The football is back, and so is the Antler, with (hopefully) more regular match reports and roundups than I managed last season. I’ll still be writing for Under The Abbey Stand too, and if you want to hear my season predictions you can listen to their Preview Pod here. Anyway onto Saturday and Wigan…

It felt like it was good to be back

It felt like we’ve never been away

It felt like the Abbey was full

It felt like everyone had a new shirt on

It felt like a great start

It felt like it might be our day

It felt like Ben Knight had got better over the summer

It felt like Liam Bennett had bulked up

It felt like Kell Watts is going to get a few this year

It felt like McLoughlin has made the CM spot his to lose

It felt like Appere has turned a corner

It felt like Heath is gonna be some player, right?

It felt like Jobe isn’t going to be here long, so the least he can do is sign a new contract.

It felt like we could go on to win this four or five nil

It felt like - oh, they couldn’t get back into this could they?

It felt like a push in Bradshaws back there

It felt like it was gonna be a nervy ending

It felt like that keeper going up for that free kick at the end was gonna break our hearts

It felt like it was never in doubt

It felt like Coconuts sounded louder than ever

It felt like home

It felt like Cambridge United

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1. Jake Eastwood: Probably a player of the season candidate, offering a solid presence between the sticks, the likes of which we’ve been lacking for a while. Commanding, communicative, and a decent penalty-saver, Eastwood is a big part of why we’ve got the meanest defence this season. Sure there’s the odd dodgy moment in him, but find me a keeper that doesn’t have one of those from time to time?

2. Liam Bennett: A real fan’s favourite, Bennett has been enjoying life in League Two a little more than he did last season. Still one of our best ball carriers, a lot of our attacks start with Liam running down the wing. Unfortunately a lot of our attacks end with Liam crossing the ball miles over everyone’s heads, but if he could improve that he probably wouldn’t still be here.

3. Ben Purrington: Lost his place recently to a resurgent James Gibbons, Purrington has found himself being used as a late sub to see games out. Jury’s still out on him really, but he’s been fairly effective at what he does, as well as winning us two penalties this season

4. Dominic Ball: Another one who’s lost his place after injury, Ball has been solid in the middle and is a authoritative voice on the field.

5. Michael Morrison: Offers tonnes of experience and bleeds Amber & Black, Morrison is currently sidelined with an injury, but has played well alongside Jobe & Watts this season.

6. Kell Watts: A shaky start to the campaign, but Watts has really found some great form lately, adding four goals to his tally as well. Another candidate for player of the season.

7. James Brophy: Brophy has continued to be James Brophy this season. Always available, always looking to carry the ball forward, always on the left foot. To be fair to him, he’s started to add the goals to his game that elevates from a good to a very good player, especially at this level.

8. Korey Smith: We’ve not really seen enough of Smith this season as he’s struggled with injuries. A good option to have on the bench, but Hoddle has leapfrogged him in the pecking order.

9. Louis Appere: Started off well, but if I’m honest we’re not really playing to his strengths, using him a loan striker. Always works hard, but lately looks to be lacking a bit of confidence in front of goal

10. Elias Kachunga: He’s good to have as an option off the bench I suppose, but hasn’t added much to the team this year.

11. Sullay Kaikai: The polar opposite to Kachunga, Kaikai used our relegation as a kick up the arse and has found his mojo again. He’s a threat in front of goal too.

14. Ben Knight: He’s had some really good games for us, as well as some more anonymous ones, but over the last few weeks has really hit a rich seam of form, and scored some nice goals too. It must be a culture shock to end up here after spending so long at Man City, but it looks like he’s enjoying his football again.

15. Adam Mayor: Currently injured, but one of the best loan players we’ve had in recent years. If there’s any chance of signing him up next season the club simply must do it, but the reality is he’s far too good for this league.

16. Zeno Ibsen Rossi: Good cover to call upon when needed, Rossi has gone from having a fantastic game against Fulham in one cup to a howler against Birmingham in the other. It’s a shame he’s never got the run in the side his reputation suggests he needs, but injuries and mistakes have always cost him when he starts to get settled.

17. Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu: This seasons most marmite player? A big reputation, and even bigger wage packet means expectations were high for the ex-Luton man. He started off slowly, getting back up to match fitness, but ‘mare against Shrewsbury excepted has added some real grit to our midfield. He might not be flash to watch in a way Hoolahan was, but he was never that kind of player anyway. Has a killer pass in his locker, and has had a big hand in some results this season.

19. Shayne Lavery: Whenever Lavery gets the ball the crowd gets on their feet. He’s one of those players. If only he could stay fit.

20. Kylian Kouassi: Another one in the treatment room, Kouassi has looked good in his appearances so far, with a handful of goals and a real presence in the opposition penalty area. I wouldn’t be too upset if we signed him permanently.

21. Shane McLoughlin: Fourth, possibly fifth choice central midfielder, he’s looked decent enough when he’s played this season.

22. Zak Bradshaw: Bradshaw’s one of those players that gets better and better the less he plays. He’s looked good when he’s played, but he’s also been caught out a bit. Still young, he’s one for the future.

23. Mamadou Jobe: If he’s still here next season I’ll be astounded. Easily good enough to play at a higher level, hopefully it’s with us.

24. Elliot Nevin: Haven’t seen enough of him to make a judgement yet, but looks energetic enough.

25. Ben Hughes: Looked decent in his few appearances so far.

26. James Gibbons: Another player that can divide the fanbase, Gibbons has really settled into his role this season, and leads the players on the field superbly.

27. Glenn McConnell: We all know what McConnell can do, and he always looks lively on the ball but injuries always seem to hit him when he looks like holding down a place in the XI. Probably needs a loan to get regular League football under his belt.

38. George Hoddle: Give him the Young Player of the Season award already. Has looked competent and confident since coming in, and is keeping the likes of Ball and Smith out of the side despite their years of experience.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments!

But let’s put the League aside for one minute, because cup fever has hit the Abbey as Chester FC come to town in the FA Cup. In a week where professional moaner Mikel Arteta was saying that clubs will start withdrawing from cup competitions to ease fixture congestion (why don’t you start with the bloated European ones then Mikel?) there was none of that negativity around the Abbey, as despite constant attempts to devalue the cup it still remains a viable way for lower league teams to get a big (and profitable) draw.

Harris rung the changes, reinstating fans favourite Liam Bennett to the XI, whilst an injury-enforced formation change up front meant that Kylian Kouassi led the line solo. It was United that got off to another early start, with Kouassi bundling home after ten minutes, and the loanee doubled his tally on 35 with an excellently hit shot through the keepers legs. The game was wrapped up just before half time, when Kouassi burst free of the defence and teed up Brophy for his fifth goal of the season.

The game was won after that, and Chester’s changes didn’t really do anything to make a difference. It was a professional performance from the U’s, although it would have been nice for Harris to unshackle the team and let them get a morale-boosting thrashing under their belts. Nonetheless, the win was confirmed and we’re in the hat for the next round.

