Andrew Bennett reviews last season.

January 2010: "It was painful to watch."

Friday 1st January 2010: Stevenage Borough 4-1 U's (Blue Square Premier - Att. 3,406, away 775)
Goals: Odubade 25, Boylan 45, 62, Beardsley 50 / Crow 38

United's travelling contingent was significantly down on previous years, not so much due to Hogmanay hangovers as to the team's mediocre, drifting mid-table form. Those play-off semi-finals against our near-neighbours seemed like a million years ago.

At least Brian Saah was back from injury, accompanying Coulson in the centre of the defence while McAuley moved across to cover for the broken-nosed Gleeson. There were a hint of reservations about Saah's fitness in the presence of Blaine Hudson on the bench for the first time.

After the sides' controversial Boxing Day meeting Stevenage made only one change, calling up ex-U's striker Lee Boylan in place of Eddie Odhiambo, to a team which had not lost at home in the league all season. The pitch was rough but playable, with rolls of snow wrapped in tarpaulin abutting all of its four sides.

United held their own fairly well in a frenetic start, but gave the ball away once too often on 25 when Willmott had an attempted pass charged down with his colleagues committed upfield; Boylan scampered onto a through ball down the right channel and Potter advanced from his goal to block, but it rebounded to Stacy Long and his pinpoint cross to the far post found Odubade, whose header flew past Coulson on the line with Potter stranded.

The visitors began to look overpowered, their youthful line-up struggling to cope with their hosts' uncompromising tackling and harrying, so their equaliser came as something of a surprise. McAuley was upended by Odubade, Pitt arrowed a powerfully struck free-kick into the box, and the unmarked Crow directed a clever flicked header into the bottom far corner.

But the U's were unable to maintain parity until the break, as in added time Odubade hared down the left onto Long's through ball then found Boylan with an inch-perfect cross which saw the little goal-poacher ghosting between two United defenders to plant a cool, low finish past Potter.

Willmott almost snatched another equaliser before the interval, volleying narrowly wide, but the contest looked over five minutes after the restart: Boylan crossed deep to the far post, Odubade reached it right by the byline, headed it back across, and there was Beardsley, more alert than the U's back line to dive in and nod home from point blank range.

The United team was crying out for leadership and an old head to drive them on, but there was none. Odubade fluffed a one-on-one with Potter, and it really was over when Long played the ball forward to Boylan, he cut inside and went for goal, and despite the attentions of both Coulson and Tonkin, who both had opportunities to clear the danger, he bundled past the pair of blue-shirted bunglers to sidefoot home past Potter. A wretched goal that truly was the icing on the cack.

With half an hour still to go the amber army feared a truly embarrassing beating. Parkinson replaced a woeful Willmott, then burst clear with a good chance to pull one back, but blazed horribly over the top. But Stevenage began to relax and the game settled down to a more sedate pace. In a bizarre substitution Coakley replaced Pitt on the left wing, but three minutes from time United's misery was complete when Saah tried one of his trademark dribbles out of defence, was dispossessed all too easily, chased back and clumsily brought down Long in an effort to atone for his mistake. It meant a second yellow card and inevitable dismissal for the stand-in skipper.

The clubs' last six meetings had now each yielded a sending-off, three apiece, and United had not won on New Year's Day since 1991. The final whistle brought a welcome curtain down on a disastrous holiday period for a team which had now won just three of its last fifteen league matches.

Ling had to be honest: "It was men against boys. I've just explained that to them in there. All right, we're missing some seniors but it looked like they wanted it more than us, which is a hard thing a manager wants to say because I can't see there's any reason for that. The timing of the second goal killed us. We spoke at half-time about showing people what we're about and showing people that we can still be a force in this league, and then we crumbled in the second half; maybe we were lucky to only have two put past us in the second half.

"We talk about football matches being won in both boxes and that's never going to change. In our box they looked a danger at all times, and we only looked a danger on some like where Danny scored. A few of the younger players and the seniors as well have had their eyes opened today because that's the level they need to get to to be successful. I know where I'm going because I'm in this for the long haul. If people want to come with me then they need to show more than they're doing at the moment. I'm not going to try and put positive slants on this afternoon because it just wasn't good."

