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Scott Barrett was pressed into service early in the second half to make a great save, and as Exeter pressed forward seeking an equaliser United had to soak up the pressure and try to hold onto the lead. It all made for a poor game but the three points will make the long trek to Devon well worth while.
United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Granville, Thompson, Craddock, Richards, Wanless, Hyde, McGleish (Raynor 83), Barnwell, Beall.
Subs not used: Vowden, Hayes.
Smart said, "At this stage they seem genuine, but we are talking about enquiries, not offers."
Former U's number two Gary Peters, now in charge at Second Division Preston North End, made an offer for Jody Craddock this week, but was turned down. This follows an offer from Oxford United just before the season commenced, and more are sure to follow this season.
The team travel to Exeter City for tomorrow's match looking for a victory to consolidate our position in the top six of the table, while Exeter are currently in the bottom third. Paul Wanless is likely to be in the starting line-up. Exeter are struggling after five defeats out of six, with ex-Cambridge City striker Steve Flack injured and only having a 50-50 chance of playing. He is one of 5 Exeter players suffering from injuries.
Here's a laugh: Peterboring boss Barry Fry has literally put his house on the club by using his house as security to ease the club's cash-flow problems. The owner-manager has taken out a loan of 210,000 pounds against his six-bedroom home in Bedford to finance the completion of a new family stand.
"We can't get the money we are due from the Football Trust towards payment for the new stand until all the building work has been finished," said Fry. "This is my way of speeding things up. I've done this thing before. Many years ago I took a second mortgage out to help Barnet buy their own ground."
Wonder where he'll be pitching his tent when they get relegated?? ;-)
It is reproduced (without permission) below:
| When football clubs go transfer crazy, splashing out 15 million pounds on a metalworker's son from Newcastle, clubs in the lower leagues can only look on in envy. Most of them are never likely to see 15m - unless their benevolent chairman scoops the rollover on the Lottery! Life in the lower leagues does not have the glamour and sexy salaries that the Premiership can offer. Instead, times are tough. Just ask Cambridge United.
Earlier this week Cambridge United were put up for sale by its' directors. Cash is needed to enable the club to grow, and at present that money isn't there. The club is struggling on gates of just over 2,000 and is believed to be losing in the region of 1,000 pounds a week. Chairman Reg Smart says "My colleagues and I have given everything we can to the club. A fresh injection of funds will give us the boost we need." For clubs in the lower leagues, times are financially tight. Keeping the wolf from the door can be a daily struggle. Third Division Cambridge United are a case in point. "We sell our best players to survive," explains chairman Reg Smart. The financial realities for clubs like Cambridge are harsh. If they cannot make the money from transfers or gates, they must look around for individuals to inject fresh funds. No easy task! In recent years Cambridge United fans have seen their side rise from the old Fourth Division to the brink of the Premiership - only to slide back down. And with debts mounting, Cambridge must look for outside cash. "We need someone who can make a financial commitment to the club," says chairman Reg Smart. To that end, Cambridge placed an advert in the Financial Times earlier this week looking for potential investors. If Cambridge United are to challenge for promotion from Division Three, club secretary Steve Greenall says outside money is needed to fund development. "We need someone who has the interests of the club at heart, is relatively local and has a lot of money. If no-one comes in, we'll have to sell players. But we want to keep the side together. We're doing quite well and there's a possibility we'll reach the play-offs." The situation at Cambridge is typical of most clubs in the lower divisions. Without a Jack Walker or Sir John Hall, the Premiership is just a pipedream. So what does the future hold for The U's? Without investment times are tough. "The infrastructure of the club is about as good as it gets - without the finance," says club secretary Steve Greenall. "But I don't think we'll go out of business." Next time you hear rumours of another 10m + transfer, spare a thought for those eeking out a living in the lower leagues. Money is needed there too! |
"There has been no response so far," said chairman Reg Smart, "but buying a football club losing 1,000 pounds a day isn't something anybody is likely to rush into."
The League's basement club Doncaster Rovers was also advertised in the same newspaper, indicating the dire financial state of many lower division clubs.
"Scott wants to carry on playing for us," said relieved United manager Tommy Taylor.
An advertisement for Cambridge United appeared in today's Financial Times but did not name the club, whilst Chairman Reg Smart stated in interviews yesterday evening that he did not expect a buyer to be found.
Chairman Reg Smart said, "My colleagues and I have given everything to the club over recent years. We now feel that a fresh injection of funds, and individuals on the board, will give the club the boost it needs to develop. It's a sad day for me. I have been chairman for seven years and was a director for a 13-year spell before that. I have argued against this up to now but we can't go on like this. We have to sell our best players to survive and there have been occasions where the directors have had to help out with the wage bill. It is not a bottomless pit. We have to find out if there is anyone out there who can inject a large amount of money into the club."
