came from Rob Wolleaston, who muscled his way past a couple of players on the left flank, but put his cross just too close to Hennessey, who snatched it ahead of the onrushing Rendell.

Once more Wolves weren’t doing a lot with their possession, and it is easy to see why they have struggled in the Championship of late. When they did get near the goal, Reed was on hand to clear Jarvis’ cross/shot off the line.

But Mick McCarthy had an ace up his sleeve in the form of Michael Kightly. The ex-Grays winger entered the field to rapturous applause from the nervous home crowd, and immediately displayed the kind of pace and skill that have seen him take to Championship football like a chavvy little duck to water. He got the equaliser on 69 minutes, nipping in ahead of Reed and Morrison to convert Jarvis’ cross.

United looked like they were running on empty now, and Potter stood up well to block Bothroyd’s shot when the striker looked set to make it 2-1. The same player was booked for an awful penalty-seeking dive moments later, and United looked set to hold on for a replay until the killer blow came in the 87th minute. Kightly brought a free kick from Gleeson, and sent over a fantastic cross which Collins glanced past Potter.

JQ threw on LFW and Boylan, but it was too late for either of the experienced strikers to have any impact, and we were left to reflect on what might have been.

You certainly couldn’t fault any of the players for effort, and it was pleasing to see us trying to play football rather than always taking the direct approach. Hopefully we can see off the villagers this weekend and then get back to the competition that really matters - the league.

Man of the Match: Mark Convery – Probably the most disappointing of all our summer signings enjoyed by far his best game for the club, displaying plenty of decent passing and movement throughout. Now he has to prove he is capable of reproducing this kind of form in less salubrious surroundings.

Moron(s) of the Match: The handful of people behind the goal who wanted to pick a fight with anything that moved. Just go away, we don’t need people like you associated with this club.

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One day to go till Wolves

I'm very excited, it’s like the countdown to Christmas all over again, except without the annoying Alan Hansen Morrisons adverts (seriously, who advised him to do those?).

Plenty of good news from the U's yesterday, what with the return of Carden and new contracts for Albrighton, Hoyte, and Wolly. While Carden is no Pele, he should help us retain the ball much more effectively than we have been of late. As I said earlier in the week, I don’t think Reed and Brown make an effective combination, and hopefully with a better balance to the midfield we won’t resort to the big hoof quite so often.

On the contract front, all three players have contributed to our successful first half of the season, and it’s good to have their futures sorted. Albrighton (pictured) is just a brilliant defender for this level, while if Wolleaston can maintain his form then he will undoubtedly have clubs from a higher level sniffing around before too long. The only worry I would have with him is that a two-year contract may see him return to his comfort zone – JQ will have to keep him on his toes.

Hoyte is developing all the time and obviously has a lot of talent. With him, I think half the battle is the mental side of things. If he makes one mistake it seems to really effect his game badly, but I imagine that’s something that will improve with experience.

Back to tomorrow’s match and, without wanting to stoop to well worn clichés, if we can defend well for the first 20-30 minutes then I think we’ve got a chance. They’re not in great form, and have a few players missing due to injury and suspension. It should be a good day out none the less, though hopefully the players won’t treat it as such. In true plucky non-league style, I’m off to paint my face, dust off my foam hand, and polish my tin foil FA Cup. Up the U's!

P.S: Those of you not going to Wolves tomorrow, be sure to tune into the Darts World Championship which starts on BBC. Much as I would like to see John 'Boy' Walton repeat his success of 2001, I have a sneaking feeling that dour Scot Gary Anderson will be triumphant. Having said that, my tip for the Grand Slam of Darts, Roland Scholten, didn't make it past round two, ho hum.

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CUFC in Nature

Number Four: In celebration of his apparently impending return to the Abbey - Paul Carden and a Meerkat.


















Mongoose?



















Midfielder?

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Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. Honestly, you go away for five days and suddenly there’s more United news than you can shake a mistletoe-covered stick at: Lewer getting upset about alleged racist abuse directed at Lemu; Jimmy and the Pittster getting upset by Histon’s tactics; Histon getting upset about, well, just about everything.

I must say Steve Fallon(pictured) has gone down in my estimation after the continual stream of negative comments in the press over the last week or so. His Beck-style ramblings only add strength to the rumours that JB wears the trousers in their particular relationship. Moreover they are not especially befitting of someone who is thought of by many as one of United’s greatest ever servants. With the trophy game fast approaching, I’m half expecting one of the headlines in next weeks CEN to be FALLON: UNITED TO BLAME FOR DEATH OF DIANA, or something.

On the pitch, I guess a return of four points from a possible nine could be better and could be worse. Having not seen the first two games I’m not in the best position to comment, but certainly yesterday’s match was one from which we could have claimed at least a point, even though it wasn’t the best performance. We seem to lack a bit of guile in midfield at the moment – Reed and Brown are too similar to play together, and although Mark Convery has done little to impress in his United career so far, maybe it is time for him to have an extended run in the team.

And up front we could do with another little Knights-type player to freshen things up. Hopefully JQ is thinking along similar lines with the transfer window now wide open. Meanwhile the current lot will need to up their game a bit if we’re going to do anything at Wolves on Saturday.

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