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United's Doncaster hoodoo struck again as despite taking the lead we slumped to a lacklustre defeat in a game where neither side shone and the result swung on a dubious penalty decision.
The first half was a dire, scrappy affair when Doncaster were particularly poor but United were unable to capitalise and our back line looked less than secure at times. Late in the first period our play improved enough to provide a goal when Jamie Barnwell cut in from the right wing. His pass found Michael Kyd who hit the ball low across the face of goal to the far post where Billy Beall slid in to score from close range.
The second half opened with a torrid 20 minutes during which the penalty was conceded. On 58 minutes David Preece was harshly adjudged to have impeded Colin Cramb, a decision which left him fuming, but Cramb slotted home to bring the scores level. United were allowed to display little of the flowing, imaginative football which has characterised much of their season so far but again fought back well late in the half. Roy McFarland must have taken heart from the way the youngsters refused to be cowed by the robust Doncaster Rovers side and it was a cruel reward when on-loan Simon Ireland snatched the points at the far post with two minutes left.
Asked whether the penalty decision was justified David Preece fumed, "Definitely not, I think we were cheated. The ref was in a bad position. He (the Rovers player) hit me, arm-wise. I never touched him. One decision turned the game today."
Of his own comeback from a broken leg, the midfielder confirmed that he still had some discomfort after games but added, "I still need four to six games but I'm just glad to be playing again."
The defeat saw us slide to third on the table on goal difference as Carlisle's home win over Barnet moved them above us, while leaders Fulham recorded a home win against Brighton and extended their lead at the top to eight points. Elsewhere, Darran Hay scored twice for FA Cup opponents Woking in their 7-1 Conference romp over Altrincham and Scott McGleish scored his first goal for Orient in their 3-1 home win against Cardiff.
United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Granville, Preece (Turner 90), Craddock, Raynor, Hayes, Hyde, Kyd, Barnwell, Beall.
Subs not used: Thompson, Wanless.
Booked: Preece 59, Hyde 70 (both for fouls)
Ever-present defender Matt Joseph and midfielder Paul Wanless are both fit for Cambridge United's revenge bid at Doncaster tomorrow. They trained today, enabling manager Roy McFarland to retain the same squad from the 2-0 victory over Leyton Orient.
Micah Hyde watched non-League Woking spring the Cup shock of the season last night by beating Millwall, the second division leaders, in front of their own fanatical supporters. But he has no fears about facing the giantkillers in the second round of the FA Cup next Saturday.
"It'll be an easier match for us than taking on Millwall," said the United skipper, "a great chance to get through to play a big club in the third round."
Hyde spent some time training with Millwall last season and last night watched former Chelsea star Clive Walker score the only goal in the ninth minute at The New Den.
"Woking defended well after getting the early lead, but it was a poor display by Millwall. We've still got a better chance against Woking though. You get one-off results in the Cup - nine times out of 10 Millwall would be the better side."
Boss Roy McFarland had a privileged view of proceedings last night as he was Sky Sports' guest for their live screening of the match, making some intelligent and reasoned comments for the viewers while eyeing the team who could stand between us and a plum third round tie. He must have been interested in the performance of Woking substitute Darran Hay, a recent loanee at The Abbey, and especially the ever-green Walker who at 39 gave a sparkling performance. He will be a key man next Saturday, together with striker Junior Hunter who was released by United after YTS and will have something to prove to his old club.
Cambridge United will face another non-league side whose name begins with W on Saturday week, after Woking produced an FA Cup upset live on Sky Sports tonight and knocked out second division leaders Millwall at the New Den. They now come to The Abbey on Saturday 7th December in another potentially tricky tie for the U's.
Veteran Clive Walker produced the early goal on a 1-0 victory which will see former United youth star Junior Hunter return to The Abbey. Woking boss Geoff Chapple said of the match against United, "We know it will be a difficult game, they're going well, but we have nothing to fear."
Yesterday the reserves played in the Capital League at Northampton and slipped to a 2-1 defeat, but there is potentially some good to come out of the result. The United goal came from Tim Wilkes, a 19-year-old trialist striker from Notts County, who scored on his debut for United.