What did we learn? Well, we already know that Harris is a very cautious manager, so we didn’t get to see Bradshaw or Jobe, nor much in the way from Hoddle or McConnell who were only given fifteen minutes when the game was already won. Rossi didn’t even make the bench. Eastwood looked assured, Bennett showed what qualities he has going forward (and was lucky not to give away a penalty at the other end) the rest of them looked like the rest of them really. There’s more to come from this team, and hopefully as the fixtures come thick and fast we’ll start to utilise the squad a bit more. Hoddle in particular looks like a player, but with Smith, Ball, McLoughlin and Mpanzu in front of him its hard to see where his minutes will come. McConnell looked lively, but he really needs a run in the team, and to take it with both hands. Knight looked alright, but we know he’s capable of more.

Who do we want in the second round? Someone below us, at home preferably. Or P*sh. Their new manager bounce can’t last forever.

5️⃣ goals for Brophy this season, what is happening here?

3️⃣3️⃣ our ball number in tonight’s draw.

🦵🏻 Kell Watts thigh backpass

What a night, eh? It’s not often you can be proud in defeat, and as Cambridge United fans we’ve seen more than our fair share of abject losses over the past few seasons to know all about it. But last night was different - we went toe to toe with a Premier League side featuring hundreds of millions of pounds worth of talent, and for most of the game, matched them.

Okay, it wasn’t the win over Newcastle, but it was also a far better overall performance than the 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford over a decade ago. A similar number of U’s fans travelled to that one, but we were never really in that match were we?

Anyway, U’s fans - almost 6,000 of them made the journey down to West London, and the pubs were a sight to behold, black and amber as far as the eye could see. New badges, old badges, that one we used in the 90’s for a bit, Brooks, Fujitsu, Howlett, stripes, quarters and just plain old amber it felt like every U’s fan was in town and ready to make some noise. And we got the brief. From minute one to ninety-five we sang, we cheered and we clapped our boys, never letting up, never letting Fulhams supporters be heard over the Amber Army. The Premier League rules only require Fulham to give 2,500 away tickets, so their fans must have been astounded that Cambridge United bought over twice what they normally see for a game, even if only 11,000 of them turned up for what they thought was probably a routine win.

Marco Silva took it a little more seriously, naming a strong team. Adama Traore, Raul Jiminez, Emile Smith-Rowe and Antonee Robinson are all household names and likely to appear at the World Cup next Summer, and new signing the £35 million Brazilian Kevin were all present in the starting XI. For the U’s Harris made a number of changes, the return of Korey Smith to the team after six months out was a big talking point, as was starting the fragile Shayne Lavery up top by himself.

The game itself, lets face it, wasn’t a classic. It was two decent teams more or less matching each other for ninety minutes. Both sides had chances, Fulham played cautiously, methodically trying to unlock United with a series of passes that contributed to much of their near 80 percent possession. The threat of Adama Traore and Kevin were nullified by United’s defence, with Liam Bennett in particular putting in a performance for the ages that earned him the man of the match award.

Of the talking points - Korey Smith put in a solid performance, the kind of which we’ve known he’s been capable of given his experience. His doing so allowed Mpanzu to play further forward, although he wasn’t especially effective in doing so. Of the Mpanzu/Ball duo it’s probably the ex-Luton man who’s got most to fear from the return of Smith, although it was Ball who made way this time. Lavery caused problems, and did what he did well - but most importantly he managed over an hour of football without injury. Of the rest of them, Brophy did Brophy things, Zak Bradshaw continued to show why he can’t be far off making a League start and Jobe and Ibsen Rossi made a great case as to why they should be our centre-back pairing. A word for Rossi, who other than Bennett was my choice for Man of The Match. He’s had a difficult time at the Abbey, suffering from injury and making some high-profile mistakes, but he looked a class act last night. I don’t think there was an aerial battle he lost all night. He’s still young, and has hopefully put his troubles behind him now and will be a regular in the match-day squad, if not the starting eleven.

Fulham eventually scored through Emile Smith-Rowe, a one-time England international but United didn’t let their heads drop after the goal, even if it had been coming for a while. Smith made way for Ball the same time Lavery came off for Kouassi, and Harris made further attacking changes in an attempt to get back into the game. It wasn’t quite McFarland throwing three up front at Forest, but it meant United continued to keep Fulham on their toes, and in the dying seconds we won a corner… that was probably one of the worst corners ever taken in the history of football. Oh well. We gave it a really good go, and walked off towards Hammersmith station with our heads held high. For one night London was Amber & Black, the novelty of being in a packed tube carriage where eight out of ten passengers were in U’s shirts a reminder of trips to Wembley past. We won’t be going there in the Carabao this season, but there’s still a lot of points on the table in the league…

It’s worth mentioning our win against Fleetwood on Saturday too - after going behind we responded in the best possible way, and a lot of that is down to Harris. You might not like him as a person, but as a manager he’s the best person we could have. The fist pumps a week after an FA Charge for allegedly punching someone at Grimsby were probably a little uncalled for, but the man loves the adulation, right? That Fleetwood game feels like the kind of match we’d have lost last season, and our progress is clear. Again it wasn’t a classic match, and realistically we’re probably not going to get many of those under Harris, who’s football seems measured and functional. But hey, if it does the job, right?

30 years ago, almost to the day, I attended my first Cambridge United match. The opponents were Colchester United, it was a Tuesday night at the Abbey. The thing I remember most? The smell of chips. The next thing? Probably the language. But I also remember a thrilling 3-1 victory to the (real) U’s, and Colchester’s Peter Cawley getting sent off right in front of our seat in the main stand. United’s goals that night came from Lee Palmer, Matty Joseph and Carlo Corrazin, who quickly became one of my favourite players. Although the attendance that night was less than 3,500 I was hooked, and 30 years and some 450 odd games later I found myself on a Tuesday night watching Cambridge play Colchester in the bottom division. Talk about things coming full circle…

1500 United fans made the trip to Colchester, and 1400 of them are probably still stuck in the car park trying to get out, or navigating the endless diversions on the way home caused by a closure of the A14 near Newmarket and the M11 at Birchanger. Our own route took us to Baldock and up the A1, many other U’s fans will have had a similarly convoluted journey home.

To the game itself, where Harris made a couple of changes to his preferred starting XI, some forced, some not. Mamadou Jobe came in for the injured Michael Morrison in defence, whilst Elias Kachunga and Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu replaced Ben Knight and Shane McLoughlin.

United started pretty well in what was a fairly even game, both teams having short periods of attacking dominance, with the U’s probably looking slightly better in the first fifteen minutes. Colchester’s nine-foot tall goalkeeper made some good saves to keep the U’s at bay, and at the other end their attackers Samson Tovide and Adrian Akande kept our defence busy. It was the Essex U’s that got the breakthrough, Arthur Read finding himself in a tonne of space on the edge of the area, his low shot ending up in the back of the net, but it was a soft goal to concede really.

As the half drew to a close United went on the offensive, eventually winning a free kick just outside the area. Kaikai and Brophy stood over it, and it was Brophy who added to his burgeoning goal tally with a nice shot that eluded the keeper. A minute or two later it was Kaikai’s turn with a set piece, albeit from a much wider position, his cross found the head of Mamadou Jobe at the far post and as unlikely as it seemed United were ahead.

