Andrew Bennett reviews last season.
August 2009: "They've now weeded out the biggest problem"
Saturday 1st August 2009: St Ives Town 0-5 U's (Friendly - Att. 801)Goals: Carden 23, Willmott 48, Beesley 55, 60, Pitt 57Classic pre-season friendly conditions (warm sunshine, welcoming clubhouse, grass you could graze hippos on) made for a pleasant trip up the A14 for United's last Saturday game before the big league kick-off.
Ling's 4-4-2 side more or less picked itself, Holroyd and Crow first-choice pairing up front, and they wasted no time in establishing a pleasing passing style as promised by the new boss. Carden broke the deadlock with one of his rare twenty-yard blasters, but the team only really clicked after the break when Beesley and Pitt replaced Holroyd and Parkinson and they fired four goals in less than fifteen minutes.
A clever reverse ball from Beesley sent Willmott through to slot number 2, Beesley himself notched number 3 with a daisycutter from the D, and Pitt grabbed number 4 when his 25-yard free-kick curled over the wall, bounced down off the bar and into goal via keeper Armitage's leg. Technically an own goal, but what the heck.
Beesley ran on to Pitt's through ball to clip past the keeper for number 5, then both sides took it easy on a humid afternoon, although there was still time for another outfield cameo from Walker when Ben Farrell turned his ankle on the lush foliage underfoot.
Ling was pleased with the performance and with the way his players were responding to his ideas in training: "In training and on the ball you can tell it will be OK and we're not asking them to do something that they're not going to be capable of. We don't have a massively tall front man anyway so we're going to have to pass through teams, but they can take it on board. We're not going to turn into Brazil and we're not going to over play, but we will play and pass with a purpose and with people moving with the unit of the team. If you do that in training all the time it does stick in there eventually."
Monday 3rd August 2009: U's 1-2 Histon (Cambs Professional Cup Final - Att. 886, away 167)Goals: Pitt 70 / Hammond 12, Simpson 81Ling had made no secret of his feeling that Monday's local cup final for local people was a fixture he could have done without before the start of the league campaign five days later. The attendance suggested that the black'n'amber public tended to agree. He accordingly selected a youthful line-up which included Walker in goal, a remarkably young back four in McAuley, Coulson, Hudson and Coakley, Pitt and Ives in midfield and Marriott and Beesley up front.
Histon took the lead in typically scrappy fashion, Craig Hammond's shot looping into the air off Hudson and over Walker's head, and their more robust, direct approach won them the first half against a United side whose best players were their youngest. Ling went to 4-3-3 after the interval, Holroyd replacing the anonymous Parkinson, Reason on for a subdued Carden, and Luke Berry's debut pushed Pitt back to left-back.
The introduction of Jordan Patrick on the hour heralded a return to the original formation, and Pitt equalised with another perfect free-kick over the wall. A goalkeeping error handed the visitors the lead again, however, Walker fumbling a Gareth Gwillim cross straight to the feet of Josh Simpson, who could not miss. And a late flurry of pressure was not enough to stop the Cup from crossing the A14.
Ling's priorities were clear: "I'm happy with the exercise but this was a game that, for me, was too close to Saturday with the squad we've got. But we've got through it and no-one's picked up an injury, and there were some impressive performances."
But the events of Monday evening became utterly irrelevant when the shock news broke the next day.
It initially appeared as a terse 'joint statement' from Rolls and Ling: "As a result of irreconcilable differences between Martin Ling and Chairman George Rolls, Martin Ling has tendered his resignation with immediate effect. The Club has reluctantly accepted his resignation. It has been agreed that neither party will make any further statement."
Rumours quickly began to fly as to what had prompted such a dramatic turn of events. The most persistent story was that Rolls had offered the United job to not only Ling, but to Alan Lewer and Liam Daish as well.
Lewer's side of the story: "I was walking around B&Q on Sunday and at 11am I got a call from him offering me the job. I travelled to Cambridge from Weymouth to meet him and he went all through the terms and asked if I had a fax or e-mail system where he could send the terms down to me. I said no, but I had a friend that lives up here and I was staying with him.