Ron Atkinson today shot down speculation that he is putting together a consortium to take over Cambridge United. The former United manager, now director of football at Coventry City, said, "There's not a cat in hell's chance. This has probably blown up because I was at Cambridge a couple of weeks ago. There was no Premiership football so I just went along to watch a game."
There are rumours that Atkinson may have been checking on Jody Craddock who has been targeted by several clubs over the last two seasons.
Matt Joseph received hospital treatment for concussion after suffering a head injury during Saturday's match, but he is believed to be recovering well.
On the day that Tommy Taylor, Scott McGleish and Shaun Howes returned to The Abbey with their new club, our highest crowd of the season saw United hit them with two goals in four minutes.
While some fans may have had mixed feelings towards former boss Taylor there was no doubting their feelings towards striker McGleish. The scrappy first half is memorable only for the way that McGleish - so recently an Abbey hero - missed several chances, including one where he sprang the United offside trap only to fire over when clear, much to the noisy delight of the fans behind the goal.
Micah Hyde, who had a quiet first half, took charge after the break and sprayed some delightful passes around, but the sight of the dependable Matt Joseph being carried off on a stretcher after 55 minutes with a nasty looking facial injury dampened the spirits temporarily. However the football flowed and the deadlock was broken on 73 minutes when Paul Raynor's throw-in was flicked on by Jody Craddock to Michael Kyd, who then set up the unmarked Jamie Barnwell to score from the edge of the six yard box. It was Barnwell's second goal under Roy McFarland and only his second of the season so far. The lead was extended when the lively Kyd beat Orient's offside trap down the right and then, instead of crossing, slid the ball in from an acute angle.
Although former youth team player Howes did not get onto the pitch he was well-placed to hear as the second goal was the cue for the United supporters to barrack Tommy Taylor and back Roy McFarland.
Our victory and Fulham's draw at Wigan mean the gap at the top has closed to five points, while Taylor has a job on his hands at third-from-bottom Orient. Meanwhile, with Barnwell suddenly finding goal-scoring form alongside Michael Kyd, and Tony Richards soon to return from injury there is certainly life after Scott McGleish, too!
United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph (Thompson 55), Granville, Preece, Craddock, Raynor, Hayes, Hyde, Barnwell, Kyd, Beall.
Subs not used: Turner, Wanless.
Tony Richards has been ruled out of tomorrow's home match against Leyton Orient as his Achilles injury is still on the mend. After Tuesday's 3-0 defeat at Carlisle, boss Roy McFarland would no doubt like to be in a position to at least consider shaking things up in the striking department, but his options are very limited. In the absence of Richards he will choose from Robbie Turner (a second half sub on Tuesday), Jamie Barnwell - who has looked bright since being restored to the attack but whose only goal of the season came last weekend against non-league Welling - and youngsters Michael Kyd and Trevor Benjamim. Darren Hay is still believed to be training with the squad but his loan spell was not renewed, although he is hopeful of securing a permanent move back to The Abbey.
Roy McFarland has blocked yet another bid by Preston to prise defender Jody Craddock away from Cambridge United. The United manager told Preston boss Gary Peters that no contracted players will leave the Abbey Stadium until he has fully assessed them.
Ex-manager Tommy Taylor brings his Orient side to The Abbey for the first time since his fireworks day departure. Included in the squad will be Scott McGleish who seems certain to start, and both can expect a mixed welcome back to the club where they achieved so much. Taylor's eighteen month spell in charge brought him to the attention of Barry Hearn at Orient, the club where Taylor started and finished his playing career. Just days after declaring that he never wanted to leave Cambridge United and he had been "forced out" by the board, Taylor told the Orient followers he would have walked down the M11 to join them.
Scott McGleish's career was going nowhere in Peterboring's reserves until he joined us on loan, struck 7 goals in 11 appearances and promptly followed Taylor to London despite being offered "everything he asked for" by the board. I would hate him to score tomorrow.
United's promotion campaign hit a set-back in freezing Cumbria tonight, a 3-0 defeat coming on the heels of a four match winning run and underlining the need for goals in the wake of Scott McGleish's departure.
The first half at Brunton Park was disappointing as United looked short of ideas up front, and although the scoreline slightly flatters Carlisle our team did not deserve to win on this performance. It took an hour before we summoned a shot on target, Barnwell's shot comfortably dealt with by the blues' keeper. Paul Raynor also saw his shot saved on 81 minutes, but by then we were already trailing by two goals as Carlisle mounted a late barrage on Scott Barrett's goal. Peacock opened the scoring on 73, Alan Smart added the second in the 79th minute and just three minutes later Warren Aspinall completed the scoring.
