D3D4 Colchester correspondent Piers Palmer (@Piers_Palmer on twitter) is hoping for improvement from the U’s this season but then that’s not asking too much now is it!…
Last Season was…
Ten years since Colchester fans bade goodbye to Layer Road in what was perhaps one of the worst-timed stadium moves for a football club. The U’s had just ended a dismal campaign at the bottom of The Championship with a 1-0 loss to promoted Stoke City. So, ten years on and how was last season?
It was a disappointing campaign (change the record, right?) that didn’t just fizzle out but re-sparked and fizzled out so many times fans almost started to miss the consistent threat of relegation that League One brought. The 2017-18 campaign was one marred by major inconsistency and a few more nails in Colchester’s League Two coffin.
This season will be different because…
Well, according to the beloved Chairman, Robbie Cowling, Colchester is a mid-table League Two team and that’s where the club finished last season. You could say that’s job done then. No need for improvement. The club is right on track.
Obviously that’s not going to appease U’s fans so, for them, the only way is up, right? Fingers crossed. But at the moment, it all feels a bit reminiscent of the club’s relegation from The Championship ten years ago. After the drop came the promise of the Play-offs that slowly slipped into mid-table dissatisfaction then gruelling, seemingly endless relegation battles, and finally, the plunge.
It looks like Col U is following the same pattern. Only this time, they’re a league lower and with the threat of non-league football looming.
This summer’s transfer business has been…
Satisfactory. The club have made some decent signings and basically replaced everyone that has gone. (Goalkeeper Sam Walker being the biggest loss.) Former Ipswich (another one…) striker Nouble seems a good acquisition as does Cheltenham midfielder Harry Pell. (Mind you, the last time Colchester spent a 6 figure sum on a Cheltenham player, it didn’t quite work out as everyone expected. Where is Steven Gillespie now anyway?)
Time will tell how well the signings have worked out but it’s all been a bit quiet since the end of June perhaps meaning McGreal’s transfer business is done for this summer. The pre-season has shown a pretty good side with academy products still looking to play a prominent role in this season’s squad.
My expectation for the coming season is….
After a World Cup in which Iran drew with European champions Portugal, tiny Iceland managed to qualify, Germany finished bottom of their group, Lewandowski didn’t score one goal, Senegal got knocked out on yellow cards, and England not only won a match on penalties but also got to the Semi-finals, anything is possible this coming Col U season.
Better 13th will be a good start for The U’s but staying in League Two for too long is dangerous, especially for a club the size of Colchester. Play-offs and promotion will always be the aim and certainly the expectation for most fans. But then, isn’t it for everyone?
If my team were a food they would be…
A bad Chinese takeaway. Really exciting and full of promise but you just end up being disappointed, unsatisfied and hungry for more.