Cambridge United: Into 2013

Hello friends and welcome back to my Cambridge story and I apologize for the long wait but so many circumstances have prevented me from bringing this to you which I’ll expalin at the end. For now on to the football…

December 2012

We started the new month of with a trip to Cumbria to take on Barrow in the second round of The FA Cup. A fairly one sided affair saw young Italian Davide Petrucci pick up a brace before half time with Conor Newton adding a third late in the game for a comfortable 3-0 win. In the third round We have been drawn at hone to Alan Shearer’s Leeds United!

After the cup victory speculation began to mount on a move to Bristol City but I remained quiet on the matter as its one team I wouldn’t mind going to if the offer is right.

Our first league game of the month was away to Plymouth Argyle which we lost 1-0 as a slip by DC Scott Wootten was enough for Plymouth to snatch the only goal of the game.

Next up was a crucial game with Colchester and a packed Abbey Stadium saw us take the lead through an own goal after 20 minutes which was quickly doubled by a powerful strike by Rasmus Falk that sent the Cambridge faithful delirious. Colchester headed in a goal just before time and for the second game in a row Scott Wootten made another error that allowed the visitors to equalize from the spot. Just when I thought we would at least get a point Colchester came up with a 35 yard effort for the winning goal that left me, the team and the fans totally deflated.

Our poor form continued on as we suffered our third defeat in a row away to MK Dons which left us nine points adrift of an automatic promotion spot.

Desperate for a win we entertained Walsall next at The Abbey Stadium with Will Keane putting us ahead after 30 minutes pouncing onto a ball that the Walsall keeper dropped from a corner kick. Walsall took advantage of poor marking to produce an equalizer just after the hour mark but Keane restored our lead some by chipping the keeper following a long clearance by GK Martin Hansen. Walsall poured forward looking for a point but got caught on the counter attack with Rasmus Falk firing home a third and finally breaking this losing streak.

Next up we faced Dagenham and although we dominated proceedings it was goalless after 45 minutes. An intelligent through ball by Will Keane created the opening goal for Polish winger Szczpaniak with Petrucci adding a second with a clinical drive into the bottom corner of the net which was set up by Shane Williams. Dagenham pulled one back minutes later then Will Keane for the second time in a row lobbed a keeper to make it 3-1 but the home side caught us off guard to make in 3-2 but thankfully we held out to take all the points in this Boxing Day encounter.

The final game of 2012 was at home to Scunthorpe and a lack lustre performance didn’t leave the fans anything to celebrate going into the New Year.

Here’s a look at the top 6 before we enter 2013 and it’s still Colchester and Brentford battling it out at the top and we surely need to put in some more consistent performances to be able to mount a serious automatic promotion spot.

To my surprise after being linked to Newcastle by the media a job offer came from St James Park which I rejected. As I mentioned before I would leave Cambridge for the right offer and this was it so why did I turn it down? Well see below the screen shot.

Here at FMS we already have a fantastic Newcastle story brought to us by Darren so out of respect for him and the readers I felt two Newcastle stories were unnecessary. Besides Darren is tons better than me at FM so I didn’t want to humiliate his team or get the sack either!

January 2013

We started off the New Year with a trip to a cold and snowy Carlisle but we quickly heated up the game with goals from Newton and Keane in the opening 25 minutes and held that lead comfortably until half time. After the interval we decided to throw away all our good work allowing Carlisle back into the game and we were lucky to come away with a point.

The game was also marred by injuries to strikers Will Keane and Rasmus Falk which leaves us very short handed up front and lessens our chance of a cup upset over Leeds United.

With very little to choose from up front I had to go with a 4-5-1 formation for the visit of Leeds United in our 3rd round FA Cup tie. In front of a packed Abbey Stadium Leeds took the lead after 24 minutes but we didn’t fall apart and played with steel and determination especially Conor Newton who was outstanding down the right flank and was well deserving of his equalizing goal on the stroke of half time. We dominated the second half with a hat-full on chances but Leeds keeper Schmeichel was in incredible form and denied us the victory so it’s back to Elland Road for the replay.

The following game was away to Yeovil in which we were comfortable 2-1 winners with goals from Williams and DC Ryhs Bennett. It was as similar story at home to Notts County though this time we managed to keep a clean sheet whilst at the other end Bennett scored again with the other coming from Conor Newton.

It was time for our FA Cup replay and a trip to Elland Road with at stake a home tie against Everton in the Fourth Round. We started brightly but once more Schmeichel was in superb form pulling off a string of saves and we were unlucky that it was the woodwork that prevented Newton opening the scoring which shortly after he went off injured. Goalless at the half both ourselves and Leeds were unable to produce any real chances and the game ended 0-0 and so into extra time which also failed to produce any goals. Totally exhausted, we barely had the energy to take the penalty kicks and in the end it was Leeds who scraped on through wining the shoot out by 3-2.

With injuries beginning to mount I was forced to bring in three new players on short term loans. Two new wingers in Nuno Santos from Aston Villa, Paul – Jose M’Poku from Bolton and up front Bahrudin Atajic who was with us last season from Blackburn.

** Paul – Jose M’Poku got injured straight away and went back to Bolton

After the titanic tussle with Leeds it was back to The Abbey Stadium to take on title challengers Brentford who had slipped a couple of spots but were still a serious threat. Brentford completely dominated the first half keeping possession of the ball but were unable to convert. Against the run of play Nuno Santos gave us the lead after Brentford failed to deal with a corner and the youngster was on hand to strike the ball into the corner of the net and so we held the lead at the interal. The second half was very much like the first and a stray pass from Will Packwood allowed the visitors to create the equalizing goal and so we had to settle for a point.

Our final game of the month was away to Bournemouth. We took the lead relatively early on through a goal by loan striker Atajic who was with us last season for a short spell, but then that was it. We dominated possession, created more chances but couldn’t hit the back of the net which Bournemouth managed to after the hour mark. The game fizzled out to another draw being the fourth this month.

Results Summary

League Table

Though having a very mixed bag of results over the last couple of months we are still hanging on to a play off spot which is good news but any aspirations of winning the title are surely fading away.

Fixtures

So that completes this report but before I finish I just want to quickly mention my «circumstances» which I alluded to at the start. There are some wonderful stories on this site but I am struggling between reading / commenting and actually playing FM. I generally have about one hour free time a day and that’s usually between 4:00am and 5:00am…that’s right AM! By the time I’ve done online banking , caught up with email and all these fabulous updates on FMS my one hour has gone. Aside from all this I have four relatives who are seriously ill and three out of my six staff have relatives with cancer. It’s a lot to deal with on top of a 45 hour work week.

So I hope you don’t mind if I occasionally not comment on other stories in an effort to selfishly keep my own going as this game is a true escape from life’s burdens and helps to find a balance in one’s day. I trust you understand and are not too judgemental of me.

Have a great weekend!

Kevin.