The Sorrow of being a Cambridge fan

[Petersfield]

No one can have watched this years Cambridge team and not shed a tear, you dont have to be a Cambridge fan to see a tragedy when it lands in your lap. Topping that are the latest accounts which show a loss, not counting about half a million pounds of player sales, of 800 grand. This is going bust figures. This has been going on for quarter of a century, if not longer. In that time we also lost our ground.

We are in relegation trouble thanks to the hippos on the pitch, and la di da gunner Grahams. Rarely have i seen a team more disinterested in the proceedings. They pull out a result when needed, hence winning 3-0 at Bury, it could have been six. The last time i went, some time ago, i heard laughter break out in the stand behind me. I should have joined in. There cant be much difference between watching Harrison Dunk and a performing flea. We were all at a disadvantage, the game kicked off, the opposition must have been chuffed. Im sure i got pimples from that game.

Watching Cambridge is like sitting in a cold damp grave, a bargain basement team from the pound store. Jake Carroll plays like Bambi on ice, or has Van Goghs ear for music. I know i am breaking the rules by not being open endedly supportive, but how can i be, or you about your own tragedies? Isnt it time you said enough is enough?

How much punishment does it take for you too speak the truth? There is no future for Cambridge United. The owner knows nothing about running anything. The club cant tell the difference between a crippled donkey and a championship earning first team player. Put a pair of shorts on a donkey, and the donkey is in.

 

[Pablosammy]

Watching the football can't be as bad as the Cambridge traffic...

 

[Vanni]

I'm all for different opinions and will defend even the most absurd claims and ideas only cos I fully believe in free speech yada yada, but I'm afraid you do have a tendency to post silly shit Petersfield.

What's this shedding tears nonsense? I'm a U's fan and my eyes are still dry. As for 'tragedy', you clearly have got no idea what the word means, as a poor 4th division side having a bad season isn't tragic in any way shape or form. We're not discussing victims of suicide bombers or those poor migrants losing their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean you know. Or parents losing their kids to some incurable disease. Now that's tragic not some tinpot 4th div side.

 

[Petersfield]

What would you call twenty five years of failure then? Would it be unfortunate, a blip, a fluke, a set of circumstances, an abberation. Your judgement of what is tragic in a football sense is out of whack. We are not discussing suicide bombers etc, but football.

What would be a footballing tragedy for you then fifty years, a hundred? . At least i have some expectation of at least some success, unlike you who wears failure without noticing.
You and Cambridge United are well suited.

I am not happy watching footballing trash, and constantly with the threat of going bust. Not for a quarter of a century. As for shedding a tear, its a saying, not literal fact. If you think complaining about failure is silly shit, then under what circumstances can i complain? Shall i wait a bit longer? It is tragic. Too me.

Pedantery, predictability, the obvious, are traits especially ingrained by yourself, i can sense that you would comment on a hair out of place, a scuffed shoe, or some detail to have an argument. Maybe you should invest some of that energy in being nice, or getting rid of Paul Barry.

 

[Indian Dan]

Bloody hell! You and thousands of other fans of lower league clubs.

Grow a pair!

 

[Richard Cranium]

Thought the only thing tragic in football was Man Utd not winning the league for 6 years

 

[valefan16]

Change Cambridge with Port Vale, Swindon, Chesterfield, Notts County, Crewe etc etc etc etc.

 

[Chris FGR]

What is Cambridge's natural level? Are they badly underachieving? Always seemed like a League 2 sized club to me.

Last few years have seen a promotion, consolidation back in league 2 and some good cup runs, so from the outside doesn't look too horrendous. I remember when they first came down to the Conference and lost at our (old) place in their first game. They were in a proper mess back then.

 

[UTS]

It’s only football.

 

[Soup Ladle]

Petersfield may well be an oddball but to be fair, watching Jake Carroll week in and out would bring a tear to my eye.

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

Join the majority of fans of Third and Fourth Division clubs... Cambridge fans and their club are not unique.

 

[Laker]

Join the majority of fans of Third and Fourth Division clubs... Cambridge fans and their club are not unique.

Fan*

Don’t tar us all with the same brush - the rest of us aren’t crying ourselves to sleep.

It’s shite, I hate it. But tears? I’ve only had that twice - once when we went down at home to Rochdale in 05 and once when promoted at Wembley in 14. And he latter was obviously happy tears.

Football tragedy = Hillsborough etc.

Edit: my overriding feeling towards the club at the moment is anger rather than sorrow.

 

[Mark kavanagh]

John becks Cambridge were one of the most annoying but effective lower league sides ive seen

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

Fan*

Don’t tar us all with the same brush - the rest of us aren’t crying ourselves to sleep.

It’s shite, I hate it. But tears? I’ve only had that twice - once when we went down at home to Rochdale in 05 and once when promoted at Wembley in 14. And he latter was obviously happy tears.

Football tragedy = Hillsborough etc.

Edit: my overriding feeling towards the club at the moment is anger rather than sorrow.

