[FM15]Colchester Pride of Anglia.[Restarted]

[setzel]

Hope you can keep it going this time.

Brand new laptop and saving it on cloud every month i am a paranoid officially now.

[setzel]

Colchester United – League One 2015/2016

League One – A well desserved spot in the table this year much of the year we were battling for a playoff spot but we felt short in the end with fitness and injuries being the major issue , this will prepare us for the next season where we will push for playoff spots.

League Cup – Gutted about the wa y we lost this game but League Cup was never in the cards.

J-Cup – We managed to get into the South Final only to be beaten by Leyton because of our stupid mistakes , we treated this cup more seriously this year and the improvement was huge , definitely looking to win this next year.

FA Cup – Some of the best games in my tenure as coach for Colchester played this year in our FA Cup run which provided us some much needed cash in the balance.

Transfers - Anthony Wordsworth was our biggest transfer getting him back from Ipswich.

Finances - In decent shape lacking sponsorhips which is never a good sign so probably we will need another run to 4th round in FA Cup to stay affloat

Key Players

Tom Eastman – Huge year for Tom and this made the whole team better managing to keep most strikers in the league in check .

Macauley Bonne – His goals in our cup runs were critical and his stable play meant Yesil becamed and afterthought after his good season in the last campaign , huge expectations for this lad in the next season.

Anthony Wordsworth – As expected our new captain dominated in this league very good helping the defense and setting counters with his precise passing.

David Fox – The tone setter of this teams and at the end when we didn’t have on the field we showed how our weaknesses in stopping posession teams.

Sam Walker – Sam had a good season totalling 15 clean sheet in League One hoping for the same next year if we push for playoff spots.

Youth Intake

Macauley Chilvers – A promising defender who needs retrained in fullback to have any chance of breaking the big squad

Richard Barton – Pacey striker with a killer instinct very much a work in progress kind of player he will either boom or bust.

Joe Greenhalgh – Tall and lanky good aerial player but with a lot to improve his work rate will help him a lot hopefully a future 4th centre back for the future big team

Danny Clarke – The biggest chance of the crop to make the big team first as a backup to Walker and from there its entirely up to his peformances.

Academy Prospects

Chris Scott – Chris will get first team experiences this season at 17 he look decent for League One teams and I will try and push his training to the next level , so he will either perform or get loaned to get experience and hopefully further develop since he has potential to be a decent EPL player or so my Assistant Manager says.

[setzel]

Colchester United – League One 2016/2017

League One – Delighted we kept our form late in the season to secure a playoff spot.

Play-offs Semi’s – We played well but we got outplayed by a better team.

Play-offs Final – Dominated performance by Chesterfield who gets to play with the big boys in Championship.

] Finances – We barely managed to stay affloat seems the higher wages with the same attendance like in the first year is killing us.

Transfers – The signing of Paul Mcmullan turned out to be a inspired one the scottsman netting some very important goals in our cup runs

FA Cup – A good run ended by two heartbreaking goal in the 90th minute in the first leg and replay with Derby the first game was absolute insanity with 6 goals in 30 minutes.

J-Cup – Northampton forced us to penalties were we lost unfortunately.

League Cup – As ussual an early exit by the hand of Birmingham.

Key Players

Sam Walker – He progressed very well in my tenure as manager at Colchester and I think he is ready for Championship football , if a decent bid comes our way I will let him go.

Anthony Wordsworth – The captain had another good year and he is curently tutoring our young star Chris Sctott.

Frankie Kent – Frankie is coming along very well and with room to grow he will be a rock in the future for any team in Championship or below.

Drey Wright – With his pace Drey manages to get open a lot of times and he has the killer instinct to score from those oportunities , a lot of big goals in important moments this year.

Macauley Bonne – Being injured early and with the rise of Paul Mcmullan , Macauley had to rotate for the striker spot but he did excellent and got on the scoring sheet a lot too . His training ethic is good and he is progressing rather well attracting yet again EPL teams.

Youth Intake

Chijoke Adeniyi – The Nigerian descent striker was the only player worth signing in this year of youth intake , with a decent pace small frame he is built for counter-attacking football which I like to play . Will need a lot of help and nuturing but I am excited to see if I can get him to play to his potential.

[setzel]

I will probably revert to the old monthly report given i have a bit more time and finally got a new internet provider .

[setzel]

Pre-Season and August Results

League One Table

Transfers

Scott Allan – The young midfielder camed from Ross County on a free transfer very versatile will have a place in this team at different positions as the season go along.

Kortney Hause – A good young centre back who can play fullback too and even midfield ideal depth signing.

Pablo Maffeo – Strong and fast Pablo isn’t the tipycall spanish fullback and because of that he is a great fit for Colchester tactic this year.

Fraser Fyvie – I had my eye on him since late April when it became obvious he was gonna hit free agency and did my best and snapped him fast great midfielder and with the emergence of Scott a good problem to have in who plays more.

Miha Bracko – This signing is totally on my new croatian scout who reccomended him on a permanent basis but since my transfer budget is non existent I managed to get him on loan paying his wages.

