U's v Luton - Darler v Emma is no contest

[Habbinalan]

As everyone (except Coventry) seem so negative about the chance of a game on saturday, I thought I'd stick my head above the parapet. I think there's a good chance it will be on and for the first time in a while I'm looking forward to a Luton match and hoping for a result rather than just enjoying the occasion.

There's very little snow around here and, although a bit more is forecast this evening, a rise in temperature (above zero) is also now forecast from tomorrow morning. We should know after today's inspection and announcement.

I'll save thinking about the match until we know it's on.

 

[Habbinalan]

 

[Arbury]

Seems like it will be the last time we play Bedford as the train just keeps on going and going, rightly so considering the money they’ve spent, they should be a lot further in front than they are, can look at Jones why they’re not( he won’t last long next season)

As for the game if it’s on, hopefully we’ll put up more of a fight than we did in the away fixture and make it competitive.

Up the u’s

KTF

 

[Tom_CUFC]

No idea why they're taking the covers off now, surely they could do it in the morning, it's not like we're dealing with a team coming from the other side of the country, it's forecast to snow this afternoon before clearing up and then finally getting above freezing tomorrow morning, and if Accrington Stanley can get their covers off on a Saturday morning surely we can as well.

I'd be surprised if it's on, 20% because of the pitch, the rest because of H&S and maybe a little nudge from Cambridgeshire's finest who would probably prefer it on a Tuesday night.

 

[Habbinalan]

No idea why they're taking the covers off now, surely they could do it in the morning, it's not like we're dealing with a team coming from the other side of the country, it's forecast to snow this afternoon before clearing up and then finally getting above freezing tomorrow morning, and if Accrington Stanley can get their covers off on a Saturday morning surely we can as well.

I'd be surprised if it's on, 20% because of the pitch, the rest because of H&S and maybe a little nudge from Cambridgeshire's finest who would probably prefer it on a Tuesday night.

Necessary for the inspection?

I presume they'll mark up the pitch, do the inspection then get the covers back on by mid afternoon - off again in the morning.

 

[Tom_CUFC]

Well, first inspection has been passed, so you've got to think it's got a decent chance now with the forecast as it is for tomorrow morning.

 

[Laker]

Be a great effort if we get it on tomorrow. Good chance though.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Be a super effort from Cambridge to get the game on. Like i said on the general thread, Cambridge have always had a decent pitch really, credit to the ground staff for even passing one inspection after this weather i reckon!

Not entirely sure what do expect from the game, Cambridge have been decent of late, and although the general feeling is that we arent quite at our best at the moment, we are actually in some decent form despite that. Bar the Crawley game and parts of the Exeter one, we havent been at our best for a little while, but in general results havent been bad at all, although last week was a little disappointing.

Be good to have Hylton back in the 11 from the start, I know the dynamic of the game had changed a little with the second goal going in but I dont think its a coincidence that when Hylton came on we scored 2 goals last week. Really important hedoesnt pick up a yellow this week otherwise he will miss the looming clash with Accrington. I wonder if Collins might be the player to be dropped for him. Cornick has been excellent of late, (if he could finish his dinner he would be some player) and in what might be tricky conditions I feel his pace can get us out of trouble and provide an out ball for us.

 

[Gaz12321]

Seems like it will be the last time we play Bedford as the train just keeps on going and going, rightly so considering the money they’ve spent, they should be a lot further in front than they are, can look at Jones why they’re not( he won’t last long next season)

Nice to see Cambridge have some fans with a sense of humour, or at least I hope that's what this post was all about! What a load of drivel!!

 

[oakroader]

 

[Vanni]

Frankly, talk on playing budgets - and other related stuff like how much money is player 'ABC' on - generally bores me to death, but well, in this case I don't think Arbury is saying anything that's not well known by just about anybody. The only difference between you and say Mansfield is that you lot didn't rely on money from a single wealthy individual like John Radford. You made a lot from selling and you've also spend a lot on new players (plus wages) though not as much as you've made obviously.

Let me put it another way. If I were a billionaire and get myself three Lambos at 2 mill each, then what is 6 mill compared to a billion? But the thing is, whilst 6 mill is pocket change to a billionaire, it's still a vast amount of money to 99.9999999% of the population.

 

[Habbinalan]

Report from the front line:

"..Covers going back over the goalmouth with heating to thaw out the solid ends, to satisfy the inspecting ref.

Snow can be removed using the tractor in the morning. Full covering takes 5 hours to lay and 6+ to remove, roll and stack, so impractical.

It’s a big area and all the surrounds have to be cleared and gritted to make them safe for everyone."

It should continue to warm up after the 9.30 inspection (reaching the dizzy heights of 4 ° C by kick off) so back to the serious stuff.

We'll be well prepared and up for this one. A draw would be a good result in the context of the our season so far but I think Lu'on are more than capable of surrendering 3 points and bragging rights without it ruining their season.

Do we change a succesful line up? What has Joe learned from our games against County, Accrington and the away defeat at Kenny? Most of the squad, apart from Piero, seem likely to be available. I'm sure we'll start with the diamond but I suspect we may be tempted to bring Leon straight back and move Greg to fullback - leaving both Amoo and Dunk as options of the bench. Can we find room for Barry Corr on the bench? If so, who do we leave out?

Forde
Halliday, Legge, Taft, Taylor
Deegan
O'Neil, Maris
Brown
Ikpeazu, Waters

Subs: Mitov, Carroll, Lewis, Amoo, Dunk, Elito, Ibehre/Corr

Hoping for a bit of luck in the early minutes and predicting 2-2 in front of our biggest crowd of the season despite the weather 7,650 with 2,380 visitors (2403 tickets sold).

