Saints 0-0 Colchester - Reaction

[Professor]

It was an improvement on the past couple of weeks, a clean sheet and chances in the 2nd half. Still not the team that beat Bristol Rovers, but then, that team had aleady failed against Plymouth and Orient, so its hard to make judgements. Lallana will not be the whole answer, so it has to be some quality players on loan, 2 or 3 I would say, and not understudies like Do Prado seems to be, but genuine first choice players to improve the starting 11.

 

Needing these players is not something new, many of us were calling for signings back in June and July, when we were told to be patient, it would all come right in the end. It hasn't come right and it will soon be October. Unless the quality in the team is improved very very soon, promotion this year will be beyond us. And just a word to the optimists, the play-offs is not promotion. The other 4 teams have just as much chance, so all that a top 3 to 6 finish guarantees is a place in the lottery, and even that is looking remote at the moment.

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

When & why did Cortese change our name to Southampton Nil? NC out.

[.comsaint]

Old Nige has now had 2 games in charge to run the rule over the squad; who he's keeping & who he sees as not interested/can go. More importantly - he now has a week to work with the players & to get his ideas across etc. I'm hoping early next week - he'll approach NC and get him to sanction a loan or two because - being honest - we need them desperately. We need more pace - a classy gritty central midfielder with good distribution - someone quick & playing out wide perhaps - and cover up front for the strikers. We all know that. And now - hopefully Adkins does too by now!

[Freemantle Saint]

players dont look happy do they?

 

Body language gives it a away...

 

St marys is not a happy place...

 

look beyond the bull**** reasons for pardews departure, and you will see st marys run on stalinist state lines...

[Saint J 77]

I am going see this as a positive result, we didn't lose and we've stopped the rot of losing. I'm hoping we push on from here like we did last season after we drew with Colchester at home. I think Adkins will turn us around. Hopefully he will know where we need strengthening now and bring in some decent loans this week.

[Smirking_Saint]

players dont look happy do they?

 

Body language gives it a away...

 

St marys is not a happy place...

 

look beyond the bull**** reasons for pardews departure, and you will see st marys run on stalinist state lines...

 

Do f*ck off.

[S-Clarke]

players dont look happy do they?

 

Body language gives it a away...

 

St marys is not a happy place...

 

look beyond the bull**** reasons for pardews departure, and you will see st marys run on stalinist state lines...

 

If im honest, they looked far happier today than they did against Rochdale and Swindon.

 

NA knows what he's doing and he's already made a big impact by the sounds of things.

[madruss]

No, definitely no confusion!

If I look hard for him on the pitch most games, he always seems to be running around alot, but mainly achieving nothing, seems unsure of his positioning.

I did spot him today out there attempting to play these long (beautiful when they work) passes out to the wings, mainly Chamberlains way, but I can not remember one actually reaching him. Waste of space in my opinion along with Hammond

 

Fair enough, footy is after all a game of opinions. At least we both agree how bad Hammond was today. Perhaps I was assessing Morgan's performance relative to Deano's, even Pulis would have looked good compared to him today

[InvictaSaint]

I think I am going to differ from most other posters by saying that I thought that the first half, whilst not sensational, was also an improvement on recent games. You can see the impact of Adkins' philosophy already; players passing and moving! Harding started to go on the overlap, and - best of all - we are now getting players to the byeline so that they can put in a cross. It was so much better than Rochdale (the last home game). As for the second half - well, what a difference! Passion, commitment and energy right through to the final whistle. Dickson, and Holmes in particular, were a real breath of fresh air, with little give-and-gos and attacking threat towards the bye-line. Holmes put in some great corners and one wicked ball in from a free kick, which was just begging to get a touch off somebody.

 

I applauded the team off at the end, because their effort and commitment deserved it; there are real signs that things will turn around and we will climb the table, quickly. As others have said, a couple of loans will make a big difference - one or two with pace but, after today, not necessarily wingers - and I think, most important of all, Adkins will make a difference. Hammond said on Solent that NA has "put a smile back on the players' faces" which is very telling.

 

All in all, I am in the positive camp tonight; it was an improvement, and the gree shoots of recovery were definitely there.

