C-Chester vs The Fe (CUFC vs SUFC)

[Bottega Don]

Science puns.

Sounds like we played very well against Millwall but we really need to finish our chances.

 

[Hedonist Puncture]

Tough game, as they all are going to be in L1. We have started poorly away from home, not unexpected in my book and I see it continuing. We may get a draw, but unlikely.

 

[dedwardp]

We've looked fine up until the weekend, when it seemed like a bit of an abomination of a performance. Hopefully it can be a bit of a kick up the arse and we'll bounce back with a decent enough showing again. Need to get that first win which we should have had by now, but I just hope Saturday's hammering isn't going to knock the wind out of us and set us up for another horrible season as it hasn't had the signs of that before then.

 

[dedwardp]

Shocking, lethargic first twenty minutes with the parting of the seas in the defence. We were all over the place and allowed Scunthorpe to stroll into a 2-0 lead before we decided to start playing.

For the last 70 minutes we had all of the ball and all of the chances, but at 2-0 Scunthorpe sat back and let us play it sideways to our heart's content. We had a good spell just after half-time but couldn't make it count, and by the time we did eventually get the equaliser it was too late to get a winner which we would have gone on to get if we had an extra 10-15 minutes.

Very frustrating, made all the more frustrating to then be told that we had a deal agreed for Devante Cole too before he decided to go to Bradford. We desperately need a striker.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Was at this game. Colchester are the most bipolar team I've seen in a long while. Half hour in I'm thinking they're the worst team I've seen at this level since Hereford and the Port Vale team that got relegated. Ball hoofed up to Bonne who's isolated even if he does win the header. Crowds turned on the team, the manager, Scunny are going to win this by a landslide. Then Moncur scores and Colchester are dominant, get it on the deck, start asking Scunthorpe questions, don't recall Parish making a save after that. Elokobi most typified this, first 30 his pass completion must have been under 50% and looked fairly shaky, last 60 he grabs a goal and looks epic.

Didn't realise Garvan had moved to Colchester, he's quite the signing. Harriott also looked excellent, seems to have the end product Massey was sometimes lacking. Wasn't sure what to make of Bonne, he huffed and puffed but didn't really do much.

Scunthorpe started excellently, pressed Edwards, Gilbey and the side backs well, defence was excellent. But they started to get deeper and deeper just inviting Colchester on to them. I was actually surprised how well Colchester played, on that showing I'd expect them to survive again.

On a side note, this is one of the most cringeworthy, yet catchy songs, I've ever heard in my life.

 

[dedwardp]

Didn't realise Garvan had moved to Colchester, he's quite the signing. Harriott also looked excellent, seems to have the end product Massey was sometimes lacking. Wasn't sure what to make of Bonne, he huffed and puffed but didn't really do much.

Agree with that summary to be fair. Ambrose should be back by the next league game, and a midfield with Owen Garvan and Darren Ambrose is certainly looking much stronger on paper - should provide some of the much needed experience. Excited about what Harriott could bring to us. Last season Jacob Murphy came in and had such a big impact to help us stay up, and Harriott seems pretty similar.

The problem for Bonne is that he isn't strong enough to play up front on his own, certainly not in the men's game. He is a goalscorer and has that instinct in the box, but that is when he is playing alongside someone else. Humes is asking him to do a thankless task at the moment and it isn't his game at all. We played him off of Chris Porter once last season, and raced into a 3-0 lead against Bristol City - he was magnificent.

I think we have the makings of a half-decent side and I don't expect us to struggle as much as last season, but my biggest worry is that I can't see us winning until the end of September, by which point we're in the thick of it already, morale is low and it's difficult to pick back up. We desperately need to pick up a surprise win somewhere like at Chesterfield or Swindon. I think confidence and getting onto a bit of a run will be a big thing for a young group, and it showed at the back end of last season when we could get some momentum together. We should have won at least two or three so far though, and we haven't, which is a concern.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

I didn't realise you had Ambrose either, I've been sleeping on Colchester signings! Yeah, that team should be mid table.

I think if I was a Colchester fan, the main thing I'd be worried about is the left side of defence. First goal was unfortunate. The second was awful, I have no idea what Briggs and Elokobi were doing. Briggs seemed more interested in getting forwards than defending, there was one occasion in the first half he was almost right wing, gave the ball away stupidly and now there's a big left back shaped hole opening up. Madden should also have tested Parish from that side when they were 2-0 up. Granted it is Madden though and he's a bit good.

Shout out to Eastman, remains one of my favourite League One defenders.

 

[dedwardp]

Indeed, I don't rate Briggs at all. I didn't like him on loan last season and I wouldn't have offered him a deal in the summer. I'd much rather we shifted Elokobi out to left back and brought in Frankie Kent alongside Eastman, Kent is a class above and will play at a higher level one day.

The main problem with the full backs is that we seem to bring them in for their ability getting forward rather than their defensive ability. I'd much rather we signed full backs who could primarily defend, but that doesn't seem to be the way we're set up (or, indeed, the way the modern game is going). What I'd give for a John White to be playing left back for us again.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Seen Madden's goal again and it just looks so much worse. How deep is Laird when he plays the ball! How has Madden been given the opportunity to get past Briggs and Elokobi like that. Briggs positioning is so off, he's a few steps too high, but look at him casually jog as Madden races through, he doesn't break sweat!

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Something you might appreciate. Pulled up the stats, I thought Owen Garvan had a good game.... Didn't realise he had a 96% pass completion. That's bloody exceptional. Completed 24/25 passes.

 

[dedwardp]

Something you might appreciate. Pulled up the stats, I thought Owen Garvan had a good game.... Didn't realise he had a 96% pass completion. That's bloody exceptional. Completed 24/25 passes.

Looking forward to him getting up to speed and settling in properly then! Haha.