At least there was some positive news to report from the Abbey the next day, when the mercurial CRC side went top of the Ridgeons League after a 5-0 battering of Haverhill Rovers, Marriott leading the way with two goals and the others coming from Patrick, Berry and Finch. They were a point ahead of Needham Market with two games in hand.

January meant time for the publication of the annual accounts of Cambridge United Football Club Limited for the financial year ended 31st May 2009. There was no doubting the message in Paul Barry's Directors' Report therein:

"On the directors front, there have been well publicized changes in directors in 2008 and 2009. These changes and public statements do nothing but harm the football club. Changes are inevitable, however the publicity is not. That publicity causes unrest behind the scenes and certainly seeps into the playing side which ultimately affects the bottom line of the business. Rarely does a football team achieve success with such backroom unrest. In 2008-9 we had three separate Chairmen with changes made abruptly and none in pleasant circumstances. The current Board's wish and goal is that any future changes made are gradual and planned in nature."

Barry revealed "To improve income in 2008-9 the Board made a decision to trial its commercial revenue generation to a third party, Trade Recruitment, an affiliated business of a director. That trial quickly was seen to be not working and was terminated in January of 2009. Dedicated staff was then hired in the same role. The tea bars were similarly outsourced for a fixed fee to a third party (and one with relations to a director). The bars inside the Harris Suite and catering were outsourced to a third party. That decision has proved unsatisfactory and we have now moved to a new catering company."

He continued "On the financial side the season began with a windfall bonus on a sell-on buyout of David Kitson, along with the sale of Michael Morrison. This windfall allowed the pressure to be taken off reducing expenses and improving commercial income. The Board chased the dream of a return to the Football League by supporting the playing side with its windfall. That gamble failed and the cash has been spent. Organizationally the Board never had up to date financial information, or information on debtors and creditors. This poor method of fiscal management is not acceptable with expenses allowed to go unchecked and debts allowed to accrue.

"It should be noted that many of the promoted teams over the last few years have not been the highest spenders in this League. However, one item [that] has stood out is their stability. After the much publicized spats of the Boardroom in August of this year, the Board has set its responsibility to keep expenses in check, especially on the playing side. With a vastly reduced budget, Martin Ling has been hired to a three year contract, to over achieve on the football front, but on a set and limited budget."

Barry concluded "Our continued financial challenge is enhanced this year by declining TV revenues with Setanta failing, increased rent from our landlords, accumulation of bad debts and the unravelling of poor business contracts from the past. The Board is committed to changing the landscape and to allow the football side to achieve. This cannot happen this year, as in the past, without directors' financial input or another substantial windfall gain."

The audited figures showed a net loss for the year of £85,458 compared to a loss of £277,795 in 2008, against turnover increased from £1.878m to £2.14m. A large contribution towards that was transfer fees received of £575k (£180k in 2008) while commercial and catering revenue had declined from £418k to £296k. Media fees were up from £27k to £93k. Playing costs had risen slightly from £1.082m to £1.167m, as had transfer fees paid (£49.5k to ££52.8k) but matchday, commercial and catering, and administration costs had all been reduced, albeit ground costs had gone up. There was a new 'provision for bad debts' of £55,008. And so to 'Transactions with Directors'…

During the year the company had received loans of £50,000 each from Paul Barry and Adrian Hanauer, subsequently converted to shares along with £90k from Barry brought forward from the previous year. Barry had also personally guaranteed a loan of £100k from Marstons, which was repayable in monthly instalments over ten years.

But what about those bad debts? Part of that was explained under the heading 'J Hon': "The company has provided for a bad debt of £22,950 relating to Global Jinling Group, a company of which J Hon was a director when the income was recognised in the year ended 31 May 2007. "

And under the heading 'George Rolls':

"George Rolls is a director and major shareholder of Trade Recruitment Limited and is also a major shareholder of Trade Recruitment (Eastern) Limited. On 1 May 2008 the Club entered into a 5 year agreement with Trade Recruitment for naming rights to the stadium for an agreed sum of £48,000 per annum. Invoices totalling £32,000 were raised in the period of which £7,000 was paid. The balance was offset against amounts owed to Trade Recruitment for commercial services. At 31 May 2009, £16,000 remained uninvoiced. This amount was included as a debtor at 31 May 2009 but subsequent communications with Trade Recruitment indicated that the debtor would not be recoverable and a provision for this amount was therefore included in bad debts in the accounts. The naming rights agreement was terminated by mutual agreement after the year end.

