Pre-season for my beloved super U's is well under way. The first 3 friendlies have been and gone, nearly all of the "dead wood" has been stripped from the squad and Jez George has put together a squad that might surprise a few people this season. I've been trying to work out how well I think we'll do, it's always hard looking from within your own club to figure this out. To try and get a yardstick of how far we've come since Ling *shudder*, I've been keeping a close eye on @nonleagueshow on Twitter. Over the last couple of days fans from various non-league clubs have been listing their predictions for promotion from the Blue Square Bet Premier this season. Cambridge United have not appeared once. The relegated sides Lincoln and Stockport feature heavily, with most others going for Luton and Fleetwood. Honourable mentions go to Darlington who are deemed to be considered contenders.
I don't think the predictions are going to be a million miles away, but I can't help thinking the lack of any predictions for the super U's is down to our choice of manager and the attitude of our own fans. We won't dare to dream, we've been hurt too many times in the past to put our necks on the line and set ourselves up for disappointment. We've become content with not being near the relegation zone. I'm slowly coming round to the idea of Jez as manager, but I'm going to reserve judgement until I see how we perform in the league. Personally, I can't help but think we've made a huge mistake. Looking from outside the club you'd definitely think we've taken the cheap option - which we have. Probably more through necessity than choice. Our lack of predictions can't be down to our signings, we've brought in plenty of young, talented and hungry players who have been the recipe for success for a lot of teams who have got out of this division. It can't be down to our fan base, despite spending most of the season languishing near the bottom of the table we had the 5th highest average attendance in the league in 2010-11. Other clubs must have heard "budget cut" from the Abbey and seen a man at the helm who has never been in charge of a senior team and made their minds up. We need a few more of our own fans talking up our chances, you don't see Luton, Fleetwood or Darlington fans saying "we're getting ahead of ourselves here, let's settle for mid table".
Just a quick note on the average attendance at the Abbey that I found during some research, here's the average gate and how that compares to the rest of the Blue Square Bet Premier since we started in this tripe division in 05/06:
- 2005/06 - 4th highest with 2606
- 2006/07 - 4th highest with 2815
- 2007/08 - 3rd highest with 3551
- 2008/09 - 2nd highest with 3570
- 2009/10 - 5th highest with 3077
- 2010/11 - 5th highest with 2557
At the time Martin Ling was dismissed, Jez was the obvious choice to steady the ship and keep things ticking over, he stopped the rot that had set in under Ling and stopped us from being relegated. At that point, for me he should of gone back under the radar and carried on his terrific work churning through the youth products to feed the first team with. He himself said this was what he wanted to happen, but I always got the feeling there was a small part of him that wanted a crack at managing at this level. He'll probably never get the opportunity again, so why shouldn't he? All the signs so far suggest it's not going to be a complete disaster, but the real test will come when we lose a couple of games. Will Jez be able to transfer his skills mentoring our youth products who have had no emphasis on getting results to a competitive side who are all about getting 3 points? It represents a massive gamble, one I don't think the club could afford to take.
There was a name available that stood out time and time again, throughout the whole back end of last season while Jez was keeping us in the division, I had my fingers crossed he was just keeping the seat warm for Tommy Widdrington. He ticked every single box for what this club needs at this time. He has brought a club on a limited budget into the Blue Square Premier so is experienced at this level and below. He not only kept Salisbury there but had them punching well above their weight. He worked on the smallest full-time budget in English football and if it wasn't for a points deduction, would have finished 6th with Salisbury. He was interested in the job, he declared that he would love to take the reigns and had a vital ingrediant for our Director of Football (Jez) - hunger! He publicly declared so in the Cambridge News:
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Sport/Cambridge-United/Tommy-is-interested-in-Us-job.htm
When this calibre of manager is available, why on earth do you pass up the opportunity? I've kept up with his whereabouts via his Twitter @TommyWidd and told him I thought he was the man for the Abbey, he sent me a message:
"Cheers Dan, I was/am keen and I too believe I would've "had the tools" to take Cambridge forward. Never say never!"
Tommy is still without a role at a football club since his departure as Southend assistant manager. This leaves me even more despondent that we've 'ended up' with Jez. As much as I admire the man for his work ethic, knowledge and willingness to work within our constraints, he's not a proven manager at the top level of non-league or even in senior football. I thought the club would of learnt from the Martin Ling fiasco that what we are crying out for is someone who has been there and done it in this division, someone who has got the best out of limited resources. I think the cost of bringing in a decent calibre manager would far outweigh the cons of the gamble we've taken. Whatever good vibes are going round the club at the moment emanating from Jez, whatever way you look at it, putting Jez at the helm is a gamble. This might be dramatic, but if it goes wrong it could be the end of the club. Any managerial appointment is a gamble, everyone was over the moon we'd manage to secure the services of Ling for example, but you can reduce that risk by bringing in someone who has done it at this level in similar circumstances.
I can't stress enough how much I want this to work and this sort of appointment when it works, seems to really work. Where Jez has got lucky is, if we finish mid-table and don't get too close to the relegation zone any time this season, everyone is going to be happy and he'll have done a "fantastic" job. This is more about the apathy that has set in within our fan base more than anything else. I'd like us to start aiming a little higher, balls to consolidation, balls to avoiding relegation, let's hear something positive from this club again who have been in the doldrums far too long. Let's galvanize, raise the bar and say we're aiming for the play-offs. When we were competing in the play-offs may have been while we were on an inflated playing budget, but teams on smaller budgets have done it, teams without the backing the Abbey's got have done it and League 2 is littered with tinpot teams such as Burton and Macclesfield now. We CAN get there!
We're the longest serving Blue Square Bet Premier side and we've never had an attendance average in a season outside the top 5. I realise attendances aren't directly linked to league placing and we have the noose of rent for the Abbey around our necks, but if we can provide a top half budget, slightly punch above our weight, we're in the play-offs! It sounds easy, but why can't we dream a little? Why on earth are we settling for mid-table abyss? It's a horrible attitude that lurks around this club now, we're not demanding success, we're settling and pushing out the same old excuses for ourselves.
Come on Jez, let's hear some fighting talk! Get us off to a good start, instill some confidence into what is definitely a young and talented squad, then we can go to places like Luton where we've previously accepted defeat before turning up and let's give them a game. Let's play without fear. Prove me wrong please, get me through my massive feeling of being underwhelmed at your appointment and let's surprise a few people. Let's see some of those people predicting Luton, Stockport and Lincoln saying it's our turn.
In Jez We Trust.
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