Hello friends and I’m delighted to bring you that latest update from my Cambridge United odyssey. It’s been a while since I’ve been to The Abbey Stadium due to work commitments and an injured back but now I’m ready to start the new season in League One. There’s a lot to share so let’s get right to it.
August 2012
Before the opening game season against Dagenham, I made two new signings that will hopefully turn to out to be “Youth to Gold” prospects. The first is Italian goalkeeper Antonio Rigoni who was released by Napoli but certainly looks like a good enough prospect for Cambridge.
The second is young Swiss defender Sead Hajrovic who comes from Arsenal on a free and has also played in his homeland with Grasshoppers.
The opening game of the season saw us take on Dagenham at The Abbey Stadium who were also promoted to League One. We ran out a comfortable 2-0 winner with both goals headed in from set pieces by Scott Wootten and Will Keane. Striker Nadir Ciftci fractured his ribs during the game and will be gone for three months which is an early set back.
On the Tuesday night we faced Millwall in the first round of the League Cup and took the lead just on the stroke of half time through an own goal as the Millwall defence failed to deal with a low driven cross by Fofana. ML Alex Smith provided the cross for Will Keane to head home early in the second half and Keane added to his tally with a close range shot in injury time for a comprehensive victory.
With Ciftci out for a minimum of three months we decided to loan a short term striker and picked up Alex Nimely from Manchester City. He has decent speed and is very strong too so I can see him fitting in well on either side of my front two.
On the heels of our League Cup victory was a trip to Scunthorpe which saw the home side take the lead on the counter following a thunderous effort by Shane Williams that hit the bar. Will Keane though brought the game level again moments later with substitute Alex Nimley snatching the winner three minutes from time.
We were back at home for our next league game which saw our striker’s struggle against a very organized Yeovil defence. Polish winger Szczepaniak broke the deadlock after 24 minutes which we held onto until half time. Yeovil equalized in the 62nd minute but DC Victor Palsson headed us back in front from a floating free kick by Victor Hernandez which proved to be the winning goal.
The final game of the month saw us travel to Molineux to take on Premier League side Wolves in the second round of the League Cup. We‘d trained on the tactic that was successful against Liverpool in last season’s FA Cup but proved to be all wrong in this case with the home side running out a comfortable 3-0 winner.
Just before August concluded my scouts informed me of striker Rasmus Falk from Denmark so after a quick consultation with Assistant Warren Neill we snapped him up on a free.
August Results Summary
September 2012
Our first game of September saw us take on Notts County at Meadow Lane that despite having 17 attempts on goal we were denied a victory by poor finishing and superb goalkeeping by County’s Rob Burch. In the end it was the head of Scott Wootten that rescued a point for us two minutes from time.
We stayed away from home for our next game which was an early season top of the table clash with Brentford. With a couple of players on international duty and a major injury to starting LB Victor Hernandez it was a very much shuffled line up that took the field. Brentford took the lead after just 24 seconds and it took us another 37 minutes to get back into the game with an equalizer by Will Keane. Brentford though regained the lead early in the second half which resulted in a total surrender by my back four who gave up another two goals for an embarrassing defeat and some heated exchanges in the dressing room afterwards.
Following the defeat against Brentford it was back to The Abbey Stadium to take on Bournemouth who had swapped positions with us and were now in second place. The first ten minutes saw Karl Moore having a host of chances and a header by Wootten cleared off the line but it wasn’t until the right on half time that Alex Nimely put us in front with a neatly placed shot into the corner of the net. We continued to have the slight upper hand in the second half until our keeper decided to kick the ball instead of roll out to the left defender and all of a sudden it was 1-1. American Will Packwood came on after returning from injury and immediately intercepted a square ball across the centre circle and his pass found Will Keane who made no mistake and gave us back the lead and ultimately the victory.
The final two games of the month featured a thrilling 2-2 draw away to Charlton before ending up a 4-1 winner at home to Rotherham in which Shane Williams hit a cracker of a goal from twenty yards out and young Danish striker Rasmus Falk finally getting off the mark for the club.
Before the month ended I made one further signing mainly to appease my young Italian goalkeeper Rigoni who was getting homesick already. So another striker joins us in Davide Petrucci who has been with both Roma and Man United before finding himself in the football wilderness. He has decent attributes so could be very useful indeed even if it’s for selling him on at a profit.
September Results Summary
League One Table
So a better start than I expected being in third but as with last year my defence seems to go on a walk about and concede stupid goals that could cost us dearly later in the season. Not sure what to do about that?
Finances
After a long period of steady growth my finances have started to take a litlle bit of a dip so I’ll have to keep an eye on that fro sure.
Fixtures
So that completes this report and thanks very much for taking the time to read my update.
Excessive
23 мая, 2011 at 12:15
First and foremost Kevin, some great signings. Nimley has proved to be a great signing for you (and I’m not at all surprised). Like the look of Falk too, great attributes for a player playing in league 1!