Month Review

The Pre-Season went well only Scott Allan got injured and the results were quite impressive and thequestions if that form gest into competitive matches was the on everyones mind and the game and result with promotion favourites Roterham showed that we indeed were in the right path. We got super lucky in the League Cup draw getting Wimbledon who we dispatched with easy and then got the shocker of the 2nd round by sending home Watford with some subs playing because of fitness issues from the Burton game. League wise only conceding 3 goals in the month of August was a very good sign the attack wa s always strong in the past three years but the defense kept us back in a lot of the games and being streaky was never gonna make us promotion contenders , I do hope this will be a more consistent base season in results to get back to the playoffs atleast like last season and attempt that promotion . The transfer period was one of intense speculation if Walker will leave or not Fulham were the most persistent of the bunch but they wanted to pay one milion pounds in clauses and not a lot uprfont while I wanted atleast half uprfont and the rest in clauses and of course the game of cat and mouse all month of July got zero results for both sides. A deadline bid from Bristol to get Wordsworth was rejected eventhough the money was fair and uprfront it didn’t give me time to find a solution not even for a long season loanee so I had to reject that too. In my tenure as manager at Colchester we didn’t sell a player which is why at time its hurts our finances and why I think we need to fight for promotion even harder this year the money in Championship and hopefully the sell-outs will help so much and we will be able to sell players for a nice sum and have something to reinvest in facilities or young players .

[GJHowell]

Excellent work - As a Colchester fan in real life I will keep an eye on this one.

Have a save going on with them at the moment - got promoted 1st season, don't ask me how! Young Frankie Kent was a revelation for me in that season - had to throw him in when the injuries began mounting up and he couldn't be dislodged for the rest of the season, ended up with the highest average rating in the division.

Share your frustrations around Freddie Sears - have been unable to get much out of him. 5 goals in the promotion season, but he was rarely first choice, had more success with Dan Holman. Freddie has a year left on his contract (I'm just at the start of the second season), he's got to step it up significantly to earn an extension.

[setzel]

September 2017 Results

League One Table

Month Review

If the previous month I was ecstatic because we could keep clean sheets and that the whole squad was performing when called upon this month was the exact opposite a lot of goals conceded and a lot of injuries meant no rotation could be put in place but atleast we reverted to the old Colchester that neutrals loved the one that scored and put a show but never seemed to lock a game down to get the late win so we ended drawing a lot especially 2-2 , of course there are a lot of positives we didn’t lost even if we got knockout from League Cup and we are top of the league but at the moment there are 5 guys injured for 10 + days meaning the first half of September will be tough lucky we only got two league games and a j-cup game until the 14th and the j-cup game we will bring some youth players to get their debuts and exit from a cup we don’t have the slightest interest in this year. Financially we are loosing about 100,000 per month that is a bad spot to be in and if we don’t produce in cups we will end up loosing a minimum half a milion pounds till the season will be over and if we don’t promote that will mean bad times for this club . Eventhough the club has no loans to pay but low attendances about 4,000 avg at a home game plus the lack of sponsors is killing us we get about 310,000 in sponsorhip for the main kit and stadium that expire this season plus another 40,000 from an additional kit and a general sponsorhips expiring in 2020 that’s lower then when I took the reigns as Colchester manager .Finally the first game of October will be the derby against Southend at Roots Hall way to start and test our unbeaten streak in October

[setzel]

Excellent work - As a Colchester fan in real life I will keep an eye on this one.

Have a save going on with them at the moment - got promoted 1st season, don't ask me how! Young Frankie Kent was a revelation for me in that season - had to throw him in when the injuries began mounting up and he couldn't be dislodged for the rest of the season, ended up with the highest average rating in the division.

Share your frustrations around Freddie Sears - have been unable to get much out of him. 5 goals in the promotion season, but he was rarely first choice, had more success with Dan Holman. Freddie has a year left on his contract (I'm just at the start of the second season), he's got to step it up significantly to earn an extension.

Wow congratz mate i just couldnt let the save go so i had to restart the thread and save , Frakie is a good defender he develops a bit slower but he is a consistent. I didnt renew Sears contract with the trigger extension thing that he had in his contract he had a wage that was just not good for a club in League One with limited financial incomings. Good luck with the save and i will love to hear some further updates.

[setzel]

October 2017 Results

League One Table

Month Review

The Essex derby was the focal point of October for the fans and the players we won it with a crushing 5-2 but in process of doing that we lost one key player in Maffeo for 3 months it is the first longterm injury we had this year , yes I complained about injuries then and there but all were one month tops and all it did was make me stay away from a rotation I love to use especially when you have three cups and a league with 46 games but this injury will be crucial till the January transfer period and then we will decide if we get another fullback just for insurance , maybe a versatile one to cover both spots.We played in J-cup with some youth players and stil won at penalties against MK Dons because of a stellar performance by our promising centre back Greenhalgh and some poor penalties by MK Dons , but we did surrender our first loss of the season to them a few days later in League One which broke our 16 games without defeat streak . Our average attendance rose up a bit to almost 5000 people which is stil 19th in the League , so this is a bit problematic thinking to the future if we promote and still don’t sellout the stadium . We got our J-Cup and FA Cup draws which got us Northampton in both Cups first away in FA Cup then at home in J-Cup we seem to get them in cups lately and will be again a pivotal moment of the season I will gladly give them the J-Cup run for a win in FA Cup with no replay.

