Just back and a bit more..

Yes we whinged about Conference footy and it does seem odd to whinge now we're back in League Two but anybody who has seen us play this season will fully understand the justification for the whinging.

Thought I'd leave it overnight to see if I could dream up any positives from that showing last night... we're a point better off, that's about it.

I'm not really seeing much of a game plan from us at the minute, only a long ball from the defence to the strikers in the hope that they can either flick it on and hope someone gets on the end of it, or hope that the striker can control it and hope he has enough support to build on from there. A lot of hoping there. There's no desire to play through the midfield and that has to come from the manager, and that tells me one thing, he isn't confident with the central midfield that we have. And that certainly isn't a dig and Berrett or in particular Summerfield as they both did there jobs well and the latter played some very nice positive forward passes to feet. But I don't feel as though we have a midfield that can dominate and boss a game, so maybe that is why we have tended to go a bit more direct.

As for the individual performances...

Macca. Did what he had to, no chance with their second but I'd like to see the first again, not sure if it deflected or just went straight through him.

Davies. Good on the ball and delivered a couple of excellent crosses when he had space in front of him, struggled to beat his man when 1v1 though due to lack of pace. Very little link up with Dembele, probably due to him having to play longer passes. Gave away a few silly free kicks.

Clarke and Collins. Thought they played quite well actually, just because we conceded 2 goals doesn't automatically mean they had poor games. They restricted them to limited attacks, but went long with the ball more often than not again probably down to instruction.

Dixon. New left back needed in January in my opinion, or even play Zak Mills there when he's fit enough. He fell over twice last night when their winger knocked it past him, and as for someone saying passing is his best attitude well maybe that says it all because his distribution is appalling when going forward. I'd like to see some opta stats for his pass completion against Yeovil because it was probably even worse than last night.

Dembele. Drifted in and out, plenty of effort but it's just not happening for him at the minute, should have scored first half when he hit the post. I don't think he is helped by the current tactics of bypassing the midfield.

Summerfield. Plenty of graft and a few nice passes, but bypassed most of the game.

Berrett. Similar to Summerfield but gave away a few silly free kicks, especially one at the end when we were putting them under pressure and that killed it. He does take an excellent set piece though. Like I said earlier I don't think this duo have enough about them to dominate games.

Woolford. It genuinely just took me about a minute to remember who started left wing. That says it all, absolutely anonymous apart from one long range effort first half.

Hooper and Vernon. Left chasing long balls all night and expected to create something out of them. Very difficult, but JJ took his goal very well and Vernon linked the play well at times.

Subs. DJ gave their full backs something to think about when he came on and certainly improved on Woolford. Matt put himself about and drew attention from the centre halves if nothing else, good to see him in a good position to win the penalty. Jones added a bit more skill and versatility to the front line and took the pen well.

Poor game, poor performance and we need to up our game if we're to get anything more than a point out of these two home games.

Positives? This from a Colchester fan:

Entertaining game, we probably deserved a win, but I want to focus on the Grimsby welcome (initially as above), hospitality and stewarding......FANTASTIC.

The visitors bar has a cosy pub like atmosphere with visitors scarves dressing the lofted ceiling. The bar manager remembered us from last year and had ordered extra bottled 'real ale' (we had drank it dry last year). The stewards made extra effort to chat with everybody, and when the fog moved in, encouraged us to move en-bloc from behind the goal to the corner. Familiar with the local conditions, they told us we will see better from that angle (and were right). The half time pie was a proper pie with real meat rather than a thickened broth of giblets. Cowling and Waddington to note; this was how to look after proper fans.

We gained home fan respect for our generous support of Scott Vernon and when the announcement came that 89 U's fans had made the trip we were applauded. Kind words too from home fans as we climbed aboard the 'bus, quite different from the provocation from the Wycombe hooligans. The behaviour of the U's fans was high-spirited, but the respect from stewards and sensible "light touch" was all that was necessary. Hugely enjoyable, came away much less disappointed with the result because it made watching a competitive football match a good experience not the sterile, sanitised, breeze block, South Stand. Who wants to eat a pie in a catering area that has the same ambience as the urinals and the beer is Green King IPAswitch dishwater. Well done Grimsby,!

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/.....-us-without-trace/#9

Quoted from psgmariner

Positives? This from a Colchester fan:

Entertaining game, we probably deserved a win, but I want to focus on the Grimsby welcome (initially as above), hospitality and stewarding......FANTASTIC.

The visitors bar has a cosy pub like atmosphere with visitors scarves dressing the lofted ceiling. The bar manager remembered us from last year and had ordered extra bottled 'real ale' (we had drank it dry last year). The stewards made extra effort to chat with everybody, and when the fog moved in, encouraged us to move en-bloc from behind the goal to the corner. Familiar with the local conditions, they told us we will see better from that angle (and were right). The half time pie was a proper pie with real meat rather than a thickened broth of giblets. Cowling and Waddington to note; this was how to look after proper fans.