United are struggling on gates of just over 2,000 at present and are believed to be losing more than £1,000 a day.
- from Ceefax and Teletext.
There has been no indication yet of the likely asking price for the club, but fans have already started to wonder about the timing of the purchase of the Corona building behind the Newmarket Road stand. This was announced on Friday and the acquisition is expected to boost the value of the Abbey Stadium site by 150 per cent.
UPDATE: The club will be advertised nationally tomorrow. Figures quoted on the news wire services indicate that the club have a bank overdraft of around 360,000 pounds, an outstanding commercial mortgage of more than 200,000 pounds and are showing trading losses of 1,000 pounds a day.
As if that isn't enough to depress U's supporters, Lincoln manager John Beck missed his team's match at Wigan to watch Scott McGleish in action for United on Saturday. The ex-United boss left at half-time after seeing a muted display by the Peterborough loanee, who was returning from injury. Tommy Taylor revealed after the game that Beck had already made McGleish the offer of a two-year deal. It seems unlikely that United are currently in any position to match the offer.
After dominating the first half United went behind to Scarborough's first serious challenge of the game, the unmarked Mitchell scoring from the edge of the 6 yard box on 39 minutes. As the afternoon wore on it seemed that United would take nothing from the match, especially when the teenage Benjamin shot over from 6 yards out when it seemed easier to score. But on 78 minutes substitute Xabier San Miguel crossed for Richards to dive in and get his shocking blond head to the ball for the equaliser. The U's were heartened by their goal and just four minutes later the impressive Micah Hyde put young Benjamin through and he made no mistake in sliding home the winner.
United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Granville, Thompson, Craddock, Richards, Raynor (Benjamin), Hyde, McGleish, Barnwell (San Miguel 45), Beall.
Sub not used: Wanless.
Striker Scott McGleish returns to the Cambridge United attack for tomorrow's home clash with Scarborough after missing a fortnight with an ankle injury, initially feared to be a broken leg. The 22-year-old hit two goals on his League debut for United against Torquay before being carried off early in the second half. That wiped out two weeks of his original loan spell from Peterborough, but he agreed today to sign a two-month extension.
However, it is possible that the more successful his loan period is, the less likely it is that he will join us permanently - although Tommy Taylor insists that he has joined us with 'a view' to a permanent move and the player has said he is keen on a move. Each goal is bound to drive up his value in the eyes of his manager at P*sh, the wheeler-dealer Barry Fry.
On the subject of BFB, he has recalled another P*sh player from the Abbey. Midfielder Neil LeBihan had been at United on trial with a view to a loan or a free transfer move, but Tommy Taylor will keep tabs on the player's situation.
"I only strained the ligaments on one side of the ankle," he said while watching United's derby victory at Northampton. "I'm running already and I'm aiming to be fit to play by the weekend. I've always been a quick healer."
Meanwhile David Preece, injured in the same match, should be fit to return in around a month after suffering a broken fibula.
Captain Micah Hyde was the star of the afternoon after scoring the first goal and creating the second for Tony Richards. On the half hour a Paul Raynor corner was nodded on by Dave Thompson for Hyde to head home. The second came after the break when a 57th minute Northampton corner produced a classic counter-attack. Micah Hyde collected the ball and ran half the length of the field before setting up Richards to extend the lead.
The two-goal cushion was short-lived and Northampton struck back within five minutes when a deflected 25-yard free kick saw Rennie reduce the deficit. United maintained their gritty display against Northampton's strong-arm tactics and held on to collect the welcome away win and all three points. The team demonstrated their delight by running to the 500 travelling fans and striking a 'team photo' pose at the final whistle.
United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Granville, Thompson, Craddock, Wanless, Raynor, Hyde, Richards, Barnwell, Beall.
Subs: Vowden, Xavier San Miguel, Marc Joseph.
McGleish admits he is disenchanted with the lack of first-team opportunities at Peterboring and was hoping to earn a permanent contract at the Abbey before the injury threw the move into doubt. Hopefully once he has recovered he will be back on the scoresheet for us again, although when dealing with Barry Fry the danger is that McGleish would then be priced out of our reach!
In a week where we lost two promising new players to injury and let go a two goal lead at Scunthorpe in mid-week Tommy Taylor is able to see some good signs ahead of tomorrow's 'derby' at Northampton.
Taylor said: "Our troubles have piled up this week but through it all we've played some good football and we've seen that the system we want to use works well. I had to replace David Preece and Scott McGleish at Scunthorpe, but we took a two-goal lead and should have won comfortably. We had seven scoring chances in the first half, and with Scott in the forward line we could probably have got enough goals to have afforded some mistakes which were down to inexperience at the back."
