Cambridge (H) Match Thread - 27th April

[NW9Valiant]

9 minutes ago, londonvale said:

Gotten be honest, and you picked this match!?

Ha, not by choice. But reconnecting with a mate as well and Good Friday didn't work out. 

Until I've sorted the new home situation it's a real faff sorting out getting to home games just yet. Currently based in South Staffs until I've bought somewhere in Stoke/Castle (looking in the summer). 

[Warren]

I'm not going. I do hope PV can win this and there aren't any toxic post game scenes at end of season. 

I saw an example of defending as bad as Port Vale's last night. Block off Virgil Van Dyke, leave Dominic Calvert Lewin with a free straight run to the back post to head in unopposed. Even top teams can defend as badly as Port Vale!

Edited April 25 by Warren

[darren1810]

9 minutes ago, Warren said:

I'm not going. I do hope PV can win this and there aren't any toxic post game scenes at end of season. 

I saw an example of defending as bad as Port Vale's last night. Block off Virgil Van Dyke, leave Dominic Calvert Lewin with a free straight run to the back post to head in unopposed. Even top teams can defend as badly as Port Vale!

Can't see any toxic scenes Warren. Get the feeling people are apathetic. Just shrug of the shoulders, stroll off in silence and come back in August. 

It's gone now, emphatically so ( we end up nowhere near survival), people have accepted it.

Might be a few stand up if you love the Vale and other rallying chants or played in a morgue as yet another team celebrate on our patch. 

[Alfie1962]

On 14/04/2024 at 17:02, Dipepa delight said:

Yes 7 goals conceded in 2 games at times it seems like we haven't had a defence as players go wandering off .

We were in a ok place at 2-0 up at 4-2 down and a minus 30 goal difference not so a very bad place .

Well for me Exeter asked very few questions of us yet scored 4 ,and maybe should have had 6 v Posh put 3 wide what were easier put in then once went ahead just ran at us all second half down the right side ,not left icavetti I suppose as overall been doing a ok job the other side though I think 3 of four goals yesterday come from that side and you have to watch the goals to see quite clearly players were not dying for the cause they were giving oceans of space for goals 2 /3/ 4  the first id have to see again but player should be blocking it anyway should imagine it flew in off a coward ,goal 2 a corner,surely Smith should markJules not fresh air (no idea what position fresh air plays )he had put it in like a striker withno opposition to it 

Goal 3 players went on walkabout .

Goal 4 Sang makes big error ball comes in central defenders wrong side of man yet again simple  finish .

Like a horror story .

I would change the back line rather have Uche back there than some of them there atrocious .

 

 

15 hours ago, Dipepa delight said:

Yeah big rumpus on bus allegedly 

Be interesting see who got walloped bet it was Smith bet Ripley smashed him at a guess 

Anyone else well they obviously were not a happy squad of players so I reckon anything could have gone on .

Be interesting see who gets fired because of misconduct. 

Hopefully it's at least 8 of them 

 

 

Your hatred of Smith hold no bars, I wish you would have stood by I am not posting again, tedious.

[Dipepa delight]

36 minutes ago, Alfie1962 said:

 

Your hatred of Smith hold no bars, I wish you would have stood by I am not posting again, tedious.

No hatred get it in your head he is no good .

I stand by what I say .

Quicker moved on the better 

 

No leadership 

He is at best 14th to 23rd league 2 standard .

Go and point someone else's hate of players

It's a forum 

Not everyone likes same players as you

If he is thst good when we finishing 2nd bottom 

[Brian Johnson]

3 minutes ago, Dipepa delight said:

No hatred get it in your head he is no good .

I stand by what I say .

Quicker moved on the better 

 

No leadership 

He is at best 14th to 23rd league 2 standard .

Go and point someone else's hate of players

It's a forum 

Not everyone likes same players as you

If he is thst good when we finishing 2nd bottom 

If Uche is any good why's he only scored 1 goal?

[Warren]

On the end of game boo them off stuff. I would say that the players are essentially not good enough overall, but a few are and can play at L1 level therefore being very good at L2 level. Players have got demoralised on occasions and that can appear like insufficient effort. Those players that are good enough and can contribute in future by being on the retained list should not be put off staying by a bad end of season scene. I hope the end of season is just the whimper it deserves. 

Edited April 25 by Warren

[TJHValiant]

It was a league 2 squad on a league 2 budget. That’s the reality. We never kicked on with the increase in quality hoped for. The real tragedy of this season is that it is hard to see how we will convincingly consistently compete in league 1 without a serious amount of increased revenue or more debt. 

[Granville]

16 hours ago, Dipepa delight said:

Yeah big rumpus on bus allegedly 

Be interesting see who got walloped bet it was Smith bet Ripley smashed him at a guess 

Anyone else well they obviously were not a happy squad of players so I reckon anything could have gone on .

Be interesting see who gets fired because of misconduct. 

Hopefully it's at least 8 of them 

 

 

Jesus Christ he's here again

[Alan Vit]

1 hour ago, TJHValiant said:

It was a league 2 squad on a league 2 budget.

TJH,

You have previously claimed this about the budget, and previously been unable to provide any evidence for your claim when challenged.

After the squad had already been put together for the start of this League 1 season, the boat was pushed out further last October to sign Uche Ikpeazu.

I'm not arguing about the standard of achievement of the squad which was assembled but, with respect, I think you are mistaken to claim that a League 2 budget was provided when it was clearly a League 1 budget.

 

[TJHValiant]

13 minutes ago, Alan Vit said:

TJH,

You have previously claimed this about the budget, and previously been unable to provide any evidence for your claim when challenged.

