Stags v U's (Mansfield v Cambridge)

[Habbinalan]

If we get anything from this one, bullishness will be through the roof, at least until we trip up on Tuesday. I'm expecting a defeat...........but it might happen. No memories of great games or performances in this fixture but I do remember a fluke Kaikai goal and win that was the start of something good and lucrative.

No reason for major changes. Might be a bit of youth on the bench. I assume we'll go with the diamond again at the start.

Forde
Halliday, Legge, Taylor, Dunk or Carroll
Deegan
Mingoia, Maris or Dunk
Brown
Ikpeazu, Ibhere

Subs: Mitov, Carroll/Dunk, Darling, O'Neil, Osadebe, Elito, Foy.

Not sure how much of a draw we are to the home fans (with all these massive E Mids derbys) but I expect we'll bring more than 500.

Hoping for a goal fest but more likely 1 - 0 in front of 4,390 (619 U's).

 

[northstandexile]

Last three league games at Field Mill between Stags and U's have ended in 0-0, so let's hope there are some goals this time.

 

[Never Mind The Paul Cox]

If we're being honest, our last two performances have been far from great, but somehow we've accumulated 4 points.

The football has been non-existent, and we've got by on sheer determination and some good saves from Logan (still not a fan of his on crosses mind you) coupled with Mirfin becoming the player we thought we'd signed.

Evo reckons we'll be aiming to do more with the ball, but for me that won't happen without Mellis in the middle of the park. To get Mellis in the XI, it would mean having to take out Butcher, which I can't see Evo doing as he's just signed him amd raves about him even when he's been poor or average. He csn't take Digby out because he protects the back four and was immense at Lincoln.

If we carry on playing like we have been, Cambridge should be able to deal with our front two all day long. We need to get back to playing how we did for 85 mins against Luton.

 

[AdamStag]

If we get anything from this one, bullishness will be through the roof, at least until we trip up on Tuesday. I'm expecting a defeat...........but it might happen. No memories of great games or performances in this fixture but I do remember a fluke Kaikai goal and win that was the start of something good and lucrative.

No reason for major changes. Might be a bit of youth on the bench. I assume we'll go with the diamond again at the start.

Forde
Halliday, Legge, Taylor, Dunk or Carroll
Deegan
Mingoia, Maris or Dunk
Brown
Ikpeazu, Ibhere

Subs: Mitov, Carroll/Dunk, Darling, O'Neil, Osadebe, Elito, Foy.

Not sure how much of a draw we are to the home fans (with all these massive E Mids derbys) but I expect we'll bring more than 500.

Hoping for a goal fest but more likely 1 - 0 in front of 4,390 (619 U's).

Well we've had Grimsby (h) Lincoln (a) you (h) and Notts Co (h) next week, so probably the one where there isn't anything there i guess, which is why we're actually KO at 3.

Nice bunch Cambridge, always been a decent laugh, safe trip up. Always welcome in the Railway (across the bridge and through the retail park)

 

[Vanni]

I'm not feeling bullish or anything as I don't think the side we have at present is able to compete with the top 4 sides in this division, but I think we can get a draw here. The reason being that the Staggies have been saying for a while now that their side is nowhere near the finished article and need more time to gel, though I'm in no doubt at all that Evans will sort them out eventually.

I'm sure Jabo and Uche will be a constant menace for us upfront if given decent enough service, but I can't say the same for our back four as I reckon we're relying too heavily on David Forde at present. Then there's the enforced absence of Taft too so Derry's options are somewhat limited esp. if one of the defenders is having an off day or picks up an injury, so we need our midfielders to show up tomorrow and i'm hopeful they will.

1-1 (Angol/Jabo) Att - 4120 (roughly 550 U's fans)

 

[Never Mind The Paul Cox]

Interesting how you state that your defence is your weakness at the moment and going forward is more your strength, Vanni.

We're the exact opposite. When you consider that Taft has had to go out on loan for game time, it tells you a lot about the depth of quality we have at centre half.At this moment in time he would be 5th choice which is ridiculous. I rated Taft and was a firm believer he should have been given more of a shot as he was one of the better performers in pre-season....certainly better than both Mirfin and Diamond were....but it proves what I know now because Mirfin has really emerged from being a liability, to our best outfield player....so perhaps it was always a match fitness issue with him.

