Andrew Bennett reviews last season.

April 2010: "I didn't think it was rubbish."

Saturday 3rd April 2010: Gateshead 2-0 U's (Blue Square Premier - Att. 841, away 264)
Goals: Clare 38, 83 (pen)

Easter Saturday brought a journey into the unknown with a first-ever visit to Gateshead's International Athletic Stadium, a strange experience for the average football follower with the entire crowd (if 841 constitutes a 'crowd') housed in one vast stand and the remaining three sides of uncovered seats left empty, all miles from the pitch with a running track in between. The main stand's steep rake did command an impressive view of Gateshead although as far as architectural splendour goes, the town is more Sunday Pub League Division 5B than Conference.

After Tuesday's letdown the manager rang the changes, dropping Phillips, Reason, Murray and Coulson and bringing in Willock, McAuley, Russell and Palmer, with Partridge moving to centre-back. Gateshead were basing their survival bid on a strong home record, having won their last three, although it was only three weeks since they had been mauled 8-0 at Rushden.

The weather was dull and grey and so was the football, with little to get excited about from either side. In a turgid match devoid of tempo, passion or any pattern, the hosts' system could best described as hit-and-hope while United, despite fielding two wide men in a 4-4-2, insisted on pumping almost everything down the middle to target man Willock, who did his best but was unable to flick anything of use to his partner Crow.

A goal finally arrived to interrupt everyone from their mobile phones and gentle snoozing when Andy Ferrell lofted a free-kick into the box, it was half-cleared then headed back in, and the ball found its way to Daryl Clare, left totally unmarked near the far post. As the United defenders dashed across to cover, he coolly controlled, evading two lunging attempted tackles, then lashed home from eight yards past the exposed Brown and Roberts on the line.

After a deeply uninspiring first half, the amber hordes could only hope that their heroes might resemble a football team in part two rather than a random collection of hungover blokes who had just turned up for a half-paced kickabout on a Sunday morning. The rain began to teem down and United at least began to create some half-chances, albeit nothing to really quicken the blood, then Murray came on for Neilson and Phillips replaced Willock and the midfield lumped aimless high balls towards him instead.

Ling made further changes with twenty minutes to go, replacing Russell with Marriott and going to 4-3-3, then disaster struck when Roberts was stretchered off with an ankle injury and, having used all their subs, the formation was forced to become 3-3-3. And on 79 came United's best chance by far when Palmer made a passable impression of Patrice Evra with a buccaneering, mazy run from deep on the left, eventually cutting it back for Murray to fire a low fizzer goalward which Farman did well to dive and block. Palmer was first to the rebound, and with the whole goal at his mercy, blazed wildly high and wide with his swinger. It was a horrendous miss that was to cost his side the match.

Within three minutes the visitors were two down, as a cross from Andy Parkinson (remember him?) was handled by McAuley, and Clare sent Brown the wrong way from the penalty spot. United gave up to finish off a truly wretched performance; that unbeaten run suddenly seemed like a distant memory.

A displeased Ling summarised "I made four changes from the other day as I felt we needed to freshen up. It wasn't good enough the other day and it wasn't good enough today either. We had a little spell at the start but I look at a goalkeeper's work and although our keeper's had nothing to do, their keeper's only worked once. Aiden missing an open goal probably changed the game but I think the best team won, and I've said that over the last two games. I said I didn't want the season to die out like a damp squib and that's the way it's going at the moment. I won't be resting on my laurels when we've still got five games to go. We go again on Monday and there'll be some changes again."

Simon Russell could only agree: "It's a massive disappointment, to be honest, the performance wasn't that much better than Kidderminster on Tuesday. You could possibly pick out one or two individual performances from the game and that is not good enough as a team as I'm sure was plain for all to see. We've spoken about it in the dressing room about coming to places like this, that are different from normal grounds. Teams like Gateshead are battling for their lives and these are hard places to come. We had to be up for the battle and the ugly side of the game and just did not do that well enough and in the end got what the performance deserved."

Ling looked back, then forward: "What I've learnt in this league is that you come to some difficult places: here, Hayes, Grays, and probably ten to twelve places where you go and players have to be self-driven, and they need to be if they want to come through with me next year. I need some men in there who are going to turn it round when it's not going quite right, and I'll keep it changing it round until I get the right combination and I've got that opportunity in the summer. There are only a few of them under contract so I can put things right. That's not a threat, but I want to find out the players that want to come forward with me. It's a good position for me to be in, I'll be here next year so I need to make sure that the players are right to come through with me next year. There are some in that team who will come through with me, there's no doubt about it, but there'll be some that don't because of what they've done in recent times.