[setzel]

November 2017 Results

League One Table

Month Review

Started very well with an emphatic win at The Den and after that we got our double header with Northampton which we won with the same score in both games the difference was in FA Cup we put our best team and in the J-Cup we had four players unde 18 playing in the first eleven.The interesting fact is that in the second game we broke a record the guy scored both of the goals and at 16 he performed incredible and showed that is one to watch in the future , so Adeniyi certainly got my attention now because I did understimated him thinking he will develop into a backup at most if he will flash like that next season regarding if League One or Championship he will get a place in the big squad for sure. In terms of cup draws we got Shrewsbury in the 2nd round of FA Cup at The Greenhous Meadow and also Dag & Red away too in J-Cup and once again I will use my youth guys if I reach the South Final then I will use my first squad team to win the trophy that I really never wanted.In term of injuries I am glad to say that only Maffeo is unavailable for the whole month of December and the other two injuries are a few day from full fitness hopefully no longterm injury especially in the defence .Of course the media hates me didn’t get the Manager of the Month award and not even in the running in no month until now in this new season but we atleast got a good news in that department this month Szmodics won the Player of the Month award .

[setzel]

December 2017 Results

League One Table

Month Review

Oh that time of the year where all the mud from the pitches turns to frozen tundra and they style of play gets back to its roots splendid times, oh well the month started with a bang getting whooped by Oldham and in a clear fashion right before our Shrewsbury FA Cup game and that had to be worrisome and I was right we got dominated and we got a goal from a set piece thanks to our captain Wordsworth , we used again some youth and bench players against Dag & Red and we won at penalties with Adeniyi scoring again that’s already three goals in two senior games for the youngster he will get late season games if possible to further develop him for the next season.Anthony Wordsworth again showed why he is our captain in the last two games of December by scoring three out of five goals and getting us four points which maintained us in the 2nd spot behind Portsmouth who went full rage mode the last game they lost was against Scunthorpe on 10/31 and in the process they won six and draw two so they have a 7 point cushion over us but we stil have to play a re-scheduled game against Blackburn at home. The Fa Cup draw was a lucky one getting Eastbourne Boro away in the 3rd round and in J-Cup we get to go head to head with Portsmouth for a place in the Final so finally I will have to play with my best eleven this two games.

[setzel]

January 2018 Results

League One Table

Month Review

New year and it seemed new habits of having a tight defense and all of that which of course are just dreams for this team , the bubble burst on the 20th of January and the last four games of January were a hell to watch blowing leads and having to come back and defend desperate to get the win or the draw , the Burton and Plymouth games were prime examples of getting on scoreboard first only to concede two goals and somehow we managed to crawl back in both games and win them too. The promising striker Adeniyi got himself injured by broking his ankle and by doing that ending his season his ankle will need a minimum three months of rehab from a specialist making my goal to test him late in the season now impossible.The win against Bolton in the 4th round of the FA Cup got us in a draw against giants Man City at their stadium which will mean end of our story in the FA Cup this year , we are stil ten points off Pompey so League One will be our main focus now and winning automatic promotion and I am stil hoping to win League One but ill take promotion to Championship anyway I can get it this year.

[setzel]

February 2018 Results

League One Table

Month Review

Very important month with the 2nd leg of J-Cup against Pompey after a fist leg draw but a even more important month in getting points back from Pompey to challenge the League One title. And we did superbly beating Pompey in J-Cup and League One ties with the same score 4-2 and dealing a big blow in two different fronts. The final of J-Cup will be against Doncaster who were taken by an Australian tycoon the final will be on the 25th of March currently Doncaster have the most injured players in League One with nine ! The Fa Cup tie against City was a loss on the field but financially made wonders for our balance getting aprox 800,000 pounds and with that securing our budget till May. We have only 2 losses in this year League One and the last one was against Oldham in the 2nd of December while this is impressive the ammound of draws we had this season puts seven points from Pompey and with the Essex derby which is our missing game to be on even terms matches played wise I have confidence we can get to four points from top spot. I am having trouble getting to the board to relay the pich which is horrible and I don’t want that to start hampering our playing style next year I tend to buttheads with the chairman on every little thing so I think at this moment is just a contest on who can be the most annoying.

[Deisler26]

Great work this season

[setzel]

Great work this season

Thanks stil hoping to win the League.

[setzel]

Youth Intake 2018

Poor youth intake we only gaved contract to a Spanish winger called Jose Ramon Osia , who has good psyshical traits but is lacking the technical attributes but those can atleast be nurtured his mentals are a bit wacky too but he is Spanish so I guess that can be used as an excuse .

Academy Players History

Chris Scott – He developed into a star for Colchester and he is only 18 and I think stil with room to grow locked till 2020 and with a price tag of 10 milion pounds I am just waiting for a foolish AI Manager to go spend his transfer kitty.

Chijoke Adeniyi – Started very well in his games in J-Cup but then got a longterm injury I am hopping he will bounce back from the injury stil young but stil an enigma .

Richard Barton – Great natural finisher but his mental aspect of the game is lacking which is hindering his progression even if he played some games this year as a sub and now at Chester in Vanarama Conference.

Joe Greenhalgh – Was initially cautios with this lad but boy he proved me wrong I thought he will never develop fast enough or well enough to demand a new contract after turning 18 , but he will surely get one played some games too this year didn’t disappoint.

Danny Clarke – Had hopes that this lad will become my back-up goalie for a few years but he underperformed at the youth games and at the training pitch

Macauley Chilvers – Got that contract based on his tackling abilities when he camed up from the youth ranks but never delivered so he got loaned to Eastbourne Boro in Vanarama Conference where he played decent.