 

PS - A BIG thank you to whomever caused the M25 to come to a standstill on the way down today, and for the subsequent cross country dash leaving me with a 4 hour drive to the game from Kent and a late arrival at SMS!

[the colonel]

How are we going against Norwich 's record last season? FFS Adkins has had no impact whatsoever. Cortese and him can go and do a few underwater farts. We are ****ing **** and will never score again whilst those ****ing idiots are in charge.

 

I think you would be better off support skates. Obviously you weren't there and don't know what you are blabbing about!!

[simo]

And don't get me started about the ref !!!

[bender]

Wasnt at the game but ;

 

If we had our points back last season, we would have been 3 points off automatic promotion at the end dispite taking only 5 points from the first 7 games.

 

This season we have also 5 pts from 7 games but dont have the distraction of the JPT and hopefully not 5 FA cup games.

[doddisalegend]

Well I enjoyed it. As I've now convinced myself we're not going up all the pressure is off, I'm just going to go to SMS watch the football and enjoy it best I can.

 

Today was an improvement we played much better than Colchester, had some good chances. Lee holmes to start the next game I think. Does anyone know who the blonde dwarf playing for Colchester was? no word of a lie I thought they'd left the mascot on the pitch for the first five miniutes of the game, niggly little b astard who ever he was.

 

I'm cheered up by today I think Nige will get it right and we will finish comfortably mid-table ready for a big promotion push next year:scared:

Edited 18 September, 2010 by doddisalegend

[Tractor_Saint]

Our defence was pretty solid for once.

 

Butterfield was fantastic and showed good skill on the ball.

Fonte still seems to look to hoof it even after Adkins is in, spose he'll be kicking into touch soon (so to speak).

Sad that Chamberlain didn't really have the service to run at their defence today - when he got the ball he looked good.

Really really thought Dickson was great at the end! He blasted through their defence at one point, got to the byline and pulled back a cross where we nearly scored from. That's what we need, players who'll break through and take it to the byline.

Kelvin wasn't great. Would like to see Bart play a couple of games now.

Lambert - I really hope he's injured. It's either that or he's had enough of playing for us.

 

Last 20 minutes we started to look like the side from last season. Just need some luck. Adkins is heading in the right direction. Really looking forward to the Bournemouth game.

[Dalek2003]

Sounds like we are improving, but it will take time and we are very brittle at the moment. We must support Adkins this season and see what he can do, but there will be no quick fix.

[brmbrm]

Very surprising to see anyone say that about Morgan today. I thought he was excellent, and out of all the players on the pitch he was the one who wanted the ball most and if you were to watch the game back you'd see that pretty much every move was started off my him and he was often the only outlet at throw-ins, free kicks or for the centre backs to pass it out of defence rather than hoofing it.

 

I reckon you must have been confusing him for Hammond today, easy to do given that Morgan was doing Hammond's job for him for most of the game.

 

I also thoguht Morgan was poor (and often overrated). Gives away the ball far, far too much, often with wild passes, low percentage and not a lot of gain even if they come off. Its no coincidence that we seem consitently to get dominated in midfield; the enemy keep the ball and pass it round, our central two (esp MS) play "get and give", but give it to the other side.

[Joesaint]

Sad we only got a draw but, somthing was said I belive at half time along with what I thought were clever sub got the ball out wide, and hence had more chances. I understand that our players may need to work on their fitness but we WILL win games I and I still feel we have a good squad.

 

PS do think pre season didnt go too well as well as the start of the season, something was wrong, too much long ball low motivation (either that or fitness) but I really do feel there is more energy within the team.

 

COYS - ive had alot of practice supporting the underdog and still being stupidly positive, that what happens when you support the Saints COYS

[Fitzhugh Fella]

I also thoguht Morgan was poor (and often overrated). Gives away the ball far, far too much, often with wild passes, low percentage and not a lot of gain even if they come off. Its no coincidence that we seem consitently to get dominated in midfield; the enemy keep the ball and pass it round, our central two (esp MS) play "get and give", but give it to the other side.

