Lalkovic, Jennings and Berry.

All 22 years old with a fair amount of experience and a potential to be very good players at at least League One level. Potentially Championship in the case of Jennings and Lalkovic.

As a coach I'd have thought LJ would be chomping at the bit to get the most out of these players who have undoubted ability.

With Jennings you can excuse it as an attitude problem. Berry and Lalkovic though whilst inconsistent on the field both showed a great attitude whilst wearing the shirt.

I find it slightly worrying that LJ doesn't seem interested in working with these types of players. The rough diamonds.

I expect to see Williams, Phenix, Abbott and maybe even Digby out soon too.

 

I think Lalkovic is poor and I'm pleased that Johnson wants to ship him out. Same goes for Bailey.

 

Has Bailey gone also?

 

Not gone but he's been told he can leave.

 

No, transfer listed

 

You must think about the budget.. you just cant keep bringing players in. We will have a limit

some must, and will go

 

So... According to Lee, we needed maybe 8 or 10 new players. But since then has released another 3 or 4!
Are we going for the record for the smallest squad in league 1 !!

I am sure he knows what he's doing and probably already has plenty of players lined up. But I bet we couldn't even field a team at this moment in time.
And I'm not normally pessimistic!

 

Potential means nothing without application and a good attitude. If Jennings carries on as he has the last two years he'll be playing for the dog and duck in two years. I'm disappointed that we've let Berry go and indifferent about Lalkovic.

 

Berry isnt a starter in a league one team thats going for promotion he is a squad player at best. And maybe he didnt want to warm the bench at oakwell if the offer from Cambridge was half decent good deal all round I think.

 

Typical, from a purely personal view I'm disappointed Berry has gone. I finally got round to having his Poppy shirt framed for my son's birthday next week. I could always turn it round and tell him it's Hourihane.

 

No way is Lalkovic good enough for the championship

 

Not at the minute he's not. He showed flashes of good ability though.

 

But how long do you wait for ..flashers.. to become a full game or even half a game.? Never mind 5, 10, or 20 good games a season..

I'am 52 next month, and I could still play a good 5 mins... Lets not set the bar too low here..

 

LJ knows as a manager he's gonna be given 2 years to get out of this division.

He therefore will be looking for players that are very close to Championship level ability.

The only one of the three that has that ability in my opinion was Jennings, but he clearly lacked the application to get fit enough
to play first team football.

 

At the age of 22, Marley Watkins, the player about which Ben Mansford has been waxing lyrical since we signed him, was playing for Hereford Utd in the conference after previously being released from Cheltenham Town, unable to secure a place in their league 2 side.

Jennings has had his chances. He failed to prove he can reach the required level of fitness under 3 different managers. But Lalkovic and Berry?

Lalkovic has only shown flashes, at other times he's like a child chasing a balloon, but his application has been first class and there is some skill there. I think it's way too early to chalk **** on him.

Berry played OK for the majority of the season, nothing special, but OK. He was then inexplicably dropped from the Squad under Johnson, but when he finally got his chance towards the end of the season he looked a different player. He'd grown in stature and looked like he'd sussed what League 1 was all about. He looked like he was going to be more than OK, he looked like he was going to be good. I understand why he'd want to move elsewhere if he thought his chances at Barnsley were going to be limited, particularly to his old club where he was well thought of. I just don't think player's with Berry's potential should be under the impression that their chances will be limited. I think they should believe if they produce what is required they are essential assets to the club.

22 is no age to decide if a player has what it takes, after only one year playing at this level, when he never let us down.

 

Good !

The dead wood is slowly leaving.

Just need some decent players now.

Easier said than done.

 

HH

How many players as a club can we carry?.. We wlll be tied by our budget. The team/squad from last season was an average L1 side. The proof being, where we finished. So if we are going to have a go at top 2, not only do we need players who are a bit better, but also a bit tougher. And will cost a bit more, so room must be made. The teams that tend to do well in L1 tend to have a bit more about em . Am sure LJ said more than once last season we were a bit too nice.
We'll just have to see who comes in and how we set up




/

 

Agree , Berry is a strange deal we can only assume Cambridge was offering him more money on a longer contract. Hopefully we get some decent signings in ......I doubt I'll have heard of any of them though!

 

Digby going?????????????? If this happens then the club need to shut up shop

 

I put this on another thread.
Berry made a total of 37 appearances for Barnsley last season

16 June 2015 Last updated at 13:12

Share this page 5ShareFacebookTwitter.print..Cambridge United: Luke Berry's return after 'chance call'
Luke Berry's return to Cambridge from Barnsley came after a "chance call" between the two club's managers, says U's chief executive Jez George.

Midfielder Berry, 22, rejoined the U's on Monday after one term with Barnsley.

"Richard [Money] was on the phone to Barnsley boss Lee Johnson talking about a few things and threw in the question to test the water," said George.

"He played a lot under [previous boss] Danny Wilson, but was out of the team for the majority of Lee's time."

George continued to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: "It was a question worth asking and the response he gave gave us us enough to pursue it."

Berry played 128 times for the U's after coming through their youth system, and helped them win promotion back to the Football League in 2014.

He joined the Tykes last summer, and after playing 37 games in total, George believes Berry was surprised the League One side would let him go.

"I guess it was shock originally as I think he had no idea Barnsley would consider selling him," said George.

"But we had a good chat on Saturday morning and he was excited.

"Everyone thinks the world of him. We're delighted he could come back and see that there's a real future for the club."
From BBC Sport.