Thetownend.com

Hello all,

Not sure if this is in the right place or not. Anyway, I am writing a blog on the U's this season mainly comprising of reports and previews.

As part of my previews I like to get the opinion of the opposition fans. I would be extremely grateful if someone could answer the following:

1. Are you a fan of the FA Cup and is it a positive or negative distraction from the league?

2. Who would you like to play in the 3rd Round should you progress?

3. What were your hopes and expectations for the season and have they changed?

4. Who should we look out for in your present squad?

5. How would you describe your current style of football, and are you happy with it?

6. What do you think of your Manager and Chairman/ how the club is run?

7. What players from Col U are you aware of?

8. What is your perception of Colchester United as a club?

9. Have you visited the Weston Homes before and what is your opinion/experiences of the stadium?

10. What do you think the score will be, and scorers (if any)?

Thanks in advance, I'll post the link up when I have finished.

Dave

Can i answer question 7.

Michael Rose. Total fucking shite who couldnt wait to do one when we were relegated.

9. Yes. Boring identi-kit stadium in the middle of nowhere. Stupid admittance system where you have to queue once for tickets and then again to get through the turnstile.

4. milan misun. If you see him please tell us as we are all very worried

3. Probably one of the big teams left in the tournament. AFC Totton or Tamworth would be delightful

1. Are you a fan of the FA Cup and is it a positive or negative distraction from the league?

- Not really, I'd like to do well, but it's become a bit dull.

2. Who would you like to play in the 3rd Round should you progress?

- Either an easy team or a large team away to swell the coffers.

3. What were your hopes and expectations for the season and have they changed?

- Champions, and no.

4. Who should we look out for in your present squad?

- Paul Caddis, Simon Ferry, Matt Richie and Mehdi Kerrouche

5. How would you describe your current style of football, and are you happy with it?

- Open, attacking and with the ball of the deck. Very happy.

6. What do you think of your Manager and Chairman/ how the club is run?

- Happy with all the above. Di Canio has a bright future.

7. What players from Col U are you aware of?

- Michael Rose, hateful shit cunt waste of skin. Kayode Odejayi and Ashley Vincent from Cheltenham.

8. What is your perception of Colchester United as a club?

- Lower league family club.

9. Have you visited the Weston Homes before and what is your opinion/experiences of the stadium?

- Yes and I'm one of the few (going by the comments I've often read) that liked it.

10. What do you think the score will be, and scorers (if any)?

- I think we'll win 3-0 and it'll be revenge for my last visit there when Hoofroyd's team spent the whole match bullying us and we deserved at least a point and lost 3-0.

As I have got fuck all to do today -

1. Like to FA Cup as it provides much needed cash for the smaller clubs
2. Tottenham Hotspurs
3. Promotion by whatever means possible
4. Too many to mention
5. Should be playing as we did in last round of FA Cup however our style has been dragged down to League 2 level
6. Mad manager who is seemingly enjoying his first season in football management. Ego size of a house. Chairman who has decided we are in a shit or bust situation.
7. Michael Rose - you are quite welcome to him
8. Small
9. No intention of visting.
10. 1-0 to you.

"Champions, and no"

Great answer. Should be our stock answer to everything.

So, like ours then ?

It's the only place I've had to do it as an away supporter. Normally you'd expect to buy tickets in advance or pay cash on the turnstile.

7.  Just to confirm others opinion, Rose is a bottling shit cunt and we were glad to see the back of him.

What are your opinions of him?  There was a post on here not long ago that he had been found out for the waste of space he is.  Is this true?

1. Are you a fan of the FA Cup and is it a positive or negative distraction from the league?

Loved it when I was younger but nowadays with even the big sides rarely taking it seriously, I've fallen out of love with it and it's lost a lot of its magic. In all honesty, it's got to the point where I'm not fussed about the result this weekend as I would take promotion over an FA Cup run any day of the week.

2. Who would you like to play in the 3rd Round should you progress?

Should we win, a north west Premiership team would be perfect. Currently exiled up here for uni so the chance to see my team play somewhere nearby would be great.

3. What were your hopes and expectations for the season and have they changed?

Don't think any of us knew what to expect following Paolo Di Canio's appointment. To be honest, anything better than last year's debacle would have been nice.

