The Cambridge Low Down | Vital Football

The Cambridge Low Down

PompeyFrippy

Vital 1st Team Regular
OPPONENTS: Cambridge United - 22nd April - 3pm
MANAGER: Shaun Derry
NICKNAME: The U's
LEAGUE POSITION: 9th

THE JOURNEY: Abbey Stadium to Fratton Park: About 130 miles, should take less than 3 hours.

LAST TIME OUT:
* Pompey played Notts County on Monday. Bit of a quiet affair, not much to report. Oh, there was the whole promotion thing but we don't go on about it! Jamal Lowe came off the bench and scored twice to begin Pompey's ascension through the league with a 3-1 win.
* Cambridge kept their fight for a play-off spot on track with a 1-0 win over Exeter. Leon Legge scored the only goal of the game to move to within a point of the Top 7.
* The return fixture at Cambridge back in October resulted in a 1-0 win to Pompey. Burgess pinged a 50 yard ball over the top and Chaplin got on the end of it and steered it into the corner. Linganzi saw red for a nasty challenge with half an hour to play, but Pompey held on for 3 points.

POMPEY STATS:
* Pompey's win on Monday saw them win promotion for the first time in 14 years, almost to the day. Todorov's goal against Burnley and subsequent dive into the Fratton End was the last time Pompey moved up a league.
* That win means its 7 wins from the last 9 for Pompey - Only Accrington can boast a better form in the division
* Jamal Lowe's brace made it 23 goals for Pompey in the last 15 minutes of matches this season, the highest in England. In addition we have only conceded 5 goals in the final 15 minutes of matches.
* Pompey have scored 15 goals from the bench this season, more than any other club in England.
* Top Scorers: Naismith/Roberts (10) Chaplin (8)

CAMBRIDGE STATS:
* After a torrid start to the season where Cambridge spent 6 weeks bottom of the league and failed to win any of their first 8 games, Shaun Derry has turned around the form of the U's and is now just a point of a play-off place.
* Cambridge have won 3 of their last 4 games, and have only lost twice in their last 8 away games, despite only scoring more than 1 goal on two occasions.
* Cambridge 'keeper Will Norris saved 5 of his first 6 penalties he faced this season, including two in one game against Accrington. He has since gone on to concede the last 4 however.
* The U's have only won 83 corners in 21 away games (3.95 per game) this season, whereas Pompey have won 150 in their 21 home games (7.14 per game).
* Top Scorers: Luke Berry (15) Leon Legge (6) Medy Elito (5)

HEAD TO HEAD (Courtesy of Pompeyrama.com):
* Pompey have an almost impeccable record against Cambridge, with 13 wins, 3 draws and just 1 defeat dating back to 1977.
* In league encounters, Pompey have won the 10 of the last 11 meetings, scoring 30 goals and conceding just 6.
* Last season Pompey did the double in League two, with a 3-1 win at Cambridge thanks to a Legge own goal and a brace from Tubbs. They followed this with a 2-1 win at Fratton - McNulty and Webster getting the goals that day.

PLAYED FOR US/PLAYED FOR "THEM":
* James Dunne - The central midfielder spent a season as a first team regular but was shipped out on loan the following season, and was part of Cookie's clean out once he took command.
* Adam McGurk - Who could forget that haircut? McGurk was signed by Cook and spent a year at Fratton, appearing in more than half of Pompey's fixtures and he scored what turned out to be the winner against Championship side Derby in the League Cup on his debut. His league form was not as prolific, netting just two goals in 27 games and he moved onto Cambridge at the end of the season.
* Shaun Derry - The U's boss also graced the pitch at Fratton what was now 2 promotions ago. Signing for Pulis in 2000 he went on to make 49 appearances for Pompey, before Redknapp came in and had a clear out, with Derry being one of the many casualties.

ONE TO WATCH:
* Luke Berry - 15 goals is usually enough to see a player as a threat, but when you consider this lad is a midfielder it's all the more impressive. Not the biggest of lads, but has great technique with the ball at his feet and can hit a ball as sweet as the best of them.

RIVAL WATCH:
* Wycombe v Doncaster (1st)
* Colchester v Plymouth (2nd)

PREDICTION:
* After we won promotion to the Premier League we went to Ipswich (I think) and got spanked 3-0. I have no doubt the players would have had Tuesday's training session either called off or significantly reduced, and Wednesday was probably a slow day too. There will be hints of a hangover on Saturday but with the carnival like atmosphere of the crowd I expect the players to rally and make the most of their first opportunity to play at Fratton with no pressure on them. Expect a free-flowing game with plenty of goals - 4-2 Pompey.

LAST 2 GAMES (and their current League Position):
29/04 - Mansfield Town (A) - 12th
06/05 - Cheltenham Town (H) - 21st

PUP
 
The Football League have now announced the Match Day officials that will take charge of the game against Cambridge United this weekend.


<br><br><a href ="http://www.vitalfootball.co.uk/router.asp?580400">Click here to read the article</a><br><br>
 
Nicely done Frippy, will get back to comment on this later today or Friday - but aim to put this up for about 1pm today.
 
Cook has mentioned that he will look at getting Nicke Alabama and Stanley Aborah minutes on the pitch in these final few games, but otherwise will be fielding a strong side. I think that's fair enough as we have a duty to the ther sides challenging for the playoffs, like Cambridge, and obviously there's still a chance we could lift the league title... :89:

Hopefully it'll be a great day and not only will the atmosphere be wonderful, but we'll have another Pompey win to celebrate. As long as the players aren't still hungover, anyway! PUP.
 
Yes, Cambridge have plenty to play for and all the while the title is an option I want it... If we can reduce the Doncaster lead to four points it DOES get interesting, more so if Plymouth drop points too.