Roy McFarland sent two old heads into the action - Robbie Turner replacing Michael Kyd just after the hour and David Preece for Billy Beall after the first goal was conceded - but all they had to show for their efforts was a yellow card for Turner.
United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Granville, Wanless, Craddock, Raynor, Hayes, Hyde, Kyd (Turner 63), Barnwell, Beall (Preece 74)
Sub not used: Thompson
Bookings: Turner 67 (foul)
United suffered a potentially huge blow today when Scott McGleish decided to join ex-manager Tommy Taylor at Leyton Orient. The Londoners agreed a fee of around £50,000 with cash-strapped Peterboring but the deal could rise to around £70,000 linked to appearances and goals. After a meeting with the player this morning Orient will take the free-scoring Scot nearer to his North London home, but McGleish will return on Saturday with his new team-mates when Orient are our visitors at The Abbey.
His departure comes as more of a shock after he watched United's FA Cup victory on Saturday, a move which seemed encouraging at the time. A fee for McGleish was agreed between United and P*sh last month but the player's personal terms proved to be the stumbling block, with Tommy Taylor apparently unwilling to recommend an improved offer. However, following Taylor's departure, McGleish's demands were matched last week by the board but the new terms seem to have come too late and this natural goal-scorer has frustratingly slipped out of our grasp. His departure leaves United very short of experience in the forward department and Roy McFarland may make an experienced striker top of his Christmas list, maybe considering another loan signing.
Tomorrow night sees a tough test when we face fourth placed Carlisle United, whose chairman Michael Knighton today announced his intention to leave the club at the end of this season after "a negative reaction" from the supporters. The United squad will leave The Abbey at 8:15 tomorrow morning, and after the long haul to Cumbria they will have some time to look around before resting in a hotel before the match. Roy McFarland said he is "excited by the attitude of the players" and is expected to name an unchanged side for tomorrow's match.
Roy McFarland saw his team give him a winning start in the F.A. Cup first round against Welling United, but the 3-0 score-line does not do the Conference side justice.
Cambridge had a dream start to the tie when Billy Beall scored the fastest goal of the day after just 72 seconds, bundling home a Michael Kyd cross from the right. Our good fortune continued when our bogie-man referee Gurnam Singh limped off with a calf injury after just 14 minutes.
Welling played some good football against a strangely wobbly United defence, but their finishing was woeful. One outstanding moment for the Kent side came when former U's striker Ollie Morah collected a perfect pass and cruised forward from the centre circle before setting up Brown, but, with just the keeper to beat he hurried his shot and missed by several yards.
Our forward line looked lively and the second goal came after 20 minutes when Michael Kyd headed home an Adi Hayes cross. Then on 34 minutes Jamie Barnwell-Edinboro all but wrapped things up when he scored with a close-range shot.
Welling tightened up at the back in the second half and still showed plenty of spirit going forward, with Morah contributing some nice touches. United had apparently received a half-time rocket from former England defender McFarland about their inept defending, as they emerged in no mood to give Welling another chance. In fact, we should have extended our lead further when Cooper put a back pass straight into the path of Barnwell, but his shot went wide.
Welling finally managed a shot on target in the 79th minute when Lenny Dennis hit a 30-yard effort which flew at Scott Barrett, and another attempt shortly afterwards was scrambled off the line. That was the final action of a fairly uneventful second half.
United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Granville, Wanless (Thompson 84), Craddock, Raynor, Hayes, Hyde, Kyd (Turner 80), Barnwell, Beall (Preece 82).
Booked: Wanless 38 (foul)
The draw for the second round was made this evening and on Saturday 7th December we face a home tie against the winners of the replay between Second Division Millwall and Conference side Woking. Ex-Us Junior Hunter and Darren Hay are currently on Woking's books, although Hay has just completed a month's loan at The Abbey and is still training with United and hopeful of securing a permanent move.
Open to interpretation is the fact that cup-tied Scott McGleish was watching yesterday's match, rather than perhaps run the rule over current side Peterboring or Tommy Taylor's Leyton Orient. I would like to take this as a promising sign...