"In 2008 Trade Recruitment also entered into an agreement to provide commercial services to the Club. Under this agreement Trade Recruitment was entitled to charge amounts to the Club based on levels of sponsorship and advertising income generated for the Club. During the period Trade Recruitment invoiced £21,000 (excluding VAT) to the Club in respect of this agreement. This amount was partly offset against monies due from Trade Recruitment relating to stadium naming rights. The outstanding balance of £7.567 was settled by issuing shares in the Club to this value. The shares were issued to George Rolls personally and not to Trade Recruitment."

It is the summer months which are known in the media as the silly season, but they seemed to have arrived early with some enquiries for United players which bordered on the laughable. George Rolls, now chairman of a cash-strapped Weymouth bumping along a distant bottom of Conference South, faxed over a cash offer for Danny Crow which was rejected out of hand. He said "It helps knowing a few of the lads at Cambridge and I'm sure we'll be looking to bring in some of them on loan during the window."

Then 'temporary' Histon manager Alan Lewer expressed an interest, apparently with a straight face, in taking Gleeson, Willmott and Beesley to the Glass World on loan with a view to permanent transfers. "I've tried to get hold of Paul Carden and Jez George, so now I'm waiting for them to get back to me," he trilled hopefully. New chairman Tony Roach had described Histon as "the biggest club in Cambridge" (perhaps he meant in terms of debt?) despite their having suddenly shown three of their most loyal and experienced players the door a few weeks previously in order to save money.

Needless to say Lewer and Rolls had more chance of winning 'The X-Factor' than completing those transfers, but some deals did go through. Jon Challinor made his move to Mansfield permanent and Jez George said of the versatile midfield man "Jon was a victim of circumstance. He's a great professional and always conducted himself in an exemplary fashion, so we wish him all the best for the future."

Anthony Tonkin was next to go, the best left-back in the league signing for Oxford United for an undisclosed fee. Said George "Anthony Tonkin is desperate to get back playing in the Football League as soon as possible. Being out of contract at the end of the season he could have left for no fee during the summer. At thirty years of age he felt this was an opportunity too good to turn down at this stage of his career. Although we are all sad to see him go, it's a move in the best interests of everybody concerned."



Then it was announced that United had agreed a deal with League of Ireland side Dundalk to take Wayne Hatswell as player-coach. George explained "Wayne made us aware of the approach from Dundalk and we recognise at this stage of his career this is a fantastic opportunity for him to take the first steps into coaching and it would be wrong of us to stand in his way. Wayne has been a model professional during his time at the Club and we wish him all the best in the start of his coaching career.

"Dundalk have jumped the gun in announcing the deal on their website because at present he remains our player. However, we have agreed to release him from his contract to coincide with the start of his commitments in Ireland [they have a summer football season] or once we have secured the services of a suitable replacement.

"We have already identified a couple of targets and negotiations are ongoing in this respect. It wasn't anticipated that we would be in the position to bring any players in until the summer but due to recent circumstances it has enabled Martin to start the process of building his squad for next season."

Dan Gleeson would be missing for four weeks after undergoing surgery for the broken nose he suffered at Mansfield. With such a depletion of the squad it was perhaps a blessing that United's home second-round FA Trophy tie with Eastbourne due on the 9th was postponed 48 hours early, with the pitch frozen and covered in snow, and no functional tea bar or toilet facilities around the terraces due to frozen water pipes.

There was no improvement in the bleak mid-winter weather and the rearranged Trophy match was duly called off again on the following Tuesday for the same reasons. It was re-rearranged for Tuesday 19th, taking precedence over a scheduled away league game at Kettering. The coming Saturday's league opponents at the Abbey, funnily enough, would be… Eastbourne, giving them two trips to the Wembley of the Fens in four days.