"We're not mathematically safe but deep down everybody knows that we are, but it's about self pride, self discipline and self motivation that you need when you come to difficult places in the Conference and that's what I need to be seeing."


Monday 5th April 2010: U's 3-2 Mansfield Town (Blue Square Premier - Att. 2,823, away 225)
Goals: Coulson 25, Phillips 50, Crow 90 (pen) / Speight 26, Nix 56

As promised, Ling made more changes, with Willock and Palmer dropped in favour of Phillips and Coulson, Partridge moving again to left-back, McAuley dropping back to replace the injured Roberts, whose season was over, and Reason coming into midfield. Danny Potter made a long-awaited return to the bench.

Expectations were low for a contest between teams placed 13th and 8th in the table, Mansfield's bid for the playoffs all but over, but the United players responded positively to their manager's recent and justified criticism with a positive and energetic start, and a lively and keenly contested encounter ensued.

United took a welcome lead with their first goal in three games when Reason's free-kick found Coulson rising well above everyone else as if on a gigantic pogo stick to power a tremendous header home for his second goal of the season. Amber joy, however, was short-lived as Mansfield equalised practically from the restart: Andy Burgess' attempt at a through ball bounced off McAuley's foot and fell perfectly for Jake Speight to burst between the United right-back and Coulson and place a brilliant precision chip past Brown and into the top left corner from the edge of the box.

The teams continued to probe and press each other, a competitive but never dirty match punctuated by injury stoppages, and United came close again when Russell fizzed a shot just wide and Crow clipped the top of the bar with a chip just before the interval.

The pace did not slacken after the break and the U's soon retook the lead. Russell was the instigator with a perceptive ball slid through to send Crow flying down the left; he cut inside and curled what looked like a shot goalward from an acute angle, and there was Phillips barging through the middle like a runaway bulldozer to bundle it home with his head from a couple of yards out to double his tally for the season.

They managed to hold on to their lead for all of six minutes this time. There was a degree of fortune in the second equaliser: a corner was cleared to Kyle Nix in the D, he sent a bouncing, hopeful shot-cum-pass back into the box, and when Kyle Perry threw himself at it but missed, Brown was sufficiently confused to allow the ball to hop gaily past him like an Easter bunny heading for its burrow and into the net.

The drama was only just beginning. On the hour Partridge's lack of pace was exposed and his clumsy barge on Speight brought him his second yellow card of the day. A ban and subsequent broken bone in his arm in training meant no more football for him this season. Neilson was sacrificed for Palmer and United adjusted to 4-3-2. To United's credit, there was no great change in the pattern of the game as everyone worked hard to match the eleven men of Mansfield.

A series of half-chances followed, and Brown did well to catch Nix's lob with a Schmeichelesque star jump, and as the closing minutes drew on, certain Mansfield players seemed to have difficulty in keeping their feet, particularly when they were near the United penalty area with a home defender close behind them, and they were awarded a series of soft free-kicks from which they failed to profit.

In the last minute, however, the drama switched to the other end, and it involved a former U's player. Good work by Crow on the left culminated in a cross towards Phillips in the box, Jon Challinor challenged clumsily for the bouncing ball and instead made contact with Phillips, felling him for a penalty. JC was booked, Crow stepped up and placed the spot-kick carefully under Marriott's dive and into the bottom left corner.

The winner? Maybe. Five minutes into added time a ball into a crowded home box found a Stags head but Brown easily gathered as it was bouncing wide. Meanwhile, however, Saah and Perry were having a pushing and pulling match as they tried to regain their feet to resume play, ref Burt saw only the last phase of their tussle and awarded the harshest of penalties against the U's number five, booking him in the process. Jon Shaw stepped up to take it, and with cool, deliberate precision, slid it low and wide of the left-hand post.

Joy was unconfined on three sides of the Abbey, once they had got their breath back, and McAuley celebrated so hard we was booked for his pains. The ten men had ground out a dramatic and famous victory. Not bad for a meaningless end-of-season mid-table match.

Happy Easter bunny Ling said "It was an exciting game which had everything really. We got our noses in front twice but threw it away very quickly. The sending-off was the right decision I think, it was two bookings. Cheap bookings, but they were bookings.

Then the penalty for us - I can't really see what happened - and then an absolutely ridiculous decision for their penalty. Their player pushed Brian to help himself up and Brian's trying to help himself up and then before you know it he's given a penalty. We scored and they missed so we take the three points and now we're mathematically safe. I've just noticed that we're eleventh in the league so a top half finish is still possible.

"Over the last two games at Kidderminster and Gateshead it hasn't been good enough, but I think that we played with a purpose today. I keep going on about passing with purpose and I feel that all through the game we had a cutting edge to us, even with ten men. The front men of Crow and Phillips were always a thorn in their side and the two wide boys in the first half were ably assisted by the full-backs. To be honest I thought we edged the game all the way through it and it was nice to get the win."

