Notes from the Habbin: Lofty ambitions?
U's take a new old approach to recruitment
Though we’re still a month away from the start of the 2024/25 season, there have been plenty of questions for Cambridge United fans to ponder in recent weeks: just how beautiful are the new kits? (Very); just how bland are the new club crest options? (Very); is it coming home? (TBD).
But as England stagger towards a second major tournament final in three years (Wednesday night’s hero Ollie Watkins proved back in 2016 that he can perform under pressure on the biggest stage), Garry Monk and his squad are back in training and poised to head off for their pre-season trip to Portugal.
We’re starting to get an idea of what the U’s squad will look like for 2024/25, with McConnell, Kachunga, Jobe (get well soon), Brophy, Kaikai and Cousins having penned new contracts, and Mannion, Lankester and May departing for pastures new.
In terms of new arrivals, ex-Newcastle defender Kell Watts and former Blackpool striker Shayne Lavery have joined James Gibbons in signing two-year deals, while Norwich’s young goalkeeper Vicente Reyes has joined on loan. Yesterday it was announced we’ve also recruited Port Vale forward Ryan Loft.
Loft conversion
The signing of Loft was confirmed barely 12 hours ago and has already provoked much opprobrium from U’s fans. This is in part because we’ve paid a fee for his services and dished out what is, by our standards, a bizarrely long contract; three years with the option of a fourth.
It’s also because supporters of Loft’s two most recent clubs, Vale and Bristol Rovers, have been falling over themselves on social media to denounce him as The Worst Footballer in the World. Now it’s fair to say that over the years we’ve signed a lot of players who fans on the internet have declared The Worst Footballer in the World, many of whom have actually turned out to be fine, but it’s also fair to say that his record last season - one goal in 26 league appearances - does little to get the pulse racing.
I am, seemingly, less down on this signing than most, not least because I remember thinking that Loft looked pretty decent when he played against us for Scunthorpe. It hasn’t gone well for him recently, but you don’t have to look too far back into history to find occasions where we’ve performed restoration projects on underwhelming strikers; Paul Mullin is the obvious and extreme example, but even beyond that, Joe Ironside had been released by a relegated League Two team when he joined us in 2020, Sam Smith had done little of note during his many loans and even Gassan Ahadme had never had a season as consistent or prolific as he did for us last time around. Loft doesn’t even need to be the new Mullin to prove a worthwhile investment.
I’m also encouraged by the fact that this doesn’t seem to be, as some have tried to make out, a panic signing, because why would it be? There’s a month to go before the start of the season and there are plenty of generic target-man type strikers on the market - it’s not like we’re at the end of the window desperately scratching around for reinforcements. You also don’t hand out a long contract to a player who is just filling a space in the squad because all your other targets let you down.
It seems more likely we’re investing in Loft because we think he has strengths that have not been utilised by his last two clubs. Listen to what he says here about his conversations with Monk and how the manager hopes to try and develop his game.
Whether or not Loft turns out to be a decent signing remains to be seen, but at least there seems to be a plan in place.
Out with the old, in with the less old
The profile of signings so far would also seem to indicate we’ve ditched last season’s policy of going for more, er, experienced heads in favour of a slightly younger, more dynamic squad.
Long-time readers may remember I argued at this time last year that a more experienced squad would likely prove more consistent and therefore boost our chances of survival, and for the most part I think this turned out to be the case; we scored more goals and conceded less than the previous season, and were never in the relegation zone at any stage, even if at times it felt like it. But this increased solidity often came at the expense of any kind of attacking threat.
To try and find a better balance, United appear to be targeting mid-career players with decent experience but whose best years could conceivably still be ahead of them. Our five signings to date have an average age of 24.2 (last summer’s new recruits had an average age of 27.2) and all bar Reyes have a substantial number of League One appearances under their belts.
Signing this type of player also seems to tally with the transfer business Monk has done at his previous clubs. Admittedly all these teams were in very different situations to our own, but it perhaps gives an indication of the type of player our manager likes to work with.
These are also the sorts of signings we made in large numbers during our two most successful seasons in recent memory; the 2013/14 Conference play-off triumph (average age of new signings: 24.4) and the 2020/21 lockdown legends (average age: 23.6). It might be a stretch to think we can add a third promotion to that list, but maybe returning to a previously successful formula can propel us up the table a bit.