On the Monday Ling signed his replacement left-back in the shape of Aiden Palmer. He had been known to the U's manager since coming through the youth ranks at Leyton Orient in the same team as Brian Saah, but had recently lost his way, serving a seven-month jail term for violent disorder during a London gang incident for which his brother had received a much more severe sentence. He had been most recently on non-contract terms at Bishop's Stortford.

Ling said "I have known Aiden since he was 14 years old, he's a good lad and I know will do a job for us. Obviously he's had his problems recently and now realises this is an opportunity he needs to take… I feel he can do a job at Cambridge United and be a good replacement for Tonkin. He's signed a contract until the end of the season and, like everyone else, he has the chance to impress me for the remainder of the season to be part of my plans for the future."

Said Palmer "I am looking forward to making a fresh start at Cambridge United. I am very grateful to Martin for giving me this chance to get back into professional football and am looking to grab the opportunity with both hands."

Next came news of another departure, albeit delayed until 13th February, when club secretary Wayne Purser announced "Over the past few weeks it has become apparent to me that the increased workload in the office administration and responsibilities with the consequent additional time it takes, would make it difficult for me to commit to these additional roles and still enjoy a family life.

"It is with this in mind that I believe it to be in the best interests of the football club that I stand down from my position as Secretary to allow a replacement to be found who has the time to commit and who is more suitably located nearer to the Cambridge area. I believe that this is the right decision for all parties and one that can hopefully take the Club in the right direction in achieving its dream of a return to the Football League.

"It is with a sad heart that I leave a wonderful football club with fantastic supporters and the decision was understandably a difficult one to make. There are some truly great people at the Club as well as some great characters that I have had the pleasure to meet over the last three and a half years."

Paul Barry commented "Wayne joined us during some difficult times and has always maintained a strong work ethic and a helpful disposition. He has always been available to help with his inside knowledge of the football administration side of the business. I will miss him, as will his colleagues and the many fans he had befriended over the years."

Ben Farrell was also on his way, to Grays Athletic on loan for a month. Ling stated "Ben doesn't really figure in my future plans for the Club. I see him behind Paul Carden, Sam Ives, Jai Reason and even Rory McAuley in the pecking order. Any move had to be at the right level and this is a good opportunity for him to get some minutes under his belt and showcase himself."


Saturday 16th January 2010: U's 0-1 Eastbourne Borough (Blue Square Premier - Att. 2,969, away 14)
Goal: Taylor 55

The winter at last relented, and after some sterling work from Team Darler, United were able to play their first game since New Year's Day. With an entire back four missing (Gleeson injured, Saah and Hatswell suspended, Tonkin gone) an untried line-up of McAuley, Coulson and debutants Blaine Hudson and Aiden Palmer made up the defence, but at least Carden was fit again to replace Reason and Pitt was dropped in favour of Parkinson, Willmott switching to the left.

Eastbourne's playing squad outnumbered their travelling support and they arrived on the back of a run of 16 league matches without a win. A home banker, then…

It was still chilly, but only Crow sported gloves to go with his short-sleeved shirt, and Palmer marked his debut with a booking within 58 seconds for taking away Matt Crabb's legs with a tackle borne more of nerves and adrenalin than any malice. Creditably, it did not seem to affect his game and he went on to enjoy a decent match.

The first half was, predictably, less than scintillating, although the makeshift defence did well enough, and the best chances came right at the end, Sam Ives having a close-range shot scrambled off the line by a combination of goalkeeper and defender, then from the ensuing corner McAuley's shot was also cleared off the line by Ben Austin.

The inimitable Danny Brown came on as sub for the visitors after the interval, and Holroyd found the side netting with a snap shot, but just as United were starting to get up a head of steam they fell behind when Marc Pullan flicked a corner on to the unmarked Jamie Taylor, who nodded home at the far post.

Thereafter the hosts had almost all of the play, but looked severely lacking in inspiration and creativity and rarely tested the keeper with some pretty wild shooting. They sank limply to a fourth consecutive defeat, and their first ever to Eastbourne, with the performances of the younger players the only plus to take from an utterly forgettable afternoon.

