Not because it would provide opportunity to tear into his players and point out errors but, in fact, the total opposite.
Ultimately the League One U's fell on the wrong side of a 2-1 loss to their Championship visitors.
Yet they were cheered as they left the pitch for a performance that deserved more and, crucially, showed the path they are on with Monk's passing football.
"I think what always pays testament to that more than anything else is we've just lost the game and pretty much all the crowd stayed here to clap the players off the pitch," Monk said. "You only do that if you've enjoyed or you're happy with what you've seen.
"Of course, the result is the disappointing part for all of us and for our fans, but I think they appreciated what we were doing tonight. The only thing that was missing was the win that we probably deserved after that performance.
"I've spoke a lot about what we want to do this season.
We're changing the style of play. It's the hardest way to play because it takes more training, more detail, a lot more information for players. But I think the fans, they want validation as well of what I'm speaking about because they're just words. When you see action, that helps them see what we're talking about. It's a good representation of what we want to try and be.
This story is from the August 18, 2024 edition of The Football League Paper.
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This story is from the August 18, 2024 edition of The Football League Paper.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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