Distraction Derby (Hatters v U's)

Habbinalan

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We'll both just go off into a corner and stir up a bit of pashun to take our minds of a league season that seems to be petering out with no compensatory cup distractions either.
.......If we can find or keep 3 players of the quality of Demetriou (or Taft?), Williamson (whither Gaffney?) and Ledson (will Keane finally deliver something or L Hughes get his chance) then a top10 finish, flirting with top 7, should be possible - PROVIDED WE GET IN A KEEPER!!!
The December Manager of the Month curse should have run its full course by now, so we could/should be back on track to flirt with the play-offs. But we can't/won't ignore the implications of being turned over fellow by mid-table aspirants Wimbledon and Crawley.

Nevertheless, we DO have a new keeper! We still have Ledson and Williamson (even though the Newton/Ledson pairing looks less reliable than it did) and we also have Joe Dunne (edit: as well as James). OK our new fullbacks are untried short term loanees but we have been linked with Nicky Shorey. It's not going to happen but the old softy in me would like to see Liam Hughes and Josh get a run out tomorrow. My Luton supporting friend still remembers that other Rory's (McCauley) goal from Josh's cross at the Oak Road end.

The febrile musings on our message board have become a pain (bit like trapped Gas) and our faith in the Jezolution has taken a few more knocks.

New manager effect and Luton selection seem fairly irrelevant at the moment.

We've easily sold out our away allocation and I've heard mutterings of a grandpa's coach heading for a few reminiscences, so I can envisage a Conference standard performance from both sides and the crowd.

Norris
Furlong
Coulson (I can dream)
Legge
Page
Dunne
Ledson
Berry
Dunk
Williamson
Corr

A strong bench could include Beasant, Simpson, Donaldson, Newton, Liam Hughes, Roberts (probably Coulson), Omosuzi and the returning Danny Carr.

2-2 in front of season's highest attendance of 9,703
 
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Tom_CUFC

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I haven't said this in a long time, but I hope Donaldson is fit, then I'd go with your XI but swap Donaldson in for Ledson. If he's not fit I'd go for Dunne and Newton in the middle with a wide 3 behind Corr of Williamson, Berry and Dunk.

Can't see tomorrow being the day we turn it around so would take a gritty point.
 

oakroader

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just a request to the cambridge crowd,
if at all possible-please don't be too loud.
cause without sounding full of misery and doom,
that room you pass up the stairs is my bedroom!!
i know you wont be too bothered about my plight,
but could the last one out please turn off the light??
i thank you :bye:
 
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Habbinalan

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Not sold out yet per your official twitter three hours ago.
None of us believe our PR man.....but yes, I jumped the gun (as I did with the Williamson signing - he's got an 18 month contract, undisclosed fee). I gather there were 40 left at 10 a.m. and there are still some left.
 

That Fat Centre Half

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Be interesting to see what changes are made. Think the starting 11 could be very similar to what we have seen so far this season but I'm hoping they are instructed to play a bit more football than we have seen so far this season.

Not expecting any immediate upturn from us, just want to see us play a bit of football for once!
 

Arbury

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Doom n gloom merchant posting!!

Not sure why I'm bothering going to this as we're pure gash, signed Williamson which some say is good but I've seen nothing so far that makes me feel like it's a good signing.

We seem totally disjointed on and off the pitch, jez is running the show and I feel that Derry is dangling on his bit of string, I hope I'm wrong but I can see nothing other than a defeat tomorrow.

Kenny, where's my fucking hourly updates on how many tickets have been sold!!! Slacking.


KTF.
 

djs

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If we were playing this game in a few weeks I'd feel more confident. As it is, I don't think that the new manager has had enough time to sort out the numerous problems that Still left behind. So, I wouldn't be surprised to see us lose this one, but I'm crossing my fingers for a draw.
 

SVH

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Head says defeat, heart says draw. We shall see.
 

Kenneth E End

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I think we might actually turn up today. I think our biggest issue isn't ability, but mentally. The last couple of months, the lack of confidence in themselves and their teammates has been very apparent.
 

Judge Dredd

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Listening to CMS speak it sounds like it's going to be a complete change of tack from us. He (not in so many words) described Still's style as kick-and-rush route one while Jones likes Spanish-style tiki taka. Not sure we have a midfield or defenders capable of that kind of style to be honest, very few of our players are truly comfortable on the ball, so it should be interesting to see how we adjust.
 

That Fat Centre Half

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Yeah not sure how that's going to work, we have a number of players who I think In particular are very poor on the ball indeed, Smith and Griffiths are 2 words immediately come to mind who work hard and do certain things very well but on the ball I think can be very poor indeed especially in the formers case. Definitely expecting a transition period whilst we move to a different way of doing things, especially as it's so drastically different to what's gone before.

On another note I think It will be interesting these first few games how McGeehan is utilised. That's a key question that I think Jones needs to get right as if he does I think we have a very good player there and someone to build a team around. He's been shunted around midfield, playing attacking midfield, left wing you name it, and has basically never found a position to call his own since we signed him permanently often being shoehorned in around other players. I'd like to see him beside someone like Doyle who would sit an allow McGeehan to go charging around and arrive in the box as he is so good at doing but be interesting how Jones rates him in particular I think.
 

BelizeHatter

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McGeehan not even on bench!!
 

That Fat Centre Half

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Fair result, both teams had times when they were on top but lacked the quality to do anything with it really.

