Cambridge Utd

Quinn admits Cambridge were poor
Cambridge United manager Jimmy Quinn admitted his team were well below par in their 1-0 defeat against Rushden & Diamonds in the Setanta Shield. "I don't know what it was but we were a bit dead," he said. "I told the lads that I want to win every game we play because it keeps the confidence going, and they can't explain what happened. "The players weren't happy with the performance. You have to say Rushden deserved to win the game."

Bosses say Histon worth U's win
Cambridge United boss Jimmy Quinn had no complaints after his side lost 1-0 in their local derby at Histon. "We got what we deserved. Absolutely nothing. We didn't do enough to win the game, both defensively and offensively," said Quinn. The result avenged Histon's Boxing Day defeat at Cambridge. Histon boss Steve Fallon said: "It was important that we got something from the game and it was a good performance from the side from start to finish."

Cambridge loan switch for Carden
Cambridge United have signed Accrington Stanley midfielder Paul Carden on loan with a view to a permanent transfer. The experienced 28-year-old former Blackpool, Chester and Doncaster man has joined initially till the summer. Meanwhile, Mark Albrighton, Rob Wolleaston and Given Hoyte have all agreed new contracts with the U's. Hoyte, 21, has signed till the summer, while fellow defender Albrighton, 31, and midfielder Wolleastone,28, are staying on until the 2010 season ends.

Cambridge snare defender Hatswell
Cambridge United boss Jimmy Quinn has signed experienced defender Wayne Hatswell from Rushden and Diamonds. Hatswell, 32, moves to the Abbey Stadium for an undisclosed fee and has agreed a deal until June 2010. Quinn is also expected to complete the loan signing of striker Lee McEvilly from Accrington Stanley. McEvilly, 25, who recently completed a loan spell back at former club Rochdale, is set to join the U's for the rest of the season.

Cambridge appoint Law as chairman
Cambridge United have appointed Philip Law as the new chairman of the Blue Square Premier club. Law replaces Lee Power who resigned from the position last week after being in the role since August 2006. "It's not something I coveted. I a tremendous privilege and I'm massively delighted but it was completely unexpected," Law told the club website. Fans elected director Brian Attmore is named vice-chairman and director Jonny Hon has stepped down from the board.

Boss Quinn predicts tight finish
Cambridge United manager Jimmy Quinn believes the Blue Square Premier promotion race is still wide open after the U's drew 0-0 at leaders Aldershot. "I think this league will go right down to the wire," said Quinn, whose side is in the final play-off position. "We have come here and got a point, we had a good result last Saturday and we have now just got to hang in there and stick at it. "We've got to build on that on Saturday and go to Halifax and get a win."

Posh sign Cambridge star Rendell
Cambridge United striker Scott Rendell has joined Peterborough on loan with a view to a permanent transfer. Rendell, 21, who has scored 22 goals this season, put in a transfer request after the U's snubbed a six-figure bid. "We don't keep players who are unhappy and don't want to play for the club," said Cambridge director George Rolls. "We're shocked he wants to leave us, bearing in mind we believe we can give him league football at the end of the season. We didn't want him to leave."

Cambridge to rename Abbey Stadium
Cambridge United have announced plans to rename the Abbey Stadium as The Trade Recruitment Stadium from 1 May in a five-year sponsorship deal. United's next home game is the Blue Square Premier play-off semi-final first leg against Burton next Tuesday. U's chief executive Norman Gautrey said: "The board deliberated long and hard about the stadium-naming deal. "The deal will help considerably towards paying the rent and underpin the finances of the club." Trade Recruitment are a Cambridge-based recruitment agency. The club have struggled to stay on top of rent payments for the stadium, which is owned by property developers Bideawhile 445 Ltd. Gautrey said: "The circumstances in which the club finds itself, relating to the ground ownership and the level of the rent payable, meant that the board could not turn it down. "Sadly this is the way that football is moving these days." " Paul Barry and Adrian Hanauer have committed large sums of money to the football club for which we are all grateful, however this will not last forever so we need to get into a situation where the club can stand on its own two feet."

Wolleaston makes Rushden switch
Cambridge United midfielder Rob Wolleaston has joined Rushden & Diamonds for an undisclosed fee. Wolleaston, 28, joined the U's from Oxford United in 2006 and made 52 appearances for the club last season. The former Chelsea trainee becomes the seventh player to leave the Abbey in the last month. U's director George Rolls told the club website: "It's not going to be one-way traffic - there will be a number of players coming into the club."

Cambridge to name boss next week
Cambridge United chairman Phil Law has set "the end of next week" as his target for appointing a new manager following the departure of Jimmy Quinn. He said there are three or four candidates currently on his shortlist. " a lot of interest in it, and I'm really heartened by the quality of the people who have come forward," Law told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. "There are lots of and there's some real strength there, and some very interesting characters." Law admitted he and the U's board face a challenge to identify the right manager. "You're looking at names and CVs and there are so many people who are going to be discarded, which makes for a very difficult process of selection," he said. "But I think we're starting to formulate a shortlist and I think we'll enter into an interview process in the next few days, perhaps running in to the early part of next week. "Hopefully, this will culminate in an appointment by the end of next week." The U's chairman has identified experience as a key quality he will be looking for in a new manager, and said: "It needs to be somebody who buys in to the whole Cambridge ethos which is going to be looking to exploit the great wealth of young talent we've got at the football club. "At the same time, he's got to be somebody who can work with the experienced players and get the best out of those. "He's got to be somebody who can thrive on what is a relatively large stage at Cambridge United."