The cool Mr Crow revealed "Nerves didn't come into it when taking the penalty. I'll admit I was a bit tired after the extra work I put in when we went down to ten men and didn't connect with the penalty as well as I wanted but it had enough on it to go in. I was confident I was going to score with the form I'm in. I feel with every game I play I'm going to score. It was nice to score in front of their fans, too. They had started giving me some stick about being an ex-Notts County player. They can of course say what they want as long as they don't mind me scoring the winner against them. It's the best way to deal with it.

"I think the decision to give them that penalty in the dying seconds was a mistake, it was the worst decision that I've seen in my career. Whether he was trying to even things up, I don't know. I asked one of their lads who Jon Shaw was and he's played in the Premier League, so I was thinking it was a foregone conclusion he was going to stick it away. But he hit a really bad penalty and the three points deservedly were ours."

Man of the match Coulson crowed "I think Mansfield thought they were better than us - after all, they were favourites to win the league at the start of the season - but we really stepped up to them today. The atmosphere helped a lot. The fans were really loud from the first minute and kept that support going. That kind of atmosphere really gets you going and it played a part in the win.

"They went down very easily under our challenges. A lot of sides do that but today and especially their strikers did it all the time. Brian Saah was arguing with their striker all game about it. It's the old go down easy, try to get us booked game. I actually thought the referee was dealing with it well up until the penalty. As I said at the time, I hadn't a clue what was going on when he blew up. I just looked around and Brian and their player were on the floor together and having a little scuffle, the ball was out of play but the ref has then given a penalty. Justice was done, as their guy couldn't handle the pressure and bottled it. The fans behind the goal did their bit to put him off, too.

"This win was for the fans that went to Kidderminster and Gateshead, we owed you that."

In the away kite vote, Kit B (stripes) came top with 47%, edging out Kit C (the swirly design) (41%) and Kit A (the Wycombe Wanderers tribute kit), which trailed in with 12%.

Saturday 10th April 2010: Salisbury City 2-1 U's (Blue Square Premier - Att. 1,245, away 255)
Goals: Tubbs 60, 89 (pen) / Hudson 30

With safety finally 100% secured, some of United's promising youngsters got a runout in the isolated charms of Old Sarum. The injured Crow, Carden and Saah were replaced by Marriott, for his first league start, Ives and Hudson, while Palmer returned for the suspended Partridge. Luke Berry stood by for his league debut on the bench.

After a hard-fought first half-hour when the ref gave a foul by the corner flag when his assistant had only indicated a throw, Reason curled the free-kick in and Blaine Hudson rose above his marker to power home his first-ever goal for the senior team.

Five minutes from half-time the visitors should have been two up. Phillips latched onto a poor back pass, Bittner saved well, it fell to Marriott and he cut inside before smashing the ball past the keeper… and into the back of Phillips, who blocked it off the line. Still, it had been a satisfactory first 45 for United's inexperienced side.

Salisbury started the second half all guns blazing and only some last-ditch defending rebuffed a series of corners. But the visitors could then have doubled their lead when Neilson forced a good save from Bittner, Marriott nodded the rebound goalward, and again he was denied by a goal-line clearance, this time by James Turley.

And within a minute the hosts were level. Darrell Clarke touched a free-kick sideways to Matt Tubbs, and the City goal machine curled it perfectly into the far corner off the post. Murray replaced Marriott and on the break home sub Jake Reid beat Brown to the ball but Coulson cleared as it trundled towards the open goal. Berry came on for his debut in place of Ives eight minutes from the end, and the real drama came right at the end.

With a minute of normal time to go, McAuley was deemed to have tugged Tubbs in the box and the Conference's top sharpshooter stepped up to leather it past Brown. But deep into stoppage time, Willock had a shot clearly handled by a defender and Reason took his first-ever penalty; it was well struck but also well saved by Bittner. It was also the last kick of the match.

Ling was philosophical: "It's a very young side today. The team today wasn't by design because we've had injuries. I think we were quite naïve in terms of not using possession well enough. I've said to them that it's a learning curve. We've come in at half-time 1-0 up and we've let them come out and get a head of steam up. It was a bad clearance for their first goal and then Rory's given the referee an option to give the penalty. The referee gave several poor decisions all afternoon and for me their manager was reffing the game more than he was.

"We maybe didn't have the nous because it was a young team and sometimes that's what costs you. We've had to play with that kind of team before this season and we've had to today but they showed plenty of verve and plenty of spirit but we just needed a bit of know-how. You can only learn know-how by playing games."