Cambridge United start on the FA Cup trail tomorrow and their joint leading scorer will be forced to watch from the stands.
Striker Scott McGleish will not be able to play under FA rules as he is on loan at the club so will miss the potentially tricky tie against non-league Welling. His natural replacement Tony Richards is sidelined with an Achilles injury and Darren Hay's one month loan from Woking has ended, and the shortage of front men could mean a start for teenage strikers Michael Kyd or Trevor Benjamin. Both have scored for the first team this season, but centre-forward Robbie Turner has returned from his loan spell at Hull and his experience could be called upon by Roy McFarland.
The new manager is relishing the recall to management, with Welling United his first opponents at the Abbey Stadium.
"I've been scouting since I left Bolton in February and I was doing some work for Glenn Hoddle, but I was always looking to manage again and Cambridge is a great opportunity," he said ahead of the visit by the Conference side. Of his younger players he said, "I hope my experience can help them. I feel there's a lot of room for improvement."
On the transfer front, the news from the club on Scott McGleish is that "he has been offered everything he wants" and he is thinking things over. Whilst Adi Hayes decided yesterday that his future lies with Cambridge United rather than Leyton Orient, colleague Shaun Howes has made the opposite decision and will join up with former manager Tommy Taylor in London. Hopefully he will be the only player to take that route.
New boss Roy McFarland has set his sights on nothing less than promotion this season and revealed he expects good things from his players.
He said, "They are talented players, I'm told. That's from people outside as well as inside Cambridge. I hope we can improve, though, and at the end of the season be in that second division. We are in second in the third division at the moment, but have a lot of young talented players. I'm pleased to be coming to a club which in every sense is on the up."
McFarland's last job in football was as joint manager at then Premiership side Bolton. He was sacked in January when Colin Todd was given total control of the team and his first match in charge for Cambridge is Saturday's slightly less exciting prospect of Welling United in the FA Cup first round.
There is no news on McFarland's assistant yet. One of his options may be the veteran midfielder David Preece although Tommy Taylor has apparently already approached him with the offer of a player-coach position at Orient. Although he signed a three deal deal in September, Preece apparently has a clause in his contract allowing him to leave if he is offered a coaching position.
McFarland received a welcome boost in his second day in the job when 18-year-old Adi Hayes decided to stay with United and turned down an offer to join former boss Tommy Taylor at Leyton Orient. The young midfielder, who has just broken into the first team, was offered 18-month contracts by both Division Three clubs. If his decision is any indication of how the rest of the players have reacted to McFarland's appointment, the indications are promising.
The big news today is of course the appointment of Roy McFarland as manager. The former Derby star was capped 28 times by England, and has had spells in charge of Bradford City and Derby County (twice) before a short spell as joint-manager at Bolton in the Premiership. He left Burnden Park in January and has signed an 18-month contract with the U's. He met the players at lunchtime today, then immediately got down to preparing them for Saturday's FA Cup clash against Welling.
United chairman Reg Smart, announcing McFarland's appointment today, said: "I believe it is a very exciting appointment for the club. We needed someone of high calibre and experience to keep our promotion campaign going and Roy fits that bill. He has operated at a much higher level as a player and manager, but impressed us with his enthusiasm for this job.
"We had to tell him there was no money to spend on players but that did not affect his keenness to join us."
Smart revealed there were 36 applications for the job, adding: "There were some interesting people among them, but we decided instead to approach three people we thought more suitable. We interviewed them all yesterday and they were all very impressive. I would recommend the other two, whom it wouldn't be right to name, to any club but Roy McFarland stood out as the man for this job."
The other two managers are believed to be ex-Grimsby boss Brian Laws and Dave Merrington, formerly at Southampton.
McFarland said, "They are talented players I'm told. I hope we can improve as a team."
In his preparations for Saturday's FA Cup match, he will have to plan without joint top-scorer Scott McGleish, who is not allowed to play as he is on loan, and Tony Richards, who could be sidelined for another three weeks with Achilles tendon trouble. Better news of goalkeeper Scott Barrett however, who is given a "better than 50-50 chance" of being fit after being injured against Swansea on Saturday. Striker Darren Hay's loan period has not been extended and he has returned to Woking, and hopefully the new boss will make it a priority to try and agree terms with Scott McGleish before he takes his goals to a rival club.