[setzel]

Road to the Final Doncaster

Road to the Final Colchester

The Final

So the final at Wembley my first cup final and chance to win some silverware and in attendance more then 20,000 people the stage was set for a great match eventhough Doncaster was missing Ted Bishop and we were with our captain Anthony Wordsworth

Such a disappointment this game was we had possession but we couldn’t do anything with it and we scored first and our defence couldn’t hold the lead and small individual mistakes turned into big group mistakes that gaved Doncaster chances to hit us on the break and on set-pieces thus scoring only three , as disappointed as I am our focus needs to change to league games and making sure we are gonna promote !

[setzel]

March 2018 Results

League One Table

Month Review

March started with an incredible bang , whooping Southend in Essex Derby with a 6-0 and ended on a sour note by loosing the Final of J-Cup against Doncaster in a poorly manner. In League One we are close then ever from Pompey eventhough we had three wins two draws and two looses this month including a 3-4 slow dagger from almost relegated side Carlisle in which we showed the whole British Isles how to blow a 2-0 and a 3-1 lead and then manage to loose the game in the late minutes too. In the last seven games of the season we will meet five teams that are in the top 10 and three teams that are currently in playoff positions this will only help Pompey who will start having the easy part of the schedule meeting some clubs who are in the no man’s land and have no pressure to perform or win points against Pompey. We will get to meet Doncaster at home the first game and take our moral revenge and if we do that push that momentum given from that game till the end of this season

[setzel]

April & May 2018 Results

League One Table

Month Review

So happy we managed to pull this through and not only win promotion but win League One and finally bring some trophies to Colchester after that disappointing Final against Doncaster. Pompey continued the slump from March and after we went top of the league we managed to keep the spot eventhough we lost against Blackburn . The final two games were against teams that were battling for a playoff spots especially the Brighton one were we had to come back in front of our home supporters and take that important win. With Swindon because we won there and secured League One we knocked them off the 6th spot and just gave Stoke a huge chance to win promotion back to Championship.Already decided not to renew five senior player contracts in hopes that I can find something better and with Championship experience . That will be very important next year we have four or five players who played in Championship on a regular basis before joining Colchester.Finnancially we are okay this year with about 300,000 in the balance right now without the prizez for the top spot in the League and the future money from Championship , so I will again bother the chairman to relay that utter miserable thing called our home pitch.

[setzel]

Colchester United – League One 2017/2018

League One – We had a fantastic season culminating in winning the League over Pompey and getting back to Championship football.

Fa Cup – Good run till we meet Man City , but financially the game against City was rewarding.

J-Cup – First Cup Final for Colchester but we lost to Doncaster

League Cup – A good run considering our previous years runs in this Cup , we got beat by Palace via penalties.

Finances – Very healthy balance provided by the promotion money and FA Cup run we can realistically think for an upgrade at facilities next season.

Transfers – The addition of Fyvie was an inspired and crucial one for our season he bossed the midfield and his work rate was amazing.

Key Players

Paul McMullan – Our main threat last year scoring important goals and especially likes the big games in Cups .

Fraser Fyvie – As I said in the transfer section with him we could be more aggressive in the offense knowing we have a guy like him disrupting the opposition attacks.

Sammie Szmodics – He enjoyed more creative freedom this year and showed in his tally scoring 13 times 6 assists 5 PoM

Chris Scott – The highly regarded youngster made a good duo with Fyvie and showed his creative side by scoring two outrageous goals from distance.

Frankie Kent – Even if our defence had bad patches Frankie was the outstanding player from that front keeping the team together in difficult moments.

[deltablue]

Well done going up

[setzel]

Preseason 2018

Transfers

Colin Robinson – The youngster was signed from North Irish club Dungannon on a free fee and loaned to Bishop’s Stortford . I want to develop this youngster mainly because his personality for tutoring in the future and he has decent potential or that’s what my scouts say.

Scott Flinders – The former Hartlepool goalie signed a one year deal with us , an important goalie backup.

Liam Donnelly – Liam a formey youth product of Dungannon and trainee at Fulham joined us to play as backup at right flank but as a centre back also.

Marco Frediani – After our scouting improved to Europe we looked for a good winger for Championship and found Marco a former Sassuolo who played for them in Serie B.

Conor McGrandles – Conor was signed from our fierce rivals Norwich which made the fans a bit uneasy , but the former Falkirk standout will help a lot in the midfield this year .

Matthew Targett – Delighted with the loan of Matthew and with his contract expiring next summer I will try and snap him quality fullback.

Thomas Davidson – Another North Irish youngster we found and signed on a free fee he is a promising winger and I will be looking to loan him this season.

El Hadji Ba – An emergency loan from our parent club , Ba was loaned for three months and will provide much needed depth because of our piling injuries we sustained in the preseason.

Guðmundur Jakobsson – The Icelandic lad looks to be a better version of Sammie Szmodics in two three years so I couldn’t resist not to sign him especially on a free fee.

Preseason Review

Colchester preseason result wise was a good one only loosing to our parent clut Sunderland and beating some decent teams but we will start the Championship with six injuries the most in the league and our first game will be against Brentford which will be a tough test , we draw against Northampton in the League Cup and with the injuries this team has the youngster in the u-18 squad will play against Northampton eventhough the goal is 2nd round.About 7000 tickets were sold against Brentford so this year we will probably have an avg attendance near that number which is a bit disappointing I hoped we will sellout the stadium with ease. Interesting to watch is what Sean Dyche will do with Bolton they have only 10 senior squad players the rest to 23 is made up from the under 18 squad.