Goalscorer Hudson reflected "Jai played a great ball in and I was caught a bit off guard because their player, who should have been marking me, switched off and I was left to throw myself at the ball and it bulleted in. They pushed more bodies forward in the second half but even so they didn't really create too much. We couldn't do much about the penalty; I think the one he gave for us spelt out what a bad decision their one was. He gave a harsh one against us so I think he evened it up when the ball was slung into their box at the death. You can't put the blame on Jai Reason, he was the one out there who had the nerve to stand up and take it knowing it was going to be the last kick of the game. Credit to the keeper, he has guessed right and got to it."


Tuesday 13th April 2010: Oxford United 0-0 U's (Blue Square Premier - Att. 5,219, away 235)

Oxford had, not for the first time, fallen away from being title contenders after leading for some considerable time, and the championship was now between Stevenage and Luton, but the U's from The Other Place were well on course for the play-offs.

United bolstered their starting XI with some returning experience, with Carden, Saah, Crow and Gleeson all back and McAuley switching to midfield in place of Reason.

With neither side having anything to lose, they attacked each other from the start, and Neilson came close to giving the visitors the lead on the quarter hour when Neilson prodded for goal from close in at a corner, but it cannoned off the foot of the post. Brown did well to palm away Adam Chapman's back-post volley on the half hour, and Oxford finished on top in a decent first period.

It was the visiting U's, though, who came close twice in the early stages of the second half: first Neilson flashed a free-kick just the wrong side of the post, then Crow saw his chip crash off the top of the bar; it wasn't like him to let chips go to waste. Oxford had several attempts on goal thereafter but consistently failed to hit the target, Coulson cleared a cross from under his own bar after it beat Brown, but United held on for a battling draw to the displeasure of the home fans, with Saah and Coulson outstanding at the heart of the defence.

Ling summarised "It was an entertaining 0-0. If you'd have offered me a point before the game then I'd have taken it, but I felt that we were always in the game and I thought we were always a threat on the breakaway as well. I think a point was a fair result all round, even though we did have to do a bit of last-ditch defending. You'd expect that when you come to a team in the top five."

Oxford boss Chris Wilder sounded oddly defensive: "I think we deserved to win the game, I think we did enough. We got a bit anxious in the last ten minutes. I watched the same as the supporters, I watched final balls and bits and pieces that never went our way. I didn't think it was rubbish, and a lot of people I've spoken to who were here tonight thought that was rubbish. If you went and asked Wrexham, Mansfield, Cambridge, who have a budget in and around where we are, they'd all swap positions with us.

"After the first fifteen minutes I thought we did really well. We had chances, we drove the game forward. Brian Saah's defended unbelievably well. Go and ask Paul Carden, who's possibly the best midfield player in the Conference, what a difficult night he's had. Go and ask Danny Crow, one of the best centre-forwards in the league, if he's been given change out of our two centre-halves apart from the chance he had, which in truth was a fantastic bit of skill. Go in their changing room and see how they feel tonight because I think we've had a right go at them. That'll be one of the hardest games they've had. Cambridge have been in the Play-off Final last year and the year before and we were going at them to the last minute."

Ling revealed that he would be giving Marriott another start, alongside Crow, in United's last home game of the season against Hayes & Yeading: "I'm not sure if they can play together so this will be a good chance to find out. They're both intelligent footballers but you lose a bit of the physical side without Phillips or Willock. Marriott is a lot more than a goalscorer. He's got 90 odd goals in three years with CRC, but he has also proven physically he can mix it. He's not going to win a lot of headers but when the ball goes into his feet or his body he can hold it up, and his touch is superb. Adam has got a bit of everything, and it'll be interesting how he does next year when he'll be higher up the pecking order. It could be exciting times ahead if he matures properly."

Jordan Patrick would also play a long-awaited part: "JP needs to play some part in the game, be it from the bench or from the start. Everyone else has had a chance over the course of the season, and having had four or five good games in a row for CRC it's time for him to step up. It's unfortunate for him in some ways because he's got a nucleus of wingers he's behind in the pecking order, and none of them have had any major injury worries. But we're confident he can do the job and he's been unlucky not to play so far."

The gaffer was already thinking about the budget for next season: "My dad is an ex-bookmaker, so I've always been good with figures and spreadsheets. The bottom line figure on my spreadsheet at the moment is not massive, so I doubt I'll be wasting much of that on transfer fees, and there are sure to be plenty of quality players going for nothing. But if a player like Scotty Neilson became available, and Bradford wanted to get back the £20,000 they paid for him, that's when my spreadsheet knowledge would have to come into play and I would have to fill in the numbers and decide whether it's worthwhile making a move."