Ling groaned "It was painful to watch, another bad day at the office. We had a couple of chances towards the end of the first half, they got a set play goal, and did we really work their keeper after that?

"When things aren't going your way you tend to overanalyse and be over-critical, but it wasn't good enough because we lost and they hadn't won for fifteen games. It's disappointing. We are in a rut and we need to stick together. I've been in these type of ruts before and the only way you get through it is sticking together as a group."

The gaffer asked for patience: "You make a decision on me when I'm finished at the club. It's not good enough at the moment and I've said that and I've said it openly and I can understand the booing. We're playing a struggling team in Eastbourne and they've beat us on our own patch. You expect boos and you'd get that at any football club in the country after a bad result, so you've just got to take it on the chin and move on."

On Tuesday's Trophy rematch: "The Trophy is a realistic prospect for us, because if you're honest you have to say the league season is drifting away. So it's an important game, and we need a win to keep everyone's peckers up and build some confidence."

Man of the match Palmer added "You can understand how upset the fans were at the end and so are all of the lads in the dressing room. We have a point to prove and we need to show the fans what this team is really about and beat Eastbourne. We are a better team than them and we need to prove that and with them returning so quickly we have every motivation to do just that, not only for ourselves but also for the fans."

Ben Farrell's loan at Grays fell though at the last minute, so he tumbled into the welcoming arms of George Rolls instead with a loan to Weymouth until the end of the season.


Tuesday 19th January 2010: U's 2-2 Eastbourne Borough (FA Trophy 2nd Round - Att. 913, away 14)
Goals: Crow 37 (pen), 85 (pen) / Taylor 15, Crow o.g. 35

Ling rang the changes for Round 2, going to 4-3-3 with Willmott switching from winger to third striker, Reason in for Parkinson, Coakley replacing the cup-tied Palmer, and the experience of Saah and Hatswell restored to the centre of defence in place of Coulson and Hudson. Eastbourne made one injury-enforced change, Andy Atkin in for Joe Benjamin, and there did not appear to be any change in the visitors' away fan contingent, an intrepid 14 again. The home support was, however, over 2,000 down on Saturday.

United started full of pace and positivity, testing Boro keeper Knowles, but the visitors inevitably took the lead with their first attack of the match, the weekend's scorer Taylor controlling a cross in the D and rifling low past several bodies into the bottom corner past a presumably unsighted Potter.

The hosts continued to take the game to the opposition, Willmott crashing a power shot against the bar, but Eastbourne repeated the dose against the run of play when Crabb lofted a free-kick into the box from deep and Danny Crow rose to flick a deft header over everyone and into the far corner for a precision own goal. Would this torment never end?

Crow atoned, however, a couple of minutes later when his buccaneering run into the area was halted by Neil Jenkins for a stone-cold penalty, and he wrong-footed the keeper to slide home for 2-1. United continued to press stylishly with movement and pace, although they looked a little vulnerable at the back with the rusty returning centre-halves resembling a couple of elderly tortoises awakening slowly from hibernation.

On 37 Crow beat the offside trap to go clear on goal, but his cheeky early chip sailed wide, and a dominant United went into the break wondering how they were still one down. They failed initially to take their momentum into the second half, and Saah and Hatswell almost handed Boro a comedy third goal when they collided and landed in a heap as the ball ran for an unmarked Enver-Marum fifteen yards out, but Potter got a hand to his tentative shot and McAuley cleared up to give United a bigger let-off than a flatulent elephant.

United continued to press but foundered on the rocks of the visitors' staunch defence, and Taylor fired wide on the break. Beesley replaced Ives and Willmott moved into midfield, then on came Marriott and Beesley dropped deep, and the CRC top scorer had a close-range shot from a corner pawed off the line by Knowles.

Then at last came the breakthrough. Elphick hauled down Saah in a melee from another corner and up stepped Crow to send Knowles the wrong way from the spot again and complete the most bizarre of hat-tricks.

The U's went for the kill and in an extraordinary, breathless finish both sides had a chance to win it. First Knowles blocked heroically from McAuley following a quick break from Beesley, then Matt Crabb broke away for the visitors and found both his brother Nathan and Enver-Marum unmarked at the far post, but somehow they got in each other's way and Crabb Jr scuffed hopelessly wide from six yards out.