[setzel]

August 2018 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

The kick-off of Championship started for us with six injuries from our senior squad , three of them to our centre midfielders which made my gameplaning and rotation near impossible for a busy 20 days which covers the start of the season. Our first home game against Brentford was watched by 7852 fans and it was a joy for neutrals with a lot of drama that eventually ended in a tie with a late goal from Brentford.We won against Northampton with two late goals from subs and thus reaching our board goals eventhough we played with 4 under 18 guys.For me the highlight of the month was the win against Pompey and not the score but that Adeniyi proved he can play at this level with his incredible finishing instincts in which saw him getting a 9.7 rating and scoring a hattrick in hist first league appearance for us . Against Leeds we again put 4 under 18 guys and we got beat late in extra time. Judging by what we had on injury list and the fixtures we had this month I cannot be glad I thought we will get a maximum of three points but we got 5 and we are sitting 13th in Championship. Even if my board wants Colchester to not get outclassed often my realistic target will be avoiding relegation and from there we can build that’s why I didn’t spend my 600,000 pounds transfer budget waiting to see if we need in January reinforcements.I am glad to say that financially we are thriving and I will for sure get my way with a facilities upgrade till the end of the year.

[setzel]

September 2018 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

After our first month settling with the environment called Championship we played good in September not loosing and that is something you need if you want to avoid relegation and not get a poor morale from the lads. But in not loosing we draw a lot and all were 1-1 which is a bit odd we are a team that oftens is known for a leaky defense and high scoring draws like the one in the first game against Brentford. Getting back some guys from injuries also helped this month and I am excited for the month of October our first home game that month will be against our fierce rival Ipswich Town. It seems that Bolton is a sure candidate for relegation and Crewe is struggling too apart from those two teams we will have to keep a close eye on the last relegation spot .I am very glad to see that Scott Allan developing and performing very good keeping Sammie Szmodics on the bench and Wordsworth reverting to MC as a DLP eventhough last year he played a lot as AMC , he is slowly becoming our playmaker and I have hopes he will further develop and becoming a good player for the future.

[setzel]

October 2018 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

Ah all the fuss about this month was the derby against Ipswich Town especially that all three clubs that compete for the bragging rights called “Pride of Anglia” are playing in Championship. The growing pains of playing in a higher league and waste our chances especially when we play away are obvious we tend to utter disappoint when we play away from Weston Homes Community Stadium but that is something I can fix with time and transfers if we don’t relegate this season. The derby itself was very poor for the neutral but was fought hard by the players a game that team effort dominated and no player on the pitch had the spark to bring the victory for either team, the goals were created from set pieces and both scored in the first half.The highlight of the month had to be the Burnley win , but this was a bit overshadowed by the sacking of Zola few days before the game , and as a bit of irony the future manager of Burnley managed to beat us with ease in the last game of the month.The team is starting to gel and all the injuries we had early in the season are gone some minor injuries but nothing serious for the moment so November will be the first month I can actually try my new tactic I planned for Championship games this year , till now I had to tweak and rehash tactics since I never had more then 3 central midfielders healthy .Our first game in November will be against rivals Norwich at home and I will have for them seven central midfielders healthy it should be fun seing if my new tactic will work or not in this big match.

[deltablue]

Spell our name right!

[setzel]

Spell our name right!

Since we are above you in the table i might just do it

[setzel]

November 2018 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

Another month another derby this time against top club Norwich and man this team delivered to the fans a great victory , the goals were scored by super sub Paul McMullan the young striker performed big time changing the team style of playing after subbing Macauley Bonne, another McMullan goal saved a point in the high scoring draw against Hull . A lucky win against Leeds put us in the 12th place which at this point of the season was something to be excited being our first season back in Championship but a defeat against the Posh in the last game of our month knocked us back to 14th place but we are eight points clear of Barnsley , speaking of relegation Bolton has hired Tony Pulis to try and do some magic they have stil not won a single point which for me is very shocking I understand financial problems but having a majority of the first squad made up of u-18 is something I haven’t saw in a few years playing FM.

[setzel]

December 2018 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

Everyone at the club knew December will be a long and hard month and will impact our goals for the 2020 part of this season , we started well against Bournemouth but then we crashed and we crashed hard only gaining six points in this month of December. In our defence we had some hard games especially away from home that we didn’t manage to play our type of football and we got manhandled especially at Everton. Playing Stoke twice in a week was another hard task but fortunately we split victories and I think both parties were happy about those two games. We are making a steady progress and we are putting points to be sure we will get a mid-table position my only worry is that this form does not continue into January and start to affect us and plunge the club deep into the relegation battle. Also in January we have our FA Cup match against Swindon at their place , Swindon is currently third in League One so we will have a tough game , for this game in particular Andy Wordsworth should be back .With the transfer period approaching we have some guys who are wanted and we shall see if clubs can meet our demands for them if so we will look to transfer in January for the first time in four years.

[setzel]

January 2019 Results

Championship Table

Players In

Ian Murphy – The irish midfielder was brought on a free transfer from Shelbourne he is stil lacking the psysical requirements to play in Championship but with a few years developing he will either bust or boom.

Players Out

Jose Ramon Merino – The youth Spanish product was let to when Spurs camed with a four million pounds offer that we renegotiate into a five million pounds with a future 15 % sell on clause.