 

I think Schneiderlin is the most over rated player at SMS since Anders Svensson. Show ponies the pair of them!

His free kicks today were a disgrace.

[MorningtonCrescent]

I'm in general agreement with madruss and Invicta... some other observations...

 

First half, whilst not being the great football we have played in earlier matches (with no end product), we played a quicker game and tested their keeper more than all the earlier games put together. Not particularly pretty to watch, but then many here said they'd be happy with a "win ugly" mentality for a few games......

 

Second half, great to see a change of tactics and the players seemingly responding to Adkins half-time chat. We do seem slow to get to the second ball when it breaks in their area, but perhaps we also need a bit of luck too? We certainly had no help from an indifferent linesman and a pedantic ref.

 

Puncheon. This is where I seem to differ to most, but i'll say it none the less. Puncheon still has that ability we all saw when he joined us, really he has! He is clearly a confidence player and when the Northam (and other areas) get on his back after 5 minutes, his head drops. We have our part to play and we're just not helping Puncheon (or the team) by moaning every time a pass/shot/cross goes astray. It is frustrating, but if these guys were consistently playing at their best, they wouldn't (quite frankly) be playing for Saints in Div 3! Give them a break! Adkins will make the changes he feels necessary - so give him the support for all his decisions, right from the start. If he plays Puncheon, support him! Help him to gain his confidence back!

 

Morgan - what a change we have seen in his two games with NA in charge! Anyone who hasn't noticed the player he has become in the last two matches shouldn't be commenting on football forums! He has been a man possessed! Tackles (when did he do THAT last year!) and passes and movement and desire...... too good for Saints already and one we need to hang on to if we are serious about climbing the leagues. Yes, he still makes mistakes... see the comment above about consistency!

 

Hammond. Not the player we all hoped he would be, but successive managers have made him captain and he clearly does things they like. How anyone can say "he's c**p, waste of a shirt" etc... I just don't get it! Maybe not in a good place right now, but he can improve and he will under NA (and with some competition for his place)

 

Quick score on the doors:

Davis - 5 good when called upon, but still doesn't command his area enough for me

Butters -6 excellent RB, esp compared to last years options

Seaborne - 6 will grow into the partnership with Jose and deserves to keep his place on past two games

Fonte - 6 exciting when he roams forward and too good for Saints, but still makes mistakes and never gets criticised, just "because he's Jose"

Harding - 5 not his best performance, but he can shine in our team again, once the confidence comes back

 

Chamberlain - 6 out of sorts today, perhaps too many games too soon? Great when he puts it together, but faded at times. Only to be expected of a young man learning his trade, so not intended to be too critical!

Hammond - 4 ok today but not looking like the player we all want him to be

Morgan - 8 great workrate and vision. shown passion for the team in last two outings and we need to hold on to him

Puncheon - 6 lets his head drop too easily. makes mistakes, but only because he sees 2 or 3 times more of the ball than anyone else! He could be star for Saints if he can get his confidence and find that early promise again.

 

Lambert - 6 people seem to coming around to the idea that it is ok to criticise Lambo! He isn't beynd reproach, but he is still giving something to this team and once e get the confidence back he will fire us to the top of the table. Those last two (identical!) free kicks were excellent and well saved.

Barnard - 7 ran hard today and gave loads for the team. He'll be missed if he needs a hernia op

 

Dickson - 7 great cameo showing that he can b a good option on the left side

Holmes - 7 another great cameo, just needs to show us he can stay fit and do it for longer than 15 mins.

 

NA - 9 chose his 11 to start and gave them something to take on the pitch to change patterns of play. seems happy to make changes when he sees an option to. Has Guly got a clause that must play in every game? Seemingly so, as he got a sub appearance for the last 2 mins!

[manji]

players dont look happy do they?

 

Body language gives it a away...

 

St marys is not a happy place...

 

look beyond the bull**** reasons for pardews departure, and you will see st marys run on stalinist state lines...

 

Did you go ? they look a lot happier now. Frecking bed-wetter loon.

[torsaint]

Goodness! If I saw Schneiderlin mi**** one crossfield ball I saw him mi**** a shedful. Please don't overrate a player who clearly hasn't got to grips with the need to balance the short with the long. However, the second half produced a suspicion that the worst may be behind us.