The second half saw United assert some control on the game, Kachunga (who you guessed it, didn’t do much all game) made way for McLoughlin, and Brophy came off for Gibbons as the U’s closed ranks to protect their lead. In the middle of the park Mpanzu was immense, and a class above anyone else out there. There won’t be many better players in League Two this season, I’m glad he’s wearing our colours and not anyone elses. With ten minutes or so remaining Louis Appere was replaced with new signing Kylian Kouassi and from first impressions he looks like he’ll be a decent addition to the team. Maybe not the out-and-out goalscorer we need, but he’s strong and looked decent on the ball and a real handful for the opposition defenders. Our final change came as Zeno Rossi came on Bennett for the dying seconds, but the game was pretty much over at that point.

All in all a great win, which showed that Neil Harris philosophy is beginning to have some effect. It won’t be pretty, but it should be effective, and we’ve got a team here that will run through walls for each other. It’s still not perfect, and we’ll still have some frustrating games, but with a never-say-die attitude, and the decent players we’ve got then we should have more good results than bad this season. If this was your first game watching us I can only hope it left as strong a impression on you as Jody Craddock, Steve Butler and Craig Middleton did on me all those years ago!

Neil Harris Fist Pump Tracker: 👊👊👊

James ‘Juninho’ Brophy Goal Tracker: ⚽️

Ballon D’Or Contenders Named Kylian: 2️⃣

Times the stewards moved the U’s drummer to different places in the stand: 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

God, the mere memory of our last game against Harrogate still gives me the shivers. Remember that? In the depths of lockdown, needing just a point to secure promotion to League One we found ourselves 3-0 down after just twenty minutes to a second-string Harrogate side. The game ended up as a 5-4 defeat, and I found myself wandering around my estate in a pissed-off stupor… we were gonna throw it away weren’t we?

History tells us we didn’t, and we got the job done against Grimsby a few weeks later, but as of 2025 we find ourselves back in League Two and back facing the likes of Harrogate. Harris stuck with the same side that has so far got off to a middling start in the League, and it looked like things were beginning to click for United, with Louis Appere getting his third goal in four matches after eighteen minutes. United looked decent, bright and impressive, dominating posession but ultimately failing to add to the scoreline. Harrogate didn’t offer much coming forward, but seemed fairly robust at the back, but it seemed like only a matter of time before the U’s would add a second.

A rare Harrogate ball into our box led to Eastwood and Morrison colliding, both players collapsing to the floor, although Eastwood was soon back on his feet. Morro didn’t fare quite as well, requiring doctors to treat him on the pitch and an ambulance ride to Addenbrookes. Hopefully nothing too serious for the U’s skipper.

The second half saw United start lethargically. Harris was none too impressed with the manner of our second half performance, and a number of issues contributed to Harrogate equalising on 52 minutes. We’ve seen this all before haven’t we?

Truth told, Harrogate didn’t look like a bad side, they’re clearly not gonna win loads of games this season, but they’ll probably be fairly difficult to beat. A strong, well-drilled defence didn’t really give us much of a look-in in the second half, and after Kaikai went off with an injury even things got a little tougher for United, his replacement being the consistently ineffective Kachunga who offered little in the way of attacking intent. For whatever reason Harris seems to rate him, but it’s unclear to see what he adds to the team. For an experienced player on decent wages you’d at least expect him to grab the game by the scruff and encourage his team-mates a little, but he can’t even seem bothered to do that.

As the final whistle went boos - rather unfairly IMO - rang out around the Abbey. I get the frustrations of the fans, and I was frustrated myself, but that wasn’t a boo-worthy performance by any means. We’re not going to walk all over everyone in the league, at least not without two or three additions to the squad, so we can’t be booing the team every time we drop points. We’re better than that as a fanbase.

Rumours abounded before and after the game of new signings including Saido Berahino (unlikely) and Joe Ironside (slightly more likely, but let’s move on from the past eh?) and it’s clear they’re needed. Ryan Loft missed the game with illness and Harris didn’t seem to pleased with that in his post-match interview, and if Morro is out for any length of time we’ll need another centre-back too (although you could argue we needed another one before he got injured).

It was my first look at Ben Knight and Pelly Mpanzu, and you can tell the class both possess. Knight had a quiet game, and he could certainly do with a little more confidence so hopefully that will come in time. Mpanzu looked class, comfortable and confident on the ball, and strong as well. Once he’s back to full speed he’ll hopefully be a real asset to the side.

Overall it was a frustrating game - I’m a little less confident about our trip to Colchester tomorrow now that I was on Friday. We’ve got enough about us to do well this season, but it’s clear to me we’re still a long way from where we need to be. Harris & Bonner will know this, but it’s now a big few weeks in the leadup to the transfer window closing.

One final note - it was great to see all the retro shirts around the ground on Saturday. A great initiative from the club, and some brilliant (and not so brilliant) memories of seasons passed. I wore a spare shirt from the 2008 Playoff Final, a game most of us would probably rather forget, and it was great to see a few matchworn shirts being sported by fans, including some proper vintage ones.

Louis Appere Goal Tracker: ➕1️⃣

Retro Shirts Spotted: 👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕👕

Radio Cambs Meltdowns from Boro fans: 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Two away games on the trot with mixed fortunes then. Here’s the Antler’s take on both.

Starting at Swindon, United got off to a decent start when James Brophy put us ahead after four minutes. Hopefully this is the start of some goalscoring form for the winger, it’s really the one thing he needs to add to his game, and we saw some green shoots at the end of last season, so fingers crossed we get to see Brophy on the scoresheet a bit more often.

A mad couple of minutes saw us throw away that early lead, a poor pass from Morrison set Aaron Drinan away, and he held off Kell Watts to finish nicely. A lot of people blaming Morro for this one, but for me Watts has to be stronger, or take the foul. I’ve said before his decision making always seems to be half a second behind everyone elses, and it’s crucial he gets up to speed or he’s going to find himself dropped before too long. Their second came from U’s transfer target Harry Smith, of course it was always going to be him wasn’t it… the only question is will he be wearing an Amber shirt after deadline day?

Swindon’s third was the result of the kind of calamitous defending we hoped we’d seen the back of, Eastwood caught in no-mans land should have done better, but we should have closed down the cross before it came in. A Sullay Kaikai consolation was just that, nicely hit, but United never looked like taking the points.

Swindon are a decent side, and tipped by a few pundits to have a good season. They didn’t steamroller us, but we also didn’t put up a huge fight, even when we’d taken the lead. We've still got mistakes in us that we need to cut out, and we still need that talismanic striker, and maybe some more creativity in the middle. It’s looking like Knight might be an enigma this season, combining good games with more anonymous ones.

Onto Bristol Rovers then, and Harris pre-match comments made it sound like we wouldn’t be taking this competition as seriously as the League. To that end, he made five changes, with Gibbons, Jobe, Bradshaw, Mpanzu and Kachunga all starting.

Watts kept his place as Morro dropped out for Jobe - that was more likely to be as a result of Morrisons age rather than his performance, and we know that Knight isn’t going to play every game, but it was nice to see Mpanzu make his first start after a rusty debut on Saturday.

United were again in their smart off-white & green away shirt and it was Appere who put United ahead, getting onto the end of a nice Kaikai through ball, holding off his man and finishing past the keeper. United’s second came via Ryan Loft, nipping in behind his man to head home a Gibbons cross.

So a 50/50 start to the season then, sadly the Carabao Cup doesn’t really earn us much money but there’s always the potential for a big draw the further we progress in the competition. Saturday’s home game against Harrogate gives us the chance to put the Swindon defeat behind us and get another three points on the board before we head to Colchester on Tuesday.