Month Review

While in December we had a bad month we started the new year with a good string of results including beating Swindon on Replay which then set a game against our parent club Sunderland at Weston Home Community Stadium in the 4th round of Fa Cup. In the Championship life is well we have not lost this month any game and gaining 8 points out of four game actually moved us closer to the promotion battle and we have seen this done a lot of times teams coming from mid table with an impressive streak of results and sneaking into the playoff spots at the end of the year.The results can be attributed to the healthy squad we have , only injury is Drey Wright who is suffering fom a torn hamstring and will be out for atleast three months meaning he is out for this season . With the sale of Merino we are now above the six million pounds mark and I will be looking to ask for a facility upgrade since the youth one is already planned for expansion a training one will be beneficial for our players.

[setzel]

February 2019 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

This month started with high scoring draw with Cardiff reminiscent of our past days in League One , after that game Bonne went down with a damaged achilles for around three months which made him unavailable for the rest of our games this season. After getting our behind whooped by Forrest we went and won the games with two clubs that are in relegation spots and by doing that gaining six vital points and in my opinion sure not to get relegated even if we loose out all the games left.We ended the month in a loosing streak and with the Ipswich derby on the 2nd of March that should be a hard game for us and I will be thankful with a draw to be honest. Chijoke Adeniyi was called up for the remainding games and will make a rotation with McMullan for the striker spot I do hope one of them will show a spark so I decide if I promote the youngster next year or give McMullan another year , if both will fail to impress finding a striker in the summer will be a must do .Financially we are loosing about 150,000 per month but we have from where and the money from Championship position will come too so I predict a healthy 7 milion pound mark to start the next season.

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March 2019 Results

Championship Table

Youth Intake

Paul Bullock – This was the only lad who was given a professional contract this year from the youth intake , a tall but slow defender we are continuing the trend with our youth defenders via academy.

Month Review

The first game of this month was the derby against Ipswich which we lost , mainly because our streaky and leaky defense which made it very hard to keep clean sheets and make some vital draws with bigger clubs or in the trickier away fixtures.The 2nd derby was against Norwich which we lost badly Norwich and Everton are miles away from the rest of the pack in Championship.We seems to have a good run at home through the whole season in Championship and because of that we got a lot of points. Away form was dreadful this year if we had the same form at home we would have been 20th I think which shows that we need to improve our away form if we want to mount for a playoff push in the future. The attendance kinda dipped from the first months of the season which means our financial looses each month get a bit bigger but since we have a nice balance I am not worried. The goal for the last six games of the season is just to be competitive and finish around 14th place.

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April-May 2019 Results

Championship Table

Championshio Playoffs

Huddersfield vs Stoke

Birmingham vs Watford

Playoff Final

Month Review

With our first season over in Championship I can declare myself proud of what we did stayed clear of relegation and made some nice profits and had a few sellouts during the season. We have about six million pounds in the balance and we will have a nice transfer and wage budget for the season to come to bring some talented players in hope of a promotion playoff push for next season. We had our ups and down this season and for sure we will evaluate the whole squad and let a few guys leave or even sell a few guys if the offers will be good, looking to give Davidson and Adeniyi a big chance in the preseason to claim a spot in the main squad , and we will start negotiations with a few key guys who will have their contracts expiring in 2020 or 2021 to add a few years and bump their wages a bit as a reward for their play this year.Our youth facilities will get an upgrade worth 1,8 milion pounds which will finish close to Christmas of 2019.The only loanee we had this year Matthew Targett has his contract expiring in June so he will be a transfer target for sure other than that I have not made my mind on what players to pursue but my scouts have been busy from late February piling about 60-70 guys which we have on shortlist.

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Colchester United – Championship 2018/2019

League – A decent season back in Championship.

FA Cup – We got to meet our parent club in a home draw.

League Cup – We meet our goal nothing more

Finances – For the first time at the club our finances are HEALTHY

Transfers – The sale of Merino did wonders for our balance.

Key Players

Drey Wright – Even injured for the last part of the season Drey showed his worth netting 12 goals in the campaign.

Marco Frediani – Marco did a fantastic job playing a defensive winger and shined in that defensive role.

Tom Eastman – Already a regular of winning or being in top three of fan voting Tom had another good season.

Scott Allan After the injury of Wright Scott played a versatile role for the team either winger or advanced playmaker and he did great and that form got him a Scottish cap.

Conor McGrandles- Conor was brought to push the other central midfielders but he outperformed and was hard to get out of the first XI in the process he also gained a Scottish cap.[/b]

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Preseason 2019

Transfers

Players In :

Andrija Novakovich – We brought Andrija from Reading and he will be our main goal scoring threat this year.

Dean Cunningham – At 1,99 cm Dean is a huge central defender and had big potential hoping he will make an impact for us in the future.

Matthew Targett – We managed to bring him back this time on a permanent basis.

Jordan Graham – The former Villa youth was signed after a good season in League One at Blackpool

Chris Lester – Chris was one of the few bright spots from last year Bolton squad .

Per Egil Flo - The once Molde fullback was brought in to give the much needed experience to this defense from Cagliari.

Kostas Tsimikas – The young greek was given a trial and impressed in our first game that we had to give him a contract.

Antonio Manuel Hernandez – He is our new record breaking signing , Hernandez will hopefully be our new playmaker in the midfield for the years to come.

Leigh Quinn – With money to spend I did a rather surprising deal with Blackburn on a very risky transfer 2 scouts say he is nothing special one says he might be something special so I went with the scout I trusted the most we shall see a lot of money involved for a club our stature.