When play resumed Scunthorpe dominated with their pacy, direct play and notched the inevitable equaliser after 63 minutes through an unmarked Phil Clarkson. The winner came on 80 when Paul Wilson's 35 yard free kick somehow evaded the packed defence. United almost salvaged a point in the last minute when Jamie Barnwell forced a good save from Mark Samways in the Scunthorpe goalmouth.
The U's disciplinary points total continues to rise with Tony Richards (65) and Paul Raynor (79) booked for fouls.
United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Granville, Thompson (Turner 82), Craddock, Wanless, Raynor (Hayes 80), Hyde, Richards, Barnwell, Beall.
Stats and facts from the Abbey Update 0891 555885
There is better news about on-loan striker Scott McGleish, the scorer of United's two goals on Saturday. He has suffered an evulsion, or a tear to the ligaments in his ankle, where the ligament has pulled away from the bone. He will see the club's consultant tomorrow and he is expected to be out of action for at leat three weeks. P*sh are apparently happy for his initial evaluation and treatment to take place in Cambridge, but is unclear whether he will play for United again. Hopefully if we are paying his wages and treating him following the injury he will be staying.
In a sparkling first half the lively McGleish gave Torquay's defence a nightmare and a promising partnership with Jamie Barnwell looked on the cards. On-loan from P*sh, McGleish's first came after five minutes from a move started by Preece. The midfielder supplied Danny Granville who burst forward and passed to Billy Beall and the youngster's ball inside was met by McGleish for the first.
After 31 minutes the U's were two up when Torquay's Gittens was caught in possession. McGleish snatched the ball from his feet and slipped it under debutant 'keeper Rhys Wilmot. The striker's afternoon was ended three minutes into the second half when he went up for a high ball, fell awkwardly and was carried off on a stretcher.
Torquay got back into the game in the last half-hour when the influential Preece limped off, and on 71 minutes Paul Baker scored with a looping header to provide an anxious closing spell for U's supporters.
United physio Ken Steggles said that McGleish's injury looked "very nasty". The striker was in a great deal of pain, and he thought at the very least it was bad ligament damage. Preece may have suffered a fracture of his fibula but the early hopes were for just bad bruising. More will be known on Monday.
What cruel, cruel 'luck' to have the two most influential players on the pitch badly injured - Preece on his debut and McGleish while he was staking his claim for a permanent move to The Abbey. Will McGleish wear the amber and black again?
United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Granville, Thompson, Richards, Beall, Raynor, Hyde, McGleish (Turner 48), Preece (Hayes 60), Barnwell.
Tommy Taylor has expressed his concern about the team's worst disciplinary start in the club's 27-year League history. The first six matches have produced two sendings off and 15 bookings, and Taylor is afraid that there may be a price to pay later in the season.
"Losing people due to suspension disrupts the team and could also mean me having to recall loan players, which puts up the wage bill," he said.
Speaking to the Abbey Update McGleish - a former schoolmate of Danny Granville - says he is disenchanted with the lack of first-team action at London Road and says he would regard a move to United as a "career move" and not a step down. He has been impressed with his new team-mates and hopes that Barry Fry does not put too high a price on him if Taylor follows up his initial interest.
Jody Craddock is making great progress with his hamstring injury and should also be available for selection. He has missed all of this season's games so far.
Lenny Pack has joined Baldock Town on loan.
Five minutes into the second half Lee Palmer paid for a challenge from behind in the area with a red card and Dean Smith duly converted the penalty for the visitors. Hereford immediately threatened to run riot against the ten men of United, but mercifully blazed wide with their chances. Dave Thompson settled our nerves when he met a cross from Micah Hyde - who had an impressive game as captain - on 52 minutes.
That goal was to be scant consolation for our early exit from the cup, and if nothing else loan signing McGleish and the promising San Miguel will now know the size of the task ahead of them. Hereford's Downing was dismissed in the 90th minute for handball. Micah Hyde (foul) and Dave Thompson (dissent) also collected bookings.
United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Granville, Thompson, Palmer, Xavier San Miguel (Raynor 65), Richards, Hyde, McGleish, Barnwell, Beall.
Subs not used: Wanless, Wilde.
McGleish has been named in tomorrow's team for the Coca-Cola Cup clash with Hereford where the U's have to overturn a three goal deficit from the first leg. He made only three full second division appearances for Posh last season, but enjoyed a succesful loan spell with Colchester where he scored six goals in 10 games. He caught Taylor's eye with his performance against United at Layer Road in the third division.
"Scott almost got Colchester into the play-offs," Taylor said. "He's a nippy, busy forward who should give us a boost up front."
Steve White, Cardiff's goal scorer on Saturday, may face diciplinary measures after allegedly racially abusing Marc Joseph during Saturday's match. Apparently spectators complained about the incident but Tommy Taylor says he will review video evidence before making a decision about action.