No real hot-takes from me, it’s unfair to comment to too much based on watching the highlights, but I’m looking forward to getting my first proper look at this team on Saturday.

Ryan Loft Yellow Card Tracker: ❌❌❌

Ryan Loft Goal Tracker:⚽️

“Who Wants Wembley Tickets” messages in the WhatsApp Tracker:1️⃣

I wasn’t actually at the game on Saturday. Two of my closest friends were getting married, and duty called. Don’t worry though, the U’s were mentioned in my best mans speech, and got a big cheer, obviously.

So welcome to all the new subscribers over the summer, and welcome back to existing readers. Stick around as I’ll be writing match reports, and sharing my thoughts and observations throughout the season, as well as writing the odd piece for UTAS. In the meantime, let’s enjoy being unbeaten and in the playoffs right?!

Louis Appiere Goal Tracker ⚽️

Ryan Loft Yellow Card Tracker 👎

Neil Harris First Pump Tracker 👊👊👊

“Ben Knight is the new Wes” messages from my dad Tracker: 1️⃣

It’s been a quiet spring at Antler HQ - being able to summon up constructive words after one abject defeat after the other proved a challenge too far.

But that enthusiasm is back - yep we were eventually relegated to League Two, but some bold talk from the board about how we’re going to compete next season, a new badge, a new principal sponsor, a CBS documentary about the club airing in the US and the prospect of actually seeing a U’s side win more than a handful of games after three awful seasons makes things in CB5 seem that little bit brighter.

On top of that, in Neil Harris we’ve got one of the best managers in the division, and Mark Bonner as our DoF means we’ve got someone in who understands the club from top to bottom.

Putting 2022-2025 behind us means it’s a fresh start for all concerned, so lets look at who’s gonna be a part of it.

Those Staying

We already knew there were a number of players under contract next season, starting with the defence we know that James Gibbons is staying on - a fairly versatile player who can play either side of the centre-backs, and someone who’s commitment can’t be doubted. Mamadou Jobe missed all of last season with an ACL injury but is one of the hottest prospects at the club and someone we’re looking forward to seeing more of next year. Kell Watts has had a difficult start to his U’s career - I’m still not sure on him myself as he seems a very panicky player, rashly getting rid of the ball when there’s better options available. He always seems to be half a second behind play too, and was caught out a few times last season. Ibsen Rossi never seems to have got going but can be a useful backup option I suppose.

James Brophy won player of the season last year but still divides opinion. For me he doesn’t provide enough in front of goal, but there’s been some signs recently that he’s been working on that. On the plus side, he tends to stay fit and is a great ball carrier. Korey Smith came to the club with great pedigree but showed it on too few occasions really. He really needs to earn his money next season. Glenn McConnell and George Hoddle are both youth prospects and probably won’t feature a huge amount - I’d expect both to go on loan somewhere at least for half the season.

Up front, we all know we’re stuck with Ryan Loft for a bit, whilst there were groans all across the county when it was revealed that Elias Kachunga had triggered an extension to his contract. If Shane Lavery can stay fit next season he’ll be an important player for us, and someone we missed the most last time out.

The Surprises

Paul Digby has been a great servant for this club and our longest-serving player. A real rock in midfield, the last couple of seasons in League One have sadly showed up where he’s lacking. He’ll be tough to replace in midfield next season.

Dan Barton was seen as a great prospect when he burst onto the scene against QPR in the cup. It’s clear Harris doesn’t really want lightweight, skillful players in the squad, and I imagine we’re not going to be watching much in the way of enjoyable, nice football over the next season. I think of all our released players it’s Barton that’s probably suffered the most from our predicament. I think first-team action came a little too early for him, and a loan to a National League or League Two club would probably have set him up nicely to really contribute at the U’s. If any of the released players are going to have a future in the game at a higher level, Barton is most likely to be it.

Those Going

The first to announce their departure was striker Brandon Njoku. If I’m honest I’m dissapointed by that - I think he’s equally as good as any striker at the club (perhaps bar Lavery) and despite being a bit of an unpolished diamond he had a nose for goal and the knack of being in the right place at the right time. It’s always dissapointing when a youth prospect departs the club, but Harris obviously has his eyes on a different type of player next season.

Gary Gardner - one we’ll look back on as a colossal waste of wages. Never got fit, didn’t even spend a second on the pitch. George Thomas - managed to stay fit slightly longer than Gardner but wasn’t available enough during his time here. Jordan Cousins was merely okay, better this season than last but never good enough to have much impact on the game. Ben Stevenson never looked anything more than average, and Amaru Kaunda was only ever a youth prospect.

Jubril Okedina is one of our longest-serving players and someone that played their bit. He had a tough start to his time at the club, but never really gave less than 100%. I guess as Rossi’s under contract we can’t keep both, and with the departure of Digby already mentioned that draws a line under the promotion squad of 2020/21. Danny Andrew also leaves, after a couple of seasons in which he overcame a rocky start to become a fairly solid defender.

Jack Stevens showed the odd flash of quality but never regularly enough, and having made plenty of howlers wasn’t really trusted by either manager as Vincente Reyes and then Marko Marosi and Nathan Bishop were bought in to replace him. Were any of those better than Stevens? We didn’t see enough of Marosi to tell, but neither Reyes or Bishop really stood out. Louis Chadwick also departs having never played for the club.

Obviously all the loanees return to their clubs, to be honest we’re not gonna miss any of them other than Stokes. I see a clamour for Ballard to return, but the guy can’t finish to save his life and I’m not sure we have room for passengers. Contracts have been offered to Michael Morrison (who’ll probably stay), Liam Bennett (who probably won’t) and Sullay Kaikai (who I don’t think anyone really cares much about either way).

So, maybe not the wholesale clearout we wanted, or perhaps needed, but overall a good chance to free up some space and some wages in the squad. Realistically it’s the best we could hope for, and whilst there’ll be disappointment to lose the likes of Barton, Digby and Njoku the club clearly feel we can do better. It’s been a horrible season and we’ve had to be harsh in our assessment of a playing squad that quite simply wasn’t good enough, despite any sentiment. This summer will be a big one for Harris as we finally give him a transfer window to put his own mark on the squad. I can picture it now, and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty, but if it’s effective then that should keep us happy, right?

Something felt different about the Abbey on Saturday, like a sense of hope had returned to the place. After the utter dross of the Garry Monk era, Neil harris returned to the club to try and do whatever he can to keep us up.

Harris had a lot of work to do to win over the fans given the nature of his departure from the club almost a year ago, and from the off it was clear that he’d made a strong impression on the players. Under Monk it never really looked like the players weren’t trying, but the application levels on Saturday were a good 40-50% higher. The team was organised, well-drilled, and fighting to be first to every ball.

The plaudits will go to Josh Stokes, his two brilliantly-taken goals wrapped up the three points, but for me it was James Gibbons - who covered every blade of grass - who deserves the Man of the Match award. He looked like a man possessed charging all over that pitch, and barely letting anything past him. There wouldn’t be too much argument if you’d put Morrison or Cousins or Bennett up for Man of the Match either, whilst Kachunga and Loft both put in immense shifts up front too.