Players Out :

We’ve let some players leave on free some of them who played a lot of games for Colchester but I thought was time to move on and to upgrade the squad for more then the avoid the drop objective , Marco Frediani was a big sale for us Perugia newly promoted to Seria A out of the blue camed with a bid for 2.5 mil pounds which I couldn’t refuse since I thought he can be replaced if needed with a much smaller transfer fee . The last sale was of Macauley Bonne often injured and often ******* me off with his inconsistence once a player with bright future I just had to cash in on a what if player .

Preseason Review

With the preseason ended we are in a major contrast then last year when we had 9 players injured we will start the Championship against Crewe at their stadium with only 2 players injured both of them on short length injuries. Financially we are very good and waiting for our youth facilities to be upgraded so I can ask for an upgrade again , I think our training facilities are good for this level . The fact that we will only have two strikers in the squad is a massive gamble and if injuries occur longterm to that position we will be forced to use buy/sign somebody .

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August 2019 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

What an incredible start to our campaigns both cup and league , even if we started shaky in Championship with three draws we ended strong gaining two crucial wins against Watford and Charlton thus giving us a nice position in the standings. The League Cup games were crazy against Exeter we had to comeback from behind and eventually win in extra time and against Everton we had to protect a lead in 10 men before Leighton Baines got a red card too .Andrija Novakovich and Antonio Manuel Hernandez from the new signings showed their value for Colchester in August and I am delighted to have a full squad going into September and our first game will be against Posh at home .I’ve mananged to convince the board to pour another 2 milion pounds into youth facilities upgrade even if the last one is stil in progress I just wished they will allow a junior coaching upgrade too but I have to be thankful with what I get .

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September 2019 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

Our first game at the month was against Posh with a sellout and we duly delivered but we had trouble late we were 3-0 and then we reverted to the old Colchester who let opposite team get draws late but the defense managed to keep the win against our rival.Sam Walker was out for the Plymouth and Spurs games so we gaved Flinders the Championship game and gave the debut to our young Scott McAvoy and he played well despite the loss in League Cup.Our away form is starting to be like last year I hope we can remedy this so we can mount a playoff push because we need to get points away from home to stay in contention for those spots we cannot rely on our home points like last year.Andrija Novakovich has six goal out of nine appearances in Championship a truly inspired signing with our youngster Adeniyi backing him those two can become a lethal combo.Anthony Wordsworth had a good month and the captain with his contract running out in the summer will be a really tough decision for me to let him go or re-sign him but if he plays like this I will gladly give him another year to play for Colchester.

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October 2019 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

We started slow by loosing three points at home against Bournemouth and after that we let loose and just reverted to the old Colchester style of scoring loads and conceding goals and almost blow leads.We had the derby against our arch rivals Ipswich at Portman Road and we won which was crazy since we had 3-1 while playing with one more man then conceding two goals just to score a late winner by a fluky deflection.We also established a new record of goalscoring in the 8-4 game against Stoke where Wordsworth scored three penalties and finished with four goals that game , making harder and harder to not renew this guy he is playing lights out ! On the day we lost to Crystal Palace our youth facilities got upgraded faster than was expected but of course they wont allow me to upgrade the junior coaching.I am pleased with our attendances that are stable and pretty close to sellouts, I guess that we have the best attack and a leaky defense makes people come to the stadium and watch a good match.

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November 2019 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

Antonio Manuel Hernandez went down in practice on the 2nd of November with a six week injury to his knee ligaments which all of a sudden made our teamplay and offensive play worse his presence was missed , our first two games against Reading and Derby we had so few offensive chances that I had to change the tactic in something more rudimentary in the midfield because I was playing with two defensive minded midfielders in Scott and Fyvie.Scott Allan though showed up to the occasion and played excellent from there and thus gaining young player of the month award.The true hero of our season thus far is Novakovich he is the leading goalscorer and had some fantastic long shots that turned into goals , and he was awarded with player of the month .So despite our slow and uninspiring start of the month we ended in a good manner whooping Brighton at their home with a 6-2 , we will go into December with a playoff spot to defend and a home game against Birminghtma to start the month

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December 2019 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

Another sloppy month that we have especially defensive we were outmatched when it went to the psysical style of football though we stil profit from the good start we had and are stil in contention for a playoff spot , we will start the new year with a game against Crewe at home then against Cardiff at home in FA Cup.Burnley manager got sacked before Christmas and they offered me an interview which I rejected have no desire whatsoever to leave Colchester now after I promote them to Premier League maybe I will think about another challenge if I don’t want to win Premier League with Colchester.Andrija Novakovich is just phenomenal he is just on another level from any player I have on this team , his value is already at 5 milion pounds already a future big profit in the making if we decide to sell him in the summer.Financially we are okay and we are not looking for transfers this January I will only buy if I sell something.

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January 2020 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

We started with a bang hammering Crewe with five goals from Chijoke Adeniyi earning him a 10.0 second I had in this save after Wordworth 10.0 this year versus Stoke where he scored three penaltie. We lost our two away games versus tough opposition but we won everything else including a 4th round FA Cup versus Leicester which will lead to a 5th round at home against Spurs.Kostas Tsimikas won Player of the Month award for his outstanding play which led to some quality assists , he is already at 10 this season and is on pace to make about 20 when the season ends if he can continue this pace.We had some teams sniffing at Frankie Kent but his price tag and my stubbornness to not let him go if aint a nominal fee is proving a stumbling block for the teams wanting him , the tag price he has is 5 milion pounds which is double his market value at the moment.We added some players on the shortlist and on the scouting list which have the contracts running out in the summer but no deals were made in the January transfer period.

