TOPIC: Colchester (A) Match Thread

Jabo is avoiding a bit of flack to be honest, his finishing of late is woeful - if he had stuck away his last few the results could have been well different.

Jabo is avoiding a bit of flack to be honest, his finishing of late is woeful - if he had stuck away his last few the results could have been well different.

Keith sounded well pissed with him on the radio.

franksidebottom wrote:
Of course he backed down when it was pretty clear he wasnt going to either get an answer or Curle wasnt going to storm off or spit his dummy out he brought the interveiw to an end before Curle took him to the cleaners

And no i wouldnt hate Andy Wood if he got the job because i know he would do it well and if you listen to his interviews they come across as much more natural than the forced and predictable style of Phillips and of course he wouldnt be trying to climb the greasy BBC pole that Phillips definitely is

A media handling training course that an employer sent all their senior managers on in how to handle being interviewed for tv radio or print media usually at short notice with little time to prepare same course that football clubs send new managers on.

Just got back after a very disappointing day.

A 4-1 hammering where we actually played ok going forward, on another day we could have had 4 ourselves with the chances we created. Sadly when you can't defend there's always a chance you'll get a hiding even when you do play ok, they could have had 6 themselves.

Those who think Ellis is the answer to all our defensive woes, he's not. He was f***ing dreadful today, shit distribution and god knows what he was doing in stoppage time where him and Brisley seemed intent on giving them free chances to fill their boots.
Gillesphey must come back into the centre of defence, probably alongside Raynes. He was very poor at left back again today.

Devitt was good in a central midfield role, but I feel we definitely need to find a solution while Jones is out. If only we could afford Gary Liddle!

Wukkie wrote:
I'd say he was one of our best players today. The CM role suits him better than RW, made quite a lot happen for us particularly first half where we looked a constant threat going forward.

Wasn't at the game today but have to say it's reassuring to read from those who were there that we still looked a big threat going forward. I'd be more concerned if there were a number of areas of concern in the team but it's pretty obvious what our main problem is and it can be fixed.

crunchblue wrote:
His weak as piss attempt at a tackle for their second wasn't very good mind.

TheLazyLewisGuy wrote:
I would say since Rochdale in the FA Cup:

Played 8 Won 2 Draw 2 Lost 4 Scored 11 Against 17 in all competitions.

Even before that we were very lucky to win against Exeter who were in my opinion the better side and also lost to the bottom side Newport. We have been here before when we were in a good position in the league but failed to invest in January and ended up messing up.

It's been a strange season. I've been to 7 league matches - away games in the South and I'd say we have been steadily getting worse as the season has progressed. Nicky Adams has been superb although yesterday he had an off-day. Colchester defended well and generally snuffed out his crosses. Mike Jones too has been excellent allowing Luke Joyce to play further forward to great effect. We've created a lot of chances for the strikers but Wyke has been wasteful. Jabo has been fairly successful with his hold-up play and defensive work but is not sharp enough in front of goal. Kennedy bundles goals in from a yard out like the one ruled offside yesterday but can't hit the target from further out. Shaun Miller has yet to impress me. I would be delighted if Curle could entice someone in to bid for Charlie Wyke to allow us to sign a teenage striker with promise who we can develop.

Our defence has struggled without Mike Jones and it isn't easy to see how to fix it. Ellis looked slow as you'd expect against a good team like Col U. He looked knackered when he was trying to get back into position after coming up for corners. At one point after Colchester counter attacked after we had wasted another set piece we had 4 players in the Colchester half in offside positions.

Alex McQueen has put some muscle on - presumably he's been working hard in the gym. I thought he put in some very good long balls which we should have done more with. My money is on Curle extending his contract to the end of the season.

As a team I don't think we're good enough. Nicky Adams has single-handedly lifted us from our natural mid-table position up to 3rd but we're on the slide now and we'll need to start putting a run together to even make the play-offs by the end of the season. It's disappointing particularly as Curle and his team seem to have been doing everything right.

NORTHERNSOUL wrote:
So why were you taught how to interview people when you were on a media handling course on how to handle BEING interviewed?

Another case of barrybullshit...

q As the wheels come off the wagon, If we finish out of the top 3 were fucked, Got to get automatic promotion me thinks....

Is the interview available online? I missed it but it sounds well worth a listen.

Injures obviously haven't helped and the key ones have really highlighted the flaws in defence. T Miller has been fairly consistent. Like others, I'd get Raynes and MG in the middle and let them have a run of games to see how they get along. Until Grainger comes back we are simply patching up. That's a position we need cover for even beyond Graingers return. The young lads might prove their worth but we don't have time to bed them in slowly if we want to stay in the top 3. They need to be ready now.
The wheels aren't off at all. They are just a little shaky. Let's trust kc to find a good mechanic.

As proved again yesterday when you bring in a player who's not been getting regular games eg Ellis they are not up to speed, it's alright being fit but it's a different thing being match fit. We have been scoring goals but failing to kill teams off when on top, according to the stats for the match we had the majority of the possession at 1-1 we should have taken control of the game. Next few weeks will show how serious or beloved owners are, without new players in we will struggle to make the play offs and if we do I wouldn't back us to get up that way.

franksidebottom wrote:
Are you being deliberately thick or does it just come naturally to you

Where do i say i was being taught to interview people ?