The biggest thing I noticed though was Harris himself. Constantly talking to the players, every break in play an opportunity to call Morrison or Loft over to the touchline for fresh instructions. That’s something we never saw under Monk - he’d set his team up at the start, and not change it unless he had to. Harris however was tweaking things and encouraging the players constantly. If we’re going to get out of this mess it’s going to be by being flexible, by responding to changes and by working damn hard.

I was encouraged by what I saw on Saturday - to be honest I could have done without the fist pumps at the end, but if we get Neil Harris the manager we also get Neil Harris the great - the guy who refers to himself in the third person and laps up the adulation of the crowd. I was not expecting to hear Neil Harris Amber Army sung just yet, but us football fans are a fickle lot aren’t we?

On to Crawley on Saturday then, a six-pointer if there ever was one (although we could still be bottom come 5pm, even if we do win). It doesn’t matter what Shrewsbury or Burton or B*ro do - all we can do is do our best, and if we keep the effort levels up then we’ve showed that we’re capable of beating almost anyone.

Pretty big - and unexpected - news yesterday as United announced the returns of both Neil Harris (Head Coach) and Mark Bonner (Director of Football). Having had some time to think about it, here’s my thoughts.

Firstly Mark Bonner. I’m not going to lie, I was one of Mark Bonner’s strongest critics during his last year in charge. That said, I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for the man and what he achieved during his time managing the club. When he left us, the club on the whole was in a better place than it had been in years. He had galvanised the fanbase, been our rock during the COVID-19 pandemic and bought us success none of us could have dreamed of. As a Director of Football there is no better ambassador for the club. Despite his lack of experience in the role, he’s now been around first team football in these leagues for five years, he’s done his badges, he’s made contacts and seems well liked in the football world. He didn’t have any experience as first-team manager before he took on the role here, and he was successful enough at that, so I’m confident he’ll thrive in the role. Bonner also has a huge amount of credit in the bank with the fanbase, and knows the club inside out.

Neil Harris however… I’m in two minds about this. On paper, there probably isn’t a better manager available for us. He has a decent record in management so far, has recently managed in the Championship (with some degree of success), as well as experience of Leagues One and Two. He also has the benefit of having been at the club before, so he’ll have some idea of what we’re up against, and our ethos. But, the elephant in the room is the manner in which he left us previously. I don’t think anyone begrudges him returning to Millwall, a club where he is as revered as our own John Taylor. But he’s arguably the one of the reasons we’re in this trouble, and that we’ve been a bit of a basket case for the last twelve months or so. Harris leaving when he did, with no real succession plan lined up has cost us, and it’s arguably going to cost us our League One status this season. Of course, Garry Monk bears most responsibility for that, but Harris isn’t without fault at all, and that’s difficult for me to reconcile.

Harris’ record is good, and if anyone is going to get the points to keep us up it’s going to be him. He’s going to need to work really bloody hard to get the fanbase on side and a win on Saturday is going to be a big start. He doesn’t have anywhere near as much goodwill with the fanbase that Bonner does, so if he can’t get a tune out of our players he’s soon going to find the environment at the Abbey turn toxic.

Putting all emotion aside, I guess I’m happy with the appointments. There’s still that niggle about Harris, but if he proves himself to care about United as much as he claims to, and he gets us performing, and more importantly winning, then I’ll be able to start to forgive him. Bonner I welcome back with open arms. There’s no-one better for the job, and he’s going to be a massive asset in getting this club back where it belongs, whether it’s this season or next.

For the first time in a while I’m excited about getting to the Abbey on Saturday, I’m not sure I really expect us to get a result against Stockport, but I’m looking forward to being there for the start of this new era.

If you’d have asked me on Friday if I’d have been happy with a point against high-flying Wycombe, I’d still probably have said no - we need as many wins as we can get if we’re going to stay up this season. If you’d have asked me to seriously think about it though, I’d have probably accepted a point would be an alright result against a side who look nailed on to be playing in the Championship next season. So why does it feel like two points dropped then?

Let’s be clear - if Wycombe had taken their chances we’d have likely be going in to half time three or four nil down. But after the break United started to come back into the game a bit, and after Wycombe went down to ten men it looked like one-way traffic from then on. Unfortunately it was too little, too late for the U’s, but if the game had another ten or twenty minutes left then we might have sneaked a deserved winner (equally, we might well have conceded another, such is lift supporting Cambridge).

This team, although limited in quality, aren’t short of heart and that was clear. Despite the loudest ‘Monk Out’ chant’s I’ve heard so far the chant of ‘Garry Monk’s Amber Army’ rang loud at the end. I can see why the board have stuck with him, he’s been dealt a bad hand with injuries but still seems to command the respect of the dressing room. That didn’t always look the case at the end of Mark Bonner’s tenure.

We’ve moved quickly to replace Jack Stevens today. That needed to happen. He wasn’t good enough last season, he wasn’t good enough in August, and he wasn’t good enough at the start of January. You can call me harsh if you want, but he’s still not good enough now. He costs us goals regularly and sticking with him is admitting that we’re going to go down. Credit to the board and recruitment team for bringing in Nathan Bishop today.

Josh Stokes looked superb as always, and his goal was a sight to behold, full of confidence from such a young player. Domenic Ballard looked lively again and should start to contribute once he gets up to speed. Ben Stevenson looked quality in the middle, a cut above anyone else we’ve got in that position. Esapa Osong only had a short cameo again, but his physicality makes him look like he’ll be a useful player to bring on should Loft tire.

But yet again, it didn’t quite work out for us did it? Cousins had a good game, but only because you didn’t notice him do anything wrong. Brophy, ran around a lot in the middle, but still doesn’t really do much all that effectively. Bennett - there’s a reason he’s still here at the end of this window, and his crossing is most of that. If he could just improve on that it would add so much to us as a team.

Results went against us, as they do when your luck is down. It would be a brave man to bet against Cambridge United going down this year, as time is rapidly running out. We’ve just got to keep on keeping on, keep on trying to improve, and keep on trying to make things difficult for the opposition. That’s all we can do, all we must do.

Can we begin to dream yet? A third great escape in a row? Probably not but three points is three points, and the U’s dug in to secure them in what was a nervy ending to the game.

Talking of dreams, it was a dream start from the U’s as Captain Morrison put United ahead in the first minute. A Danny Andrew throw was half-cleared as far as Brophy, who played it back to Andrew to cross back in, another not-quite clearance found Cousins who nodded forward to Josh Stokes who crossed for Morrison to put it across the line from close range.

The dream got even better six minutes later when Stokes was fouled in the box, and the Bristol City loanee put the ball beyond Christy Pym and the U’s into a not-fully-comfortable lead.

The only other event of note in the first half was the sad loss of Marco Marosi on 40 mins, the keeper pulling his hamstring stretching to collect a short pass back from Danny Andrew after a what was beginning to look like a reassuring performance in goal. A devastated Marosi left the field to be replaced by Jack Stevens, and a collective groan was heard around the Abbey - could Stevens get over the yips and put in a confident performance of his own?

Just after the break it started to look like that question might not have needed answering, as Ryan Loft - yep, Ryan Loft, hit a belter into the top corner from a corner. One of the best goals we’ll see at the Abbey this season, and from a player who’s come in for a fair amount of criticism from the fans this season. Could this be what he needs to crack on?

