The U's-letter: Issue #8
Back to life, back to reality
Welcome back. It’s been a while. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve loved every second of the break. This international week could happily have lasted months as far as I was concerned; having a weekend without the affliction of following the huge elongated ebb of this current United team was gratefully received.
But, here we are, and like it or not I’ll be dragging my heels back to the Abbey this Saturday, just like so many of you will. In reflecting on this little break, it feels a bit like the rock bottom that we last experienced in another international break under Garry Monk - the one in March 2024. Everyone will remember that one all too clearly, where we conspired to lose Monk’s first three games by an aggregate scoreline of 11-1, ending in a 4-0 defeat at what were then relegation rivals Reading. After the whole Harris debacle, it was hard to figure out where to go from there.
And the Easter weekend that followed (including a home win against Wigan) was memorable for all the right reasons. So maybe we should take some heart from that. Without going into the underlying numbers and marginal defeat arguments we’re all tired of, things really can change very quickly in football. And since United last played, that 1-0 defeat at Exeter nearly two weeks ago, one significant thing has happened: the club have released a statement backing Monk. How long for is unclear, but it’s a fair assumption to say that the results of the next three games will have a huge say on it.
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter, where we cast our eyes back to the Exeter game and look ahead to two games: Wigan and Stevenage. Make sure you’re subscribed by clicking the button below.
📰 News From The U’s 📰
As mentioned, and as everyone reading this will know, the board have released a statement on Garry Monk’s future, backing their man.
Monk will also be serving a touchline ban this weekend against Wigan, but Corr and Euell won’t be, contrary to rumours.
The U’s were drawn against Woking in the FA Cup first round, travelling to the Kingfield Stadium, the site of many a non-league encounter, on Saturday November the 2nd.
No news is bad news: still no Gary Gardner in the latest training photos (but rumour of him back on the grass in the presser).
✍️ At The Match ✍️
Exeter 1-0 U’s
Written by Owen Kiernan. Subscribe to The Antler to read the report in full and receive regular match reports in your inbox.
Another matchday, another zero point haul for Garry Monk. A club statement this morning makes it sound like he’s safe for a little while, but what does that mean longer term?
Having put any ideas of Monk-ball and playing it around the back out of their minds, United travelled to Exeter with Loft & Nlundulu playing the ‘big men up front’ role, whilst Elias Kachunga was tasked with ineffectively doing whatever it is he’s meant to do just behind them. Smith & Digby completed the familiar midfield, with Bennett & Gibbons either side as wingbacks. Okedina, Morro and Andrew were the central three in an experiment that the law of averages dictates must keep a clean sheet one day before the end of the world.
Saturday was not that day. United limped through the first half, seeing little of the ball and not troubling the goal at all.
The goal came from United not clearing their lines after a corner, you could see it coming a mile off, it was no great surprise to anyone when it hit the back of the net.
The second half was much better, better in the way driving your car into a swimming pool is better than driving it into a brick wall is. Everyone seemed pretty pleased with our second half performance which is a pretty damning indictment if you ask me. Being bang average against a poor Exeter is not a measure of success by any means, and it pains me to hear Monk and others use it as a positive. If we’re to stay in this division we need to do a lot better than have an alright 45 mins against the likes of Exeter every now and again.
As usual United’s heads dropped as the game slipped away from them, and when the subs included James Brophy and Sullay Kaikai you knew a win was never on the cards. You could put the number 11 shirt (one that let’s not forget has been worn with distinction and pride for the past 13 years by Harrison Dunk) on a 3-legged horse and it would have been more effective than Kaikai was on Saturday.
🧐 View From The Away End 🧐
Exeter City
From the You Don’t Know What You’re Doing podcast
Overall, it actually felt like Cambridge matched us for large parts of the game. The first half was probably in City’s favour, but second half I thought you guys really came out and showed why you won’t be where you are for the entire season.
I was quite surprised by the actual ability of the U’s on show, given the results on paper it would be easy to think that it should have been a walkover once we went 1-0 up, but you gave us a tough game. I’d be very surprised if you don’t put up a better fight than what you have done so far. You could have gotten a point from the game pretty comfortably, you were more than our equals we were just fortunate to get that early-ish goal.