I was being taught how to reply to ignorant unimaginative interveiwers who had nothing in their armoury other than asking the same question over and over again the advice was to go on the attack after they had asked it 3 times

carwash wrote:
Lots of critism there carwash then your last sentence says the opposite... Confusing .......I went to Morecambe where we had a comfortable win and looked sharp. I have been to every home game and have seen some great football and heard the reaction of the crowd which has also been great. I've gone home ,apart from last week v Grimsby, thinking this team is the best we've had for some long time. I've read the newspaper reports , all glowing. ...yes individuals at times turn in a below par performances , PL players are no different ....So am really hoping this spell is a blip ...there's been a lot of games close together....Christmas.... Travelling , even the weather....maybe routine has been upset . ....the worrying thing for me is the loss of 2 key players.

Not panicing just yet

Seesaw, I didn't intend to be too critical but I am beginning to wonder if there is something not quite right with the preparation for the long distance away matches. If it hadn't been for looking at the league table or reading the reports of home matches I'd never have believed we were in 3rd spot or that Charlie Wyke had scored so many goals. We're obviously missing the injured players but if it wasn't for Nicky Adams from what I've seen this season from the Southern away games we wouldn't be anywhere near the promotion places.

Urban Designer wrote:
I'm on about a heavy defeat that someone said "its been coming" which i dont agree with at all.

I'm not sure how you can walk away from that exeter game and think "we'll get hammered off somebody soon".

TheLazyLewisGuy wrote:
This board is about opinions. In my opinion there has been a heavy defeat coming for a while. We got lucky in the Exeter game coz we were poor but grabbed an undeserved win. We are not consistent enough in bossing games. We only boss games in spells, which is not a great sign of a promotion winning team. Just shows how poor a league this has been up to now.

We need fresh blood in or injured players to return, which in Graingers and Jones case are still a fair way off. Go back to basics and stop trying to play from the back, as we don't have the player's capable of doing that.

Crewe could easily have been 4-1. Grimsby could easily have been 4-1. The way we gifted the worst team in the league on current form could have resulted in a beating had we been playing a better team and yesterday we did get beat 4-1. I will say we've created and blew quite a few good chances ourselves but I think your deluding yourself if you didn't see a result like yesterday coming.

That's the problem, no matter how good we are going forward, we're still giving opposition 4 or 5 great chances per game which at the moment teams are taking most.

I'd go back to Raynes/Gillesphey as our CB pairing. Although not perfect it's been our most solid pairing this season. Then see what Wright or McQueen is like at left back and try to sign someone to fill the Jones void.

Out of interest what would be peoples thoughts on Brisley playing Jones role?. It doesnt look like many think he should be in at CB but could he do a job in front of them?

Seems to me that people who weren't at yesterday's game are being too quick to criticise.

I wasn't at Crewe but the performances against Luton, Yeovil and Notts County didn't suggest a hammering was coming, and having seen the last two games, 7-2 doesn't reflect the way we've played.

On another day we could have got at least a point out of Grimsby and yesterday there was one effort wrongly ruled out for offside and Wyke and Kennedy missed sitters. Colchester took their chances but on those showings I'd expect us to get more points than them in the rest of the season.

And as for James Phillips, it was like Curle's job was on the line with his approach. He was so busy trying to give him a hard time he didn't even get round to asking about the response of the likes of Raynes, Joyce etc to the offers of new contracts.

Dancingbear wrote:
Not for me. Hes not good enough on the ball to play that role and I doubt he'd be able to get around the pitch like Jones does.

crunchblue wrote:
I actually think Brisley has looked pretty decent on the ball - certainly a lot better than Raynes is. His problem is he's looked weak on a number of occasions and not positionally aware. I think there's a decent player in there but for his own sake, it would make far more sense to take him out of the firing line right now.

MerseysideBlue wrote:
For a CB hes not bad, much better than Ellis that's for sure. But being good on the ball as a centre back when everything is in front of you is one thing, but asking him to play centre midfield where he'll have to collect the ball in tight spaces with players around him, turn quickly and pass. I'm not sure he's cut out for it.

crunchblue wrote:
Totally agree if Jones is fit but in the absence of Jones would he possibly be a better option than say Kennedy who for me really struggles playing that deep?

Dancingbear wrote:
If we're going to put a defender in that position I'd probably opt for recalling Atkinson.

Brisley shouldnt be in any team let alone a promotion chasing one. Absolute Dogs**t he is. 2 decent players that are capable out on loan in Atkinson and Brough. Beyond belief why they arnt given a thought, surely a better option than playing square pegs in round holes.

Got to agree ,Brough and Atkinson should have been recalled weeks ago,The replacements for Granger and Jones in the team didn't work 5 games ago and it hasn't got any better.At least both Brough and Atkinson are match fit plus they have both been doing well granted at a lower level. For me it's a no brainer until Jones and Grainger are fit.

crunchblue wrote:
Wasn't suggesting he should play in midfield, just that he's not as bad as some people are making out but is in a pretty rotten run of form.

As for those calling for Atkinson to play in midfield - how many times has he actually played there?

MerseysideBlue wrote:
Not sure if anyones actually calling for it more just putting names forward as so far no one can do it. Maybe McKee could if he hadnt got injured as soon as he got his chance.

What's wrong with Russell Penn? Natural direct replacement for Jones.

Gillesphey back to CB, reminds me of the Potts scenario when he's playing full back.
Wright or McQueen to LB.
Penn into CM, why recall him if he's not even making the squad?
Kennedy back the RM, he was much more effective there earlier in the season and nobody has done themselves any favours playing there since Kennedy went inside.

Curle said Penn was badly as well as Raynes yesterday...

Surely he hasn't been badly since Boxing Day though has he?