Aidy Boothroyd became the second successive U’s manager to walk away from the club after less than 10 months in charge when he was appointed by Championship side Coventry. Unlike Paul Lambert’s switch to Norwich though this time the move was wholly amicable. Despite having just finished eighth in the League One table – the club’s fourth highest Football League finish in their history – many U’s fans were unhappy with a direct and soulless style of play.

Instead of appointing another marquee name, chairman Robbie Cowling promoted Boothroyd’s experienced assistant John Ward to the hotseat.

Cowling stressed that – having spent big for two seasons in an attempt to bounce quickly back into the Championship – a more prudent, stable and long-term approach would now be required, while Ward insisted that he would try to get the side playing entertaining football.

With key players such as Clive Platt, Kevin Lisbie, David Prutton, David Fox and Danny Batth leaving the club, Ward barely spent a penny when bringing in replacements. Brian Wilson and Lloyd James had both been made free agents, Andy Bond and Ben Coker were plucked from non-league football, while David Mooney was brought in on loan.

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Wikipedia