"He said they had a board meeting at 9am on Monday and everything would be sorted out then. I texted him at about 4.20pm and the text came back saying 'not you,' and I drove home. I've got no ill feeling to anybody at Cambridge United and I wish them all the very best."
Rolls' account was rather different: "Alan Lewer had an interview on the Saturday before the West Ham game and then he got called to see us for a second interview. I saw him again on Sunday and he wasn't offered the job, but it's true we discussed the financial side if it went further. It's true we told him there was a board meeting and texted him back to say we weren't offering him the job, but it's up to him what he wants to make of it."
Rolls also denied that Daish had been offered the job. "We had permission to speak to Liam Daish and we'd got to the point of discussing the financial side, but as I've said before Martin Ling was always our number one choice."
Daish would only say "There was speculation regarding myself, but that's as far as it goes. I've got no other comment to make."
There was no doubt where the collective finger was pointing: both CFU and major shareholder Paul Barry swiftly called for Rolls to resign, citing his position as untenable. And by the Wednesday, both Rolls and vice-chairman Terry Baker had tendered their resignations as directors. Rolls said "It's a sad day for me as I've given my all to the place, not just as chairman, but when I was a director beforehand. The one pleasing thing I can say is that I've left the club in a far healthier state than which I joined."
Baker actually resigned in protest at Barry's appointment as interim Chairman, citing a leaked e-mail from last November which appeared to constitute an offer by Barry and Adrian Hanauer to buy the Abbey without the prior knowledge of the rest of the Board. It was subsequently revealed that the same e-mail was the catalyst for Norman Gautrey's resignation in January.
Baker stated "Paul said in his defence it was a misunderstanding. When we took him to task about the situation he brazened it out so to speak. You can say I had irreconcilable differences with the acting chairman, but I took being a director very seriously and I'm not happy with what's going on or who's in charge. The whole situation with George could have been handled differently. It was done with subterfuge and plotting and I won't tolerate that."
The process of appointing a new manager was to be put on hold until the club's financial position could be assessed. Meanwhile, the local media had tracked down Gary Brabin for his comments: "I only came back from holiday on Thursday and I haven't been asked to consider it. I don't think the dust has settled yet. Stability and continuity are words that are being used very loosely of late and that's one of the issues I had with the club.
"It's very disappointing the way things have gone on the last few weeks because I felt we'd made massive strides over the last twelve months, but if you want to build a club it has got to be solid right the way through from boardroom level. I'm very disappointed the club has become a laughing stock, but they've now weeded out the biggest problem."
Meanwhile, back in the world of football (remember that?) Paul Carden assumed the caretaker managerial reigns (again), assisted by Jez George. Laurie Walker signed non-contract terms as cover keeper and scholars Hudson and Berry were rewarded for their promising first-team cameos by being allocated squad numbers. And the unwanted Challinor joined Forest Green Rovers on an initial one-month loan deal.
Saturday 8th August 2009: U's 0-2 Barrow (Blue Square Premier - Att. 2,990, away 195)
Goals: Logan 62, Walker 90 (pen)
With Danny Crow absent after "taking a whack in a sensitive area and suffering a reaction from it," United's only two experienced forwards, Holroyd and Beesley, started up front in the opening league match of the season. Coakley made his league debut at left-back, Parkinson and Willmott were selected as wide men and Pitt and Walker accompanied three CRC products on a bench which did not contain a single striker.
Phil Bolland was missing from the Barrow side due to his red card in the last game of 2008-09 at Wembley. United enjoyed the better of the first half but lacked a line leader to help penetrate the visitors' stubborn back line. The tide seemed to turn for United on 52 when Barrow's Sean Newton was dismissed for a second bookable foul, but they went behind to Carlos Logan's splendid free-kick from the D.
It had been greatly against the run of play, but the U's simply could not find a way through, despite several tactical changes through the second half. And the final devastating blow of a disastrous week came in added time, when Josh Coulson's instinctive handball handed Barrow a penalty which was converted by Jason Walker.
A reflective Carden's verdict was "We footballed them to death at times but a couple of mistakes led to two goals… All of our good play was undone with a couple of mistakes at the back and teams will punish you. They see you're down on the floor and they keep their foot on your throat and they don't let you back up, and that's exactly what happened here. The first goal went in and we carried on trying and probing and trying to do the right things, but on the day it wasn't to be."