We gained home fan respect for our generous support of Scott Vernon and when the announcement came that 89 U's fans had made the trip we were applauded. Kind words too from home fans as we climbed aboard the 'bus, quite different from the provocation from the Wycombe hooligans. The behaviour of the U's fans was high-spirited, but the respect from stewards and sensible "light touch" was all that was necessary. Hugely enjoyable, came away much less disappointed with the result because it made watching a competitive football match a good experience not the sterile, sanitised, breeze block, South Stand. Who wants to eat a pie in a catering area that has the same ambience as the urinals and the beer is Green King IPAswitch dishwater. Well done Grimsby,!

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/.....-us-without-trace/#9

Excellent, good treatment to the paying customer means they'll come back again, unlike Stevenage, Cheltenham, FGR and the like.

Quoted from psgmariner

Positives? This from a Colchester fan:

Entertaining game, we probably deserved a win, but I want to focus on the Grimsby welcome (initially as above), hospitality and stewarding......FANTASTIC.

The visitors bar has a cosy pub like atmosphere with visitors scarves dressing the lofted ceiling. The bar manager remembered us from last year and had ordered extra bottled 'real ale' (we had drank it dry last year). The stewards made extra effort to chat with everybody, and when the fog moved in, encouraged us to move en-bloc from behind the goal to the corner. Familiar with the local conditions, they told us we will see better from that angle (and were right). The half time pie was a proper pie with real meat rather than a thickened broth of giblets. Cowling and Waddington to note; this was how to look after proper fans.

We gained home fan respect for our generous support of Scott Vernon and when the announcement came that 89 U's fans had made the trip we were applauded. Kind words too from home fans as we climbed aboard the 'bus, quite different from the provocation from the Wycombe hooligans. The behaviour of the U's fans was high-spirited, but the respect from stewards and sensible "light touch" was all that was necessary. Hugely enjoyable, came away much less disappointed with the result because it made watching a competitive football match a good experience not the sterile, sanitised, breeze block, South Stand. Who wants to eat a pie in a catering area that has the same ambience as the urinals and the beer is Green King IPAswitch dishwater. Well done Grimsby,!

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/.....-us-without-trace/#9

There doesnt seem to be much traffic on their website , surely they have another one ?

Well done to the club for making Colchester welcome.

Nice of them to see it and goes to show we ain't a club full of knuckle draggdraggers.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Well done to the club for making Colchester welcome.

Nice of them to see it and goes to show we ain't a club full of knuckle draggdraggers.

Nice to see away fan recognition. All credit for the welcome in the Away Bar should go to Sharon Dobbs and her team. The job they've done in there is truly extraordinary.

Good to read something positive for once this season! Well done to the stewards and and everyone involved in the away bar.

Think there were similar comments from a number of different clubs for the last couple of years in the Conference. This (the welcoming nature of a lot of non-League clubs) is one aspect of life 'down there' which we ought to do our damnedest to retain. We've lost the togetherness from Op Promotion (but notably rekindled for Op Mariachi).

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Good to read something positive for once this season! Well done to the stewards and and everyone involved in the away bar.

Think there were similar comments from a number of different clubs for the last couple of years in the Conference. This (the welcoming nature of a lot of non-League clubs) is one aspect of life 'down there' which we ought to do our damnedest to retain. We've lost the togetherness from Op Promotion (but notably rekindled for Op Mariachi).

Agree with that. Still remember getting off the Supporters bus at Bath to virtual red carpet treatment and a senior Bath official shaking us by the hand. First visit to Eastleigh...their chairman bought every Town fan in the bar a drink.

Quoted from Heisenberg

When we were in The Championship, we had poor attendances and we used to moan constantly, despite being way out of our depth and miraculously avoiding relegation every season (OK, except 2 out of many).

When we were in League 1 for that single season, we complained bitterly every week, justifiably.

When we were in League 2, we thought we have a God-given right to go up every year, and we complained bitterly.

When we were in The Conference we (again, rightly so) complained every single week for 6 years.

Now we're in League 2, the one thing we pined for for 6 whole years, and most people are whingeing again.

I tell you now, I'd take what we have right now over even 1 more season in The Conference, every day of the f#cking week.  I know it's not great right now, but it's been much, much worse.  I agree that we need to do better, and maybe Slade isn't going to take us forward, but this season ain't over yet, the team have a job to do, and we still have two very good players (Assante, and particularly Osborne) to come back yet.  We have to keep some sort of faith, as nothing is gonna change until January at least.

IT COULD, AND OFTEN HAS BEEN, MUCH MUCH WORSE.  I know we all want better, but rather this than 6 years of torture again.  I still pinch myself that we got out of there at all, I thought we'd rot there forever.

People are venting because we see the same signs that got us relegated in the first place, a team devoid of ideas, guile and fight and a manager who seems oblivious to what is actually going on. A board who in over 15 years don't have a clue how to deliver a successful football club.