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February 2020 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

Another inconsistent month from Colchester but I am glad we have a consistent trio upfront in Wordworth Tsimikas and Novakovich which provide us goals and assists , Wordsworth broke his old record of assists totaling 17 now and Novakovich broke the record of goals scored In a season with 28 goals the previous one was of Macauley Bonne in 2015 with 27 , he stil has games to play to reach 30 goals in a season in league which will be a great feature but I already know I will have to fight for him in the summer the vultures are already circling over him.In FA Cup we gaved Spurs hell and we almost got a draw but a late goal made Spurs advance to the next round I am saying for years that we need to stop leaking goals late but I cant fix that unfortunately.We ended though the month on a high smashing our rivals Ipswich with a 4 goal spectacle by Novakovich.We stil have a shot of making the playoffs this year provided we can be a little more consistent atleast at home so we take the crucial wins against the teams that are in the thich of the promotion battle.

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March 2020 Results

Championship Table

Month Review

Ugly month we really had some tough games to play against teams that were in the promotion battle and we only managed to get a high scoring win against Palace , but we lost two games that really ended our promotion hopes against Reading and Derby with six games left I know even if we win them out we will not have a chance to grab a playoff spot this year we had the chances and the good league position coming into 2020 but our lack of concentration was exploited by the well versed teams in this league so we will have to look for new ways to improve our squad and play for the next year and finish strong for the fans this year the attendance is starting to dip again seems I cant keep the neutrals coming to games if I don’t offer them spectacular games or hopes for a playoff spot.Financially we are ok loosing about 200-250 k per month but that will be offset when the Championship position money will come plus the TV money when we start the new season.

Youth Intake 2020

A mediocre intake with a good player to top this class stil I am pleased I will have something to work with and be excited to see if he gets to play at our first team , this year we hired a new head of youth development coach in Pedro Seso we lured him away from Granada and I hope this move will make our youth intakes in the future better .

Claudio Weibolt – The half Surinamese half dutch youngster has the potential to be a leading start in Championship or a decent player in Premier League according to my coaches and scouts he is an interesting Attacking Midfielder who already has versatility but I will train him and try to improve him to be a good AMC for Colchester and he fits into our tactic also because of Pedro Seso influence.

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April & May 2020 Results

Championship Table

Playoffs

Portsmouth vs Crystal Palace

Stoke vs Bristol City

Playoff Final

Month Review

We finished poorly but our whole 2020 part of the season was a poor display on the pitch from the squad , so a 12th place is deserving , I will look to offload some guys that I think I can make a nice profit since I got approved and already started building a 4.000.000 mil pounds youth upgrade and we are currently only 1.58 in the balance left .Anthony Wordsworth got a one year extension because of the form he showed this season no matter what the ass man says about his declining stats he enjoys especially big games and he is a fantastic tutor to have around since we have three midfield prospects that need that tutelage. After the poor showing we have I will be looking to get more consistency this year so I can push for that playoff spots .

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PreSeason 2020

Finances – Doing well loosing a bit under 200.000 per month but nothing worrying at this level.

Squad Analysis- A decent team with depth exactly what I like .

Transfers – Some shockers that improved our financial stability.

Christoforos Rigas – The young greek central defender who is a natural at left back too but at 1.96 im interested in him at DC.

Jorge Cruz – The young bolivian was offered to me by a scout and I only had 3 attributes I saw in him 15/20 finishing 15-20 acceleration and 14-17 dribbling which made me take a chance especially as he was wanted by Betis too a La Liga team.

Wayne Tyler –The former Norwich youth has potential and chances to do it at Colchester with Matthew Targett being our first choice at left back.

Darren Turner – Another Scott at Colchester a very good defensive midfielder with good passing will fit well into our tactic .

Alistair Purdie – The Arsenal youngster is very impressive at passing the ball I think he will be a great last pass guy into the future no matter where he will land , he is also a good defensive midfielder if u need that from has potential to be a good box to box type of guy.

Thomas Davidson – Not a new signee but he was on loan last season at Motherwell and he performed I expect great things from this lad.

PreSeason Review

The major news involving Colchester United this preseason was the selling of Novakovich to League One club Doncaster for a hefty fee of 5.25 milion pounds , to be honest he had one more year of contract wanted a 12.000 wage which I could afford but I am a pessimist and I didn’t want to pay the guy that contract for two or three years and see if I can promote , the financial benefits of selling him were just too good to refuse the offer. Lester and McGrandles were just a surplus for our squad and I knew I could get decent upfront money for them and I knew I could find a better midfielder then McGrandles at the same price or cheaper, the Lester sale was easier we had Davidson returning from loan and I didn’t want to sale Wright .Jorge Cruz is a huge bet but at that low transfer fee I had to try plus we have Adeniyi who seems to just be at the right position everytime to score he has a bit of the old Inzaghi in him which I like in a sub striker .We will start against Cardiff at home the new season in Championship we were tipped 19th in the media prediction which I think is a overreaction because of the Novakovich sale.I will aim to further develop our youngster and finish into the top 10 this year but I will not be upset if we finish somewhere in 11-15 positions either this is a rebuilding year from my point of view .