Saturday 17th April 2010: U's 4-1 Hayes & Yeading United (Blue Square Premier - Att. 2,940 (away 89)
Goals: McAuley 16, Crow 27, 78, Marriott 87 / Green 74

The season finale at the Abbey meant awards time, and they were all hoovered up by the C's, Crow grabbing the player of the season awards, Coulson the young player gongs and Carden goal of the year. Hayes & Yeading also had cause for celebration with a comfortable mid-season finish in their first season at this level, highlights a double over Oxford and a 3-0 win over the Mighty U's of course, lowlight an 8-0 drubbing by Luton. It won't get any easier next term for what will probably be the lowest supported team in the Conference.

As promised, Marriott started up front alongside Crow in the only change from last week, with Patrick on the bench. On a bright, sunny day United had to play a considered style of passing football without a big target man to bang it up to, and they were all the better for it.

Early on Russell beat keeper Clark Masters with a shot-cum-cross but when Crow slid in, sandwiched on both sides, he somehow managed to scoop it over the bar from inside the six-yard box. It wasn't long until United took the lead, however, as Russell floated a free-kick in from the left and McAuley rose at the far post to nod down and in for his first-ever league goal.

Marriott soon found his touch with an exquisite through ball from which Crow fired over, then the two combined for their side's second: Russell found Crow, he switched it to Marriott and ran onto a pinpoint return ball from his young partner that split the visitors' defence asunder. His first shot from the left channel beat Masters all ends up but cannoned off the inside of the post; however it rebounded straight back to its instigator's right foot, and this time he fired an angled drive expertly home into the far corner.

United remained comfortably on top of an enjoyable, free-flowing game, and Carden missed the upright by inches with a 35-yard special, but there were no further goals in the tiring heat of the first half.

The pattern remained unchanged after the break, Russell fizzing a shot just wide, the front two combined to set up the strawberry blond wingman for another close effort, then a rare error from Coulson allowed the visitors to break with two men against Saah, but they wasted it with poor passing.

Patrick replaced Neilson on the hour and Marriott brought the crowd to its feet on 66 with some twinkle-toed magic, running onto a through ball down the left and with support slow in arriving he tempted first one defender and then a second as he danced past them along the byline with the ball seemingly glued to his toes. He then shot for the near post from an almost impossible angle and was denied only by Masters' last-ditch dive.

Then Murray replaced Russell, but the contest began to drift a little until the doughty visitors pulled one back, Coulson and Gleeson getting into a tangle and Adam Green seizing onto the ball to lash tidily past Brown into the far corner. Back came the U's, Murray drawing a good save from Masters with a curler, then McAuley picked out Crow with a fine ball down the middle and the club's top scorer was onto it in a flash to arrow a low shot past Masters before he could blink. Good shootin', pardner.

Marriott's first-time touches and passes were a delight to witness all afternoon, but his perfectly weighted spinning flick into the path of Murray on 84 brought gasps of appreciation from spectators who normally only see such skill on the TV from the likes of Messi, Rooney and Jon Parkin. And when he drew a free-kick just outside the left-hand corner of the area, there was only ever going to be one taker, and he duly struck a perfect set piece over the wall with power and pinpoint accuracy, into the top left corner past Masters' futile, desperate dive. The boy's a bit special.

It was only left to the players to go on the customary lap of thanks, to warm applause from a crowd which had seen any number of peaks and troughs this season but had been left with that most precious commodity: hope.

Ling concluded: "I said at half-time Hayes were there for the taking and that the next goal would be crucial. I knew if we got sloppy it would give them a chance, and Josh and Dan gave them that chance. But then our last two goals were great finishes from Crow and Marriott, sublime really. I asked myself the question if they could play together, and they certainly proved they could.

"Rory rightly won the man of the match award and he's a young player that's been doing well recently. Marriott will get the plaudits again too, and Crow, but Rory got that goal and started us off. I think their goal in the second half gave us a kick up the backside. We were cutting them open in the first half - I said before the game that we owed them payback for the game earlier in the season and I think we did that and more. It's pleasing, and I wanted us to go away with the supporters thinking that we've got a chance next season. It's only one game, I know, but over the last fifteen games we've been in good form. We've got Altrincham next week and I won't be happy until that's over but then we can relax and start to plan for next year."

Looking forwards, Ling said "Once we got the players in January we saw a big change and there will be more changes over the summer. It's an evolving situation but there isn't mass reconstruction needed. It just needs a bit of tinkering and a bit more of my personal stamp putting on the team. Managers are always going to want that and I'm no different.

"I could tell you today who the players that will be staying and going are, but I'm not going to because the squad themselves will be the first to find out on Monday week. There'll be some people's favourites going, I'm sure, and there'll be people wondering why I've done things. But there'll be a reason behind all the decisions I make.