The draw meant a replay next Tuesday, replacing the rescheduled game with Oxford postponed from December. Ling gasped "I think they went into our half five times in the first half and scored two goals. We went into their box I don't know how many times and only got the penalty. You keep looking at it and saying am I seeing a good performance, and I think we were dominating the game when we were 2-0 down. We got the penalty, and though there was a lull of about 20 minutes in the second half, we came on strong again and some of the saves their keeper made were unbelievable, especially the one from Rory where he saved it from six yards near the end.

"But we got the draw after being two down and showed a bit of character, and you have to take small mercies after four defeats on the spin. I just wish Wayne Purser all the best sorting out all these rearranged games! I'm desperate to stay in the Trophy, as it's a competition that has a big reward at the end in the form of a Wembley final."

Ling had nothing to say about transfer speculation concerning top scorer Holroyd, but revealed that he was talking to three prospective replacements for Hatswell, one of which was Oxford United's Luke Foster.

There were more complications for Purser when it transpired that Histon had been accused of playing an ineligible player in their first-round win over Maidstone the same night. A Trophy sub-committee would convene to investigate on Monday 25th, which meant that the scheduled second round tie between Histon and Salisbury due the following night would have to be postponed, and so the third round tie between the winners of that and the winners of United versus Eastbourne due to be played on the 30th would now have to be put back until 2nd February (the due date of the rescheduled Oxford game)… unless there was a replay in the tie under protest. I hope you got all that, there will be questions later. Basically, United would end up without a game on the last Saturday of January.


Wednesday 20th January 2010: Bury Town 0-3 U's (Friendly - Att. 122)
Goals: Hudson 20, Phillips 49, 52

The next evening United fielded a mix-and-match side on a freezing cold night to give their Suffolk neighbours some match practice after two and half weeks without a game. The team was mainly made up of CRC players, enhanced with Coulson, Walker and Phillips, the latter returning from injury.

Hudson comfortably beat the home keeper to head home the opening goal from a corner, then Chris Tonks made an early injury-enforced exit and was replaced by Beesley, Marriott dropping back into midfield.

16-year-old James Brighton showed his promise with a thunderous 25-yarder which almost broke the bar, and Phillips sealed the result with two quick goals at the start of the second half, the first a close-range toe-poke after good work by Marriott and Eades, the second more or less ricocheting into the net off his shin as a result of a fiercely driven left-wing cross from Brighton.

Coulson and Hudson looked a safe, assured combination at the back, Phillips got a good runout although rustiness saw him caught offside regularly, and Marriott was United's most potent threat until he went off. The only U's men who played the full 90 minutes were Coulson, Eades, Patrick and Luke Berry. Bury went to become champions of the Midlands Division of the Zamaretto (Southern) League with 102 points, and switched leagues to be promoted to the Ryman League Premier, one level below Conference South.

There was more transfer activity before the weekend. Ahead of Saturday's encounter with York City the two clubs agreed a season-long swap deal involving Courtney Pitt and Simon Russell. Ling revealed: "Courtney has been a great servant to Cambridge United but isn't in my plans for the future. This deal has given me the opportunity again to shuffle the pack and freshen things up.

"Simon is a versatile player who can play on either wing or as part of the midfield three. He is a good technical footballer and will be here with us until the end of the season to prove he is worthy of a contract beyond that, and Courtney will be doing the same at York."

United also accepted an offer from Brighton & Hove Albion (undisclosed at the Seagulls' request) for Chris Holroyd, which would involve additional appearance-based payments. Holroyd travelled to the South coast on the Saturday for a medical. Jez George explained "We have negotiated with Brighton what we feel is a good price for the services of Chris Holroyd. It's a great opportunity for Chris to go into League One football. We want to maintain our reputation as a club which helps to develop young talent and progress their careers to a highest possible level. We wish Chris all the best for the future and thank him for his commitment and hard work during his time at the club."


Saturday 23rd January 2010: U's 0-1 York City (Blue Square Premier - Att. 2,646, away 295)
Goal: Barrett 48

United's FA Cup conquerors arrived back at the Abbey looking to extend a newly-created club record of eight consecutive league wins. Ling stuck with Tuesday's 4-3-3, although Phillips had to replace Holroyd up front, and Palmer returned at left-back.

