There's a Moose loose about these U's Take Twos. Cambridge United Away. 20/02/2024

[officer_dibble]

FT Exeter 2-1 Posh

Sweeeeeet

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

That EMC deal was really weird in that I'm amazed Coventry agreed to it. It's looking worse by the week. However the lateness of it means they haven't really been able to reinvest.

I wonder if Cov - themselves a savvy trading club - got a discount for letting him stay.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

FT Exeter 2-1 Posh

It’s been a pretty decent evening all round then.

Hopefully Santos back by the time we play this again in a couple of weeks.

Santos, Forrester, Ashworth, Ramsay and JDB all absent from tonight’s squad…

[jmjhb]

That EMC deal was really weird in that I'm amazed Coventry agreed to it. It's looking worse by the week. However the lateness of it means they haven't really been able to reinvest.

I wonder if Cov - themselves a savvy trading club - got a discount for letting him stay.

Well, if Posh end up staying down, Cov could have bagged themselves an even bigger discount.

I know Evatt wants this played in 2 weeks but I hope it gets put back to April.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I know Evatt wants this played in 2 weeks but I hope it gets put back to April.

Yeah. I get it, he'd rather have points in the bag than games in hand, but let's bed players in.

He also seems to be saying we only have one free midweek, but presumably he's either exeaggerating or he's not looked at his calendar for April.

If it's in a fortnight it's between Charlton and Blackpool - not easy games.

Iles reporting that Cambridge might want to delay it until April.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Cambridge boss Neil Harris:
“From our perspective we wanted the game to be played. We thought the weather conditions fell in our favour here at the Abbey against a really, really good football side. Obviously Ian (Evatt, Bolton manager) went the other way and was pleased the game was called off because it didn’t suit his style of play. We were fine, we were laughing about it (and it was) amicable. I understand the referee’s and EFL’s decision, I’ve got no complaints about it. I just think it’s unfortunate and it had all the makings of a good game.”


Meanwhile: "Huge"
.

Screenshot 2024-02-06 at 22.19.57.png (76.37 KiB) Viewed 863 times

[Mar]

Sad our game was called off, but happy to see Peterborough and Stevenage both losing courtesy of 3 own goals (2 for Peterborough).

Going to be an uphill battle, games can't come quick enough.

[TANGODANCER]

Meanwhile: "Huge"
.
Screenshot 2024-02-06 at 22.19.57.png

Seems Sharon's peace pact with The Sun has done us good.

[BWFC_Insane]

So none of the omitted players were injured. Bod left out to accommodate Coleman since Baxter has a wrist injury. Ashworth and Ramsey ‘red flags’ I presume that means in red zone so rested.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

So none of the omitted players were injured. Bod left out to accommodate Coleman since Baxter has a wrist injury. Ashworth and Ramsey ‘red flags’ I presume that means in red zone so rested.

So two of them were at risk of injury, another not mentioned (Forrester) not yet back from injury, and the last one (Bod) was deprioritised due to an injury elsewhere...

[BWFC_Insane]

So none of the omitted players were injured. Bod left out to accommodate Coleman since Baxter has a wrist injury. Ashworth and Ramsey ‘red flags’ I presume that means in red zone so rested.

So two of them were at risk of injury, another not mentioned (Forrester) not yet back from injury, and the last one (Bod) was deprioritised due to an injury elsewhere...

It’s good news though!

[The_Gun]

Points on the board are of course preferable to games in hand, but Posh losing and some additional rest for Baxter et al are positives to take from last night.

A very difficult and intense remainder of the season for us, but we now look to have a squad capable of performing twice a week, barring terrible injuries. If we can show a bit more consistency than we have done so far we will get an automatic slot, and indeed, as of this morning we are now joint favourites (with Pompey) to win the league.

[Worthy4England]

Just thinking back to last season, Sheff Weds had points AND games in hand around this time last season. A lesson, maybe, in not adding together the collected fowl, too early.

What's occurred recently, seems to be roughly a pattern match of results between the competing potential promotees, so they/we've all had the odd little slip. The question is whether one or two go on a winning run of 9-12 games type of thing, where others stay at the same sort of run-rate as others - Ipswich were 8 points and a game adrift on 24th Feb last year - I suspect that might be a bigger determinant than the betting odds.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

So none of the omitted players were injured. Bod left out to accommodate Coleman since Baxter has a wrist injury. Ashworth and Ramsey ‘red flags’ I presume that means in red zone so rested.

So two of them were at risk of injury, another not mentioned (Forrester) not yet back from injury, and the last one (Bod) was deprioritised due to an injury elsewhere...