Our attack shouldn't be as poor as it has been recently, but we've been playing a very panicky direct style up to Angol and Hemmings in the last two games, and neither could win a header if their lives depended on it. It could be excused in the Wycombe game because the conditions were terrible, but at Lincoln there was no need for it. Lincoln did press high up though, but nobody wanted to take responsibility and they all seemed scared of having possession whilst being under pressure.

Hopefully that will change and we'll see a more attractive and entertaining game of football, but games involving our teams are always tight and scrappy, so it looks like we'll be relying on the ever-awesome Danny Rose to save our backsides again....I still don't believe Evans will start him personally....even though he massively deserves it.

 

[AdamStag]

After last week Rose HAS to start.

Benning has offered somewhere between nothing and zero so far

 

[AmberRich]

I'd happily settle with a draw tomorrow though I expect to lose. We somehow seem to be able cope or at least get away with having lots of pressure on our goal, we will surely be punished for this at some point. Mansfield's attackers might not have been at their best in previous games but they shouldn't be underestimated and they'll surely find some good form again.

Derry said earlier in the week that we had no injury issues apart from Azeez. Taft will have to be dropped from the bench for this game as that was part of the loan deal, I imagine Kyle Howkins will replace him.

 

[Never Mind The Paul Cox]

Howkins is another defender we had. Rated him too. Absolute unit.

 

[Arbury]

Mansfield 2-0

319 u's

Derry out.

KTF

 

[SVH]

Vanni what are you talking about? You are either clueless or you just don't go to games. I believe it to be the latter.

Against Coventry David Forde was excellent but so was Halliday and Legge. For me, Halliday is the best right back in the league so for you to say we have a shaky defence but a good attack is a little weird. Stats don't lie, it's scoring, not defending that's the problem.

 

[Habbinalan]

Bearing in mind that we're doing OK, I'd say that we have 3 main weaknesses that would concern me if we aspire to be in and around the play off places:

1. Goals - Poor finishing from all but Jabo (and Leon) and lack of goals from midfield;
2. The number of chances we allow and dependence on Forde to get us the points in most games. I don't think the problem is in the back 4 (perhaps left back needing more support than is forthcoming) but the midfield getting used to not depending on a holding 2.
   
3. Vulnerability to injury and lack of experience or quality outside the first 11/12/13, especially the spine of Forde, Legge, Deegan and Jabo - no different to most opponents and with luck some of the youngsters might come good.

Some might add the manager to that list. We're stuck with him and I'm back on the fence but wishing we had evidence of more attacking guile and tactical nouse somewhere in that coaching set up.

 

[Hamez]

Any off the TTF lot making the trip up?

Forgot Howkins played for you guys, really liked him here last season, never let us down & would've probably played most games had he of not got injured.

Think it'll be another tight game (when isn't it between us?), i'm going for a 1-1 draw.

 

[Tom_CUFC]

I still haven't quite got into the optimistic swing of things after a decent set of performances bar one in recent weeks, but if we manage to win today then I think that might swing me back in that direction a bit, a win here would be a big statement, but I still expect us to lose and be pretty drab doing so. Having said that, it's a free hit for Derry today IMO providing we don't get absolutely pumped. That doesn't usually bode well though.

Nearly in Nottingham for a pit stop of a few pints then a couple in the clubhouse at Mansfield, not my favourite away trip by any stretch of the imagination but it is what you make it I suppose....

 

[Conker]

Just go to railway or something, Mansfield not a bad away day if you know where to go.

 

[Laker]

Unchanged again so 4-4-2 diamond for us. Makes sense as we've had reasonable success with it recently.

Up the U's.

 

[Never Mind The Paul Cox]

We are still playing absolutely gash like we have been doing in recent weeks. At least Cambridge have a deserved lead unlike the previous two games where we've got away with playing shite

 

[Laker]

We are still playing absolutely gash like we have been doing in recent weeks. At least Cambridge have a deserved lead unlike the previous two games where we've got away with playing shite

Premature?

 

[AmberRich]

The general opinion from Cambridge fans I've seen and spoken to seems to be that a draw was deserved.

It was definitely a dive for the penalty which makes this result even more frustrating.

 

[Vanni]

Vanni what are you talking about? You are either clueless or you just don't go to games. I believe it to be the latter.

