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Author Topic: Colchester U v Swindon Pre Match Chat and Matchday Thread  (Read 66569 times)
Peter Venkman
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« Reply #495 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 13:06:40 »

Some Colchester fans views on the game, most pretty fair TBH.

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What a strange game. Swindon's old boys have well and truly haunted their old team.

Deano saves again. Must be man of the match.

He won this game for us really, we'd have been dead and buried if not for him

Well that was a bit of a turn around, from absolutely dire to totally on fire.

We were abysmal for an 65 mins

Forgot to give Deano credit, that save in the second half down low from the header was top class. Swindon would have been out of sight without him.

I thought we were pretty poor tonight, we had a spell for the first 25-30 mins where we pushed them back and did get a few opportunities but could not take them but everytime they did get the ball down they were able to walk through us. I don#t think the pitch helps, it seems to really slow the game down and the likes of Harriott and Bramhall who have blistering pace are almost nullified by it.

I didn't enjoy the first 65 minutes much.

And Swindon did give us a hand by largely sitting back and time wasting after we equalised. If they had still gone for it it could have been a different game.

Gerken pretty well played Swindon on his own for 65 minutes. Slight exaggeration but it was certainly his best game since returning

So weird that we have now played Swindon three times and the script has been similar each time. They dominate with good football which we struggle to contain but they can't finish, or meet a keeper in great form. Then we win it with three late goals.

On another note - what a difference a good set piece delivery makes.

all three goals came from set pieces. It certainly looked to me like everyone had put themselves into specific positions to work those goals, not sure that would have happened if the shape wasn't pre-defined in training.

What a brilliant win. As has been previously said, Gerken was magnificent and kept us in the game. I couldn't help thinking if we'd have had Gilmartin in goal, we would have been dead and buried by half-time.

Swindon were a good side, the number 10 Doughty was bossing midfield and they looked dangerous going forwards. I always thought they had a mistake in them at the back, but we played poorly in the first half so were not able to take advantage.

It was lovely to see Swindon's time wasting tactics backfire. I was surprised that even at 1-1 they continued to slow things down to run down the clock. They had been on top for most of the game and have Exeter breathing down their necks in 2nd place, you would have thought they would have wanted to make more effort to win rather than be satisfied with a draw.
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Reg Smeeton
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« Reply #496 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 14:01:30 »

I was trying to remember after which game it was that I compared us to 95-96, Reg will no doubt tell me.

I haven't changed my mind on that - when we play to our best, we are head and shoulders above the league.  Very few teams attain that every week, so some teams will have had the better of us on the day, and then there are two teams that (when they play a certain way, under certain conditions and with the right players out on the pitch) have our number based on physical attributes, not technical.  There are other teams that play that way but they don't have the right blend to be better than us when we are on form.

Just to be clear - that still needs us to be playing well, we can still slip up and look poor, so some fans of other teams may not see it from us.  Across a season though, this type of team rarely avoids being in the mix at the top.

We won't win every game left from here, but we will win many more than we lose, and that will see us up I believe.

I don't recall the game, but do recall regarding it as a ludicrous comparison.  Which I think time has shown... that side lost 4 all season. this one has managed 8 already, 2 in a row on the road. 95/96 conceded 34 all season exactlly what this one is on with 16 games to go.

That side contained many of our own players who'd played at a high level..... a few loans here and there.  We'd spent quite a bit to acquire some of them.  That side was never particularly exciting, but could be relied upon to get the job done.
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« Reply #497 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 14:20:26 »

Behave Reg, I'm comparing the "feeling".  We often look the superior team, like we did in that season.  The teams are completely different, we played a different formation, etc.  The point I am making by using the comparison is how our team feels compared to other teams in this division.  If' you've watched 30 games and think we are not much better than anyone else, that's your right to believe that.  I happen to think we've been the better team in the vast majority of games, and even where we haven't, you can see we could be.  There have been games like Bradford, where we didn't really perform to our best, or yesterday where we were bullied for a small period of the game once they figured out how to beat us.  Every other game has felt like Hull City away - you just knew on that opening day it was going to be a good season.
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Peter Venkman
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« Reply #498 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 14:24:03 »

I would agree with you Rob, that season under Muckmahon we totally outplayed most teams that season with ease, we were head and shoulders above the average dross that year.

Hull and Swansea that season we absolutely tore apart at a canter, as we have done to several teams this season.

There is a feel that we are far better than most teams in this league and rightly so.
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« Reply #499 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 14:30:20 »

It's also very different to the Di Canio season - that was less about seeming superior and more about having a team that was drilled in how to win.  I don't really remember an awful lot about 85-86, so can;t compare, but even that season started wobbly and grew, so probably very different.

After 30 games in 95/96 we were 3 points clear of 3rd in the Auto's, a bigger stretch from the bottom of the play off's though.  No doubt we ended-up winning the division with only 4 defeats, but we drew a fair few.  At no point in that season did I think we were in trouble, same this time around and where there is a difference is I guess the transfer window may have sewn some uncertainty for a few.
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« Reply #500 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 14:35:52 »

Back in the 80s there was no transfer window and a lot less dependancy on the loan market.