The hosts made a bright start but were unable to trouble visiting keeper Ingham and could not cap some decent build-up play with a cutting edge up front. Best chances came for Willmott when he burst down the middle but had his shot tipped around the post, and for Carden, who blasted narrowly wide from distance. But the biggest cheer of the half was reserved for the yellow card shown to accident-prone York hitman Richard Brodie for a lunge at Willmott then continuing to argue with the ref when penalised.

But United paid for failing to score when they had been on top shortly after the break when Rankine set up an unmarked Neil Barrett to lash powerfully home from the D. They continued to toil but looked distinctly shot-shy and on 65 went to 4-4-2 with Parkinson replacing Ives. Brodie dived shamelessly in the area and was soon withdrawn, and Phillips headed a good chance the wrong side of the post before being replaced by Marriott.

Hatswell spent the last few minutes as an auxiliary attacker, desperate to score in his farewell appearance, but it was not to be. At the end he received a heartfelt ovation from the amber army and hugged everyone from both teams before applauding every side of the ground in turn. Thanks for the memories, big man.

Net result, however, of a decent but toothless performance was a fifth consecutive league defeat as they sank to 14th in the table with the growing threat over their heads of losing the six points they had gained from Chester as the likelihood of their expulsion grew ever larger.

Ling rued "You can criticise them for not winning the game, for missing chances, and perhaps you can criticise Rory on the goal for putting it out for a throw instead of just knocking it down the line. But you're talking small criticisms, and I can't criticise them today in terms of effort or endeavour, but at the moment the results are not following so it's frustrating, the most frustrating period I've had since being a manager. We need to find the answers and find them quickly."

York boss Martin Foyle was supportive: "Martin Ling has been a good friend of mine for a number of years and we did speak about it the other day and I said to him if you want to use me do so because I was in the same predicament last season. You have to clear out what at the club is not good enough for the Conference level. I know that when he took over he couldn't play certain personnel and that is a bad start to a manager coming in to any club. You want to give everybody a fresh slate to work off; he hasn't had that and I feel for him.

"The board need to stick by him to get to the end of the season and then he can do what he needs to do to put things on track in the summer... Cambridge have been close the last two years but it seems that that was based on a financial plan that didn't add up and Martin has to live with the consequences of that. But patience is the key on the terraces and in the boardroom and I have no doubt Martin will get things right."

Simon Russell was already talking like a CUFC player: "No disrespect to York but I've watched a lot of them this season and the way today's game went seems to be the story of their season. You make your own luck and the luck has definitely been with them. Another deflected goal goes in and it's backs to the wall and another three points."

Hatswell had some heartfelt last words. "Obviously it was a bit emotional for me out there because not only am I leaving a club I've loved playing for, it's the end of an era for me as I'm stepping over the touchline into coaching. But at least my last game was at home so I got the chance to say thank you to the fans who have been brilliant to me since the first day I set foot at the ground. I look back and can only think what might have been. We came so close to going up and I feel annoyed that we didn't deliver that for the fans last year. We were the best team in the league and know we should have won it but it wasn't to be. I think the fans know we did all we could last season and I think that was mirrored in the reception they gave me in the end.

"It was really good of the fans and I thought as I was coming off that I was going to go and start crying. I'll admit that I was very close to it as I headed down the tunnel. All the lads I have played with have been top drawer with me and I've loved every minute of my time here. The Club as a whole has made my time here so enjoyable and I'll never forget my time here. On a personal note I wanted to leave here with my head held high and I feel I can do that. It would be nice to come back and be remembered by the fans as what I did for the Club."

From Africa came news that former U's manager Herve Renard had sprung a surprise in leading outsiders Zambia to the top of their qualifying group in the African Nations Cup and a quarter-final with Nigeria. Allez Chipolopolo!

Holroyd's move to Brighton was on hold as he had still not agreed personal terms. His agent remained in talks and the player returned to the United squad for the time being.