[Dr Who?]

I had us down for having 16 points at this point of the season, before a ball was kicked

 

Plymouth 3pts

MK 1 pts

Orient 3pts

Bristol Rovers 3pts

Rochdale 3pts

Swindon 0 pts

Colchester 3 pts

 

Well we have 5.

 

In the next 3 games I had us down as 2 draws and a win.

 

Have we ever lost to Bournemouth in the league?

 

I really still believe that things will pick up, but it needs to be soon.

[Dr Who?]

I'm in general agreement with madruss and Invicta... some other observations...

 

First half, whilst not being the great football we have played in earlier matches (with no end product), we played a quicker game and tested their keeper more than all the earlier games put together. Not particularly pretty to watch, but then many here said they'd be happy with a "win ugly" mentality for a few games......

 

Second half, great to see a change of tactics and the players seemingly responding to Adkins half-time chat. We do seem slow to get to the second ball when it breaks in their area, but perhaps we also need a bit of luck too? We certainly had no help from an indifferent linesman and a pedantic ref.

 

Puncheon. This is where I seem to differ to most, but i'll say it none the less. Puncheon still has that ability we all saw when he joined us, really he has! He is clearly a confidence player and when the Northam (and other areas) get on his back after 5 minutes, his head drops. We have our part to play and we're just not helping Puncheon (or the team) by moaning every time a pass/shot/cross goes astray. It is frustrating, but if these guys were consistently playing at their best, they wouldn't (quite frankly) be playing for Saints in Div 3! Give them a break! Adkins will make the changes he feels necessary - so give him the support for all his decisions, right from the start. If he plays Puncheon, support him! Help him to gain his confidence back!

 

Morgan - what a change we have seen in his two games with NA in charge! Anyone who hasn't noticed the player he has become in the last two matches shouldn't be commenting on football forums! He has been a man possessed! Tackles (when did he do THAT last year!) and passes and movement and desire...... too good for Saints already and one we need to hang on to if we are serious about climbing the leagues. Yes, he still makes mistakes... see the comment above about consistency!

 

Hammond. Not the player we all hoped he would be, but successive managers have made him captain and he clearly does things they like. How anyone can say "he's c**p, waste of a shirt" etc... I just don't get it! Maybe not in a good place right now, but he can improve and he will under NA (and with some competition for his place)

 

Quick score on the doors:

Davis - 5 good when called upon, but still doesn't command his area enough for me

Butters -6 excellent RB, esp compared to last years options

Seaborne - 6 will grow into the partnership with Jose and deserves to keep his place on past two games

Fonte - 6 exciting when he roams forward and too good for Saints, but still makes mistakes and never gets criticised, just "because he's Jose"

Harding - 5 not his best performance, but he can shine in our team again, once the confidence comes back

 

Chamberlain - 6 out of sorts today, perhaps too many games too soon? Great when he puts it together, but faded at times. Only to be expected of a young man learning his trade, so not intended to be too critical!

Hammond - 4 ok today but not looking like the player we all want him to be

Morgan - 8 great workrate and vision. shown passion for the team in last two outings and we need to hold on to him

Puncheon - 6 lets his head drop too easily. makes mistakes, but only because he sees 2 or 3 times more of the ball than anyone else! He could be star for Saints if he can get his confidence and find that early promise again.

 

Lambert - 6 people seem to coming around to the idea that it is ok to criticise Lambo! He isn't beynd reproach, but he is still giving something to this team and once e get the confidence back he will fire us to the top of the table. Those last two (identical!) free kicks were excellent and well saved.

Barnard - 7 ran hard today and gave loads for the team. He'll be missed if he needs a hernia op

 

Dickson - 7 great cameo showing that he can b a good option on the left side

Holmes - 7 another great cameo, just needs to show us he can stay fit and do it for longer than 15 mins.

 

NA - 9 chose his 11 to start and gave them something to take on the pitch to change patterns of play. seems happy to make changes when he sees an option to. Has Guly got a clause that must play in every game? Seemingly so, as he got a sub appearance for the last 2 mins!