What an afternoon it would be if all three teams go into the final game with the chance to win the title... well, ideally Plymouth will be out the mix BUT I think they'll actually come through and win it now.

http://www.portsmouth.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=580462
 
FrattonBlue - 20/4/2017 13:41
he will look at getting Nicke Alabama and Stanley Aborah minutes on the pitch

Not sure who Nicke Alabmba is! Should be Kabamba, of course... unless we've made another signing :1:
 
Good game, Aborah played very well before fading in the second half. At 2-0 before the subs we looked in so much control and could have gone on to score again, I don't think I've ever felt so comfortable watching Pompey! Of course this changed and a combination of an excellent free kick, subs and fatigue gave Cambridge belief they could get something from the game that they surely didn't deserve, cue some stout defending a couple of near misses and clawing save from Forde from another good free kick and 3 more points and still could be champions! I think our toughest game to come next, we owe the league and Cambridge another good performance as the fight for play-offs is so tight but we have depth, freedom and fight to get a result, beating Plymouth would also mean a lot to the fans. Great stuff and a lovely day. Movement from the front 4 and the constant prompting from Aborah the highlight of the match for me.

Before the next match we get the offer from Eisner, it will take a bit of persuading for me to risk the security of the club. I have enjoyed my football over the last few years, despite some of the performances and opposition, chasing a dream in the prem is not the be all and end all for me, affordable and fun with clear progress has been so refreshing, but lets see. PUP
 
Pompey are at Fratton Park with Cambridge the visitors today, this will be a 3pm kick-off.


<br><br><a href ="http://www.vitalfootball.co.uk/router.asp?580479">Click here to read the article</a><br><br>
 
Pompey are at Fratton Park with Cambridge the visitors for the latest League 2 game.


<br><br><a href ="http://www.vitalfootball.co.uk/router.asp?580507">Click here to read the article</a><br><br>
 
All the stats from Pompey (2) vs (1) Cambridge United, Fratton Park, 22/04/17 Att: 18,165


<br><br><a href ="http://www.vitalfootball.co.uk/router.asp?580510">Click here to read the article</a><br><br>
 
No, I agree weller but my fears now are without investment into the infrastructure - think the News stories have been scaremongering in many ways - can we move forward? Eisner can stick his Premier League 'dream' but without money I fear we'll see the capacity at Fratton Park continue to drop due to safety concerns when we need it to grow, which means work done on the old girl... but where does this money come from?

As for the game, job done - an outside chance BUT the title is still on...
 
The club could borrow it Rug, the business could service it at current levels, It isn't that big a deal that we cannot do it ourselves, the same guy who said in the news article about £1m a year for the next 5 years, also said you could spend £4-5m and the ground could be fine for the next 10, 15, 20 years. If we have to, we borrow it, the club will not disappear and we will certainly not be bouncing between league 1 & 2 as some are trying to suggest. Even Catlin came out and said the current model can get us to the Championship, this was after the articles about the ground. The scaremongering won't work, don't fall for it. However, if Eisner wants to include the Trust & fans as part of the ownership model and board representation and commit to more on the ground than we can currently achieve ourselves then lets hear it. I just can't sacrifice the security of the club after the last 8 years or so. But lets see what the offer is.
 
The 2016-17 season continues with the latest round of games this weekend. This will see us among those involved with three points of course the aim.


<br><br><a href ="http://www.vitalfootball.co.uk/router.asp?580432">Click here to read the article</a><br><br>
 
That outside chance of Pompey winning the championship is still ON after a win over Cambridge and defeats for Doncaster and Plymouth's draw.


<br><br><a href ="http://www.vitalfootball.co.uk/router.asp?580519">Click here to read the article</a><br><br>
 
No. I do agree the articles were scaremongering, but we'll be talking millions and millions borrowed to keep Fratton Park up to scratch - we then have to expand her too. IF we can do all this, cover the costs of the everyday running of a club and get the infrastructure up to scratch as we currently are (without debt getting out of hand) it's a no-brainer, we carry on as is.

Like you say though, which is what I think we have to do, we need to hear what Eisner's plans are before it's completely written off? I'm NOT desperate for his takeover all I'm desperate for is the option that will BEST serve the long-term future of PFC.
 
I was surprised and glad to see how well we played in Saturday, having expected some sort of a promotion hangover. We played with confidence and fluency going forwards, and should have scored more goals, but started to tire and the subs failed to have much impact. Wonderful free kick from Berry and nearly another one, but for an excellent save by Forde. Despite their late pressure at the end, Cambridge would have been very lucky to have come away with anything from the game.

Aborah played very well and would have been my MOTM comfortably ahead of Whatmough. I would probably have mentioned Stevens, Doyle, and Naismith in front of him as well, who all made excellent contributions. Kabamba struggled a bit and you can see why Cook hasn't thrown him in earlier, even thigh fans have been calling for it. Didn't impose himself on their centre halves enough for me and should have scored with the header just before half time. Encouraging to see him getting into goalscoring positions and he was unlucky to slip when he would have had a simple finish in front of the Fratton End. Might be worth giving Chaplin the last couple of games as he hasn't kicked on from last season liked we would have hoped and has been desperately out of form/lacking sharpness for a number of months. Doesn't even seem to make an impact from the bench anymore so maybe hand him a start with the hope that it can reignite his goalscoring prowess?

Another game down and the title is still on. We can dream! PUP.
 
Good shout on Chaplin, unless a decision has already been made? He's leaving in the summer? Not overly convinced Cookie is sure on him?
 
Doncaster, Plymouth & Portsmouth could be involved in a three-way battle to be crowned champions?
Leyton Orient are down with Hartlepool favourites to join them.


<br><br><a href ="http://www.vitalfootball.co.uk/router.asp?580522">Click here to read the article</a><br><br>