"The travelling fans have been excellent this year and are one of the great things about the club - they're the heartbeat of Cambridge United. They've backed us brilliantly on a number of occasions this season and it would be nice to go to Altrincham and get a result for them."

McAuley commented "I was pleased to get my first home goal, I normally go on a run when I get on the scoresheet so I'm a bit sad next week is the last game. It was great to see some more of the CRC lads out there and it shows just whet great work Jez and the coaches are doing with the lads that we can make the step up to the first team."

Marriott added "That was my first full ninety minutes for the team this season and it felt really good. I felt there was no real pressure on me and it was really nice to cap it off with the goal at the end… When it came to the free-kick it was always going to be me who hit it, I caught it sweet putting it well past the keeper's reach. It's one of those things that when you hit it well, you kind of know it's going in. I've had a few free-kicks for CRC and scored the odd one or two. It's a part of the game I like and hopefully I'll be on the next one as well."

Jez George started his Walk For Change on the Wednesday from the centre spot at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground and was accompanied for the first couple of miles by Dean Saunders and Rick Parry as well as being joined by Soccer AM's Max Rushden. He spoke with Andy Townsend on Talk Sport radio and pressed on despite a nasty blister forming on his right heel just like last year. He was joined for the last five miles by Neil Critchley of Crewe Alexandra and despite a hairy last mile ("Lots of lorries tried to kill me and made it audibly clear when they failed") made Crewe's training ground on schedule to complete Day 1.

Day 2 was even more tiring, up and down steep Peak District hills on a 25-mile walk that took the best part of nine hours. Day 3 started at Blackburn's training ground and Jez met former U's youngster Jackson Ramm plus Sam Allardyce, who fully supported the campaign. He was also lent support by keeper Paul Robinson, who had started his career at York City. At lunchtime Jez reached Stoke's Britannia Stadium and spent time with former U's legend Dave Kitson, who did an interview piece with Sky to lend his support. A long day finished at 8pm; the next day he was returning to Cambridge for CRC's game with Felixstowe before resuming the walk next week.

Ling looked forward to Saturday and Paul Carden's clash with his brother Adam, who was on the books at Altrincham: "I don't think they've ever met each other in a competitive game, but knowing Paul he'd kick his own granny so I'm sure he won't hold back and he'll want the family bragging rights."

The gaffer assessed the season as a whole: "We've had a bit of everything this year. For the first third we were a middle of the road outfit, the second third was rubbish, and the final third has been good. Next season we want three 'goods,' but this year there's been all sorts, and it's not been quite in the right order because you'd prefer a gradual improvement through the season.

"I want to win the game on Saturday and get a top ten finish, because you could look at it and say we've gone from third bottom to tenth, and I think in the last 14 games we've taken 27 points. If we win tomorrow it'll be 30 from 15, which would be 92 over the whole season and take you into the play-offs. So in that respect we've been a play-off side for the last third of the season, and we can be one over the whole season next term if we get the right personnel in."

Ling also looked forward to 'new contract day' on Monday. "Quality players will always have options, it's clear to everyone. It would be stupid to believe that the likes of Danny Crow or Brian Saah, for example, won't have other offers, but you've got to prove to the players you want to keep that the club is moving forward and make them want be in and around that. Danny Crow will look at what he's done with me this year and see it as a productive season and you hope that will have a part to play in negotiations. It will be no surprise if we offer him a contract, of if anyone else does for that matter.

"I know what we've got to spend, and our budget is competitive, but it depends what other options are open to him. Location-wise it suits him being here and I know he likes the football club, but I don't lose any sleep over it, I've been through this scenario enough times to know you can't predict who you may or may not lose. Danny and Chrissy Holroyd have scored a lot of goals this year, but if anything our results have been better since Chrissy went. There are other good strikers out there, the same as there are other Gleesons, or Palmers, or Saahs, or Russells. If the players I want choose not to stay, we'll replace them."

Ling refused to be drawn on any transfer targets: "We need a Danny Wright-type player in terms of physique, but we have Lee Phillips and Calum Willock doing that at the moment. We'll decide what to do with our own players before we look at those from elsewhere, but work is going on behind the scenes to bring people in, and there should be signings in early May. Things can change, so we'll wait and see how the retained list pans out first, but I'm working on positions I definitely want to strengthen as I speak."

Summarising, Ling said "I feel I can be fully judged next year. This year I've had to work with situations I was left with by the previous manager, and that's not to say they were all bad, but changes had to be made to the squad during the season. Some weren't by choice, I'd rather have kept with both Holroyd and Tonkin, but financially it was right for the club and allowed me to some work, and we're a better squad today than we were then. All the players will be my own next year and the buck will really stop with me."

