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After survival Saturday on 27 April when a 1-1 draw against Crewe secured another season in League Two with a spectacular finish from Noah Chilvers, it has been a very busy Summer transfer window for the Cowley brothers with 11 new signings.
Chilvers himself has taken the high road to Ross County and started with an 88th minute substitution appearance. So, we move on, and arguably the best player at the club Arthur Read has stayed to help fire the U’s to promotion this season.
I have to say that I am very optimistic about the forthcoming season. Fellow boarders will suggest that I say this every season, but it is the quality of signings that have been brought in that give rise to this optimism. DC now has a squad to not only retain our status as a League club but also to challenge within the top seven.
There has also been a significant change in viewing opportunities this season. Apart from actually being there live, the advent of Sky Sports + will enable supporters to watch more than 20 of their games this season (providing they subscribe to the full sports package). IFollow is also available to subscribers.
It also means that our first game at Plough Lane will be shown live together with the other 35 EFL games this weekend. Of course, a magnificent 1100+ of the faithful will be travelling to see our new look Colchester United on Saturday afternoon. Such is the enthusiasm for the Cowley project.
So, our squad with numbers looks like this:
Goalkeepers 1 Matt Macey 12 Tom Smith
Defenders
3 Ellis Iandolo 4 Fiacre Kelleher 5 Ben Goodliffe 6 Tom Flanagan (Club Captain) 18 Mandela Egbo 19 Rob Hunt 22 William Greenidge 40 Frankie Terry
Midfield 7 Harry Anderson 10 Jack Payne 16 Arthur Read 21 Owura Edwards 27 Matt Jay 30 Alex Woodyard 8 Teddy Bishop 29 Conor Wilkinson
Strikers
9 Samson Tovide 11 John-Kymani Gordon 31 Oscar Thorn 33 Lyle Taylor 48 Bradley Ihionvien
Now of course with such an upheaval at the club involving playing staff and the possibility of a couple more signings boarders will be looking forward to seeing DC’s first starting XI on Saturday afternoon.
We know that Matt Macey will be our Number One and that Tom Flanagan is the new Club Captain, but what about the other nine starters.
Options for the back four are strong and it could be argued that Kells and Egbo could start but I think Hunt and Goodliffe will start at the back.
Midfield offers even more choice with Edwards and Jay offering alternatives but I reckon Anderson will start along with Payne, Read and Bishop who offer considerable ability and experience. Conor Wilkinson is likely to be moving on in the near future.
I must admit that I am unsure about Samson Tovide’s fitness and so Bradley Ihionvien together with Lyle Taylor should start as an exciting duo. Hopper and Gordon offer alternatives of course.
Therefore, I believe that DC may start with the following team in a 4,1,3,2 formation:
Johnnie Jackson will have a strong Wimbledon team at his disposal including our old friends Owen Goodman, Alistair Smith and John Joe O’Toole.
Lyle Taylor will be reunited with one of his former clubs on Saturday and he certainly knows where the goal is. This however should be Bradley’s season and I am confident that he can score 20 goals, the first to do so since Jamie Cureton for the U’s.
My prediction is for a 2-1 Colchester victory with Taylor and Ihionvien on the scoresheet.
The travelling support will be in good form (including Wessex) and I hope that everyone has a safe journey and enjoys the game.
Up the U’s
[Post edited 9 Aug 13:49]
Durham_exile
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Super new U's to start with impressive win at Plough Lane on 15:45 - Aug 12 with 605 views
Super new U's to start with impressive win at Plough Lane on 14:11 - Aug 12 by franksic1988
No I don’t. I’ve always said they come across as nice guys… only problem is most fans are being led down a blind alley… they’re not going to be the shining light that saves our club. They’re ideal for this season to stabilise ( keep us out of relegation zone ) but we won’t push on after that. I don’t think we will get relegated this season…. But I also think with Danny and Nicky we have a rocket launcher when it’s more like a pea shooter.
We can’t afford to rest on our laurels. Most of the fans when they got announced including me in January never had visions of it ending how it did last game of the season ( AGAIN )
If that's not the case then why not get behind them and try being positive for a change? Last season has been and gone, same as the players that have left but you keep referring to both of those things. We can't change last season and those players aren't coming back so why not focus on supporting the players that are here and maybe, just maybe, we'll have a better season this time around.
Super new U's to start with impressive win at Plough Lane on 15:12 - Aug 11 by TheOldOakTree
I know he’s gone, I know it’s only one game, I know I’m negative, blah, blah, blah
…but I’m Colchester born and bred and it f-ing hurts.
I have just seen Stockport’s second goal made by Jayden.
Did we see anything even half that skilful from anyone yesterday, during 80 minutes of utter shite?
….and we have to listen to shit from DC saying that it was good business selling him.
I am f-ing seething.
I would just add that, after tying half their defence in knots, his inch perfect cross was with his right foot. He is of course left footed.
[Post edited 11 Aug 16:15]
TOOT whilst I feel your pain,
We would never be able to keep either of the two Stockport signings.
Until we get out of this wretched League Two (promotion not relegation!!!!) players will always be sold and in truth for the past 50 years we have always been a selling club but flirting with relegation for the past four years has only exacerbated it.
Look for the first ten minutes on Saturday we were superb and I thought we would coast to victory.
I have already given my views on the shocking officials but my only moan was the fact that once the striking duo had been taken off on 67 mins we failed to mount any meaningful attacks.
Frankly Wimbledon got lucky.
Keep the faith and stand with the team.
Let us hope that Taylor is fit to face the Royals this week.
Up the U's
Durham_exile
0
Super new U's to start with impressive win at Plough Lane on 20:54 - Aug 12 with 481 views
Super new U's to start with impressive win at Plough Lane on 15:45 - Aug 12 by RSCOSWORTH
If that's not the case then why not get behind them and try being positive for a change? Last season has been and gone, same as the players that have left but you keep referring to both of those things. We can't change last season and those players aren't coming back so why not focus on supporting the players that are here and maybe, just maybe, we'll have a better season this time around.
I totally agree we will have a better season… I don’t think we will go down. I also think in patches we will string results together and go on unbeaten runs where we don’t loose. I’ve said it before signing older players that they have a history with will either be a master plan or their downfall…. Before you think I’m negative, I hope it’s a master plan.
Tuesday you can’t count… the season starts Saturday !
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Super new U's to start with impressive win at Plough Lane on 09:23 - Aug 13 with 384 views
Super new U's to start with impressive win at Plough Lane on 20:54 - Aug 12 by franksic1988
I totally agree we will have a better season… I don’t think we will go down. I also think in patches we will string results together and go on unbeaten runs where we don’t loose. I’ve said it before signing older players that they have a history with will either be a master plan or their downfall…. Before you think I’m negative, I hope it’s a master plan.
Tuesday you can’t count… the season starts Saturday !
But yet you still want to bet on them losing their jobs before half of the season has been played? That seems like a fine way to show your support.
And Tuesday does count, every game counts. Winning breeds winning. If we win on Tuesday we have a better chance of winning on Saturday. The same goes for if we lose.
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