On the recent transfer rumours and speculation, it seems that Leyton Orient have approached United for Adi Hayes and Shaun Howes, who are both currently on non-contract terms. Hayes has just broken into the first team and after a settling-in period he has started to look very promising. Tommy Taylor is also believed to be interested in trying to tempt David Preece to London with the offer of a role involving coaching, but the experienced midfielder signed a three year deal in September and Reg Smart has urged Preece to discuss the situation with the new boss.
Tommy Taylor fired possibly the final public shot after his recent and acrimonious departure when interviewed on the Nationwide Extra TV programme on Tuesday night. He spoke briefly and when asked why he had left a team which was doing well he answered that there were two people at Cambridge that he could not get on with. He brings his new team to The Abbey on the 23rd and it will be interesting to see if anything more is said at that time.
In the meantime let us welcome Roy McFarland who comes to the club with a wealth of experience, and unite behind him and the team on Saturday in the first round of the FA Cup.
Midfielder David Preece has described the moment that caretaker boss Paul Clark broke the news of his departure. The changing room was noisy and triumphant after Saturday's battling victory when Clark silenced the players by saying, "I've got to tell you I'm not staying."
"Fourteen chins hit the floor," said Preece.
The current favourite for the managerial vacancy is ex-Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough full-back Brian Laws. Sacked by Grimsby Town two weeks ago, and (in)famous for the plate throwing incident last season that left Italian winger Ivano Bonetti with a broken jaw, he watched the match at The Abbey on Saturday. Vice-chairman Roger Hunt uttered a denial of sorts on Radio Cambridgeshire's phone-in when confronted with the rumour that Laws had already accepted the post and would take over today (see Friday's news).
Meanwhile to follow the loss of two managers in a week there is speculation that up to seven players could be on their way to join up with Tommy Taylor at Leyton Orient.
"There are several players I'm interested in. I'm hoping one who is out of contract will be joining Orient very soon," Taylor said, possibly in reference to Adi Hayes who is currently on non-contract terms.
Names bandied about include key defenders Matt Joseph, Danny Granville, Jody Craddock and Dave Thompson, strikers Tony Richards and Scott McGleish, 18-year-old centre-forward Trevor Benjamin, and veteran midfielder David Preece in addition to young Hayes ... in fact about 90% of the current first team squad! Micah Hyde has apparently been excluded from Taylor's shopping list as he is worth too much on his current form, and he is highly unlikely to consider a move to a club lower in the table. (I would be surprised if any of the linked players were to move to Orient, at least until our fate in the promotion race is known, so most of these rumours can probably be taken with healthy pinches of salt).
Of course this is just speculation and the most likely approach at the moment would be for joint-top scorer McGleish, whose loan spell at The Abbey runs out at the end of this month. Before leaving United, Taylor agreed a transfer fee with the P*sh for the Scot but as yet the player has been unable to agree personal terms. When Roger Hunt courageously faced the fans after Saturday's match he said that chairman Reg Smart was currently 'in negotiations' with McGleish.
Having lost the management team this week it is surely a matter of urgency that McGleish is secured without further delay. His price will spiral out of our reach if he returns to Peterboring, as Barry Fry attempts to reduce the £3 million loss he announced today after making "the biggest mistake of my life" in buying the club.
It is confirmed that Paul Clark has resigned from his post at Cambridge United and he is expected to link up with Tommy Taylor at Leyton Orient, thereby ending any hopes of the fans' favourite replacement for Taylor. The rumours about Brian Laws - which arose from Friday's Radio Cambridgeshire phone-in - gained credibility when the ex-Grimsby boss was seen at The Abbey for the match yesterday. P*sh boss Barry Fry was also present to see his striker Scott McGleish score the winner.
The team put aside the departure of their manager and produced a victory for caretaker boss Paul Clark which keeps us second in the table, although the match ended with the police on the pitch.
Cambridge got off to a bright start when Danny Granville met a Paul Raynor free-kick but the ball sailed over the bar. We should have taken the lead on three minutes when an Adi Hayes cross found Micah Hyde, but our top-scorer shot wide from six yards.
