Former Leeds United and Middlesbrough manager sacked by new club just 6 weeks after dreaded vote of confidence

Former Leeds United manager Garry Monk has been sacked by Cambridge United after just 11 months at the helm.

Cambridge are at serious risk of relegation to League Two, with a run of just one win in 13 games leaving them rock bottom of League One. The U’s have won five games all season and Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Exeter City leaves them eight points from safety with 15 matches to go.

Monk was given the dreaded vote of confidence less than six weeks ago following five consecutive defeats over the festive period, with the Cambridge board insisting the squad were behind their head coach. But things have seemingly changed, with confirmation of the 45-year-old’s exit coming on Sunday evening.

"We would like to thank Garry for his hard work and commitment to Cambridge United over the last 12 months,” majority owner Paul Barry, on behalf of the owners and board said. "He really bought into the Club during his time with us and we are all very disappointed that it has not worked out in the way we would all have hoped.

"In the end, the table does not lie and it is the right moment to make a change as we conclude the first part of our football review. There are 15 games of this season remaining, and we must continue to fight together to preserve our League One status over the coming weeks.

"At the same time, we will use this period to plan strategically for the next chapter of the Football Club. We will say more about this in the week."

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Monk took charge of Cambridge in March of last year, impressing early on and guiding the League One side from relegation trouble to an 18th-place finish. There was hope over the summer that form could continue into the 2024/25 campaign but things could not have gone much worse.

Cambridge have lost 18 of their 31 matches, with only Peterborough United conceding more than their 56 goals, while only three sides - Northampton Town, Stevenage and Wigan Athletic - have scored fewer than the U’s 30. Monk’s exit means he has now failed to last 18 months in each of his last five managerial jobs.

The first of those short-lived stints came at Leeds, with the former defender arriving at Elland Road in 2016 following an impressive dugout debut with Swansea City. Monk actually enjoyed plenty of success in West Yorkshire and looked set to guide the Whites into a play-off finish, but after winning just one of the last eight games they dropped into seventh.

Andrea Radrizzani took complete control of the club the following summer, buying out Massimo Cellino’s shares, and despite making clear his desire to extend Monk’s contract no agreement was reached and the manager resigned. He joined Middlesbrough in June of that year but lasted just six-and-a-half months.

Spells at Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday were similarly short-lived before a three-year break away from football. He returned in March last year but is now out of action again.