U's fan Chris Vessey talks to Simon Downes, 22, a Stevenage supporter and journalist.

CV - What a fantastic start to the season for you, especially as you were renowned for being slow starters. What's different this time round?

Stability. For the first time in half a dozen years we've started the season with the majority of the squad that finished the previous one. Although stability has been the problem in recent years, it's also been unavoidable, with a succession of managers failing to match the expectations of the club and fans alike.

For the first time since Paul Fairclough's first spell at the club, we have a manager in place that all Boro fans have complete faith in and respect for, and it's not just because things are going so well. In Mark Stimson we have a manager who listens to and understands exactly where the fans are coming from. He approaches the game in the right way, explains his decisions thoroughly and doesn't disrespect the intelligence of fans by making ridiculous excuses for defeats or poor performances.

But most importantly, we have a manager with exceptional motivation and man management skills. The players enjoy playing for the manager, they enjoy the style of play and it really does show in their effort and level of performance.

CV - Early days I know, but should you win promotion, is the club set up (behind the scenes etc) for a long stay in the Football League?

Although the club drop the odd howler (not making Saturday all-ticket for away fans), often seem to lack much commercial or PR direction, and regularly leave fans scratching their heads in amazement at a lack of common sense, I have little doubt that we'd more than hold our own in the Football League.

Not only do we have a decent stadium, we have the kind of training facilities that wouldn't look out of place in the Championship. In Phil Wallace we have a chairman who doesn't mind putting his money where his mouth is, and contrary to popular belief, the majority of club expenditure in recent years has come off the field as opposed to on it. Although the chairman undoubtedly loves the club, he's also a very astute businessman and looks set to make a very tidy profit on the club if he chooses to walk away any time soon. But we pray he doesn't!

Attendances are bound to drastically increase if we're promoted, but guesses as to what kind of average support we could maintain vary greatly from 3,000 to 5,000. There's little doubt that we'd more than hold our own but, unlike the likes of Accy or Barnet, if we are promoted we won't be content with simply surviving year in year out.

CV - Mark Stimson, your young, talented manager is just over a year into the job, how would you summarise his tenure so far?

Remarkable. Whilst things have improved dramatically on the pitch over the last 18 months, Stimson's greatest success to date is completely turning around the spirit of the fans. Not an easy thing to do!

For the first in years we have a fanbase which isn't just content, but is ecstatic with the direction the club is going in. Stimson has restored pride, passion and a genuine unity amongst fans and players alike.

The style of football is fantastic too. Not only are we scoring freely, but we have probably the best back five the club has ever had, with two wing backs who can mix it going forward with the best of them. And of course, who could forget the FA Trophy Final. To come back from two down simply epitomized the character of the management and the players and why we have so much faith in them.

CV - As stalwarts of the Blue Square Premier, what have been your best and worst memories in this division?

Winning it was alright I suppose. But that's too obvious. It's amazing how so many of your fondest memories as a football fan often come from more unlikely sources. For instance, coming from 3 down at Scarborough to get a draw a few years back will never leave me. As will the ecstasy of winning 2-1 at Carlisle on a snowy Tuesday night in December or whenever it was. Plus, more predictably, we've had some fantastic clashes with the old enemy, Woking, including a 5-1 demolition at Kingfield and a last minute winner at BHW last year.

In terms of worst memories. Losing away to Farnborough on Boxing Day with Graham Westley in charge left me feeling just about as low as possible. And nothing could match the sheer gut wrenching agony of Play Off Final defeat.

CV - Who are the players you feel could cause Cambridge United some serious problems on Saturday?

Unlike in previous years, we have a genuine natural goal scorer leading the line in Steve Morison. This lad is as clinical in front of goal as his goal scoring record suggests, and on Tuesday night he scored arguably his best goals in a Boro shirt. And that's saying something!

Other than that we have a fast paced midfield with a tendency to punish teams on the break. We move the ball quickly, accurately and often to devastating effect. Plus, in a rejuvenated Adam Miller we have a midfielder who likes to get forward, create chances, and as we've already seen a few times this season, get on the score sheet.

CV - The standard of refereeing in the Blue Square Premier is firing debates more than ever, do you think it's getting as bad as people make out?

Actually no. Maybe it's because we've been playing so well and haven't been paying much attention to the men in black, but the general opinion amongst Boro fans is that we've seen an improvement in the form of officials.

I know of at least two games this season where the general opinion of the referee was that they had been the best at BHW for many a year.

CV - What has been your opinion of Cambridge United since we joined you in Blue Square Premier?

No offence, but I remember being quite pleased when you were relegated simply because it gave us another interesting local derby. Plus we'd had a couple of great clashes in the FA Cup in the past! Since your relegation, results have taken on a predictable format of the home team being on top. In fact, our trips to The Abbey often coincide with just about our worst performance of the season. As we've both had a disappointing last couple of seasons, it's been hard to discover exactly what kind of rivalry ours could develop into. Although I have a feeling that Saturday will be something special.

CV - And finally... what a huge game we have in prospect for Saturday - what's your prediction?

You'll have to go some to take three points off us. The eight clean sheets in a row are no fluke, but I have a bad feeling that record could end there. Having said that, I still fancy us to win. I'll go for 2-1.

Many thanks to Simon for giving his time to answer these questions.

Chris Vessey

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