Mansfield pulled one back on the hour from ex-U George Maris, and Mansfield started to impose themselves on the game a little more. In the 90th minute Zeno Rossi slid in late on Mansfield’s Ben Raine, injuring his shoulder in the process. After he left the field - leaving United with ten men due to the fact we’d already used all our subs - the penalty was despatched by who else but Lee Gregory. Rotten luck for Rossi after his own goal at Bolton last week, and now he joins our lengthly injury list for what looks like a good few weeks.

Luckily the U’s saw the game out for some important points, that lifted us up to 22nd. The next few days and any incomings are going to be hugely important for how the rest of the season pans out. With only Marosi coming in so far (and now being out for probably the rest of the season) United desperately need bodies in almost all areas of the pitch. A striker (or two), defender and goalkeeper at minimum need to come through the door, and we’re hoping that some of those on the injury list might be able to contribute too. There’s not much confidence in the recruitment department as it stands, and you suspect that this window will be make or break for Ben Strang and his position at the club.

It’s a tight bottom of the table, and I don’t think anyone would be surprised if the bottom four are still in that position at the bottom of the season. But, Northampton and B*ro (after a 5-1 tonking by Lincoln) are only six points ahead, and we’ve got to play them both before the season is out… Maybe dreams can come true?

Apologies for the break - sometimes life gets in the way, coupled with the utter misery that is supporting Cambridge United at times means it’s hard to sit down and put digital pen to digital paper when there’s little to cheer.

So picking up where we left off then, and not much has changed. We’ve just drawn with Bolton, we’re still deep in the relegation zone, Gary Gardner is still injured, Garry Monk is still in charge and we still can’t seem to win games for love nor money.

We’ll come to the Bolton game in a minute but let’s first address the managerial situation. For the second time this season the board have put out a statement backing Monk and his team. It’s clear they believe that Monk is the man to turn the season around and achieve survival (despite all evidence to date suggesting he is not) or at the very least a manager who can rebuild this team in League Two next season. I guess we have to respect their decision even if everyone but the most optimistic U’s fans can only see this season ending in relegation.

I don’t believe the board have written this season off- they’ve made it clear to Monk there will be some funds available to him this transfer window, although three weeks in we’ve only added one player to the squad in goalkeeper Marko Marosi. Time is running out, and as we saw in the Summer the quality of available players as the window looms closer significantly decreases. Who’s the next Dan Nlundulu and where’s he coming from?

Supporter reaction to Monk doesn’t seem to be particularly bad either. Maybe most of us accept that he’s taken on a poisoned chalice, with an ever-growing injury list and little in the way of funds. There hasn’t been any significant anti-Monk sentiment at any of the home games recently other than a handful of dissenting voices. It feels like Mark Bonner had a rougher time of it in his last few games than Monk has despite having nowhere near the same amount of goodwill in the bank. As someone who remembers the utter toxicity of the McFarland/Beck/Thompson Out campaigns it’s a bit of a surprise.

It’s worth noting that for many fans this season will be the first relegation they’ve witnessed. Should the inevitable happen in May it will be twenty years since our last relegation, which is pretty good going. Off the field, the club is a million times different from the one that dropped out the league in 2005, we’re owned by a genuine life-long fan, we have a decent, modern training ground, we seem to be relatively financially stable and most importantly we own the Abbey. In 2005 that felt like something we’d never see again in our lifetime, and whilst the old girl isn’t really much different (bar an expanded hospitality area, some seats in the Habbin and some nice new toilets) there finally seems to be some concrete plans to bring the stadium up to date.

On the pitch however the difference between 2005 and 2025 is clear, even though things aren’t going that well right now. We were unlucky to draw with Bolton, an Ibsen Rossi own goal in the last minute of the game denying us a first win at Bolton since the 80’s, and three-much needed points. You’d have probably taken a point away before the game, but the manner of the result is heartbreaking. One thing you can’t accuse this team of is not trying, a charge that was levelled at the 2005 team on more than one occasion. I’ve touched on our injury record, we’ve something like 11 or 12 potential first team players out injured, including all our recognised strikers except Ryan Loft, who’s enduring a difficult start to his time at the Abbey (however Saturday’s game could have been the beginning of him turning the corner?) and that’s bound to have an effect. The players generally seem to be playing for Monk though, there doesn’t seem to be much unhappiness in the ranks. Occasionally you’ll see some of them snapping at each other on the pitch but this seems borne of frustration rather than a bigger morale problem in the squad. I think most of the players realise their limitations (through quality, age, size etc) and are working hard to try and overcome that. It’s not particularly enjoyable to watch, and it’s downright infuriating to see Brophy lose momentum by stopping to switch feet, or Bennett floating a cross over the heads of everyone in the middle or Nlundulu being out on the edge of the penalty area when a decent low cross does eventually come in. I’m not picking on those players especially, but it is the same things happening every time. Monk tried to play nice football but the players weren’t able to do so, and they don’t see much cop at playing ugly football either, but at least they’re having a go.

It’s been said we don’t look like a bottom four team, but almost every stat conceivable, and crucially, the league table is showing that we are. We’ve ridden our luck for the past two seasons, perhaps a third barely surviving was always going to be too big a task for a club like ours.

But there’s twenty one games left of the season, and still a few other crap teams knocking about down the bottom. The defeat to Bristol Rovers was damaging but we’ve still got to play five of those bottom six. If I’m honest I think the damage was already done with those first nine games giving us an almost insurmountable mountain to climb, but if we do manage to pull this one off it’s going to be the greatest of great escapes.

Alright that’s a slightly tongue in cheek headline, but there were definitely times last night it felt like we were up against the officials as well as Bolton’s players.

But you know what - despite it being a 1-1 draw with little real quality on show (that was definitely the poorest Bolton team we’ve seen at the Abbey for as long as I can remember) it was one of *those* games. You know the ones, The Abbey. The floodlights, the cold, the smell of undercooked bacon wafting through the stands… one of *those* games. The crowd was our smallest of the season so far, with the South Stand virtually empty, but it felt like everyone had packed into the NRE - as loud and as supportive as I’ve heard all season.

To the game itself then, and well, it was pretty unremarkable. United got out the blocks quick, having a chance within the first five minutes but that was kind of it really. Bolton looked flat, their league position betraying what looked like a fairly unremarkable side. The first half was over almost as soon as it started, a cursory one minute of injury time felt like a minute too long, so little was the action on the pitch.

The second half went much the same way, United content to let Bolton have possession and snatch at chances every now and again, whilst getting forward when possible. Njoku made way for Lavery at half-time, United’s #34 having a below-par game by his standards. I think if we had a fully fit squad we’d have looked to get him a loan out to League Two or the Conference to get some goals against his name, so in a way he’s suffering by playing this regularly.

The turning point came ten minutes into the second half, as Bolton prepared to take a corner some jostling in the area lead to Okedina raising his hands - gently mind - to Bolton’s number six who went down like he’d been snipered from one of the floodlights. A soft red card, but Okedina was bang to rights really, you can’t raise your hands to someones face, especially when you’re that close to the referee.

The red card was about the only decision the ref got right in the second half, and it felt like he was going to lose control of the game shortly after. Korey Smith pulled to the ground, whilst waiting for Bolton to take a throw, once he was on his feet the throw went into the box, and as Andrew prepared to get his tackle in he was caught allowing Aaron Collins to squirm a shot past Reyes. Both could have done better, both a little unlucky, but it was United with the world against them as Bolton could sit back and defend their lead with the luxury of the extra man.