Steady results in the league, 3rd is excellent for a club of Cambridges stature and I hope you can keep that going for the rest of the season. Unlucky against Wolves though, they are a very good side and it was always going to be tough.
Good luck mate!
Kevin
23 мая, 2011 at 13:49
Hi Jake
Thanks a lot mate. I’ve fallen into my old trap of getting carried away with transfers so i hope I can keep everyone happy :)
CsAtlantis
23 мая, 2011 at 12:47
Nimely looks good for your team but I expected him to be much better at 21 years old, guess Man City have been neglecting him somewhat, you snagged some good youth players on frees so the future looks bright
I am sure your finances will bounce back once you start selling, doing well in the league at number three, hopefully you can stay somewhere within the promotion hunting sides, the jump in quality between League 1 and Championship is pretty big though so you might want to be prepared
Good luck in the league, and hopefully Ciftci can recover quickly
Kevin
23 мая, 2011 at 13:51
Hi Cs
Nimely is not bad at all for this league and is doing quite well. I quite happy about our league position — bettter than I expected and you are are right about being prepared to go up.
Sibo
23 мая, 2011 at 13:10
Well done on a great start Kevin, 3rd is great work and I am sure you can still be there or (hopefully) higher by the time the season ends.
Nimely and Petrucci bot look very good, I loaned them for Grimsby in League 2 and they were revelations so I am sure they can do the same for you!
Well done and good luck! :D
Kevin
23 мая, 2011 at 13:52
Hi Sibo
Thanks for the info on my two players — that’s good to know and I hope they play as well for me!!
Johnny Karp
23 мая, 2011 at 13:28
That’s a very good start in my view and you have also brought in some exciting prospects, mostly the Italians I think :) Well done and good luck for the coming matches!
Kevin
23 мая, 2011 at 13:54
Hi Johnny
I couldn’t find anyone decent in Romania in my game — well not yet at least so I popped next door to Italy :)
vaibhavc
23 мая, 2011 at 14:19
Hey Kevin
I hope you are ok. Not too bad for a start! You are enjoying a good position in the table and hopefully you can continue it. I guess Wolves were a lot better than you, and we could not ask for that much of a miracle.
Kevin
23 мая, 2011 at 18:55
Hi vaibhavc
We were totally outplayed by Wolves but as a consolation we can focus on the league.
Sears
23 мая, 2011 at 14:51
That was a magnificent start Kevin, hopefully you can maintain this form throughout the season. Good luck!
Kevin
23 мая, 2011 at 18:56
Thanks a lot Sears. Keep those positive comments coming LOL!
Laxeyman
23 мая, 2011 at 16:08
Good to see you back, and a very good start Kevin, your team are scoring plenty of goals and it looks like you can challenge for promotion. You’ve brought in some very good players, and hopefully they can keep you near the top of the table. Good luck!
Kevin
23 мая, 2011 at 18:57
Hi Laxeyman
I’m really happy about the start we have made as well as the additonal players which should help things along nicely.
Sayam Khan
23 мая, 2011 at 17:19
I like the start Kevin and hope you turn this into a promotion. The new signings are good players, i’m sure Davide Petrucci will be good for you as he was for me when I managed him. Anyway good luck!
Kevin
23 мая, 2011 at 18:59
Hey Sayam
Thanks a lot. There’s some tough teams around me but a play off spot would be nice as an early target to aim for.
Stromson
23 мая, 2011 at 18:20
Ooooh, I like your «full time score banner» idea…I may have to «borrow» that. :-p Glad to have you back Kevin, and I’m happy to see your squad right in the thick of the League 1 promotion race!
Kevin
23 мая, 2011 at 19:01
Hi Stromson
Glad you like the banner. I was looking to do something a little different. Help yourself in borrowing the idea…no worries.
Darren Smith
23 мая, 2011 at 19:15
I’m licking my lips at those signings Kevin. Petrucci has pace and flair which could be vital in League One while Nimely is a machine! I think you’ve invested well in youth and they all look potentially excellent Championship players at least, if not decent EPL players.
Your form has also been excellent…don’t worry too much about the leaky defence, I think its natural with the step up in class. This year could see a top six finish or even top two, great work.
Kevin
23 мая, 2011 at 21:09
Hi Darren
I wasn’t even looking at Petrucci until my young Italian GK mentoned him. Nimely is fabulous too though I only have hin for three months.
Ana Garcia
23 мая, 2011 at 22:25
Good start to the season Kevin,
As others have said you have found some very good players who should serve you well this season, and for the future hopefully.
Like Darren said a leaky defence is expected having just got promoted, but am sure you can correct that as the season goes on.
Good luck! :)
Lye
24 мая, 2011 at 01:54
Hi Kevin,
Your team has really settled well in league 1 and 3rd place really underlines you are going to challenge for the title this season. Kean has done very well in the last couple of games and he can fire you to the title if he can keep up his form. You have also brought in some quality signings to strengthen the squad so i believe this season can be a success if your players are up to the challenge. Good luck.