 

[Vanni]

Now onto the match, and this will be what, the 27,576th meeting between the two sides in recent memory? I've lost count and I just can't muster any enthusiasm for this one I'm afraid. AFAIC, our lot can have a terrific game or a substandard one, it doesn't really matter, it's Luton* and they'll find a way to come away with a win. Those two games we managed to get one over them (the Fa Cup game at ours and the other one at the Kenny, the Rory McAuley one I call it) seem so long ago now

And oh, I've been laid down with the flu for some 5 days now so I'm not really looking forward to another defeat to Luton to cap off this bloody awful week I just had.

*same goes for Wycombe and Pompey but I don't think we'll be seeing the latter back anytime soon. So IMO, the sooner Luton and Wycombe go up the better.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

What sort of reaction do you think Berry will get U’s fans?

I’m assuming a pretty negative one!

 

[Vanni]

I won't be there but I don't have any problem at all with Berry. Afaic he left us to join a bigger and soon to be L1 club. I would've had a problem though if he left us for some club that is very similar to us in terms of ambitions and home support. And I also wasn't thrilled when I heard he was going to Scotland. I'm aware that the SPL is more attractive to players than L2 and also possibly L1 in terms of exposure and media interest, but let's be honest here, Scottish footy is crap.

Also, honestly I can't think of a single reason why any half decent player would like to play for Derry.

 

[Maple Hatter]

Will be good to get this game out of the way. Not that we have a great fixture pile up but it will give our players sufficient rest between games. Have always enjoyed playing Cambridge despite the fact its become a far too regular fixture of late. My memory goes back to the early 80s when we used to be packed into the terrace behind the goal. Prefer that to the misplaced all seating stand which now houses the away support. As for the game we traditionally have a good record at Cambridge and oddly enough those records tend to stay intact. Cheltenham was proof of that for us, a team who have a good record at ours and continued that last Saturday. Cambridge can't play worse than they did at KR and they will no doubt be motivated by a big crowd. This game will be close but I expect us to nick it late on. Hyltons return is a big plus. I'm hoping NJ sets up the team to play with some width with emphasis on attack and therefore I'd like to see Cornick out wide with Hylts and Collins in the middle. If we sit back we invite problems which unfortunately we have done too often this season. Not sure if Cuthbert is ready to play but we need his heading and marking ability at the back. Downes had a disappointing game by his standards last week but we know what he can do so expect him to keep his place. A win would really set us up nicely for our match against Accrington. Wonder if Olly Lee fancies his chances again tomorrow.

 

[Kenneth E End]

If this game goes ahead tomorrow, fair play to Cambridge for making their best efforts. I wouldn't be able to go to the 'replay'.

The roads right now in Luton are absolutely horrific, so if more than half of the 2400 ticket holders turn up tomorrow, that'll be some effort.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Tomorrow is the 23rd meeting between the two sides since Luton were relegated to the Conference in 2009.

Since then, Luton have won 10, lost 4, drawn 8, although unbeaten in the last 6 meetings and not in the league since 2011 (12 match run).

 

[Laker]

We’ve had a fuck load of snow this evening. If it stops snowing and freezes, I can’t see this being on - appreciate they had to remove the covers to have the inspection but in hindsight they should have kept it covered until tomorrow morning.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Hang on a second, they took the covers off today knowing ~2" of snow was forecast afterwards and have left them off bar the goalmouths?!

 

[Laker]

Hang on a second, they took the covers off today knowing ~2" of snow was forecast afterwards and have left them off bar the goalmouths?!

It’s not quite as simple as that - takes 5-6 hours to re-lay all the covers so would have been pushed to get them down again before the snow anyway. But maybe the mistake was having a pitch inspection today in the first place - if they’d waited til tomorrow morning then wouldn’t have had the issue of uncovering/not recovering.

I dunno, it’s supposed to stop snowing at some point overnight then get up to 4C and they’ll clear the snow off with a tractor in the morning - snow usually insulates a pitch rather than freezing it so may actually prevent a frost. There’s a plan, we’ll just have to see whether it works or not.

 

[Kenneth E End]

It’s not quite as simple as that - takes 5-6 hours to re-lay all the covers so would have been pushed to get them down again before the snow anyway. But maybe the mistake was having a pitch inspection today in the first place - if they’d waited til tomorrow morning then wouldn’t have had the issue of uncovering/not recovering.

I dunno, it’s supposed to stop snowing at some point overnight then get up to 4C and they’ll clear the snow off with a tractor in the morning - snow usually insulates a pitch rather than freezing it so may actually prevent a frost. There’s a plan, we’ll just have to see whether it works or not.

Surely if it thaws out tomorrow morning, the pitch would be waterlogged?

 

[Laker]

Surely if it thaws out tomorrow morning, the pitch would be waterlogged?

No - as I said, they’re going to clear the snow off with a tractor in the morning.

 

[Habbinalan]

Just look at the thread title.

 

[BelizeHatter]

If it goes ahead a win would be very nice, with an effective point lead the same as games left from current 4th place - which is always a good psychological gap thats hard to close......... So a Cambridge win then

 

[Habbinalan]

One Ian Darler,
There's only one Ian Darler....

 

[Kenneth E End]

Fair play to him if he gets this on.

 

[valefan16]

One Ian Darler,
There's only one Ian Darler....

Fair play to him for effort but that looks rock solid! Will need some serious thawing to sort that out.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Fair play to him for effort but that looks rock solid! Will need some serious thawing to sort that out.

Which is why leaving the covers on overnight would've been the wisest move, with 5-10cm of snow falling since.
But what do I know.

 

[Laker]

Let’s see at 9.30. Think Luton fans have greater concerns of getting out of Luton to be honest - cars got stranded on the A505 between Hitchin and Luton last night.