Too many times before we’d have seen heads drop here - and many people, myself included have questioned the fight and spirit in this United team. They answered that brilliantly last night, battling for everything, fighting for the ball and not giving up. Morrison seemed constantly on the cusp of a red card, but once the game settled it was the U’s who took it to Bolton, pushing for that goal. Kachunga came on for Cousins, and whilst he didn’t do a whole lot it was a statement of intent from Monk as we tried to claw back a point.

That goal came in the last minute of the 90, an Andrew throw made its way back to him in front of the main stand, and his whipped cross found Sullay Kaikai to nod home and send the ground into pandemonium. One of *those* Abbey nights.

United almost nabbed all three points with the last ball of the game, a corner that Ibsen Rossi couldn’t steer past the Bolton keeper, but you know what? Given everything, a point was a decent result in the end.

What did we learn then? Firstly: the jury’s still out on Ryan Loft. He defends well, and he’s a big unit, but I pray to God we don’t have to watch him try and hold the ball up like that for the next four years. But remember: Paul Mullin had never scored much till he came here either…

Secondly: this team has spirit. We might still go down yet, but it’s not gonna be without a fight.

Thirdly: we proper ruined that ref’s acca didn’t we?

Man of the Match: Michael Morrison. A walking red card he somehow managed to stay on the pitch for the 90 and led by example. An imperious performance from the captain.

Soundtrack of the Match: Black Sabbath - Paranoid

A point. A clean sheet. No injuries. That was probably about as successful a trip to Sixfields as we could have hoped for really. The biggest talking point pre-game was who’d start in goal, could Jack Stevens keep his place following a Man of the Match performance against Barnsley the week before?

The answer was no, as Vincente Reyes was restored to the XI after the international break. That answers any questions as to who the #1 at the club is, although Stevens post-Barnsley comments show he’s aware and working on the challenge to regain his confidence and position.

The weather was miserable, the ground is miserable, and let’s be honest, the football was pretty miserable too. Despite all that it was United who looked the better side, and the best chance early on fell to Brandon Njoku who’s shot was stopped by the keepers leg. Perhaps he could have squared it to Nlundulu but you can’t be angry at a striker having a shot from there.

Other than that the only other incidents of note during the first half was some typically inept refereeing, firstly ignoring the most blatant Morrison handball I’ve ever seen, then evening up an incorrect corner decision against the U’s the next time Northampton had a shot.

The second half continued in much the same vein as the first, the wind having the most impact on the game, as United plugged away, Njoku made way for Lavery just after the hour mark, and the Northern Irishman almost opened the scoring five minutes later, blazing over the bar instead. Lavery was involved in probably the best chance of the second half, getting on to a loose ball, playing across goal to Kachunga who only needed to tap it in, but a last-ditch block by the defender denied him.

So yeah, not much to write about really. Bolton visit tomorrow and we’ll have to do without on-loan Dan Nlundulu which probably means minutes for Ryan Loft. He’s not impressed much so far, but this gives him a chance to show what he’s good at. I can’t imagine Tuesday will be easy on the eye, but one specific match aside, we’re in decent form at the moment and confidence seems to be high-ish amongst the players. A point would be decent, but the win is there if things go to plan.

Man of the Match: Between Okedina & Morrison, dealt with everything Northampton threw at them (which wasn’t much to be fair, but someone’s got to get it).

Soundtrack of the Match: Jah Wobble & Horace Andy - Ain’t No Sunshine

I’m going to caveat all of what I write here with a big statement. I didn’t go on Saturday. I was on holiday in Berlin. After last season I told myself I couldn’t go through that again, not just the result, but the manner of the defeat coupled with all the aggro that goes with the day made me think it’s not worth it. So you’re not going to get any detailed match analysis here. I’m not even going to write the scoreline. Last year was bad enough, this year is worse.

Immediately after the game I was hurting, as much as if I’d have been there. Friends said we looked better than them for 20 minutes, that we didn’t play anywhere near as badly as we did last season. But it’s impossible to look at this game without the context of last season’s result. Three of those who started last year started again this year - if it wasn’t for injury and suspension you could have added Andrew and Digby (and arguably George Thomas) to that list. That’s five players who’ve proved they don’t care enough and aren’t good enough to wear the shirt. Five players who cost Mark Bonner his job. Five players still earning good money from Cambridge United.

It doesn’t matter though, because James Brophy scored in a cup game last week. Prepare the commemorative T-shirts! 2 goals in 160-odd appearances from an attacking player. Pathetic. Michael Morrison said we’ve “lost a lot of pride”. Didn’t we lose enough of it last year? That should have been a one-off. Procedures should have been put in place to ensure we never lose heavily to them again. I can take bigger, better teams beating us from time to time. I can’t accept half-arsed attempts in the derby, and nor should you. As a fanbase we shouldn’t be making excuses for this level of performance. I don’t want to see a single “I Was There When Brophy Scored” T-shirt at the Abbey on Saturday against Barnsley. We shouldn’t celebrate failure. Let these players know this isn’t acceptable. Let the management team know. Let the board know. Barry did the right thing last time and disposed of Bonner. Is sacking Monk the answer? I still don’t know.

We are making such great strides off the pitch, and are really becoming an organisation to be proud of. But we’re not a business, first and foremost we’re a football club, and we’ll be judged on our success on the pitch. This needs putting front and centre of every single thing we do from now on. We’ve been in the Conference and it was awful. The club had no profile, we were rivals with Histon for fucks sake. We’re a way off where we were back then, but relegation removes that buffer between us and non-league irrelevance. One bad season and we’ve gone back almost two decades. Invest in the training ground and re-brands and the matchday experience, yes. But invest in a centre forward who scored more than 5 goals last season. Invest in a centre-midfielder who is fit enough to start the season, not one who’s been paid by the club since August yet hasn’t done anything other than show a load of kids around a science centre. Invest in a defender so we don’t end up with some mug on loan who’s cost us six plus points already.

A lot of this is irrational, but this is the second year in a row this has happened. Morrison has said the players have lost a lot of pride, well guess what? So have us fans, and we don’t see this club as just a paycheck. We must respond on Saturday, if we don’t then I fear for Monk. Bonner had a lot of goodwill, even after an abject derby performance, Monk has none of that in the bank.

That wasn’t pretty was it? Okay we got there in the end, but we did it the hard way. I suppose the good thing is that a month ago we’d have lost that game, but we held on right until the end.

I’m going to talk a bit more about Okedina in a minute, but is it any coincidence our uptick in form has come since Michael Morrison returned to the starting XI? He’s not getting any younger, he’s not getting any quicker, but he has tonnes of experience and he’s United through and through. In an ideal world we wouldn’t need a 38 year old centre back at all, but Morro is here, and he’s playing out of his skin at the moment, and we’re reaping the rewards.

His defensive partner Jubril Okedina has also been here a while, one of only two veterans of the 2020-21 promotion squad he’s racked up over 100 appearances for the U’s now, and his last three especially have been some of his best. Okedina is a bit of an enigma - out of those 100 appearances I can’t remember many where he really excelled (Newcastle maybe?) but there’s also not been many where he had a real shocker. A couple in his early days, sure, but show me a young centreback that hasn’t had a bad game from time to time. Okedina is really showing the potential we know he has, and although he was transfer listed by Monk he dealt with it in a professional, mature way and fought his way back into the first team picture and the place is his to lose now.