Against Coventry David Forde was excellent but so was Halliday and Legge. For me, Halliday is the best right back in the league so for you to say we have a shaky defence but a good attack is a little weird. Stats don't lie, it's scoring, not defending that's the problem.

Here's some advice for you mate - do not make assumptions. I used to do so when I was still a little kid and discovered that I looked like an idiot whenever my assumptions turned out to be incorrect. Now, to answer your question, I have no problem with admitting that I miss some matches, circa 90% of away games and nearly all midweek games as making night matches is nearly impossible for me. But I watch the games I miss via iFollow.

Your post consists of just two sentences and yet you're wrong on so many things. You say stats don't lie and yet you're not looking at the stats that really matter, the match facts, you're only looking at goals scored/conceded. Then you specifically mention the Coventry match and not the other games. That Cov match was a one off as nearly all our players (bar Taylor in the second 45) had a great match, esp. Legge, Halliday and Forde, in fact Legge was for me the MOTM. Did you by any chance see all the saves Forde pulled off? If you did then that rather reinforces my point actually. Also, I specifically mentioned that I hoped our midfielders were up for the Mansfields match, as I'm not putting the blame on just the back four.

Alan put it perfectly when he said and I quote ''The number of chances we allow and dependence on Forde to get us the points in most games''. A look at the graphs on experimental 361 will confirm how much we're relying on Forde. Rich is also correct when he says ''We somehow seem to be able cope or at least get away with having lots of pressure on our goal, we will surely be punished for this at some point.'' Do these two guys also not watch any Us matches?

To my fellow U's fans, I'd like to offer my apologies for the long post.

 

[Vanni]

All I'm going to say about this match is that Mansfield had all of 3 (4 at most) decent goal scoring chances and yet managed to score twice. No surprise afaic, we can't always rely on Forde to save our bacon. We deserved a point, but then again so did Coventry at ours.

BTW, that fat cnut Steve Evans refused to shake Derry's hand after the match once again. What a twat.

 

[Conker]

Penalty didn’t look like a dive to me but I’ll wait to see footage.

First half was even with no quality from either side, second half Cambridge scored a deserved goal in my opinion, but after we scored the penalty we had a couple of great chances and managed to put one away.

We did not play well at all, somehow we are picking up points despite playing poorly which is not going to last.

Kane Hemmings, is he unfit/lazy/rubbish because I can’t work it out.

 

[AdamStag]

Can only apologise to Cambridge, that was a complete and utter fruad of a win. You were the better side by a mile. If ibrehere concentrated on playing football instead of diving around he'd be a class player.

 

[Baratheon]

Thought Cambridge were the best team over 90 minutes and definitely deserved something from the game. We played poorly and still won, which is what you need to do sometimes to be successful at this level. I thought the pen looked a bit dodgy but haven't seen the video yet.

 

[Conker]

Can only apologise to Cambridge, that was a complete and utter fruad of a win. You were the better side by a mile. If ibrehere concentrated on playing football instead of diving around he'd be a class player.

Suprised by that.

Hardly anything in it between both sides and we created the better chances.

 

[AdamStag]

Suprised by that.

Hardly anything in it between both sides and we created the better chances.

They were the best visiting side this season by some distance. They had strength, were organised and had a decent midfield. I agree we finished the game stronger, but they should have scored before they did.

Nice to see us take chances.

Quite why evans insists on playing hemmings (corrected) eludes me, he offers nothing. Whereas I hope he improves for both his and our benefits, but as it stands sending him back in January is a must.

 

[Conker]

We was watching a different game, Cambridge were very poor like Mansfield.

Wycombe, Luton, were clearly much better sides at the mill.

 

[AdamStag]

We was watching a different game, Cambridge were very poor like Mansfield.

Wycombe, Luton, were clearly much better sides at the mill.

Evidently

 

[northstandexile]

They were the best visiting side this season by some distance. They had strength, were organised and had a decent midfield. I agree we finished the game stronger, but they should have scored before they did.

Nice to see us take chances.

Quite why evans insists on playing benning eludes me, he offers nothing. Whereas I hope he improves for both his and our benefits, but as it stands sending him back in January is a must.

I think you mean Hemmings

 

[Conker]

Would be harsh on Benning considering he was sat in the Ian Greaves Stand.