Agreed, I wasn't referring to the crying part just the continual Third and Fourth Division restrictions and the highs of occasional promotions followed by the more consistent lows of subsequent relegations, being too near the non league trap door or mid table boredom that inevitably attracts a financial deficit at the end of each financial year.
It's no different to any of the majority of the others in our league(s).

 

[Moomin]

John becks Cambridge were one of the most annoying but effective lower league sides ive seen

This is so true. Remember we played Cambridge in the league twice and the FA Cup back in 90/91 and each game we were totally dominated. The likes of Dion Dublin, Lee Phillpott, John Taylor etc were so good. Their rise upto what’s now the Championship plus a great FA Cup run was immense.

 

[Laker]

John becks Cambridge were one of the most annoying but effective lower league sides ive seen

This is so true. Remember we played Cambridge in the league twice and the FA Cup back in 90/91 and each game we were totally dominated. The likes of Dion Dublin, Lee Phillpott, John Taylor etc were so good. Their rise upto what’s now the Championship plus a great FA Cup run was immense.

Now that’s more likely to bring a tear to my eye! We had an outrageously well oiled machine that was a pain in the arse to play against and was full of excellent players who would put in a massive shift for each other each game.

John Beck was a pioneer in recognising fitness and diet as being key to success - he forced the players to eat pasta dishes x hours prior to kick off when this just wasn’t the “done thing” - Wenger got the credit for fitness in English football years later but it had already been done by Beck. We scored so many late goals in those days.

That said there’s an argument that he lost his way in the second half of our season of near promotion to the top flight. After being top in November (beat 5th placed Ipswich away to go top), we drew 6 home games in a row as we fell down the table and rescued a play off spot in the end. Our direct style got found out somewhat and the players, Claridge in particular, believed we needed to mix it up a bit as we had the quality of player to do so.

Alas we came 5th, got stuffed in the play offs by Leicester and the team split up that summer and the year after. Was an incredible team though, the best in my lifetime by a mile.

 

[Petersfield]

It is true that i have had enough of Cambridge failure United. As for the rest of you, you invest time, money and your passion in what can only be called trash and endless failure. All the time looking with a magnifying glass for signs of hope, the performance of this player or that, the endless boardroom dramas, suffering the cold and wet, ....still hoping for some sort of success that has absolutely nothing to do with you apart from you calling yourself a fan of whatever club.

Its time to hold these people to account, complain, dont buy season tickets, start demanding success. These people have been on a fun gravy train too long, its time to earn their money.

Especially the players who earn good money for almost NOWT. If i could i would fire the board at Cambridge by 5pm this afternoon...if i could. Maybe one day i will.

 

[Chief Rocka]

 

[les.gtfc]

John becks Cambridge were one of the most annoying but effective lower league sides ive seen

Was that when they used to heavily sand the corners of the pitch so that the keeper or a defender could hoof the ball up there and it would hold up in the sand!!!

As for a a tragic football team, try being a Grimsby fan for the past 15-20 years!

 

[RLC]

Now that’s more likely to bring a tear to my eye! We had an outrageously well oiled machine that was a pain in the arse to play against and was full of excellent players who would put in a massive shift for each other each game.

John Beck was a pioneer in recognising fitness and diet as being key to success - he forced the players to eat pasta dishes x hours prior to kick off when this just wasn’t the “done thing” - Wenger got the credit for fitness in English football years later but it had already been done by Beck. We scored so many late goals in those days.

That said there’s an argument that he lost his way in the second half of our season of near promotion to the top flight. After being top in November (beat 5th placed Ipswich away to go top), we drew 6 home games in a row as we fell down the table and rescued a play off spot in the end. Our direct style got found out somewhat and the players, Claridge in particular, believed we needed to mix it up a bit as we had the quality of player to do so.

Alas we came 5th, got stuffed in the play offs by Leicester and the team split up that summer and the year after. Was an incredible team though, the best in my lifetime by a mile.

I have some fond memories of our clashes with Cambridge in those years.

I remember in the 1990-91 season we beat you over Easter to move into the automatic places, and it seemed you were set to miss out as you were about six games behind everybody else because of your FA Cup run. However, you then went on a ridiculous run, playing every night of the week and winning about six matches in ten days. You won automatic promotion ahead of us, although we thankfully went up through the play-offs.

The following season both yourselves and Southend were in the automatic places in Division Two for a long time. Dave Webb was managing the Shrimpers at the time, not a name you hear mentioned often these days, but surely their greatest ever manager.

 

[OhGodGlovePuppet]

This all sounds a bit glove puppet bear to me.

 

[Vanni]

Intriguing idea but it's not him. GPB always signs off with a LUV X. Which is a nice touch I have to say.

LUV
X

 

[Vanni]

Anyway, I for one sure am looking forward to the resurrection of this thread* sometime around July when we can only afford to sign players from the Southern Leagues.

*hmm, that's not too likely is it. A more probable scenario is a brand new thread.

 

[OhGodGlovePuppet]

At least GPB would have brought back a profitable consignment of merchandise, more than our Jez managed.