United lined up with a three-pronged attack. Dan Nlundulu flanked by Njoku & Kachunga. The former two worked hard all game, and although Nlundulu didn’t have much luck up front (against some robust defenders it must be said) he did a lot of hard work defensively. Njoku ran and ran all game and caused problems for the Burton defence and was unlucky not to get more to show for it. Kachunga on the other hand… he’s another one who just can’t find that consistency. He tried on Saturday, or at least made it look like he was trying, but when it came to the crunch, to getting really stuck in he just came off second best every time. He seemed to just drift through the game and it’s frustrating to see a player of his quality, and one that does seem to care about the club, have such a minimal impact on the game.

Njoku & Brophy eventually made way for Longelo and Kaikai, and twenty minutes later Digby and Nlundulu went off for Gibbons and Cousins as United went 4-4-2. Just when it started to look like it was going to be one of those days, United got a free kick outside the area, Andrew delivered it, the goalkeeper spilled it and it fell at the feet of Cousins to lash home spectacularly in front of the Newmarket Road End.

Burton gave us a late scare, having been the better side in the second half, but a visibly tired United hung on for another massive three points and another clean sheet. The way we’ve been playing the last three games has really taken it’s toll on the players and we looked knackered after about fifty minutes. Again, our injuries and small squad meant we didn’t have a huge amount of options off the bench, but credit to Monk for making the subs at the right time to make an impact.

It’s the FA Cup up next and I’d expect a few changes to the side, but the ambition will still be to go as far as possible in the tournament so I don’t think it’ll be a completely different side. We’ll get a bit more of an idea of who’s in favour and who isn’t after we see the lineup, and those who don’t play will probably get a chance against Chelseas kids in the Whatever-the-hell-it’s-called-now Trophy. By the time we’ve played those two hopefully we’ll have made it through unscathed and there’s some fresh faces back ready for the derby. Two weeks ago I’d have been terrified at the prospect of facing that lot in the form we’re in, now I’m merely cautious. Up the U’s!

Man of the Match: Two standouts for me, starting with Liam Bennett. Got kicked, elbowed and pushed all over the place but still got up every time and never gave up. The other is Okedina, for the reasons I mentioned above. A model professional. Digby also had a good game until he went off.

Soundtrack of the Match: De La Soul - The Magic Number

Two in two! Two weeks ago I didn't think we'd be able to win two games all season, let alone against opponents such as Wigan and Stevenage.

I guess firstly credit must go to Garry Monk. I've changed my mind on Monk more times than he's switched up defences, but he seems to have got things to click now. Credit also to the board to sticking with him, in the face of some fairly strongly worded arguments (not least mine) against keeping him in charge.

Credit due also to the players, who’ve bucked their ideas up and are starting to show that they’re a League One side who can compete on this stage. I’ve worried before that relegation will be terminal for our ambitions, so this showing starts to fill me with a bit of confidence.

My mate Alan pointed out to me that at no point during the game did we have more than two outfield players on the pitch that weren’t a part of last seasons squad. If anything shows the lack of depth in the squad Monk has to work with then it’s that. Injuries are the main reason for that stat, but we’d also do well to remember that we’re not able to bring in an entire new squad every summer due to our finances. Smith has come in for a tonne of criticism from me, a lot of it deserved, some of it not, but over the past few games has really started to show his class. Nlundulu I remain less convinced about, but he’s running and trying hard and he’s been rewarded with a couple of goals already. We know he wasn’t our first choice #9, but he’s wearing the shirt so we might as well back him whilst he’s here. Worst case, he’s crap and we send him back to Bolton in January, Best case, he scores tonnes of goals between now and Xmas and Bolton recall him anyway.

I don’t think anyone had a bad game on Tuesday, but special shoutouts must go to a few of them: Okedina, finally starting to come of age. He’s one of our longest serving players now and has made over 100 appearances. It doesn’t feel like it sometimes, and he’s had ups and downs but has reacted to being placed on the transfer list in the summer with professionalism. His reaction to his last ditch tackle on Tuesday was a joy to see, celebrating it like he’d scored a winner. Kachunga had a decent game (and looks pretty cool in his long-sleeved shirt) and although he was the weaker of the three forwards Tuesday, he still put in a shift. Smith I mentioned above, Morrison lead the backline with all his years of experience and made sure we was wise to Stevenage’s tricks.

The last thing to mention is the United fans. I don’t get to many away games, but the atmosphere on Tuesday was incredible. We didn’t rise to the provocations from Stevenage’s idiot fans, the atmosphere was much better than last season. We sang from kick-off to the final whistle, supported the team and showed we were United, and it was actually a somewhat pleasant experience, which isn’t something you usually say about a night in Stevenage.

Burton come to town on Saturday, the only team below us in the league, and one hoping for a bit of “new manager bounce” after sacking Mark Robinson yesterday. We’ve never had a better chance to make it three in three, and if we play even half as well as we have the past couple of games that should be achievable. Burton seem to be one of those teams we struggle against, although since returning to the League the stats are actually slightly in our favour. What kind of Burton team will turn up Saturday it remains to be seen and whether they’ll be reinvigorated by a change of gaffer or down-heartened by the decision will be a big part in how they play. For us we have to hope that Smith went off with just a bit of cramp (the fact he ran half the length of the pitch - albeit fairly slowly - to celebrate Kaikai’s goal makes me hope the injury isn’t too bad). Ryan Loft should be back, and every week is a week closer to the likes of Stokes, Lavery, Gardner & the others returning. See you at the Abbey!

Man of the Match: Twice in a row I’m giving it to Korey Smith, but there were a number of contenders.

Soundtrack of the Match: The Streets - Turn The Page

Full disclosure: I wasn’t at the game on Saturday. Work had me travelling back from Amsterdam so I wasn’t able to attend. It’s typical isn’t it?

In light of that shocking revelation you won’t find any of the usual cutting edge analysis here other than to say from what I heard and briefly saw in the highlights United looked pretty decent. Maybe it’s all starting to come together. Maybe Korey Smith is actually good. Maybe we’ll stay up this season… (okay that’s probably too big an ask).

We’ve known that we’re not an especially bad team, just one riddled with a lack of confidence and some deadly mistakes in us. We know that Monk isn’t an especially bad manager, just one who’s trying to impose an attractive style of football on a group of players wildly unsuited to it. We know we’ve been unlucky with injuries, we know our summer targets mostly signed elsewhere. We know now that when we play well, keep our focus for the full 90+ minutes, when we take our chances, that we can beat some of the better teams in the division. Who knows, maybe this is a one-off, our solitary win of the season against the odds, but I think the tide might be starting to turn…

We’ve got a tough game tomorrow at Stevenage. It’s always a horrible place to go, a horrible ground in a horrible town with horrible fans and a local police force that haven’t updated their training methods since the 1980’s. A second win in succession and suddenly that belief starts to come back, for the fans and the players. The kind of defeat we endured last season? Then we’re back to square one.

Man of the Match: I’m told Korey Smith had a good game.

Soundtrack of the Match: Everything But The Girl - Missing