FANCY BEATING US AT EFL FANTASY? LINK BELOW 👇
🔢 Stats Corner 🔢
Not a stat, but 15 years ago today we lost 3-0 to Hayes and Yeading United in a league match in front of 744 people. Despite everything, it’s remarkable to think how low we’ve dropped in our recent history.
It’s been 10 days since Cambridge United last lost a football match. Glorious.
A PPG update: 45 points was enough to stay up last season, which we need 1.19 PPG to reach. You’d have finished 16th with that last year, just above Charlton.
More on Shrewsbury in a bit, but while we were all taking a well earned rest over the international break, they scored 5 goals away from home for the first time in 13 years.
🔮 Opposition Preview 🔮
Wigan Athletic (H) - Saturday 19th October
Last 5 (all comps): WDWDD - Wigan have started really solidly and will definitely be looking up rather than down. They’ve conceded the least amount of goals in the league (5) and kept the most clean sheets (7). They’re unbeaten in their last six league games, and haven’t conceded in any of them. Their last defeat was against Birmingham, where they conceded a 92nd minute equaliser playing with 10 men.
Last time out: U’s 3-1 Wigan, 1st April 2024. Monk’s second win as U’s boss, and his last one, over six months ago.
Our H2H: P18, W4, L6, D8. Not a team we’ve come up against that regularly in the past, but the 5 division gap that separated us about 12 years ago seemed a bit too big for both our ‘natural’ club sizes.
Manager: Shaun Maloney. Speaking of Wigan in the Premier League, enter their current boss, Shaun Maloney. The ex-diminutive winger has, from the outside, done a really decent job in the past few seasons in some very difficult circumstances at times, despite a bit of unrest about his style from some quarters of the Latics fanbase.
One to watch: Thelo Aasgaard. The Liverpool-born Norwegian is a really handy player and will want to see a lot of the ball around the box.
Former U’s players: Jensen Weir.
Stevenage Borough (A) - Tuesday 22nd October
Last 5 (all comps): LLWWD - Lots of people were unsure of how Stevenage would do after pantomime villain Steve Evans left and relative newbie (and Cambridge-born) Alex Revell would do following in his swollen footsteps, but he’s started very solidly and kept themselves out of harm’s reach of trouble so far.
Last time out: Stevenage 1-0 U’s, 27th February 2024. A horrible evening in that horrible week after Harris ditched us.
Our H2H: P19, W6, L9, D4. Definitely worth mentioning this is just in the Football League, I couldn’t find stats including our non-league meetings which would have inflated this number. What is for definite is, including one game in the pizza cup, Stevenage have beaten us 6 times in a row, home and away.
Manager: Alex Revell. Cambridge-born and a U’s academy graduate who went on to make 60-odd appearances in amber and black. He ended his career at Stevenage where he went on to work on Evans’ coaching staff before taking over full-time this summer, and taking to the job very well so far it seems.
One to watch: Jamie Reid. Scored 17 in 30 last year and Stevenage managed to keep hold of him despite interest from elsewhere.
Former U’s players: Not that I can see.
🏟️ Under The Other Stands 🏟️
There was a crazy game at Crawley between them and Shrewsbury, two teams who we will most probably be keeping an eye on all season. There’s not enough space here to go through the game in detail, but a game that goes in 1-1 at half-time and finishes 5-3 to the away team is one worth looking up.
The week before the Shrews also managed to get a 2-2 draw at Bolton, which despite them throwing away a 2-0 lead is undoubtedly a very decent point.
Despite there only being two League One games over the international break, there were a total of 14 goals, as Posh and Rotherham drew 3-3.
💻 On The Web 💻
100 Years of Coconuts have announced “The Biggest Club in Cambridge”, the next edition of Celery & Coconuts, Andrew Bennett’s detailed history of Cambridge United.
🕺 What’s Spinning? 🕺
Maybe Thom Yorke could put a smile on your face? Feels like a contradiction, but The Smile’s new record is out now:
Thanks for reading this week’s U’s-letter. Send us any comments or suggestions to include in next week’s issue to: hello@undertheabbeystand.com