On the Friday, the squad strengthening started when Rory McAuley and Adam Marriott signed new two-year contracts, Sam Ives inked a one-year deal with a year option, and Jordan Patrick and Darryl Coakley signed one-year deals which would enable them to also play for CRC.

Said Ling "With these players, plus Berry and Hudson having already signed for next year, it proves what a wonderful job Jez and Nolan [Keeley] are doing at youth level. The future of the club is in safe hands with these young players coming through and reiterates the importance of our youth structure. Regular watchers of CRC will know there is a production line and it's important our youth scheme is here for years to come. This is the perfect example of why everyone should get behind the Walk to raise funds and buy tickets for the All-Star Match on Monday 10th May, when Jez gets back to Cambridge."

Jez added "It doesn't matter how many talented youngsters are in the youth scheme, or how good the scheme is, the most important thing is having a first team manager with the ability and knowledge to introduce them to the first team at the right time and a belief in young players. If you don't have a manager prepared to put faith and trust in them, you'll never be able to produce a player. Most managers want players who have already played 100 games in their team but it's the really good managers who can get success while simultaneously developing young players. Martin's commitment to youth sends out a brilliant message to the rest of our youth system."


Saturday 24th April 2010: Altrincham 0-2 U's (Blue Square Premier - Att. 1,546, away 310)
Marriott (75), (80)

It was a practically perfect last day of the season, warm, sunny and with no pressure on either side to do anything other than play their football. There was however a frisson of disappointment when it was revealed that United's one change to last week's team was Phillips starting up front instead of Marriott, although Robbie Willmott made a welcome return to the bench. For the hosts it was a chance to say goodbye to club legend Colin Little, playing his last game at the age of 37 before taking up a coaching job at Old Trafford. Adam Carden started on their bench.

United started breezily, the wide men combining well with the full-backs, although their crosses were repelled by Alty's big men at the back. A fairly laid-back contest ensued, neither keeper overly extended, but the first excitement came on 27 when Saah was penalised for an innocuous nudge in the back on Greg Young and the ref pointed to the spot. It was the perfect opportunity for Little to mark his finale with a goal, but Simon Brown had other ideas and dived smartly to his left to beat the penalty kick away. It was United's turn to be spoilsports after Alty's dour visit to the Abbey on the last day of last season.

The half ended without any more goalmouth action worth speaking of, and part two started in much the same vein. Little was shooting on sight but could not find a finish. Carden Junior entered the fray on the hour to do battle with big brother, and Willmott made his comeback in place of Neilson; and Marriott replaced Phillips on 67.

Brown saved well from a fast-breaking Chris Senior, then after replacing McAuley, Reason's long ball into the box found Carden (P) of all people in the centre-forward position, who shielded then laid it off to Marriott, who ghosted in to lash an unequivocal finish past keeper Stuart Coburn.

Crow then raced onto a Willmott pass to have a deft flick well saved by Coburn, and Reason played a one-two with Marriott before drawing another good save from the Robins custodian. Little was withdrawn three minutes from time for a deserved ovation to a fine club servant, but the mercurial Marriott had the last word when he received a forward ball from Willmott, turned and in an instant flashed a shot low past Coburn from a tight angle to complete his double. He even had time to force one more save from the keeper before the final whistle drew down the curtain on a splendidly encouraging finish to the season.

Ling explained why Marriott had not started: "A lot of people would expect me to start him after what he did last week. I knew they were going to play a back five and two centre-halves over six foot, and people will probably forget what Lee has done. We needed to batter them first and then Maz would come on, whether it was for Lee or for Crowy. It worked perfectly for us; he's definitely one for the future.

"He's the kind of player that I've seen over the past year and he's shown over three years than whenever he's on the pitch he'll get chances, even if he only comes on as a sub. He doesn't do that by chance, if you've got the instinct to get in the right place and you can finish then you've got some quality product there. I hope it materialises like I think it should. He's a young boy who who's going to be one of four strikers next year. He's proved he can be one of those four. With four strikers you have two on the pitch and two on the bench and you rotate it from there. He's going to be a product, I really believe it. Goals speak words and the kid can finish."

The manager reflected on the relationship with his assistant: "Paul Carden's been a big help. It was two strangers put together and we walk away as two friends and it's very important to make sure that's right in a football club. We may change that structure in terms of bringing another coach into the building but Paul's very important with where I want to go with this football club. It's been an eventful first season! We had the issues with me walking away and then coming back, then the team got into trouble and we had to come back from it. There have been a few ups and downs and the last fifteen games have been the upside. There have been some character questions asked of me and my players. I'd like to put it on record that I think we've come through it as a unit."