Barrow joint boss Dave Bayliss said "It shows how well Cambridge played that our keeper was our best player, but we'll take any result we can get. Teams came to us last year and nicked results so it evens itself out over time." Prophetic words.
After a tumultuous week, Paul Barry called for patience: "During a transitional period, it is normal business practice to do a review of the business along with a financial review. It is prudent, before we consider the appointment of a manager, to let him know what the financial situation is. The last few days have seen the club's affairs conducted in the public media; I do not see this as in the best interests of Cambridge United Football Club. Many of those events are best dealt with at Board level or at a shareholders' meeting. The events on the pitch should take most of the media time and column inches. I ask for the fans, sponsors and staff's patience during this time."
Former finance director Nick Pomery was brought in to help the review process.
Tuesday 11th August 2009: Ebbsfleet United 1-3 U's (Blue Square Premier - Att. 1,523, away 498)
Goals: Crooks 47 / Holroyd 16, 72, Reason 50
Ebbsfleet had experienced a fair bit of turmoil during the close season as well, even without the speculation surrounding their manager: a substantial number of their internet 'owners' had failed to renew their subscriptions, and with a massively reduced budget, Daish had all but rebuilt the squad from scratch, signing three former ex-U's in Magno Vieira, Jordan Collins and Gavin Heeroo.
Carden's United side was unchanged from Saturday, none of the injured players yet recovered, but they were under the cosh for the first quarter of an hour until they took the lead against the run of play, Beesley latching onto Hatswell's header from a corner and crossing low for Holroyd to ram home from close range.
Vieira was wasteful for the hosts, much as he had been for the U's, and United weathered the storm to lead at the interval. Fleet equalised shortly after the restart, however, when Leon Crooks outjumped Gleeson to head home from a free-kick. But within three minutes the visitors were back in front, Holroyd crossing to Willmott at the far post whose ball into the middle found Reason galloping in to bundle home his side's second.
Then United seemed to just click and proceeded to dominate the match with pace and passing. Beesley wasted a one-on-one with the keeper, but Willmott raced down the wing to cross for the outstanding Holroyd to nod home number three at the far post. The contest was effectively over, and after seven minutes added time, relieved players and supporters celebrated the first good news the club had achieved in what seemed like weeks.
Afterwards Daish was dismissive of questions about his dalliance with the United job. "As for George Rolls' comments, I'm more interested in talking about my own club than someone else's club. I don't talk about other clubs, other team's players and I don't really give the time of day to people who aren't in football. Is George Rolls involved in football any more? I don't know. So is it worth me commenting? There is nothing to say. I'll talk about my own team; other people's clubs is their business."
Reason revealed "Personally I've been given a target to get in the box and show what I'm about and get amongst the goals, and hopefully that goal is just the start."
Carden beamed "I'm delighted with everyone's performance tonight and hopefully someone else can come in and take the mantle because it's not mine."
He did not have long to wait. Because next morning came the club announcement: "Cambridge United Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Martin Ling as first team manager. Martin has acted honourably throughout the process of his original appointment, his brief tenure, and our subsequent discussions. The honesty, integrity and strength of character that he has shown, in addition to his undoubted management skills, make him without doubt the right man for the job.
"The financial review carried out by the Board in the last few days has confirmed that Martin will be required to operate within a much restricted budget compared to the previous two seasons. However, we are confident that Martin will build a team over the next three years that can challenge for promotion."
Ling commented "I would never have signed the original contract if I knew what was going to go on. Everyone knows what has gone on. The situation is right now and I'm sitting here today to move it forward and draw a line under everything that's gone on previously. We're looking to the future and we have a three-year plan to put the club back where it belongs. I'm not going to dig dirt about what went on and how it went on; the process wasn't right so that's why I walked out…
"I wanted a three-year commitment and a budget to work with, and I've been guaranteed both of them. As it said in the statement, it is a tight budget but it's a workable budget. It's different from when I first talked, but it is workable."
