Recently confirmed as the U's new manager after seven months as assistant and then caretaker manager, Rob Newman gives the first Big Interview of the new season.
When Herve Renard was sacked as U's boss in December 2004, Newman was asked to help with coaching duties by friend and caretaker manager Ricky Duncan, the U's youth team manager.
Steve Thompson was appointed as the new manager at the end of December and he immediately asked Newman to stay on as his number two, and when Thompson's contract was not renewed following relegation to the Conference in May, Newman was asked to take the reins on a caretaker basis.
With the club in administration and unable to offer contracts to players or staff, Newman called upon his contacts in the game to arrange a schedule of pre-season friendlies and guided the club through the close-season. He was also tasked with identifying potential new signings for when the club came out of administration, and he combined that challenge with passing the final stage of his UEFA 'A' coaching licence at Lilleshall.
The club exited administration at the end of July and Newman was finally confirmed as United's new manager, charged with arresting the club's footballing decline and providing a stable base from which to re-group. Fortunately, although his career has included success at the very top of the game, he has experience of a remarkably similar situation with his first club.
Growing up in Wiltshire, and a Portsmouth supporter as a youngster, Rob left school at 16 to join Bristol City as an apprentice in 1980. He turned pro just a year later and made his senior debut in February 1982, spending eleven enjoyable years with a club that is still close to his heart.
"I had a great time there," he recalls. "It was a fabulous club and I have some very fond and special memories, but we were probably the first club that went to the brink of extinction caused by finances.
"It was because of players having too long a contract on too much money and there was one group known as the "Ashton Gate Eight" who left after accepting so many pence in the pound. That left mainly the youngsters, and that's why I made my debut when I was only 18 and played a lot of games early on.
"The club almost folded but managed to survive so I've been through this experience before - when it's gone to the eleventh hour but the club has survived - and when you look at them now they're a thriving club.
"They're too big to be in the league they're in and they're not fulfilling their expectations at the moment, but I'm sure they will do because the fan base they have there is fantastic."
On the field Rob enjoyed success with Bristol City, but he also draws upon the off-field experiences and the people he worked with there.
"I played at Wembley twice with City in successive seasons in the Freight Rover Trophy Final, against Bolton and Mansfield, and we won one and lost one in front of 60,000 people each time, so that was a good experience.
"We got promoted twice too, so we had some good times there and there was good camaraderie. When the club nearly folded we only had a squad of about 15 players and we'd been through quite a lot, so it's given me a bit of an insight and I know what's needed here now that we've just been through nearly the same thing.
"I still speak to (then manager) Terry Cooper quite a lot about his philosophies. He's a shrewd man and he's given me a lot of advice throughout my career, both as a player and since I've moved the other side of the fence into coaching and management.
"I played under some good managers there. Joe Jordan was another good one to learn from, and also Jimmy Lumsden who is now part of David Moyes' coaching staff at Everton."
After his testimonial year at Ashton Gate, Rob was sold to Norwich for £600,000 in 1991. He spent seven seasons at Carrow Road as a committed and determined figure in midfield and defence - even playing 45 minutes in goal when Bryan Gunn was sent off!
In his second season the Canaries finished third in the Premiership behind Manchester United and Aston Villa in 1993, and qualified for the UEFA Cup, which provides two more career highlights.
"In the second round we beat Bayern Munich in Germany, the first club to do that and I think Norwich are still the only club to have done that, so that's a nice memory to treasure."
In the next round, Norwich lost on aggregate to Inter Milan but Rob was proud to captain the team at the magnificent San Siro Stadium and counts it as another special memory.
"We also got to the final of the FA Cup but lost to Sunderland, which was a disappointment, but I had some good times at Norwich. To finish third in the Premiership was a massive feat for a club the size of Norwich and they were some special times.
"I still keep an eye out for their results and Bristol City's first, and then all the other clubs I've been affiliated to; Motherwell in the Scottish Premier League, Wigan, Southend, and of course Portsmouth."
Rob's time at Motherwell and Wigan were loan spells towards the end of his career at Norwich, and when he was released at the end of the 1997/98 season he was expected to join one of them, but he chose Southend United.
"Alvin Martin was manager, he offered me a two year contract when I was 34, and I was there for five years. I signed just as a player but as time passed I progressed through to player-coach, reserve team manager, assistant manager to David Webb, and then manager.
"I had some good times there," he adds. "Southend is a good club and I was just disappointed with the way it ended there.
Newman with Tes Bramble at Southend
"I wasn't really given a fair crack of the whip and I wasn't really unsuccessful there, it was just that people's expectations outweigh the reality sometimes.
"But you can do nothing about it, you just have to brush yourself off and hope you get another chance, and that's why I'm really excited about taking over here."
Rob left Southend in March 2003 and played for Chelmsford City whilst also doing some scouting work for Premiership clubs. Based in Norwich, and with a successful suit shop in the city, he then managed Gorleston on a caretaker basis in October 2004 before Ricky Duncan's call to help at Cambridge in December.
Newman with Ricky Duncan last season
Whilst under no illusions about the size of the challenge ahead, the 41-year-old is full of enthusiasm:
"Obviously it's come under difficult circumstances but I believe there is a decent future for the football club and there's good potential here. I just need to make sure that - as the person steering the football side of things - I do everything to the best of my ability, which is what I've always done throughout my career.
"Given everything that's happened at the club over the last few months you can't really expect a short-term solution," he cautions. "It has to be a long-term plan and hopefully I'm here to see that plan through but, as everyone says, football is a funny old game and you never know what's around the corner, either as a player or a manager. Hopefully the people watching and the people involved with Cambridge United will be patient and we'll get it right."
With just four players under contract at the end of last season, and tasked with assembling a brand-new squad on a tight budget, Rob used his extensive contacts and assessed a conveyor belt of trialists during a hectic pre-season before arriving at the current squad.
Newman with assistant Tony Spearing
"I reckon I probably need another three, maybe four, players," he says when asked how complete is his squad. "And if players become available that we feel are better than the ones we've got, and if it's within my budget to do so, then they would come in as well.
"I don't think the new transfer deadline will affect my plans because we're looking at players now and if we need to do things with them then we'll do it before the end of August. I've earmarked players and teams and if we need loans we can still do that after the 31st August, and if we bring anyone in after that it will probably be loan players from higher divisions."
Asked for his realistic assessment of United's chances for this season, Rob replies, "It's a difficult one to answer. Obviously I don't want to be near the bottom but we will have more of an idea after our first 8-10 games.
"Three weeks ago we didn't even have a squad so I would say to people don't judge us for eight or ten games. We have a small, young squad and by then we'll know what the Conference is about, and we'll know if we're good enough and what we need.
"It's a massive challenge and I'm really looking forward to it."
Interview by Andrea Thrussell.
Originally published in the programme for the match against Accrington Stanley on 20th August 2005.
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