Modern football dictates that seasons are more of a roller coaster affair for most sides.

Back in the day it was injuries that got you!
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Peter Venkman
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« Reply #501 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 14:44:35 »

85-86 we did start badly but even then there was a feeling around the club that we would easily win the league, which we did.

There was a togetherness at the club with players and fans that has not been matched, even under Ossie and Hoddle, or even PdC. Everyone was playing as a unit for each other, the fans could see this just as I think most fans can see that this season too.

Wellens has "mostly" galvanized the supporters and the players also are on board with it all.

It did have a similar feel that we were obviously the best trained team in the league, we didn't play the expansive football that we do now but we had a winning formula less thug like than Loncoln last season but along similar lines, football was different back then.

But in answer to your question, yes it did have a similar feel to most of us fans and club staff, as I was at the time.

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« Reply #502 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 14:45:59 »

I would agree with you Rob, that season under Muckmahon we totally outplayed most teams that season with ease, we were head and shoulders above the average dross that year.

Hull and Swansea that season we absolutely tore apart at a canter, as we have done to several teams this season.

There is a feel that we are far better than most teams in this league and rightly so.

Hull and Swansea were poor sides who got relegated... we had a lot of draws, especially at home as we had problems breaking down defensive set ups, away was very good.  There is absolutely no way that 95/96 would have shelled 1-0 up at ColU with 20 to go and lost 3-1.  

This season isn't like any other.

« Last Edit: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 14:50:34 by Reg Smeeton » Logged
Peter Venkman
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« Reply #503 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 14:46:54 »

Back in the 80s there was no transfer window and a lot less dependancy on the loan market.

Modern football dictates that seasons are more of a roller coaster affair for most sides.

Back in the day it was injuries that got you!
Injuries did get us a lot but back then as you state the transfer deadline day was March and you could buy any player right up to that deadline, we rarely used loans unless it was from a lot higher clubs and you were limited to 2 at a time, or per season I cant remember now.
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« Reply #504 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 14:58:34 »

85-86 we did start badly but even then there was a feeling around the club that we would easily win the league, which we did.
Not sure about that. I remember the first few games were pretty poor quality and the fans that I mixed with at the time were all moaning. Once we started winning, though, I agree that confidence was high and there was a general feeling of invincibility.
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« Reply #505 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 15:04:25 »

Not sure about that. I remember the first few games were pretty poor quality and the fans that I mixed with at the time were all moaning. Once we started winning, though, I agree that confidence was high and there was a general feeling of invincibility.
There was a feeling pre season that we would get promotion after we finished the end of the season before with just 1 defeat in 10 games following the reinstatement of Macari as manager at Easter. There was a real upturn in feeling at the club.

Yes we started badly and a few fans were on the edge of turning on Macari but nobody gave in and Macari got in younger players rather than the early season useless fuckers Jake Findlay, Tony Evand and the old fave Dave Moss, none of those worked so we replaced them with players who were raw and it took a few weeks to gel but they did and we never looked back.
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« Reply #506 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 15:10:39 »

Not sure about that. I remember the first few games were pretty poor quality and the fans that I mixed with at the time were all moaning. Once we started winning, though, I agree that confidence was high and there was a general feeling of invincibility.

Back in 85/86 we had the run about this time of year of 6 away games in a row, won the lot and got 13 points ahead of the next auto competitor with the postponed home games in hand, that's the sort of thing that tells you're better than the rest.  
« Last Edit: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 15:12:42 by Reg Smeeton » Logged
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« Reply #507 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 15:16:25 »

Back in 85/86 we had the run about this time of year of 6 away games in a row, won the lot and got 13 points ahead of the next auto competitor with the postponed home games in hand, that's the sort of thing that tells you're better than the rest. 
Although being top of the table can also be a hint that you might be the best team so far.....
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« Reply #508 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 15:20:39 »

There was a feeling pre season that we would get promotion after we finished the end of the season before with just 1 defeat in 10 games following the reinstatement of Macari as manager at Easter. There was a real upturn in feeling at the club.

Yes we started badly and a few fans were on the edge of turning on Macari but nobody gave in and Macari got in younger players rather than the early season useless fuckers Jake Findlay, Tony Evand and the old fave Dave Moss, none of those worked so we replaced them with players who were raw and it took a few weeks to gel but they did and we never looked back.
Cheesy Tony Evans....ran around a lot but was generally pretty useless. I was disappointed with Dave Moss as I was looking forward to seeing him play, having missed out on him first time around.
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« Reply #509 on: Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 15:29:29 »

Although being top of the table can also be a hint that you might be the best team so far.....

How odd.

We've been the best team so far, we've often looked better in defeats and draws than the opposition but have very few lucky wins under our belt to balance against that.  We are nearly through a period where it could all have gone to pieces apparently and probably going to have a stronger squad than we went into the transfer window by the time it closes.  We have a fixture list that pits us against teams we have beaten or played well against.  If not now, when else can you be enjoying life?
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