Not sure that would have been my starting 11 if we had a fully fit squad, which I was led to believe we did at the start , I must say. Not ideal that all subs were due to injury.

Think it said a lot that Smith was announced as man of the match, whole hearted and everything as usual but not really much quality in his play, was that sort of game.
 

Tom_CUFC

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Fucking ref, what a c***, absolutely mugged out of that one.
 

That Fat Centre Half

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To be fair the cross came from a throw on which Benson kicked out of play so Hall, who had to be subbed, could get treatment. I know you didn't have to give us the ball back but thought it was poor form that you didn't so that was a bit of karma.
 

SVH

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Perfectly good goal chalked off from a whistle happy wanker. We've got another shit ref...
 

That Fat Centre Half

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Karma for poor sportsmanship, don't think you can complain too much, the whistle had clearly gone by the time it hit the back of the net, definitely long enough for everyone to realise it was never going to count.
 

SVH

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Would have been karma after the referee gifted you 3 points at The Abbey.
 

Tom_CUFC

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Missed an absolute stonewall penalty soon after he disallowed our perfectly good goal too after one of your defenders basically piggy backed Mark Roberts. This is also ignoring the absolutely incredible advantage-cum-non-advantage in the first half, and the 20 second advantage followed by pull back in favour of Luton after he'd got his c*** face in the way of one of our crossfield passes. Absolute bellpiece, and he's admitted he fucked up as well, twat.

Luton were really fucking shit, worse than us, which is bloody impressive. We've started slow again which is concerning (1 very good chance per side in the first half) but once Dunk came on we looked really good. I think the way we're trying to play at the moment we're actually better without Corr, and what was really baffling was when we were lining up to play it long to Corr there was no-one stood within 10 yards of him, which suddenly changed when he went off and the ball started falling to us even when we didn't win the header.

Largely solid performances all round with Leon Legge the standout. Improved from Roberts and Ledson, Page looked much better when Dunk came on, Williamson better once Corr went off, and Dunne looks like exactly what we needed in the middle of the park.

Still not sure what our best system is, which is a worry, but I think the two givens are that Dunk must start on the left side and Berry should really be through the middle. Today was never likely to be a game for us to make a statement, but next week really should be, that's where I really want to see a good 90 minute performance with some sort of style and substance.

And just so we're sure, the ref is fucking c***.
 

That Fat Centre Half

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You're advocating for penalties for a bit of argy bargy at corners and you're own centre halves are Roberts and Legge.

May I ask how you think that's going to for you? And the over/under on penalties you'll be conceding off the back of this?
 

Tom_CUFC

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There's a difference between trying to win a header, incidentally giving a bit of a nudge (and being generally more powerful, certainly in the case of Legge) and jumping on someone's back with your arms wrapped around his front making no attempt to play the ball.
 

Kenneth E End

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The referee was so in our favour, we ended the game with about 5 injured players (not that they were all the fault of Cambridge obviously).

Cambridge were very physical that cannot be denied, but they played how I wanted us to play. Blood and thunder; gutsy and hardworking. Always at the heels of the opposition. Never giving a second of the ball. The pitch didn't help either.

Paul Benson didn't win a thing all day from the referee. One stage he had 3 men around him and the referee adjudged that he was the guilty party. What can he do? He never gets any sort of protection.

There was an embarrassing dive in the first half right in front of the Kenilworth Road end from Barry Corr. Alex Lawless with minimal contact and he goes down like a sack of spuds.
 

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Disappointed not to have won that and if it wasn't for ref making a complete hash of a decision we would have, some say karma but for me is was an awful decision but it's the fine lines that we aren't dropping for us.

First half was pretty dire from both sides but going in at 0-0 at ht was better than 3-0 like last season, 2nd half was a definite improvement from us especially when the hunk came on, we started to use the width and passed it a lot more but if I'm honest we didn't test a dodgy Luton keeper enough.

That's the worst Luton side I've seen in a long time so not winning makes it frustrating but I can see an improvement in us, Derry still has a lot to prove but I was content with what I saw.

The atmosphere was terrible yesterday, 9200 odd and it was like a bloody library, piss poor!

KTF.
 

Habbinalan

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My neutral companion enjoyed an end to end 0 - 0 draw, especially the second half, but found a full Kenny Road strangely quiet for much of the time.

When I saw Dunne debut and Simpson in for Dunk (on the bench), I expected a "rough them up" first half and impact sub to go for the win. Derry seemed to suggest post-match that that was the plan and it nearly worked. Credit to Luton for their defending in the second half, with a little help from the ref. Other teams would have folded under that sort of pressure and, in fact, I think Norris had at least as many crucial saves to make as Tyler's less than impressive sub.

As I've ruled out play-offs in my approach to matches, I can say it was another impressive away performance, with a sound debut from Dunne and growing confidence in our 2 young fullbacks. Roberts remains a liability - please give Josh a run. Ledson has gone off the boil but is still a useful option. I hope that Liam Hughes gets his move this month so that I can find another team to add some excitement as the mid-table season winds down - I'm sure he could do a job at Dagenham or Barnet but .can see him ending up at Braintree.
 

Judge Dredd

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Shite game between two shit mid-table sides, had 0-0 written all over it from the first whistle.

It was funny seeing the ref literally do a double face-palm when he saw the ball hit the back of the net a few seconds after blowing for the foul. Never seen an official so obviously admit he was wrong during play.
 

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