Swansea responded with a couple of shots that were wide of the target, but they lost their defender Walker with a back injury and we looked the more likely side, goal attempts from Hayes and Scott McGleish underlining our dominance. Swansea goalkeeper Freestone denied McGleish but the first goal arrived shortly afterwards. Hayes, who looks better with each game he plays, started the move from midfield and McGleish set up former Swan Raynor for a shot from 20 yards which was deflected past Freestone.
Swansea equalised two minutes before half time when Jonathan Coates headed home from close range with their first shot on target. However the U's struck back on the stroke of half-time when Hyde and Jamie Barnwell put together a fine move which McGleish finished with a low angled shot to notch his seventh goal in eleven matches.
Scott Barrett suffered an injury when Swansea scored and at half-time Paul Wanless donned his jersey, with David Preece coming on as sub. Matt Joseph moved into central defence and made a couple of vital tackles as Swansea threatened to get back into the game, while Wanless produced a couple of good saves. The second half was full of robust tackles and Swans manager Jan Molby was warned about his heated banter with the crowd as the half progressed.
United rode the pressure and battled their way back into the match to see Barnwell denied by a defender and a cross from McGleish hit the Swansea bar. Freestone made a series of four saves in seven minutes including turning a Hyde shot around the post and a reflex save from the resulting corner to push a McGleish effort over the bar. Almost immediately after that Raynor sliced through the Swansea defence to be denied by Freestone, and after Wanless caught a Torpey shot McGleish had a header stopped by the Swansea 'keeper.
Despite a period of late pressure from the Welsh side the U's held on for the points, but the celebrations were marred a little by the sight of the police and stewards on the pitch to separate all 22 players and the Swansea coaches.
United line-up: Barrett (Preece 46), Matt Joseph, Granville, Wanless, Craddock, Raynor, Hayes, Hyde, McGleish, Barnwell, Beall.
Subs not used: Hay, Thompson.
Booked: Hyde 58 (foul)
The evening has been marred by unconfirmed, but not unexpected, reports that Paul Clark has indeed resigned as caretaker manager to join up with Tommy Taylor at Leyton Orient.
There is nothing but more claims, counter-claims and rumours to report today, unfortunately. To summarise the rumours first of all, the one of greatest concern to fans must be that Paul Clark has allegedly agreed to take charge of the team only for tomorrow's match, before leaving to join up with Tommy Taylor at Orient. Clark is currently the most acceptable option to the fans, who believe that his appointment would provide continuity and stability and therefore the least upheaval for the playing staff. However, his decision will depend on whether he can negotiate an acceptable deal and feels he can work with the board.
On the subject of tomorrow's match, Clark has appealed for the supporters to rally round the team against Swansea City. The caretaker boss is concerned that the aftermath of Tommy Taylor's departure could unsettle our young side. "It could be a bigger problem for us than Swansea," he commented.
Another inevitable story is that Leyton Orient have made an enquiry to Peterboring United about striker Scott McGleish, which unfortunately would not be a surprise if proved true. Meanwhile United are rumoured to have made an improved offer to McGleish which he is apparently thinking over. With a strike rate of six goals from ten appearances he has attracted attention from other clubs, including John Beck's Lincoln City, and will be in great demand if he cannot agree a permanent move before his loan deal runs out at the end of this month.
Away from the rumours and onto some news: BBC Radio Cambridgeshire held a phone-in tonight for supporters to speak to three of the board. Chairman Reg Smart, vice-chairman Roger Hunt and John Howard were in the studio and had to face one interesting rumour from a Royston caller. He said he had heard from a 'very reliable source' that Brian Laws - sacked by Grimsby last week - would take charge of the club on Monday. He accused the board of letting successful managers go and employing unsuccessful ones in their place.
Roger Hunt first of all countered, "Where did you get that from?" before answering, "Brian Laws will not be taking over on Monday morning."
Hunt also went on record to state, "Tommy Taylor actually did accept terms after the Rochdale game. That is a fact." He went on to say that the manager then apparently changed his mind within 48 hours but instead of telling the board he first spoke to the Cambridge Evening News. On Taylor's apparent change of heart he stressed, "I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do about that."