4. Who should we look out for in your present squad?

Matt Ritchie has attracted attention and quite rightly after some impressive displays and goals to boot. Paul Caddis, Simon Ferry and Wes Foderingham make up the spine of our team and have been equally, if not more, impressive in recent weeks.

5. How would you describe your current style of football, and are you happy with it?

Free-flowing in attack, composed and strong at the back.

6. What do you think of your Manager and Chairman/ how the club is run?

More than happy with Di Canio at this stage. People need to remember that he is still learning himself so WILL make mistakes. After hearing him talk, you can't not love him! As for the boardroom side of things, I'm chuffed. Will be forever grateful to Andrew Fitton for saving our club and now in Jeremy Wray we seem to have a chairman who understands both the business and football sides of the game.

7. What players from Col U are you aware of?

As mentioned, Michael Rose, purely for the grand job he did in endeering himself upon us in last season's relegation campaign. Other than that, Andrew Bond caught my attention last season, Anthony Wordsworth tore us apart a couple of seasons ago and Ian Henderson is a player I'd happily have here.

8. What is your perception of Colchester United as a club?

I've always seen them as a family club to be honest and in terms of footballing ability, middle of the road.

9. Have you visited the Weston Homes before and what is your opinion/experiences of the stadium?

No, and other than tick off another of the 72/92, I never do want to. Typical soul-less new stadium in the middle of nowhere.

10. What do you think the score will be, and scorers (if any)?

Think we definitely have the potential to cause an upset but will lose 2-1.

1. Well that depends doesn't it? If we are going out to some non-league team its shit. If we are going out away at Fulham its a great day on the piss. If we go out to someone like Col U then its very much 'concentrate on the league' time!

2. Man U away please, preferably as a replay :) If you're going out, you may as well take a big gate receipt home in the back pocket.

3. To get promoted. And no they have not changed.

4. Matt Ritchie. if Rose plays then Ritchie will be the one turning him inside out. Actually I think the ball boy could do that too.

5. A footballing team with a strong spine.

6. Di Canio - had me worried for a bit but ever since "clarkgate" he's stuck two fingers up at my worries and we have hit a bit of form. Acting Chairman Wray: The whole team that took the club over during our darkest hour have been largely superb. Sure they have made mistakes - wearing white instead of the red kit at Wembley for instance , and I think they recognise that. The best thing is as a an I trust them 100% with the future of the club. A stark contrast to the previous regime.

7. (googles squad) - Other than Rose...Ashley Vincent and Steve Gillespie. They've played against us a few times while with Cheltenham. I think they'll provide a good test of our defence, a step up from recent opposition. Did I mention we've conceded just 3 times in our last 9 matches (all competitions). Go on tell me they are injured/suspended now...

8. Average with not much potential to rise through the leagues (no offence).

9. Never been, but I've played on grounds that are in the middle of nowhere during my local league days. Its a bit like that.

10. I'll be honest and say I haven't a clue. I think this game will be 10 times trickier than our last FA Cup game, a 4-1 demolition with 'Uddersfield. Head says loss, heart says 1-1 and a Tuesday night replay at a damp and cold County Ground - enjoy.

Are you a fan of the FA Cup and is it a positive or negative distraction from the league?

 - I still love the FA cup - the outside possibility of a cup run and a big tie or two still gets me excited.

2. Who would you like to play in the 3rd Round should you progress?

 - Big team in the North West away.  I live not too far away, so Liverpool, Everton, either Manchester would be great.

3. What were your hopes and expectations for the season and have they changed?

 - Playoffs at a minimum - so far so good.

4. Who should we look out for in your present squad?

- I don't see many games in exile, but my familial scout tells me that Paul Caddis is improving all the time, and Matt Ritchie is always a threat.

5. How would you describe your current style of football, and are you happy with it?

 - We try to play through the midfield, with Simon Ferry running the show.

6. What do you think of your Manager and Chairman/ how the club is run?

- Di Canio seems to be doing well so far.  The people running the club have been superb since taking over.

7. What players from Col U are you aware of?

Rose - see comments above.  Vincent, Gillespie and Odejayi - all three have impressed me in the past.

8. What is your perception of Colchester United as a club?

Nice lower league club, friendly enough, never going to go much further than where they are now.

