Match Thread - Cambridge Utd v Port Vale

[smithie]

If Askey sticks with his favoured 4-3-3 he could go:

 

Brown; Gibbons, Smith, Howkins, Clarke; Hannant, Kay, Oyeleke; Elliott, Harris, Whitfield.

 

I quite like the look and balance of that system.

 

Legge instead of Smith, because a Legge and Howkins partnership won't be beaten in the air too often.

[PV1973]

When’s Pope supposed to be back?

[Jacob_123]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]374[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]375[/ATTACH] Which of these would you pick first to play for us tomorrow? Click on them to enlarge....

 

Are you related to Turner?

[Jacob_123]

When’s Pope supposed to be back?

 

Trained this week. Could be involved tomorrow.

[Rampant Zebra]

Are you related to Turner?

 

No, I just think he deserves a chance before someone with absolutely no first team experience in League 2. At least he has scored League goals, has Elliot even scored for the reserves yet?

[PV1973]

If Popes fit I think he’ll start tomorrow.

[valefan16]

Pope with Monty one side and Whitfield the other in a 4-3-3 would be decent (If TP and BW are fit)

[Guest]

Be interesting see what the team is .

Cambridge battered us 5-0 last game of last season .

No idea who choose be easier choose who not .

Brown crookes And nine others utv

[CambridgeDon]

This is going to be a hard challenge for Askey in his first game in charge against a Cambridge side who are starting to show real signs of improvement. After a difficult start under their new manager Colin Calderwood, when they lost three out of four games including a 6-0 thumping at MK Dons, they have won three out of their last four, narrowly losing their last game 1-0 at Exeter.

 

Talking to their fans, Cambridge's problem all season has been a lack of goals, hence their acquisition of Alex Jones in January. Apparently he is not fully match fit and came on as a sub against Exeter but I'm told he's likely to feature tomorrow, one way or another. As we know, fitness has been Jones's problem for a long time, but he can still knock them in. I wasn't surprised to see that he'd only played 30 times for Bradford but he still managed 10 goals and, combined with the 10 he scored for us in 21 games, that's a fair ratio. Let's hope his home debut is a flop.

 

Apparently, Cambridge play attractive football and in Maris, Brown and Lambe, they have three really good attacking midfielders. They also have a very quick winger, David Amoo, as we'll remember from our last game at the Abbey when Gibbo (playing left back) was given a tough time. So we can expect them to have a lot of the ball and to come at us from the off.

 

If they have one big weakness, it's at the back where their two big centre backs lack pace. I imagine they'll find it more difficult against quicker players like Monty, Harris and Elliot than they would against Pope, who would just get his usual League 2 battering if he plays. Personally, I think we'd probably do better with pace than height and strength with the defenders they've got.

 

The contrast between the two managers is also pretty stark. As a player, Calderwood has played at every level, including the premier, and has also coached at premier clubs as Chris Hughton's assistant. His record as a manager is pretty good too, with a winning ratio in England of 45%, including winning promotion for Northampton Town. He didn't do too well in his native Scotland but down south, he's done well.

 

So it's all set up for a cracking game. If we can keep them at bay, we might just sneak it with a bit of pace and trickery. UTV.

[PV1973]

I don’t see the formation changing much for this game and I think we’ll start cautiously but with 2 up front.

 

Brown

 

Rawlinson

Smith

Crooks

 

Gibbons

Kay

Oyeleke

Clark

 

Hannant

Harris

Pope (or Monty)

[Santa]

In the 1993/94 promotion season, February was the crunch month, as we played all of our promotion rivals (Stockport, Reading and Plymouth). We took 7 points out of 9 which was played a big part in us finishing in the automatic promotion spots.

 

The final match of the month was the easiest on paper, away at Cambridge on a Tuesday night. We lost 1-0.

 

Quick trivia question: who scored the winner for Cambridge that night?

[mikey]

In the 1993/94 promotion season, February was the crunch month, as we played all of our promotion rivals (Stockport, Reading and Plymouth). We took 7 points out of 9 which was played a big part in us finishing in the automatic promotion spots.

 

The final match of the month was the easiest on paper, away at Cambridge on a Tuesday night. We lost 1-0.

 

Quick trivia question: who scored the winner for Cambridge that night?

 

Steve Claridge?

[valiant_593]

Askey has said both pope and manny are big doubts for tomorrow. Manny hasn’t trained all week so I’m guessing he won’t feature. Also said we need to start keeping hold of the ball and pass beyond their lines rather than backwards. Wants far more crosses into the box as well. Sounds good to me.

[PV1973]

I reckon it’s a bit of kidology with Pope, if he’s trained all week I think he’ll play.

[valefan16]

I reckon it’s a bit of kidology with Pope, if he’s trained all week I think he’ll play.

 

Pope suggests he can play, Askey not so keeps them guessing. Whitfield fit?