Saturday 15th August 2009: Chester City 2-4 U's (Blue Square Premier - Att. 1,757, away 304)
Goals: Wilkinson 1, Chadwick 19 / Holroyd 44 (pen), 74, 89, Willmott 45
If United and Ebbsfleet had endured a chaotic start to the season, spare a thought also for Chester, who had played just one pre-season friendly and seen their opening two league games postponed as they wrangled with the FA over the transfer of their membership from insolvent Chester City FC Ltd to Chester City FC (2004) Ltd. Now at last they could start… on minus 25 points.
Ling picked an unchanged side for his first league match in charge, although Crow returned from injury to replaced Patrick on the bench. And they got off to the worst possible start when Ben (son of Howard) Wilkinson scored for the hosts inside 32 seconds when Hatswell and Potter left Michael Lea's ball over the top to each other.
Hatswell compounded his nightmare start on 19 when he turned an underhit back-pass towards Potter without checking and Nick Chadwick accepted the hosts' second gift-wrapped goal of the day with a simple finish.
United were handed a lifeline, however, a minute before half-time when Beesley was brought down by Tim Ryan and Holroyd drilled his penalty down the middle to pull one back. And ninety seconds later the visitors were level when Willmott's thunderous thirty-yard free-kick took a deflection off the wall and soared into the net for an unexpected equaliser.
That might just have saved the players from a Ling hairdryer at half-time, but they looked much improved after the break with Holroyd particularly prominent. And they eventually took the lead when sub Crow played it back to Parkinson and his cross was volleyed brilliantly into the net by a Holroyd overhead kick.
In the last minute the same three players combined again to create Holroyd's hat-trick against his former club, a poacher's goal from close range, and seal a win which no-one would have predicted halfway through the first half.
Said a relieved Ling "After thirty seconds my great team talk all went to pot! There were two mistakes from two senior players - one from Pottsy and one from Hatswell. I'm told they were solid as a rock all last season but within a 20 minute period they've both made stupid mistakes and they accept that; they said to the lads 'thanks for getting us out of a hole.'
"The recovery and the turnaround was spectacular. Those two goals just before half-time obviously put us on the front foot and when we pass the ball with a purpose we look like a good team, but I worry a little bit because we're a little bit open for me, especially away from home."
On the Monday out-of-favour midfielder Ben Farrell joined Histon on a one-month loan deal with a view to a permanent transfer. Ling said "He's going out to get some first team football. Also, as I've said before, the squad is overloaded in the midfield area and this allows us to bring in another defender for a bit more balance in the squad."
Tuesday 18th August 2009: U's 0-1 Crawley Town (Blue Square Premier - Att. 2,733, away 59)
Goal: Cook 27
Ling's selection was again unchanged, although Tonkin was sufficiently fit to replace Walker on the bench. After a slow start United started to knock it around nicely, Willmott hitting the top of the bar with a free-kick, but they could not find that killer final ball, and they fell behind when a distinctly offside-looking Jamie Cook ran between the hosts' centre-backs onto a long ball and proceeded to coolly chip the exposed Potter. A linesman several yards behind play was in no position to call it correctly.
United continued to battle gamely, but with Reason and Carden in unproductive form, both staying too deep, and Parkinson wandering all over the place like a lost sheep, they could create no chances of any real note. Crow was introduced for Beesley in part two but a frustrated and impatient U's side relied increasingly on hopeful long and high balls, of little use to the service-starved Crow and Holroyd up front.
Crawley held on comfortably and even threatened to double their lead on occasion, ex-U Charles Ademeno hitting the post, but they were mostly content to see out time and United's best chance was their last, Gleeson heading wide at the far post when keeper Rayner missed Willmott's corner. An increasingly fractious encounter, as is so often the case when Mr Steve Evans comes to town, finished messily when the Crawley boss thought Carden had booted the ball at him and a row broke out between the U's skipper and the visitors' bench.
Ling was unimpressed: "I'll sound like an old-fashioned manager but their goal looked offside to me from where I was standing, but I felt that in the second half we ran out of ideas. We looked like we were going very individualistic rather than as a team. If you're going to get through people it's not about individuals breaking them down, you break them down as a team, but there were too many times when I saw a couple of their players going for balls and none of ours."