In the continuing war of words between our former manager and the board the CEN headlines sum it up: 'We didn't let our manager go. He walked out out on us.' was one side of the story, while 'I don't think board wanted me to stay' is the other. Tommy Taylor's reaction to yesterday's "Board blasts back" story in the News was, "It should be obvious to everybody they are just trying to wriggle out of any responsibility for what happened. They've seen the response of the supporters and they are trying to cover themselves."
Finally, there is a match on tomorrow and there is little team news available, only (more!) speculation on whether David Preece will start or Paul Clark will keep faith with the players who have propelled us to second in the table. For Swansea, player-manager Jan Molby will not be playing as he has a groin injury.
The fury of the fans over the departure of Tommy Taylor has forced the Cambridge United board to publicly fight back, claiming that Taylor wanted to leave. They also suggest that Taylor was in talks with Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn before the official approach was made. In response to Taylor's assertion that he did not want to leave the club and would have accepted their revised contract offer if it had been made a week earlier, the board claim that nothing they might have offered would have kept him at the Abbey Stadium.
Whatever the facts of this week's happenings - and we as fans may never know the full story - the main concern should be that there are no ugly scenes on Saturday. We need the fans to get behind the team rather than at the board, to ensure that our push for promotion is not affected and any lurking 'Father Christmas' figure is not frightened away.
In the wake of Tommy Taylor's departure the rumours continue to fly and the discontent rumbles on as the fans demand to know why greater efforts were not made to keep the manager. It all threatens to come to a head at Saturday's home clash with Swansea City, and ironically the ill-feeling could produce the highest attendance of the season so far.
Of particular concern is the belief that two unnamed members of the board refused to back Tommy Taylor as manager while leaving chairman Reg Smart to face the supporters and local and national media. Radio Cambridgeshire is planning a phone-in about the week's events on Friday evening and certainly the feeling on the United mailing list is that those directors should be named and called to account for their decision.
There is still no news about Taylor's successor although Paul Clark has been in more talks today and Tommy Taylor has recommended that Clark should take the job if it is offered, rather than follow him to London. Clark would certainly be the best appointment to provide some continuity and stability, and he has had some previous management experience at Southend. There is also bound to be some ill-feeling in the squad at the lack of effort made to retain Taylor, especially when many of the current squad graduated through the youth ranks when Taylor was in charge of the youth team. Clark's appointment would be ideal to focus the players on the task ahead and would hopefully short-circuit any plans for a demonstration on Saturday - hardly the ideal way to attract potential investors in the club.
Manager Tommy Taylor is leaving Cambridge United to return to his footballing roots at Leyton Orient.
After talks with the London club yesterday he had another meeting with chairman Reg Smart and, after hearing of Orient's job offer, the Cambridge board made a late (in my opinion, shamefully late) U-turn and offered terms until the end of the season, plus a year, then another two years if United gained further promotion to the first division.
"If that had been the genuine offer a week ago I would have taken it," said Taylor, "but the directors have merely been panicked into the better offer. Cambridge are trying to keep me on the cheap. I have been offered a two-year deal, plus a very good package, by Barry Hearn at Orient and I have to take it."
Taylor called it "the toughest decision" but announced his resignation at 9.30 this morning, although he was apparently still taking the reserve team to their fixture at Peterborough today. He said he was "very disappointed" to be leaving.
Of the revised offer he said "It came too late. I would have accepted it a week ago because I didn't want to leave Cambridge, the players or the supporters." As late as last night, referring to the interest from Cardiff City and Leyton Orient, he was saying, "I'm involved with three clubs, and the one club I want to work for won't offer me decent terms."
As yet there is no indication whether assistant Paul Clark will be following him to London, although Reg Smart said that the manager's post will be offered to Clark and Taylor urged his former assistant to take it. Another much-rumoured option to appoint summer-signing David Preece as player-manager has apparently been ruled out at present.
The supporters are naturally afraid that some of the players will be persuaded to follow him so the sooner a new manager is appointed the better, before our promotion challenge loses its momentum. The player who is possibly most likely to follow Tommy is on-loan Scott McGleish, who had a loan spell there in his Charlton days and has so far failed to agree terms with United for a permanent move. If the Orient board agree to his demands and Barry Fry agrees a quick sale, he may be playing against us as early as the 23rd when the O's visit The Abbey.
