Can Cambridge United return to League One at the first time of asking?
It is a season to forget for Cambridge United, who suffered relegation after a four-year stay in League One, and it is up to Neil Harris and his staff to pick up the pieces and gain promotion back to League One as quickly as possible.
However, what would Cambridge United need to do if they were to gain promotion back to League One?
2024/25 season - a disaster
It is hard to see any positives at the moment for Cambridge fans who are feeling as low as possible with relegation sinking in. With two different managers unable to keep Cambridge up and the third-worst goal difference in the league, it is unsurprising that Cambridge were not able to keep themselves afloat.
Neil Harris is ready to take on League Two
With Harris returning to the club in February, there was a glimmer that he may get the bottom side out of the relegation zone; however, the writing was on the wall for Harris even before he arrived, and Cambridge were doomed to relegation.
It was, however, a chance for Harris to see what players he had at his disposal and see what their personalities are like, and if they were the men to take his side back up to League One.
With form improving under Harris, too many draws left the boss questioning if his players had the killer instinct he required. He stormed out of an interview, questioning them at both ends of the pitch. Harris told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.
"The team's going to change, and the mindset of conceding cheap goals, not scoring enough goals and also probably having a soft underbelly,"
"Ultimately, we have to be fitter as a group because a lot of the goals we have conceded have been after 67 minutes.
"We are going to be a completely different animal next year. We're not going to think too much about what we look like now compared to next year."
Yet it seems Harris is fighting and backing his players to change their mentality for the greater good. Prior to the end of the season in April he said,
"The team's going to change, and the mindset of conceding cheap goals, not scoring enough goals and also probably having a soft underbelly," Harris told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.
"Ultimately, we have to be fitter as a group because a lot of the goals we have conceded have been after 67 minutes.
"We are going to be a completely different animal next year. We're not going to think too much about what we look like now compared to next year."
The fans have to back Cambridge United
Aside from having the best kits in the Football League, Cambridge have an unbelievable following and one that are vocal enough to let the players know. Cambridge fans are a passionate bunch and the U’s have to live up to certain expectations.
However, the fans will get behind the players if they give 100%. This current crop of players may have blotted their copybook with many fans, and recruitment is going to be important for the U’s this summer.
It will be down to director of football Mark Bonner to find the right players that Harris needs to get Cambridge back into League One and promoted with confidence. The club already has a good structure in place, being named the EFL’s best run club, so they will be hoping that is the right steps they need to get back in League One.
For League Two, the CEO Alex Tunbridge, has announced ticket prices will be frozen and a new category for young fans to get tickets at a reasonable price. On tickets compare, Cambridge United offer a great deal for fans watching EFL football.
The attacking line can produce the goods
Although there was a lack of killer instinct throughout the season, Cambridge do have some talented members in their squad. None more so though the former Blackpool duo of Shayne Lavery and Sullay Kaikai. Kaikai and Lavery are both direct players, which is certainly needed in League Two but both need to keep themselves fit and contribute more clinically if they are to help Cambridge succeed.
Manager Harris will be encouraged to see these two staying for next season and knows he has a talented duo at his disposal.
Can Cambridge United achieve a bounceback?
It is always difficult for teams to pick themselves up, but with Neil Harris at the helm, it has a sense of possibility. Harris is passionate about the job in hand and has experience of working much higher up than League Two. If the club can get recruitment right this summer, Cambridge could well be going up automatically, erasing some painful feelings that fans are experiencing now.