 

100% agree with this, and boy was he frustrating in the week at MK. He gets in some good positions and creates the chances himself, but it is just snatching at the shot. Yes the shooting was terrible, but I think he will stick one in the net soon enough and then he will get quite a few for us.

[aintforever]

After watching that I am confident Adkins will get it right. We looked stronger at the end of the game, Adkins actually made substitutions which improved the side which is promising. I think we need 3 loan singings to stand any chance of promotion though.

 

I would bring in central midfielder, a pacey winger and striker.

[WGC Saint]

We will turn it around under Adkins, probably away from home at first where there seems to be less pressure. With a decent result confidence will grow, we will regain our believe. NA is not stupid, he has the best squad in this division and given time the cream will come to the top. Try to look at the bigger picture.

 

I know we're all dissapointed having expected a lot more and its not easy for us at the moment, we need to be patient but it WILL come.

 

Common sense. Well said that man. Couldn't agree more. Though still hacked off at the poor start after having had such high hopes for this season.

[saint1977]

The second half was a big improvement and well done Adkins for getting Harding and Puncheon off the pitch for ignoring his instructions and replacing them with Dickson and Holmes who were a breath of fresh air. Unlikely that Harding and Puncheon will read this but if they do - get to the effing byeline and put the ball in as quickly as possible. For me, we must start at Hillsborough with Dickson and Holmes on the left, what a shame Holmes never stays fit as he can cross a ball way better than anyone else in the squad. If we had a fit and interested target striker , we might even start scoring again. Sorry Rickie, you were great last year but your credit from that has expired. If you are carrying an injury, FFS get surgery because you are as mobile as a combination of Akinfenwa and Neil Shipperley circa 2010 at the moment.

 

We've got 8 of a starting XI for Sheff Wed, just need to take Hammond, Harding and Puncheon out of the side. Still need 3-4 loans this week with pace, good shout whoever said Agyemang. I'd keep Lambert in but would arrange a 90 minute behind doors game midweek and assuming Rickie isn't injured play him for all of it and repeat every week for him and the others that are carrying weight to get sharpness. To those moaning about Puncheon and the crowd, whilst I'm not a fan of booing players, I do have sympathy with those that are fed up with him and I can't think that at any other club in England he'd still be getting a game given his lack of attention to the most basic aspects of his job. When you think he's probably on several times his peers, sorry, buck your ideas up Jason and show the fans they are wrong and display some spirit.

[The Corellian]

Lets just hope we don't win the next game 4-0 or we could be looking for another manager again!

[Smirking_Saint]

Lets just hope we don't win the next game 4-0 or we could be looking for another manager again!

 

You ok Alan Pardew ?

 

 

 

I mean seriously you registered to post that ?

[saint1977]

After watching that I am confident Adkins will get it right. We looked stronger at the end of the game, Adkins actually made substitutions which improved the side which is promising. I think we need 3 loan singings to stand any chance of promotion though.

 

I would bring in central midfielder, a pacey winger and striker.

 

Yeah, sums it up for me. Good subs by Adkins which got us ticking over in the second half and with decent, fit strikers (Barnard is decent but reportedly injured and is Rickie injured?) we'd have won today. Still, get Agyemang and A.N.Others with blistering pace and/or height and we might just make a game of it in West Yorkshire next week. With Antonio and Waigo, we were a very different and far superior team last year and went from top 10 side to top 2 form, let's hope Adkins can find some pacy gems for 2010/11.

[Dr Who?]

You ok Alan Pardew ?

 

 

 

I mean seriously you registered to post that ?

 

Bottling that up for 3 weeks, could not let it go any longer and had to get the joke out. fair play!

[Shrek]

Frustrating game to watch, but after Dickson and Holmes came on we looked a different side. We had width and even a touch of pace! The players are clearly lacking confidence, but the last 20 mins they seemed to get better and better. FWIW, the referee and linos were absolutely appalling today and I can count on two hands (easily) the number of obvious handballs they missed, including two good shouts and one stone wall in the box.

 

A definite improvement today and I like Adkins' style. Just need a goal now...PLEASE!