My view: The board made a highly questionable decision not to tie Tommy to the club several weeks ago when his concerns first became public knowledge. In his eighteen or so months in charge he has built a side who are challenging for promotion. He assembled that team out of free transfers and former youth players, several of whom are now attracting attention from bigger clubs. Yes, we know the club is strapped for cash and on the market but, at a time when stability on the field is paramount, the board have allowed our best manager for years to leave for a struggling rival club. All for the sake of a longer contract to give the man some security and a little recognition for his achievements thus far.
After Saturday's second successive away victory lifted us to second in the table the jubilation has been shattered today with a double bomb-shell. Manager Tommy Taylor has been in talks with another club this afternoon and on-loan striker Scott McGleish looks highly unlikely to make permanent his move from Peterborough United.
The situation regarding McGleish is seemingly the more clear cut. He is currently on loan from Peterboring until the end of the month so, despite Barry Fry's blustering on local TV this weekend, he should remain at The Abbey until then - unless he is sold to another club in the meantime. The transfer deal has been agreed between the clubs and McGleish has been offered terms, but apparently they do not meet his requirements and unless we can increase the current offer it is unlikely he will be staying once his loan-spell finishes.
Tommy's concerns about his future have been well-known for some weeks now. It is public knowledge that his current contract expires at Christmas and he has been seeking an extended deal which has not been forthcoming. Current rumours indicate that he has been offered a deal to the end of the season with three-monthly extensions after that. Tommy has stated publicly that he is concerned about the future security of his family and the offer from Cambridge United does not offer that - and certainly does not reflect his achievements.
Managerless Cardiff City and Leyton Orient were both linked with our manager last week and this evening it was confirmed that Tommy had met with representatives of Leyton Orient this afternoon. It is not yet known if he has reached a decision or if an improved offer will be forthcoming from the United board, but rumours have been flying that the board would prefer to save the cost of one salary by letting Tommy leave and turning veteran midfielder David Preece into a novice player-manager.
The supporters fear the worst and can see this season's high hopes crashing off the rails as we are apparently betrayed by the board - our best manager for years allowed to leave and the team once again disassembled as our best players are sold across the country. Updates will be posted here tomorrow as firm news emerges.
Cambridge closed the gap on leaders Fulham with their first ever victory at Boothferry Park, thanks to an early goal from Scott McGleish (are we going to hurry up and sign him before BFB changes his mind!) and a brace from Micah Hyde.
Scott McGleish got the U's off to the perfect start with a clever individual goal after just four minutes, and United were full of confidence as they looked to extend the lead. The chance arose in the 26th minute when Rob Dewhurst was sent off for a professional foul on Jamie Barnwell. Skipper Micah Hyde, who has fallen below his own high standards in the last couple of matches, duly converted the penalty.
After the break Cambridge looked a little slack and prepared to rest on their laurels but 10-man Hull were fired up and determined to make a battle of it. With half an hour to go David Preece came off the bench to steady things and Hyde seemed to settle matters with a third goal on 74 minutes when he coolly dribbled round keeper Roy Carroll for a well-taken goal. Andy Brown scored Hull's only goal five minutes later when he scored from 25 yards after picking up an attempted clearance, but United had things well in hand to record an impressive away victory.
Elsewhere, former U's boss John Beck did Cambridge a favour when his Lincoln side beat table-toppers Fulham at Craven Cottage, while Wigan inflicted a 3-0 home defeat on Carlisle in a clash of pre-season promotion favourites to move into third, a point behind United.
United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Granville, Wanless (Preece 62), Craddock, Raynor, Hayes (Thompson 88), Hyde, McGleish (Hay 62), Barnwell, Beall.
Booked: Granville 20 (foul)
Managerless Cardiff City have been rebuffed by former U's and current Northampton boss Ian Atkins and - rather worryingly - the South Wales press is linking Tommy Taylor with the vacancy. Another vacancy closer to home is at Leyton Orient, who dismissed Pat Holland earlier this week and are looking for a fresh face to take the club forward.
Taylor's contract expires at Christmas and a new deal has yet to be agreed. An offer from the O's millionaire chairman Barry Hearn may therefore be attractive to our manager, who has guided the U's into a promotion slot on a non-existent budget while attracting praise for our neat passing style.
Tony Richards has consulted a specialist about his Achilles injury and the club should learn today whether he can be involved at any stage in tomorrow's match. He was in great form before missing our last two matches with the injury.