Hatswell's replacement arrived, and he had come the opposite way, from Ireland. David Partridge was an experienced Welsh international who had most recently been playing for St Patrick's Athletic... and had once played on loan at Orient under Ling. He declared "I'm here to help get Cambridge United back into the Football League. I've played under Martin Ling before and know what a good manager he is."

Histon's expulsion from the FA Trophy was confirmed, meaning that Maidstone would be going to Salisbury on the Saturday and the winners would face either Eastbourne or the Mighty U's.

The Club's Annual General Meeting took place on the 25th and it was announced that former Histon chairman Gareth Baldwin would be working with the Board, with an open invitation to join the Board once the matter of his HFC shareholding had been resolved; with 115,000 shares, he owned 18.6% of Histon's issued share capital.

The Marstons loan had now been repaid, half as a loan from Barry and half from Greene King, and the Club was now debt free with the exception of Directors' loans. There had been no talks between the Club and landlords Bideawhile 445 Ltd for the last three months. The Board did not wish to discuss the managerial shenanigans of the summer.

Barry spoke to the Cambridge News about his stake in the Club and was quoted: "I have limited resources and cannot put the club ahead of my family's future. I have and will support the club if the atmosphere is a positive one around the club. If someone wishes to bring to the Board a business plan and investment, then the Board should consider any proposal that will make Cambridge United stronger. If that best interest of the club involved me selling some, or all, of my shares, I'd consider it." And of Adrian Hanauer, he said "Adrian has helped out and has more than lived up to his commitment. He's a passionate supporter, investor and general manager of Seattle Sounders, so it shouldn't be expected that his support will be unending."


Tuesday 26th January 2010: Eastbourne Borough 0-2 U's (FA Trophy 2nd Round Replay - Att. 525, away c. 80)
Goals: Ives 13, Reason 55

Ling kept patience with 4-3-3 and recalled Holroyd in place of Willmott while his move to Brighton remained on hold. Coulson came in for Hatswell and Coakley was back for the cup-tied Palmer.

On the chilliest of chilly nights in front of an understandably sparse crowd, United took the lead somewhat against the run of play when Crow pulled the ball back for the inrushing Ives to smack into the top corner. Potter foiled the hosts' best chance when Nathan Crabb beat the offside trap to sprint clear but the U's number one dived to push his shot around the post.

Another early goal in the second half put the visitors in the driving seat. A neat build-up saw McAuley provide a pinpoint cross for another buccaneering midfielder, Reason, to guide his header into the far corner. Thereafter it was all about staying in control and seeing the game out, and United accomplished that with a degree of comfort, with Coulson and Coakley distinguishing themselves at the back.

Ling beamed "It's good to be able to move forward after a run of defeats. We got our noses in front and we did well moving forward to score. We can look forward to next Tuesday, though whether it will be in the league or cup we don't know yet. Having three up front gave us more of a cutting edge. It let us break forward quicker so it was productive for us today. I've used the system previously and will do again if it's right, but we'll use 4-4-2 if it's needed."

Of Holroyd, Ling advised "The deal is currently stalled. He's still contracted to us, he trained with us on Monday and he trained very well. As with all deals it needs three parties to agree to it: two clubs and a player. He's our player until we're told otherwise."

Later in the week came the launch of United's new Youth & Community Trust. Jez George advised that he would be embarking on another sponsored walk - this time some 400 miles - from Wrexham to Wembley via York, Mansfield, Rushden, Luton and Oxford, to highlight the fundamentally iniquitous funding system for youth football in this country.

On the Friday, Chris Holroyd finally finalised his move to Brighton, signing an eighteen-month contract after scoring 16 goals in 30 starts for the U' s this season.

Come United's free Saturday, the managerial duo covered both bases. Ling went to Salisbury versus Maidstone, which if it yielded a winner would produce United's opponents for Tuesday, and Carden went to Oxford against Chelmsford as the 'other' U's would be our opponents in a league match if the Salisbury game went to a replay. As it turned out, Salisbury prevailed 2-0 and would visit the Abbey in three days' time. A home tie with either Guiseley or Tamworth awaited the victors.

End of month position: 14th

Andrew Bennett

Cambridge United: YOUR CITY - YOUR CLUB

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