It’s good news though!

The postponement is, aye. Especially when we consider more bedding-in time for the newbies, and perhaps Dion emerging blinking from his recent rut.

[KeyserSoze]

Rearranged for Feb 20th

[Mar]

Rearranged for Feb 20th

Much rather get it out of the way and play it earlier. Leaves room later in the season for any other fixture mishaps. Not that I'm expecting any mind.

I doubt we'll ask for international postponements now given the congestion.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Rearranged for Feb 20th

Much rather get it out of the way and play it earlier. Leaves room later in the season for any other fixture mishaps. Not that I'm expecting any mind.

I doubt we'll ask for international postponements now given the congestion.

Deciding to voluntarily do without our leading goalscorer and midfield general, among others, would be bold verging on reckless.

If we were that bothered about fixture pile-ups, why have we just willingly rescheduled one for this very congested run? We're now playing Sat-Tue-Sat-Tue-Sat-Tue-Sat-Tue-Sat (then the international break) instead of granting ourselves a midweek off between Charlton and Blackpool – neither of which are gimmes – and giving players more time to settle in.

It's not the worst thing in the world but it's very curious.

[Mar]

I suspect its more to do with the numbers we have available at the moment. Weve got 2 players per position with at least a few in backup. Were not in a bad state and I think momentum might be the driver here.

As for postponements, we've got plenty of reasons to postpone to keep sheehan, cmg, Charles, etc. But I think given we've got Jerome, Bod and Collins you'd have to think we'd be suitably setup for coping with some of those games.

[TANGODANCER]

Versus Cambridge continued after rain stopped play. Points not punts is the order of the day for Tuesday, so hope they've had the Hoovers out. Onward and upward..

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Our team for the abandoned game was:
Baxter; Jones, Taylor, Toal; Dacres-Cogley, Morley, Sheehan, Thomason, Ogbeta; Adeboyejo, Charles.
Subs Coleman, Iredale, CMG, Maghoma, Dempsey, Collins, Jerome.

Feels a long fortnight ago, doesn't it? Geth falling off the plane from Qatar, Baxter starting despite rumours of a broken arm, Taylor in the middle of the three, Thomason unsuspended, Morley getting a surprise start, Dion in attack.

Well, not this time. Bax, Rico, Tomo, Dion and Randell are all out, we think. Iredale has returned to the back three for the last two games and might want to stay in the side at his old club, but Evatt went for the Toal/Taylor combo last time - was that a defensive thing about Cambridge or did he just want to give the new youngster a game? Certainly the defensive unit wobbled on Saturday, but does that mean we should turn back to a young'un? Assuming Rico's unfit I'd stick with Geth-Toal-Iredale, and I suspect Evatt will too, although he's surprised me before...

In midfield, the 8s have one more game to prove they should play alongside Thomo when he returns on Saturday. On Saturday Maghoma alternately thrilled and drifted, while Dempsey arguably both dipped and peaked less. The question for the Cumbrian is whether he's got enough in the tank after playing every minute of the last four games. Note that Evatt picked both Morley and Sheehan for the abandoned game, so he may do the same again with Maghoma (subbed at the weekend) completing the trio and Dempsey sat alongside CMG on the bench as second-half rejuvenation options.

At wingback, Ogbeta was picked for the first game and out of the 18 this Saturday, so I'd suspect he'll start with Ashworth benched. Conversely, Ramsay was out of the 18 for the first game and only an injury-time sub this weekend; he's struggling to pinch minutes off JDC, which is testament to the man we plucked from Tranmereian obscurity. That said, with Blackpool and Wigan looming as arguably tougher tests than Cambridge, maybe tonight is the time to sit JDC down and give Ramsay a start. After all, Randell's back soon and right now the £4m man is tracking more Beck than Bradley...

Up top, more questions. No Dion, obvz. Having scored again, Bod might start, but is he better as a 10 than a 9? Could Evatt rotate Collins to the bench and pair Vic with Bod? Or do we read anything into the fact that on the abandoned Cambridge visit - with Coleman taking a spot on the bench - Evatt chose to pick Jerome as a sub rather than Bod, whom he dropped from the 18 altogether?

Personally I'd go Coleman; Geth-Toal-Iredale; Ramsay-Dempsey-Sheehan-Maghoma-Ogbeta; Bod-Vic, plus Collins-Jerome-CMG-Morley-JDC-Taylor-Forrester benched and Ashworth rested. It's the same def/mid central 6 as Saturday, but I'd tell them they need to make up for those shortcomings - before alternatives return to displace them.