9. Have you visited the Weston Homes before and what is your opinion/experiences of the stadium?

 - No I've not visited, so I can't really give an opinion.  I do hope you like it, though.

10. What do you think the score will be, and scorers (if any)?

0-1.  Come on you reds!

Cracking replies lads.

Thanks a lot. Just need to proof read and add some pics and I'll post it up.

I have the same opinon about both Rose (not quite as extreme yet though) and also about our stadium. Better news for the stadium is that there are plans afoot to regenerate all the area surrounding around it, but when that happens god only knows. Talk of a few hotels, food/fast food chains and a park and ride to provide more parking. Still no pubs and still shocking grub at the ground (which we are complaining about) but at least the new junction is in place making it easy to access the ground and also the car park has been put right and stewards that no have been trained in traffic management making sure people get away as quick as possible.

Wish it could be like Chesterfields new ground. Absolutely cracking stadium and the best atmopshere I have come across from a modern ground. Got a feeling you are going to bypass them as they come back down though.

I do miss Layer Rd a hell of a lot, despite it being an utter shithole. Purely financial reasons and the clubs survival are the only reason we left and out of all the new grounds in the country our support is the only one to have gone backwards!

How do you regenerate a field?  Do you not mean 'develop' rather than 'regenerate'?

Even supposing you do get the hotel and fast food outlets moving in, it's still going to be soulless.  Think Reading or Northampton.  I know people going to Colchester who are planning to meet in a pub on the other side of town before cabbing over to the ground for the game.  Football shouldn't be like that.

Sorry to be a bit down on that.  I know you broadly agree as well...I just hate out of town football developments.  They're not right.

I can understand why....Layer Road although in many ways inadequate, was an atmospheric little ground with all the collective memories of generations of ColU fans stored there.  That's a lot to lose...unfortunately in your case it probably had to be.

At least you've still got somewhere to see your favourite sport, unlike the good citizens of Camulodunum, who lost their chariot racing circus forever.

I think fans are beginning to wake up regarding out of Town grounds. Football grounds have a 60 or 70 year lifespan, so its early days in terms of gauging their success. The ground is boring, transport is a pain.

I went to Layer road every time I possibly could and always had a good time. Ive been once to your new ground once and wouldnt go back unless there was a play off semi, or a real crunch end of season game.

Despite being League 1, your average is only filling that ground to 50% capacity, which will always make for a bad matchday experience. Was a terraced home end ever considered?

Michael Rose is a complete tit. A real liability on and off the pitch. Have you heard about him losing his driving license and subsequent toddleresque rants on twitter?

I recall in the embryonic days of fora, when Terry Brady had grand schemes for Blagrove, being slagged off for daring to say it stank to the heavens.

A quick trip to the site, just revealed the true horror of a bit of wasteland, wedged betwen the M4 and railway...with only one access road, no pubs for miles, no chip shops etc.

Make no mistake much of our fan base would have slept walked into this without a whimper of protest.

Shaw Tip was a bit better, insofar interesting access could have been achieved from Rodbourne, which has plenty of civilisation.

Whoops yep redevelop was the word I was looking for.

I completely agree though. The one advantage of the ground is that it is decent for people that come on the train.

Apart from that I cannot think of any positives.

With Layer Rd you could get into the town with ease, drink in one of the many establishments and take a 20 minute walk to the old girl. Despite being crap, that old ground had so much character and charm and it disgusts me to see the state it is in these days. (Going to be knocked down and turned into sheltered accomodation). There were some real characters at the ground as well, but you don't see anyone like that at the new ground. Its just generically bland.

What makes me laugh is that Colchester had been trying to get a new ground since we came in existence in 1937. The move was only supposed to be temporary, yet Colchester Borough Council are absolute twats.

They only became interested in the club when they were doing well in League One and got a shock promotion. That kicked their backsides into gear to do something about it. Trouble is they declined all the decent green space and were not given permission to build on other good areas and had no choice but to build out of town.

I don't really know what went through the planners heads making it open cornered as any atmosphere just escapes through the gaps. As the club had Championship ambitions when the ground was agreed to be built they had to build an all seater stadium. The rules in the C'Ship stipulate you have to have all seater stadia after 3 years and they were our lofty aims.

A small group of us have campaigned for safe standing, but the club said it is impossible as we have to lower the attendance (not a bad thing) and that we cannot have that should we reach the Championship again. Safe standing is a completely different can of worms though.