Evans' comments were, predictably, mainly about money as usual, but he dropped a bombshell to the Brighton Argus by claiming that George Rolls had offered him the United manager's job in January: "I have kept quiet about it until now, but I had a private meeting with Cambridge officials and was offered the job, but it just didn't feel right. In many respects it broke my heart because my wife's family are big fans and they'd have been desperate for me to come and take over Cambridge United."
He also had a dig at Carden after the ball-booting incident at the end, saying "He's obviously quite sore that I was offered his job and his pal's in January, but I had the courtesy to turn it down."
Rolls twisted the knife with dire warnings to the local media about United's budget, claiming Daish had been first choice for the manager's job but Ebbsfleet had wanted £12,500 compensation… and that Paul Barry had offered to sell him his shareholding for £240,000 in May. "They have to start living within their means. It's a sad day for me if the club wants to keep gambling all the time. I kept forewarning the fans cuts would have to take place. If it meant upsetting managers along the way because they were over budget and trying to sign people, I'll take that, I interfered.
"But I'm sure the fans would rather have me interfere than six months' time the club go into administration. They won't go into administration if they adhere to the budget that has been set, but that's not the case because we're still not getting rid of players. I never believed a Martin Ling-type manager would come in on the terms that we wanted him to come in on. That's not a slight on Martin Ling because he was the best man for the job in terms of his CV, but I'm not so sure in terms of the finances and budgets he'd have needed."
He also claimed that a joint offer from him and Terry Baker to buy Barry out had not been accepted the previous week, and that he believed that Barry should stand down before the club could move forward. In November, Rolls would move on to become chairman and owner of Weymouth and oversee a second successive relegation, a Company Voluntary Arrangement to save them from liquidation, sack their manager Ian Hutchinson, appoint Jerry Gill who lasted 44 days, then reappoint Hutchinson again. Never a dull moment.
Back at the Abbey, Ling made the centre-back signing he had wanted in the imposing shape of Brian Saah, well known to the boss from his Leyton Orient days. The boss beamed "Since I've been here I've been saying we have too many midfielders and not enough defenders, especially in the centre-half area, and Brian solves that problem… He's athletic, he's good in the air, he's a good passer, he will add pace and strength to our defensive unit, and he's someone I've known since he was a 16-year-old kid so I know his character inside and out."
Since being released by Orient, Saah had been without a club, with unsuccessful trials at Southend and Tranmere: "It's been pretty tough - there are a lot of pros out there still looking for a club so I'm very fortunate to sign here… I had no hesitation about coming here. I know the manager and I just want to play football."
Only Phillips and Marriott, who had picked up an injury playing for CRC, were now missing from training, but there would be no further additions to the squad unless players left first. Ling accepted the situation: "We'd have to shuffle the pack in terms of moving people out in the long run to bring people in, because there's nothing else in the budget to being people in. All managers like to bring people in but I knew the budget from the start and I'm contented with the squad as it is at the moment."
Saturday 22nd August 2009: Tamworth 0-0 U's (Blue Square Premier - Att. 1,316, away 402)
United returned to The Lamb for the first time in three years to face hosts who were unbeaten so far and included familiar faces Neil 'Countdown' Mackenzie in their starting line-up and Trevor Benjamin on the bench. Ling went for experience with Tonkin and debutant Saah replacing Coakley and Coulson, while Crow came in for Beesley up front.
Nick Wright rattled the bar twice for the hosts in the first 21 minutes, who dominated the early proceedings against a U's team which kept pumping the ball long in contravention of all their manager's footballing principles. Saah at least impressed, but his team was very much second best as it toiled desperately for some sort of form in the baking sun.
Ling tried a switch to 4-3-3 in part two with Willmott as a third striker and Ives in place of Parkinson, but nothing seemed to work, and fortunately for them Tamworth lacked a quality front man who could convert their possession to goals, and Potter was imperious in goal. A stirring finish to an underwhelming match saw goal-line clearances at both ends, Ives twice saving the day in the last ten minutes for United, then Saah denied a winner by Chris Smith's under-the-bar intervention.