Brabin buoyed by fans' reaction
Cambridge United manager Gary Brabin believes both fans and players are beginning to buy into his vision for the club. Brabin replaced the popular Jimmy Quinn as manager last month, but has already started making his mark at the Abbey Stadium with two new signings. "I think people are excited about what's happening at Cambridge," Brabin told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. "That shows in the quality of players we're attracting to the club." Anthony Tonkin became Brabin's first signing as U's boss, joining the club on a free transfer after being released by Forest Green Rovers. Striker Andy Parkinson has also arrived at the Abbey after spending a decade playing in the Football League, and Brabin believes both signings show the appeal of Cambridge United. "Tonkin could definitely have had the option of going back into the League," Brabin said. "There were a lot of clubs after him but he didn't have to think twice of coming to the club." Brabin appears to be concentrating his efforts on signing players with League experience and confirmed Cambridge have spoken to local rivals Peterborough United about one of their strikers. We were interested in one, which we spoke about, and it's still early days," Brabin said. ""It has to be right for us, it has to be right for Peterborough, it has be right for the player." One player who will not be going anywhere is U's keeper Danny Potter, although Brabin admits he will still be looking to add a back-up stopper to his squad. "Danny's got amongst it in training and to be fair his attitude has been different class," he said. "I just want someone who's going to be coming in and challenging for the number one shirt."

Cambridge pair could miss opener
Cambridge United defender Wayne Hatswell and winger Courtney Pitt could both miss the start of the season after picking up injuries. Hatswell picked up an ankle problem in training, whilst Pitt was withdrawn after suffering a similar injury during Wednesday's game against a West Ham XI. Manager Gary Brabin told the U's website: "We've lost Wayne Hatswell for possibly a week to 10 days. "And we hope Courtney will be fit for next week." The U's kept their first clean sheet under Brabin with a 0-0 draw against a young West Ham side. Trialists Pat Bexfield and Tom Youngs were again in action, but winger Felino Jardim is reportedly now on trial with Barnet after failing to agree terms at the Abbey. Meanwhile, there has been no word from the management on the identity of the club's new captain. Cambridge play their final pre-season friendly at Braintree Town on Friday.

U's suffer Beesley injury blow
Cambridge United striker Mark Beesley looks set to be out for up to a month after suffering knee ligament damage in Saturday's defeat by Torquay. The former Forest Green man, 26, has started every U's match so far this season, scoring three goals. Beesley told Radio Cambridgeshire: "It was in the first 10 or 15 minutes, I went in for a block tackle and felt a pain in my knee. "It's very frustrating, there's nothing worse than being injured." Cambridge boss Gary Brabin has a number of options up front ahead of Saturday's trip to Mansfield. Chris Holroyd, Chris Jones, Robbie Willmott and new man Danny Crow are all available to partner Lee McEvilly. Crow only joined the U's last week after having his contract cancelled at Peterborough, but Beesley believes the former Norwich youngster will do a good job for the side. "Danny's a good player, a good finisher, he'll be a great asset to us," Beesley said. Courtney Pitt and Andy Parkinson remain long term absentees, but defender Dan Gleeson could make a return to the side this weekend after three weeks out.

Brabin blames defeat on injuries
Cambridge United manager Gary Brabin has said the spate of injuries affecting his players is contributing to their recent poor form. The U's, who lost 3-1 at Oxford on Tuesday, have won just one of their last seven games. And Brabin told Radio Cambridgeshire he is missing key men. He said: "We miss Andy Parkinson, Anthony Tonkin, Mark Beesley, Courtney Pitt and Chris Holroyd and I am going to use those excuses now." He added: "I genuinely believe I've got a team good enough to be pushing for promotion from this league, but we're going to have to wake up and push on a little bit." Brabin admitted he was still unsure when some of his injured players would be returning to action. He told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: "The sooner, the better, but at the minute we can't work miracles and people are out for a long time and we're not getting any nearer." The U's boss also said he feels some sides are raising their game against his side. He said: "Everyone is coming to us when they're lacking confidence and then they're having the game of their lives against us."

Brabin explains formation switch
Cambridge United boss Gary Brabin has defended his decision to use a 4-3-3 formation in Saturday's draw at York. The U's had used a three-pronged attack in the 2-0 win over Wrexham last month but drew a blank at Kitkat Crescent. Brabin told Radio Cambridgeshire: "I think we've got some good forwards and at the minute they're all chomping at the bit to play. "I wanted to put Lee McEvilly back in but as a team we didn't get the ball down and play football as I'd like".

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