[Kingsbridge Saint]

How are we going against Norwich 's record last season? FFS Adkins has had no impact whatsoever. Cortese and him can go and do a few underwater farts. We are ****ing **** and will never score again whilst those ****ing idiots are in charge.

 

Alcohol and 2am played a part in that post. I would like to retract the last two sentences. And it might be fairer to give Adkins a bit more time to turn things around. Wake me up when September ends.

[rooney]

Came away disappointed but on reflection some positives in the strong seconed half performance and the clean sheet. Rickie still looks unfit but good substitutes in Holmes and Dickson down the left hand side. I hope they start next week. Holmes took some very good corners, an area where we had been poor until then. Rickie was denied by some excellent saves. My MOM was Chamberlain and the stats on the OS say it all. Surely we must start scoring soon?

We missed the likes of Papa and Antonio coming on to change the game and there are no long throwers now that Antonio has gone.

[del boy]

 

I would bring in central midfielder, a pacey winger and striker.

 

In other words just what we needed at the end of last season. I guess signings have been stifled by whatever has been going on behind the scenes. I would expect NC to let NA bring people in when he has had a chance to assess the squad and clarify the needs in his mind.

Let's not forget NAs only been here a week and were expecting a lot quickly. I think he's doing a great job on the evidence so far, let's all get right behind the Saints and look forwards to better times. Onwards and upwards.

No apologies for the positive post.

[Norm]

I think Schneiderlin is the most over rated player at SMS since Anders Svensson. Show ponies the pair of them!

His free kicks today were a disgrace.

 

 

Funny how different people see a game sooooo different! Another poster on here wrote that he was World Class today! I wish I could get a pair of his spectacles. Me? I think he flatters to deceive. Runs a lot but gets nowhere.

[yorkie]

Seems we managed to do more than just hold out for the point!

Look at the table - 9-points off the top. We should start looking like that like we did at the end of last season for a chance to reach the play-offs.

We can only get better - teams will frustrate us at SMS, but away from home it should be very different.

We are still the team everyone wants to beat - always will be because of our history.

Let's give them a pat on the back - only 37-games left and 9-points behind the leaders!

[dubai_phil]

Funny how different people see a game sooooo different! Another poster on here wrote that he was World Class today! I wish I could get a pair of his spectacles. Me? I think he flatters to deceive. Runs a lot but gets nowhere.

 

Merrington seemed to put a finger on Morgan's problem yesterday. He believes that Morgan tries to play the "Match Winning" wonderball too often during the game rather than holding it up and looking to retain possession.

 

IMHO The Wonderball is a percentage play and an important part of the creativity levels of the team, but if it is overused the fans and the team mates see a hoofball time and again.

 

It will be interesting to see whether this decision making (like Puncheon's) gets worked on this week. There really is nothing better to watch than the 50 yard ball to feet that sets up a goal (ala Hoddle the player) but in L1 it just may not be what the team needs everytime, and Morgan isn't by any stretch Hoddle (yet)(maybe)(oneday)(possibly)(yeah well alright)

[Viking Warrior]

A pretty sterile first half and a far more positive and riveting second half. My belief and optomism for saints returned after the second half performance.

I thimk we should give young chamberlain a rest before his confidence is destroyed. We need to nurture him for a while yet.

I liked Holmes and dickson when they came on. no messing about footballers of yesteryear who new exactly what was needed. Early on Holmes made a crunching tackle on one of their players. We will soon start winning , there keeper kept them in the game right at the end and was rightly appluaded by the colchester players.

 

Also good to touch base with a couple of esteemed and proper gentleman on this forum

 

COYR's

[Cabrone]

From the comments on here:

 

Sounds like at least some parts of the team are starting to fire whereas in the previous weeks none of it was working. That's a big positive.

 

Hammond and Puncheon need to take a look at themselves, start digging in and producing the goods.

 

However by far the most important message coming from yesterday is that NA is already getting to grips with what he has and how to make it tick again.

 

The subs sounded intelligent and the half time talk must have hit the spot.

 

Whilst the players are important the manager is always the key. Fingers crossed we have landed a good'un in NA.