The manager opined "Defensively I'm very pleased with the whole side but our passing on the ball could be better. They passed better than us on a hot day and we could have sneaked it, but I think that would have been possibly more than we deserved on the day."
What United needed now was a period of stability, and with no midweek game, Ling was able to start putting his ideas across to the squad. Danny Potter was impressed: "…What he's shown already in training and the man-management side of things has been fantastic. We're glad to have it all settled down now and hopefully we can pick up. He has different views and training is very different. The sessions are short and sharp and he likes everything to be at a high tempo, but he's also ready to slow things down and explain to the players what he wants and how he wants to play."
Chris Holroyd was rewarded for his good start to the season with an England C call-up for their friendly in Hungary on 15th September, with Jai Reason on the standby list. Lee Phillips, however, had suffered a setback in training which would delay his absence by another week or two.
Saturday 29th August 2009: U's 3-0 Gateshead (Blue Square Premier - Att. 2,417, away 40)
Goals: Holroyd 41, 90 (pen), Parkinson 66
Ling kept faith with the same XI which had started at Tamworth against the other team to come up from Conference North. Gateshead's one win so far had been by a startling 4-1 at Crawley and they turned out to be a cultured passing side under manager Ian Bogie, who had achieved two consecutive promotions.
An open, entertaining contest ensued, with United in the ascendant on another warm summer's afternoon, but they had to wait almost until half-time to break the deadlock, the in-form Holroyd latching onto a Parkinson through ball to cut inside the area at pace, terrified defenders standing off him, and he slotted home with ease to give the U's their first home league goal of the season.
The Heed hit back strongly after the break and United experimented with a diamond formation in midfield with Willmott at its forward tip, although what they gained in centre-field fluidity they lost in width, with the full-backs expected to fill in the gaps.
The second goal was vital, and it came when Hatswell had a characteristic long-ranger pawed away by sprawling keeper Provett, Crow chipped back into goal only to see his effort headed off the line by Curtis, but Parkinson was on hand to ram home into the unguarded net.
Within a minute Stephane Pelonde had been dismissed for a second yellow and the game looked up for the gallant visitors. Tiring towards the end, they clung on gamely until a last-minute handball afforded Holroyd the chance to add to his already impressive season's goal tally with a penalty, which he took with relish. The Ling dynasty was well and truly under way.
The manager was encouraged by the growing understanding between Holroyd and Crow up front: "It's about partnerships, and if Chrissy goes on and gets a hatful of goals this season and his partner is doing the donkey work, then it's a partnership. I know strikers want to score but Danny had a big hand in the second goal for Parky to score, who's played his first 90 minutes today and got a goal as well.
"The two players that people were telling me were in bad form - Jai Reason and Andy Parkinson - had decent games today, too. I haven't been here a long time but things are starting to take shape and I think it's a confidence thing here too. The lads are playing with confidence and with a purpose."
Monday 31st August 2009: Rushden & Diamonds 1-1 U's (Blue Square Premier - Att. 2,344, away 1,088)
Goals: Stuart 58 / Hatswell 63
There was little time to rest until Bank Holiday Monday's short trip to Irthlingborough, where once again United's impressive travelling army made up almost half of the crowd. The U's side was unchanged once more, although McAuley replaced Walker on the bench.
Diamonds started the better, their pacy forwards occasioning their opponents food for thought, but United battled grittily and a combination of good defending and wayward shooting kept the first half goalless. Rushden's relative paucity of support was demonstrated during the break by the announcement that they would not be running supporters' coaches to Gateshead or Barrow.
The hosts opened the scoring with the simplest of unmarked headers from a corner by Jamie Stuart, but the visitors responded within five minutes, Hatswell ghosting onto Reason's free-kick to power home a far-post header against his former club.
The teams continued to tear breathlessly at each other like newlyweds on their wedding night, but neither could make the vital breakthrough, sub Beesley spurning a number of good chances towards the end. A draw was probably the fairest result, but it could have gone either way.
Ling reflected on a productive Bank Holiday weekend: "There are some good players here. There are just some habits that need breaking in terms of our set-up from recoveries and starts, and just having all eleven players grinding away for the point."
End of month position: 8th
Andrew Bennett
Cambridge United: YOUR CITY - YOUR CLUB
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