Cambridge United: Pre Season 2011 / 2012

Hello readers and welcome back to my Football Manager Story which last time saw Cambridge complete the non league double by winning the FA Trophy at Wembley but now came the task of preparing to step up to the challenge of League 2 after comfortably winning the BSP as well.

Once the season was over I was somewhat surprised that I didn’t win the Manager of the Year award which went to Dean Holdsworth of Newport County who didn’t even get promoted after losing the play off final to Luton Town so I guess I didn’t win any friends in the lowe r league!

The overall financial picture looked pretty healthy as we entered the summer break though the main cause for concern was the salary budget which was way over though a new kit sponsorship deal will hopefully help that situation out.

Salary Budget: Almost £6,000.00 over !!

New Sponsorship

My scouting team consisting of one person was in fact totally useless so he was set to be released along with a couple of other staff members so betwen myself and assistant manager Warren Neill we didn’t take much of a summer break and began to draw up al list of potential targets some of whom had been on loan at the club this past season and could possible become available on July 1st.

Players are all about the money as so eloquently described in  Darrens fantastic financial report, part 1 which I wish was posted before I started my pre season :). Never mind, we did get a cash injection from TV rights which was quickly followed by a meeting with the board to discuss the upcoming season expectations.

I decided that consolidation was the best approach to our first season in League 2  which the board agreed to and thus netted me  nice little transfer budget of 22k but more importantly a £26,000 salary budget!!

With cash in hand it was time to go and make a few deals and as usual I like to try and get most of my signings done within the first few days of July which gives plenty of time for the squad to gell before the season starts so lets take a look at where the money went. Though just before that I did offload several unwanted players and even managed to get some money for one of them which ws a real surprise.

So as you can see I had seven new signings completed within the first three days of July with two more arriving at the Abbey Stadium within a week after that. The final name on the list Daniel Pappoe is on a two month loan to cover injuries that happened in the last couple of pre season matches.

The first order of business was to get some goalkeepers as we really didn’t have any as last years were both loanees so I really wanted to have someone permanent and so we acquired a familiar name to you all in Martin Hansen (who was my Wrexham keeper as well).

His Liverpool team mate Dean Bouzanis will be the back up keeper and was keen to come back to us on another loan spell.

My back four I was pretty much happy with though when Scott Wootten became available from Man United I just had to have him as he played a vital role on loan with us last season and he agreed to join us.

The right flank was an area I wanted to improve on and I feel I did just that with the arrival of Conor Newton who had been released from Newcastle. Newton is a very determined player with some decent speed about him and likes to get involved with a high work rate attribute.

As my tactic is all about attacking down the left flank so I needed some support for ML Karl Moore and someone who could get up the field and creat chances for N’Goma and Fofana my left flank strikers. Former Blackburn player Josh Morris was highly recommended by AM Warren Neill so we duly signed him and although not electrifying in terms of pace should do well at this level and has the potential to improve.

Josh though may also prove to be useful in the centre of the field in support of Shane Williams so as a little bit of insurance I loaned Conor Henderson from Arsenal for the season who can also play both out on the flank and in the centre and if needs be Fofana can also drop back into the ML position as well so overall I’m happy with that area of the field.

 I was also looking for a couple of midfield players who could act as a deep lying playmakers as I’m not 100% sure of my youngster Craig Tawton and I had some loan players in and out of that position as well last season so that role needed permanently filling.

The first player we brought in was Bristol Rovers Harry Pell who was released on a free and someone that Warren Neill was drooling over like a Great Dane dog to sign. He’s pretty creative and a decent passer of the ball so perhaps he is going to be the star of the team?

If my AM was drooling like I dog I was practically a waterfall as we acted quickly to bring another former United player Oliver Norwood to East Anglia who we acquired on a free transfer. Norwood and Pell look somewhat similar, however Norwood will indeed be the starter as he’s very much a free kick specialist and a more determined player  so he won’t be on the bench that much this coming season.

Finally I wanted a fourth striker  and went for one of my loanees from  last season that being Danny Hoesen who was let go by Fulham. He’ll play on the right side of the front two and slightly ahead of N’Goma who will run in from deep positions. Hoesen is a good finisher and also has the ability to strike from distance which I may take advantage of.

So that completes the transfer activity and here’s a look at how our pre-season results.

We had an amazing 10-0 win albeit over Farnborough and had a couple of unlucky losses against university rivals Oxford and Scottish side Kilmarnock. Our best peformance was against Argentine side All Boys with Shane Williams striking a heck of a goal from distance in a 2-0 upset win.

We start the season off at home to Wycombe Wanderers followed by the visit of Millwall in the League Cup.

That completes this report so thanks for reading and have yourselves a great Thursday.

PS:  I have quite a busy day ahead so I may not be able to respond to your comments until Friday