 

I hope so.

[Clifford Nelson]

I am very grateful to NA for seeing us play the ball from the back rather than the permanent hoofing towards RL's and DC's (!!!) heads. But what really turned the game yesterday was taking Harding and Puncheon off for Dickson and Holmes. I don't think that Harding had done much wrong, but as always when he plays with Puncheon in front of him he is left with doing all the work on the left. Puncheon is off everywhere else and doesn't operate as a partner to anybody, apart from that he doesn't have an end product most of the time. My mind is made up: Puncheon isn't the player we thought he would be. One or two small flashes of brilliance (or maybe luck) over all the games he has played isn't enough. Dickson and Holmes created activity along the left, previously neglected, side of the pitch. Neither are world beaters, but they did what was expected of them, included two crosses from the byeline (can't remember when I saw that last). I hope that Harding won't get the blame, because I think he did as much as he could under the circumstances. I have seen enough of Puncheon and I think I understand why he had such difficulty in getting out of non-league and kept dropping back in it.

 

We very clearly lack a motor in midfield, but I can't see us getting one until we change the pattern of play, which is a CM who directs the play from the hole behind the striker. Maybe Lallana could fill that role eventually, although I'm not sure. It seemed to be what we borrowed Guly to do. That is reportedly the role he has played in Italy. I'm flabbergasted why we don't play somebody who's loan period runs out in January if we've got an option to buy. If we're not going to play them, don't bring them! Wilkins' playing him LM was either idiocy or deliberately designed to make him look bad. In spite of that he showed that he was able to work the defense the couple of time he was given the ball in the right areas. I wouldn't be surprised if he has lost interest now, anyway.

 

A thought went around up in the Kingsland: Is Butterfield a much better RB than James used to be?

[Saint_clark]

Yes, Butterfield is much better than James.

[sperm_john]

to be honest I thought we were going to lose so I guess this is a result!

[moon monkey]

Despite us being the better team, Colchester should have won it near the end, thankfully the finishing at this league level is pretty poor.

[eelpie]

Yes, Butterfield is much better than James.

 

Did anyone notice what James's contribution for Colchester was when he came on? It seemed to coincide with our better period (when we also had Homes and Dickson on the field)

[Clifford Nelson]

James came on in the first half. Dickson and Holmes with 30 minutes to play in the second. No connection whatsoever. If, as you suggest, James was that poor, then why didn't Puncheon attack him?

[Jimmy Gabriel's Halo]

Does anyone know who the blonde dwarf playing for Colchester was? no word of a lie I thought they'd left the mascot on the pitch for the first five miniutes of the game, niggly little b astard who ever he was.

 

Twas David Perkins, he played on loan for Stockport Co last season and pretty much ran their midfield. He 5' 5" short but taller when he sits down.

[Clifford Nelson]

We had someone just like him until recently. He went to Docaster and scored a goal the other day.

[Window Cleaner]

We had someone just like him until recently. He went to Docaster and scored a goal the other day.

 

but AP didn't like him (as with Holmes) AP had binkies who got a game whatever they did and players who wouldn't get a game if they were the only fit player on the roster.

[Clifford Nelson]

but AP didn't like him (as with Holmes) AP had binkies who got a game whatever they did and players who wouldn't get a game if they were the only fit player on the roster.

 

Yes, he gave him the number 8 shirt on the monday and never played him again from the tuesday. Then he seemingly refused him to join Donkey in january and finished it with giving him the final few minutes at Wembley and a trophy. That kind of treatment sends some folk to mental institutions, and as we can see, other folk to Doncaster. I wish him well, but will always wonder if the howling at night outside my country retreat is a wolf or Simon Gillett.

 

Likewise I also got a chiver of delight to at last see the back of Puncheon as he left the field yesterday. At one point AP had talked me into that we had a good player on our hands. I was waiting and waiting to see it happen in front of my eyes, but it never did. We were going to be so excited by his running with the ball, I seem to remember. I have easily managed to contain myself.

[lordswoodsaints]

It's not a great result but it is certainly an improvement,i think the cancer is a lot deeper than most suspect.