After the squad had already been put together for the start of this League 1 season, the boat was pushed out further last October to sign Uche Ikpeazu.

I'm not arguing about the standard of achievement of the squad which was assembled but, with respect, I think you are mistaken to claim that a League 2 budget was provided when it was clearly a League 1 budget.

 

Uche was not the boat being pushed out by any stretch. He had been sitting around all summer without a club and was unfit. If we had the budget for league 1 strikers we would have them. Instead we got the desperate. 
 

Cambridge have 9 contracted strikers and are right at the bottom end of league 1. We barely kept hold of 3 and the best one we had, Harrison was let go, under contract, to get a pay increase at a league 2 club. If we had a league 1 budget, you would have kept him and Loft. 
 

The only proven league 1 players with experience of regular starts in the division were Ojo and Massey. The rest of our squad came from league 2 or were unproven from higher clubs, like Sang. Then Wilson turned down our initial contract offer, suggesting that it a crock with little obvious options finds our pay unappealing, what will decent league 1 strikers think about our offers? Answer, they did think much of them and went to other clubs in league 1 with bigger budgets. I.E clubs that are league 1 clubs, because they stayed in the division. 
 

That gives a massive clue to how bad our budget was. Another clue is that our two best players who started regularly were loans. Further clue, total lack of investment in January, when Reading fans spent more on a statue of Rudge, than Carol did on actual players. 
 

Biggest clue is when we look at our league 2 squad and August and say…”it looks better than our league 1 team last season”  

Final clue, is that every single player released will not be playing league football next season. Not just because they were awful but because they were signed cheap in the hope they would be good enough, not on the evidence from league 1 or better history on the pitch. Why? League 1 standard players cost more. 

[Killersrevenge44]

3 hours ago, darren1810 said:

Can't see any toxic scenes Warren. Get the feeling people are apathetic. Just shrug of the shoulders, stroll off in silence and come back in August. 

It's gone now, emphatically so ( we end up nowhere near survival), people have accepted it.

Might be a few stand up if you love the Vale and other rallying chants or played in a morgue as yet another team celebrate on our patch. 

We are little Port Vale... Be grateful we have league football and phenomenal players! 

[The man in the pub]

22 hours ago, Warren said:

It's no use crying over spilt milk. I think there are many intelligent supporters on here who would have exercised better judgement in signing players within budget the last two seasons. But I'm hopeful lessons have been learned after this game is over. 

Its interesting Warren and you hear it  said in other walks of life and not just football that lessons will be learnt.  What always frustrates me in these type of situations is that no one ever asks why do the lessons need to be learnt ?  Its been there in flashing red lights screaming out " Tales of the Bleedingly obvious" for all of this season and a large part of last season too. 

It took a deputation of Vale fans  to point out The Tales of the Bleedingly obvious to Carol as it appears she has been watching the Emperors New Clothes starring Flickers, That really, really worries me.

[Santa]

52 minutes ago, The man in the pub said:

" Tales of the Bleedingly obvious"

Spoiler alert: we get relegated at the end

 

Edited April 25 by Santa

[Alan Vit]

2 hours ago, Alan Vit said:

TJH,

You have previously claimed this about the budget, and previously been unable to provide any evidence for your claim when challenged.

After the squad had already been put together for the start of this League 1 season, the boat was pushed out further last October to sign Uche Ikpeazu.

I'm not arguing about the standard of achievement of the squad which was assembled but, with respect, I think you are mistaken to claim that a League 2 budget was provided when it was clearly a League 1 budget.

 

 

2 hours ago, TJHValiant said:

Uche was not the boat being pushed out by any stretch. He had been sitting around all summer without a club and was unfit. If we had the budget for league 1 strikers we would have them. Instead we got the desperate. 
 

Cambridge have 9 contracted strikers and are right at the bottom end of league 1. We barely kept hold of 3 and the best one we had, Harrison was let go, under contract, to get a pay increase at a league 2 club. If we had a league 1 budget, you would have kept him and Loft. 
 

The only proven league 1 players with experience of regular starts in the division were Ojo and Massey. The rest of our squad came from league 2 or were unproven from higher clubs, like Sang. Then Wilson turned down our initial contract offer, suggesting that it a crock with little obvious options finds our pay unappealing, what will decent league 1 strikers think about our offers? Answer, they did think much of them and went to other clubs in league 1 with bigger budgets. I.E clubs that are league 1 clubs, because they stayed in the division. 
 

That gives a massive clue to how bad our budget was. Another clue is that our two best players who started regularly were loans. Further clue, total lack of investment in January, when Reading fans spent more on a statue of Rudge, than Carol did on actual players. 
 

Biggest clue is when we look at our league 2 squad and August and say…”it looks better than our league 1 team last season”  

Final clue, is that every single player released will not be playing league football next season. Not just because they were awful but because they were signed cheap in the hope they would be good enough, not on the evidence from league 1 or better history on the pitch. Why? League 1 standard players cost more. 

You are not correct about Uche - he would not have come to Vale for a contract that wasn't above £100K p.a.

And you seem to be mixing up two different things.

1. The standard of the players who were signed to make up the squad - on this we are agreed; a number of them weren't good enough and got us relegated, when even a fractionally better performance overall would have kept us up, in a season when the safety mark was low.

2. The budget for the players who were signed to make up the squad - on this we are not agreed; neither of us knows the actual budget figure, or how it compares to other clubs in League 1. The best guess I can come up with, based on various unofficial sources on the net, is that Vale's budget comes in around 18th-19th of the 24 clubs in this season's EFL 1. So, if that is accurate, then by definition it would be a League 1 budget.