Former Birmingham City, Leeds United and Middlesbrough boss lands League One job after 1,211 days

Former Birmingham City manager Garry Monk has been named as the new boss of Cambridge United.

The U's were on the search for a new manager after Neil Harris left them only after three months to take up the reins at his former club Millwall. Barry Corr has been holding down the fort at the Abbey Stadium and now a permanent replacement has been found to Harris.

Cambridge have made Monk their new head coach, appointing him on a two-year deal. It is the first management job that Monk has had since his sacking at Sheffield Wednesday in November 2020. It will have been 1,211 days or three years and three months to be exact that Monk was last in charge of a football club.

Paul Barry, Majority Owner, said to the official club website: "We are very pleased to welcome Garry as our next Head Coach. This follows a thorough process and three separate interviews with owners, board and senior staff from across the Club last week where Garry emerged as our unanimous choice.

“He is a coach of high pedigree, has managed at the top level and impressed us all with his leadership skills, clarity of thinking and his analysis of Cambridge United - both the squad and the Club.  Although he has had opportunities to get back into the game over recent times, he has been waiting for the right one. Like us, he sees this as a project and we are pleased he has decided to join us on the journey ahead."

Monk iherits a side that are currently 19th in the League One standings, and are four points above safety though Cheltenham Town do hold a game in hand over them. He takes charge of his first match at the weekend when Cambridge host Northampton Town on Saturday, March 9.

The 44-year-old was in charge of Blues from March 2018 to June 2019, and led them to a 17th-placed finish, having been subject to a nine-point deduction. He would go to Sheffield Wednesday after his sacking, and lasted over a year.

The other clubs that he managed during his career was Swansea City, of whom he led to a top-half finish in the Premier League. Monk was also in charge of Leeds United, but resigned after just one season after guiding them to a seventh-placed finish. He went to Middlesbrough, but lasted only a few months.