Brown said of the penalty "The ref has seen something I haven't and given the spot-kick which was quite surprising as up to them he didn't seem like he wanted to get into the game up until that point. As for the save, some would say the older you get, the wiser you get. You can study the way players step up to the ball and try and read their intentions. Luckily today I guessed right and made the save and spoilt the party for the lad and the crowd as I'm sure it was scripted that he'd get a goal on his last game. But I'm there for Cambridge United, not for anyone else. I'm here to do a job and be the best I can in every game.

"Adam Marriott has done magnificently when he has come on and has shown over the last few games everything that he has shown day in, day out in training. He is a player that stands out for future success. I hope to be part of the team here next season; I have a meeting with the manager on Monday. In the 17 games I've played in we have only lost three and I feel I've played my part in us climbing the table."

Colin Little also recognised Marriott's burgeoning talent: "I'm finishing my career as a player today but I've been around long enough to know talent when I see it and the lad who got your two goals has it. You can take his goals out of the performance and still look at the way he pulled our back line all over the place with good running and intelligent positioning. That's something you can coach but you have to have the ability to go with it and that lad has it. From what I've seen whilst I was on the bench he has a great future ahead of him."

A breathless finish at the bottom of the table saw Histon escape relegation by one point thanks to an injury-time equaliser at home to Barrow and Forest Green's inexplicable defeat at Grays. Liam Daish's Ebbsfleet joined Green and Grays in the relegation zone.

End of season position: 10th

Monday was decision day and it was revealed that Danny Potter, Aiden Palmer, Antonio Murray, Jai Reason, Lee Phillips, Calum Willock, Courtney Pitt, Ben Farrell and Mark Beesley had been released. Gleeson, Coulson, Saah, Crow and Brown were offered new two-year contracts and Roberts a one-year deal, while Ling had spoken to Simon Russell to advise him he would like to sign him when his York contract expired on 30th June. All of the retainees had 28 days to respond to the club's offer.

Ling explained "After thinking long and hard over recent weeks, I feel the decisions I've made are for the benefit of Cambridge United Football Club. There will be some fans who will lose players they have admired over recent times, and all players that have been released I'd like to thank for their efforts during my year in charge and wish them the best of luck with their future careers. All of the players who have been offered contracts, it's obvious to say but I'd like them to sign those contracts and be part of the exciting future that we're building here at the Club."

Scott Neilson returned to Bradford with the manager's thanks, and a decision on Laurie Walker's future would be made after CRC's final game at the weekend. Ling advised "The wheels are already in motion to replace the players that have left the building. There will be some positive announcements for the All-Star game on the 10th May."

Jez George had been talking to Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce and Big Sam had supportive words for the club and others in its position: "If the likes of Cambridge United are keen enough to continue to fund and run a youth development scheme and it meets the required standard then they should have every right to funding and, in addition, compensation if one of the products of that scheme is signed by a Football League or Premier League club. Oherwise, they run the risk of working to produce a young player only to then see him snapped up for no financial reward. That cannot be right as it can only discourage clubs from investing in youth development and it laughs in the face of the national moves to increase youth coaching and the pool of elite home-grown players. I wish Jez every success with his Walk and hope he raises a large amount of money."

Jez started Day 6 of his Walk at the starting point of the Sheffield Half-Marathon, taking place at the same time to some confusion, but the blisters on his heels became so bad he had to call out Richard Luddington, one of the club's Centre of Excellence physios, to drive up to Leeds to help out. Meanwhile Jez met up with U's legend Robbie Simpson, on the injury comeback trail at Huddersfield, and after treatment Jez resumed his Walk and finished the day's trudging at York City's Kit-Kat Crescent at twenty to one in the morning.

Day 7 saw more damage to his right ankle, but he soldiered on gamely. And Day 8 was brightened by the anonymous donation of £2,000 by the parents of a Development Centre player, who advised "We are keen to support the scheme in this way for a mixture of reasons. It's given our son (at the bottom step of the scheme) an opportunity that he is really enjoying and (at the top of the scheme) provides a route to football at the highest level for local young people. Football clubs can play a special part in the life of their local communities - and it is things like well-run and well-backed youth development schemes that make the link between the club and its local supporters stronger."

Day 9 saw Jez reach Mansfield's Field Mill, and on Day 10 he was joined by Martin Ling and Paul Carden, as well as some torrential rain. By all accounts, after 25 miles of walking Mr Ling would need all his powers of recovery to be able to play in Monday week's All-Stars game! The gaffer gasped "I found it difficult on Friday, I admit. 25 miles doesn't sound that far if you say it quickly, but the fact that Jez is doing it day in, day out shows the achievement that it is, and his commitment to the cause. While we were walking we had harsh conditions, and it's definitely a mind over matter scenario."

Andrew Bennett

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