Unfortunately we just have to get used to it and to be honest Colchester is growing at a ridiculous rate, it won't really be seen as out of town in 10 years time, but until then we have to get used to it. There are so many U's fans who refuse to go to the ground because of the location and the whole lack of anything up there. Our crowds are getting worse and it troubles me that the clubs future could be in trouble.

It is sickening to think their are more Ipswich ST holders with a CO post code than Colchester United. We are just a boring commuter town and seem to be struggling to grow the fanbase.

I did hear about Rose's tamtrums, what did he do exactly? He has since got his license back and had also tweeted his apologies for poor performances. I think he had played 6 times and made just as many costly errors and has not been seen since. He will probably end up playing on Saturday which will be typical of our manager and cause us to lose again. Never known such an error prone player! We can see why you rated him so highly haha.

I am praying to Lucifer that he plays this weekend.

In laws live just outside Sudbury which is very convenient when we play Colchester. Not keen on the location but inside the ground it's not to bad. Talking to a steward last time I was there he said once they start getting regular big crowds they have provisions to fill in the corners with more seating to raise the capacity( not sure about that happening any time soon ) Funny watching the buses turn up with both sets of fans streaming off.

At least that's one thing we don't really have to contend with...the bigger club just up the road mopping up potential fans.  But in Portman Road, as it happens, you do have another good example of another decent town centre ground.

I wasn't intending to have a pop with my last post.  No reason to - no problem with Colchester at all.  It's just frustrating that a decent away day that I've enjoyed on several occasions has now been ruined with a poorly planned/designed relocation (and seems that a lot of the home fans feel the same).

I accept that Layer Road was on its last legs and that Colchester had to do something, but it really looks as if there weren't any football people involved with the relocation project.  Wrong site, wrong design.  As Spence said above, the natural lifespan of a ground is probably not that different to that of a healthy (and lucky) person...so you only get one chance to get it right.

Glad to hear the car park is sorted. I've still got wet feet from that! And the new junction, I really enjoyed my unscheduled trip to clacton after missing the turn! Jeez I've nearly talked myself into going Staurday.

Haha it was a disgrace and the planners stuck it the wrong side of the ground too. All nicely tarmacced and the stewards get people out pretty promptish too.

I am not sure how well marked the junction is, Essex County Council refuse to put a big sign up to tell people and just have a little diddy brown one which no one can notice on the side. Junction 28 is the one you need for the stadium though. I am surprised you got out of Clacton with your wheels intact!

Here is the link to my blog for those that wish to read. Bit of a beast this one. Feel free to correct me if you think I've made any errors.

http://wp.me/p1IBhm-fd (http://wp.me/p1IBhm-fd)

Does anyone need any pub/alternative parking info?

Thought I would be busy tomorrow but things may have changed. If I'm free I might just jump on a train tomorrow. £13 return from Liverpool St is a pretty reasonable price, especially if I get to see Michael Rose play again. Funniest clown in the UK.

Good read Dave

Layer Road was one of my favourite grounds.  Mooney's late winner was particularly memorable.

I sat in the away seats at Layer Road once. Less than a hundred of us in there while most of fans were down the other end on the terrace. Had to walk through all the home fans in the main stand to get there then banter galore with the home fans we were virtually sat next to as well. Few verbals both ways then at half time mingled in together as we had to share the facilities. Super Sam got two that day i think.

Bizarre but in many ways i would prefer to be going there tomorrow rather than another identikit ground.

Good read Dave - can see a lot of work went into that  :thumb:

Great read - I would say the only thing wrong in there is about McCormack - he's one of our centre backs now! So you'll more likely see him along side Flinty rather than Ferry.

Thanks for the nice feedback guys, nice to converse with some decent folk.

My old English teacher at school was a Swindon fan and about 10 or so years ago now you guys were the one team that would always beat or draw against us at LR. Sam Parkin seemed to score without fail against us and we'd always get stick off our teacher. He'd wear his tie, write the score on the board and put a picture or two up. Proper good bloke and decent banter, he'd always give us a special wave from terrace 1 at the Layer Rd end.

