Mark Bonner at the middle of the Cambridge United wheel in new director of football role

Mark Bonner has described his new role at Cambridge United as being ‘at the middle of the wheel’.

Bonner, who oversaw plenty of success during his almost four years as U’s head coach prior to his departure in November 2023, returned to his boyhood club earlier this week as director of football.

Even before his appointment was officially confirmed he played a key role in the appointment of Neil Harris as boss on a deal until the summer of 2027, and during yesterday’s press conference the 39-year-old elaborated further on his roles and responsibilities going forward.

He said: “As simple as possible I think the job is to oversee the five biggest footballing functions, starting with coaching and performance, including analysis of the team.

“Then there is sports science and medicine, recruitment player trading, the academy and facilities operations/player support.

“I’ll be at the middle of the wheel helping all of those things to turn. I’ll manage, direct, challenge and support everyone in those departments to get each department to be as high performing as possible and create conditions that provide a winning team.

“Fundamentally the biggest reason we are here is to create a winning team. My job is in the background to do all of those things, to support Neil in every way possible to help the team be as successful as possible and we’ve got some short-term changes ahead of us, as well as a bigger vision of what the future can look light.

“As somebody that played a role in creating and developing culture and environment at the club, a major part of the role is to continue that and be the one that sets the pace for where we’re going and help everybody get us there.”

The 39-year-old was also keen to dismiss any suggestion that he was too inexperienced to take on such a job.

He added: “I’ve managed and led football teams, I’ve managed and led academies, I’ve managed and led departments and I’ve developed departments and strategies. I’ve recruited players and I’ve recruited staff, so I’ve pretty much done every function within the role. I might not have had the job by title but I’ve been doing the job for years.

“I’ve got no fear in the role whatsoever and I’m really excited by all of the tasks that I’ll be overseeing. To have the time and space to do the things I’m best at while not managing the team is going to be brilliant for me.”

Having experienced life in the dugout via the U’s and a short stint at Gillingham earlier this season, a move behind the scenes represents a change of pace.

However, Bonner has not ruled out the notion of one day returning to the day-to-day life of being a head coach.

“The big tipping point for me is I’m stepping away from something I’ve been doing for four or five years. That’s definitely not me saying I’m never going to do that again – I’ve got 30 years left in work hopefully,” he said.

“But it’s me definitely saying in the immediate term, the next three to five years, the project is here and the project is creating conditions to have a winning team and have a huge impact in the city with this club.

“And also to continue on the path that we set out on a few years back. Yes there has been a few bumps along the way but this club is immeasurably different to what it was five years ago.

“Whatever happens on the football pitch, ok we’ve got to fix some stuff and try to improve and put a few things in place to get us back on course, but it’s easy to think it’s not on course when things aren’t going great. There are lots of things that are still great and my job is to come in and re-energise things to get us back on track alongside Neil.

“At the moment that is in this role and for the next three to five years that’s all I see. Who knows? The future is a long time but right now that’s not the job (being a head coach) I’m going to be focusing on or doing at all.”