Shame they don't build grounds like that now. It might have been old and decrepid, stinking of piss but it was bursting to the seams in character. I loved the closeness to the pitch, players could hear you and there were some players who got really effected and had stinking games. I never forget Ben Chorley getting red carded for flicking a V at someone, Darren Huckerby and Chris Armstrong getting dogs abuse and getting hauled off. One of my favourite moments was with Armstrong when he got subbed off singing "Lets all wave at Armstrong" with a few hundred fellas giving him a special wave and he disappeared down the tunnel shortly afterwards. You get banning orders for such behaviour these days.

The fans being able to mingle with each other in the Clock End seating would not be allowed these days, but that to me is what football is about. Being able to have a laugh and banter with each other, I am only 25 but miss those days terribly. When I first started going you could even change ends as well which is madness when you think about it.

My greatest memories of that ground has to be when Forest and Sunderland came down. There was probably more of them in the ground that Colchester fans, yet they were humilatingly beaten by shitty Colchester.

Club have gone backwards since in the generic commercialised sponsor stadium. There really is nothing to like about most modern stadia. As I put before, Chesterfield should be a model for any team building a new stadium. Atmospheric and decent price structure - good stewarding too!

Never thought I'd see that. Used to hate seeing him play against us. Thought he was a really decent midfield player. Should be interesting to see how both Flint and he cope with big Odejayi. He was pony at the County Ground last year.

I don't think Rose will play either, well hope and pray he doesn't!

I actually can't fault Macca at CB at all. Paolo likes him there because he wants us to play out from the back and having someone like Al there provides the ability to do so - because no matter how towering Flint is he can't pass for shit!

Despite his height he's pretty immense in the air and times his tackles to perfection, they're forming a fantastic partnership.

I would so love to be going tomorrow - purely in the hope that, that bald cunt plays.

I can see why he'd be decent at the back. He was always a tenancious terrier type and seemed to have decent vision too. Got a feeling Flint is gonna come back to haunt us. Rough diamond but young enough to cut the crappy errors out. Can see him having a decent career. We had that Elokobi chap that is at Wolves now, absolute machine of a bloke. Manager never knew what to do with him as he was so unpredicable. We all laughed when he moved because we thought him against the wingers of the Prem would be hilarious. Coped pretty well though, think Flint could do better though.

I can't see Rose staying here much long either personally. He has looked such a liability. We usually get fans of other teams come on to our board and slate players we just signed, usually turns out to be sour grapes, but the opinion of Rose has been pretty much spot on!

Do I remember Colchester signing Tony Thorpe, who couldn't score for shit only for him to score vs us at the first time of asking?

We did sign him yes, but he never scored at all. He seriously could not hit a cows arse with a banjo. I don't think he ever scored again after leaving us. He was the Curo replacement after he returned to you guys.

One game that sticks in my mind was Brentford at home where we drew 1-1 and had at least 20 attempts on goal. We absolutely run riot but most of the chances fell to Thorpe. However hard he tried each attempt seem to hit the post or the bar. Sunderland's Michael Turner has made a career out of that one game I swear. He must have cleared the ball off the line at least 5 times in the game. Was a brilliantly frustrating but entertaining game of football.

You'll be glad to know that we have near enough eliminated hoofball from the side after that idiot Hoofroyd disappeared to Cov.

to give rose a little bit of credit, he might be shit but he takes a cracking free kick

We already have Anthony Wordsworth who is a real dead eye from set pieces too. Scored a stunner at Brentford this season to steal a point. Rose did score a couple in pre season from set pieces though.

Sort of an American Football moment where you wish you could bring him on for free kicks and then take him off again.

I remember going to Layer road on a cold tuesday night.  Shit game that we won 1-0 with a Michael Reddy goal, but even though LR was run down, i quite enjoyed it, proper old school.

Haven't been to the new one, driven past it but that is about it.

Nice write up ColUDave.

I only went to Layer road once, in the Championship winning season of 85-86, there was a crowd of 2,997 and well over 1/3 of those were Swindon fans, Bamber scored in a 1-1 draw.

Horrible place for away teams to play so compact and cramped (especially in a very crowded away end with about 1,100 fans in a space made for about 800!)

I hated it there, not been to the new ground as yet though.

Little bit more on Cunty Rose

I was there, nothing alleged about it, he did stamp on the bloke!
Thus causing us to lose iirc?

Who's going tomorrow? and one for ColUDave...where is best to drink after getting off the train?

Cheers

Maj

Hopefully about 500 of us! I'm in a car with 3 others... Shame we've got Southend and Rovers away in the same week otherwise it might be a bigger turnout!

That would exceed my expectation of around 300 of us!...Agree with your comments about Gas and Soufend though, oh well those that go I'm sure will make plenty of noise!  :beers:

Nothing against Col U at all. Anthony Wordsworth is a bit of twat though, for some reason decided to celebrate both of his goals in front of us giving it the large one when you beat us 3-0.

Good read, that

Good question!  :pint:

You have the Bricklayers, Norfolk or the Albert.

Bricklayers is closest and is one for you who like your real ale. When you get out of the station, take a left and go over the zebra crossing at Bergholt Rd. Then wander round the corner and walk a few hundred yards up on the left is the rear entrance of the Bricklayers. The buses are located just across the road to ferry you to the ground for £1.50. (Bruff Close)

http://www.ukpubfinder.com/pub/23868 (http://www.ukpubfinder.com/pub/23868)

Norfolk is a decent pub and you need to take a right out of the station, under the bridge and across the road at the roundabout. Keep walking down North Station Road and the Norfolk is on the right hand side of the one way street.

http://www.ukpubfinder.com/pub/23806 (http://www.ukpubfinder.com/pub/23806)

The Albert is next to the holiday inn on the same small one way street, but on the corner of Cowdray Avenue.

Cannot find it on the site as it is a hungry horse, but dead easy find if you go to the Norfolk.

Shouldn't have any trouble with any of the pubs there.

We leave the North stand empty now (saves the club £3k) and put the away fans in the corner. The players only score down that end and seem to enjoy celebrating with no one!

Thanks Dave, you cunt.

(He's got 9 posts to his name now.  Someone had to do it.)

Hahaha its a term of endearment down in sunny Essex!

 Yeah good stuff....2 points though, could you change your name to something other than Dave, we've got too many as it is, and secondly the fact we're playing at your dungheap a year after Supermarine is a coincidence not an irony.

Agree Paolo69, Wordsworth did manage to piss off plenty of Town fans with his celebrations in front of us. The stewards were none to happy with him as it was them who had to calm down irate Swindon fans, what was all that about anyway, is there history between us and him ?

Maybe because Wordsworth was overlooked for many years, as a poet to have a Swindon Street named after him...Shelley, tick....Dryden,tick....Tennyson,tick....Byron, tick

Doest thou refer to the bosky environs of Wordsworth Drive? Didn't know it existed until now.

ColUDave, is the Dog and Pheasant ok on Nayland Road ?

Yeah another foody place, decent grub and bog standard draught beer. If you get there in good time you can park your motor at the back and wander to the ground. About 20 minute walk for those with a slow pace.

Perhaps you could place a large mural of a car park in front of the stand, similar to Oxford.

I remember well my Friday night visits to Layer Road...we always took the lead and always ended up losing the times i went...

Only managed it once...a late Mooney winner...well worth the trip.

http://wp.me/p1IBhm-fA (http://wp.me/p1IBhm-fA)

Hello guys, match report above, congrats on the win. Just a shame we decided to not turn up once again. Hope you beat Wigan, never liked them.

Any reason why that Kerrouche chappy was subbed?

hi ColUDave,

Kerouche - if Paolo think a player isn't putting it in he takes action to stop itp spreading throughout the team, apparently :)

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/9401153.Di_Canio_wants_more_fire_from_Kerrouche/


Not going to rub in the victory. Feared the worst when our best central midfielder was out :)

Tut Tut Batch,  you should know better by now

:D

STFC - passenger free since July 2011.

If someone isn't putting in the required levels of effort they will be replaced by someone who will.

I'm sure I don't know what you mean

;) Paolo Paolo Pola Potato Patato. Lets call the whole thing off.

Dog and Pheasant was a decent pub by the way. Hungry Horse place with some good food, Sky Sports and a pool table.

Some fat pikey bloke shouted at a group of Swindon fans "I can drink where I fucking like" but he was promptly kicked out by another big geezer.

10 min walk at the most from the ground. You walk past a large derelict site which I later found out was Severalls Hospital, an old mental asylum ! It was very creepy.

Deja vu Ralphy ?