It's Just like watching Southend...

[Beefy]

Excluding the Club captain...all these players who are not good enough are all Tilson's signings!!

No arguments there. The players we have are mid-table League One players. The likes of Nicky Bailey, Freddy Eastwood and more than anyone Mark Gower were able to take us to a higher level, but we don't have those players any more and for whatever reason they have not been replaced.

 

[Reefs]

I honestly don't think tonights performance, or result, will have any bearing what so ever on what goes on at Colchester on Saturday - it's a derby game, and form will not apply.

Really RC? I mean......really?!! They will whip us.

 

[Richard_Cadette]

Tell me hand on heart that the team we put out there tonight was worse than Crewe.....on the performance yes, but on paper, and in reality we were 15 points better than them before the start of the night, playing with an unsettled differing group of loanees all season.

To be fair, I don't think the fact they are 15 points behind us should come into it - sometimes teams lower than other teams in the league win - us against Chelsea is a case in point.

We beat Tranmere on Saturday, and beat them comfortably in all honesty, and they are well above us pushing for the play offs.

The opposition is not the issue, it's how we played full stop - we showed against Tranmere and Bristol Rovers we're capable of far more, but tonight, it didn't hapen, and Crewe did a number on us.

 

[Andyhsufc]

His interview sums it up. "Crewe came with a gameplan..". Well what about ours?? How many times have poor sides got to come here, park the bus and get three points? Other teams manage to beat these sides so why cant we??

 

[Richard_Cadette]

Really RC? I mean......really?!! They will whip us.

Why? Just because we lost at home to Crewe? It will have no bearing on it, believe me. Colchester have lost their last two, so on that basis, we're on a better run of form than they are. I don't believe for one second they will whip us on Saturday, they are no great shakes.

 

[Beefy]

Tell me hand on heart that the team we put out there tonight was worse than Crewe.....on the performance yes, but on paper, and in reality we were 15 points better than them before the start of the night, playing with an unsettled differing group of loanees all season.

It wasn't worse, but they got a goal up and as soon as that happened the game was over.

I'm not defending tonight's performance. It wasn't good enough. But I said after both of the recent home wins that I didn't see how this set of players could carve open a side who were happy to sit back and put eleven men behind the ball and that's what we saw tonight from Crewe as soon as they scored.

 

[Beefy]

His interview sums it up. "Crewe came with a gameplan..". Well what about ours?? How many times have poor sides got to come here, park the bus and get three points? Other teams manage to beat these sides so why cant we??

Because we're not good enough!

 

[Reefs]

To be fair, I don't think the fact they are 15 points behind us should come into it - sometimes teams lower than other teams in the league win - us against Chelsea is a case in point.

We beat Tranmere on Saturday, and beat them comfortably in all honesty, and they are well above us pushing for the play offs.

The opposition is not the issue, it's how we played full stop - we showed against Tranmere and Bristol Rovers we're capable of far more, but tonight, it didn't hapen, and Crewe did a number on us.

They did a number on us (as many poorer teams have this season), because we have a management team who appear to not actually have a plan going into each game...either that or we cannot adapt our game to different types of team. It was obvious to even the most lacking of football fans tonight that Crewe, being in the position they were, would concentrate on staying tight to their men, putting ten men behind the ball where possible and trying very hard to retain posession and frustrate us....a team with any width whatsoever should have been capable of creating numerous chances for, what, lets face it, is a decent strikeforce for this level.

Pretty appalled with tonight...thought we were finally making ground in the right direction.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

We never seem to have a plan B, they had a big guy at the back who we couldn't cope with. We looked clueless tonight.

 

[bertiebigbanana]

He had a shocker tonight !! Late to every ball.. Looked sluggish and seemed to wait for ball to bounce everytime it came near him. In fairness no worse than many others, but shocked by your statement.

OK Tilson seems to have run out of ideas, but then to be fair Scannell and Betsy have let him down most weeks when we have used them (I know Scannell hasnt had much of a run, but when has he ever repaid the manager with a performance).. We were screaming out for width, and I play on the wing, but that doesnt mean I am going to get on.

Most definately not if your review of devitte is an indication of your reading of a game! The guy was our best player on the pitch tonight an d the only defender who managed to pass forward to a team mate with any semblance of intention.

 

[Reefs]

Why? Just because we lost at home to Crewe? It will have no bearing on it, believe me. Colchester have lost their last two, so on that basis, we're on a better run of form than they are. I don't believe for one second they will whip us on Saturday, they are no great shakes.

Just like most teams in this league are no great shakes, perhaps bar Leicester. If we cannot raise our game to boost confidence by blasting a few past a team as poor as Crewe, then we are in serious danger of being embarrased on Saturday. This was hardly the preparation we needed going into that game.

 

[A Century United]

Apologies to the various thread starters, but as all three are very similar in vein (and frustration) they go better together.

 

[Southendsleeper]

He had a shocker tonight !! Late to every ball.. Looked sluggish and seemed to wait for ball to bounce everytime it came near him. In fairness no worse than many others, but shocked by your statement.

Erm....didnt Dervitte stop them breaking away 2 on 1 when Francis lost possession near the end?

Thought he was one of our best players tonight

 

[Beefy]

Colchester aren't on great form either having lost at Walsall on saturday and last week at home to a Tranmere side who we made to look very poor at the weekend.

I don't think tonight will have any impact on saturday's match. But I also don't think that we're going to get anything from that game anyway.

 

[Richard_Cadette]

They did a number on us (as many poorer teams have this season), because we have a management team who appear to not actually have a plan going into each game...either that or we cannot adapt our game to different types of team. It was obvious to even the most lacking of football fans tonight that Crewe, being in the position they were, would concentrate on staying tight to their men, putting ten men behind the ball where possible and trying very hard to retain posession and frustrate us....a team with any width whatsoever should have been capable of creating numerous chances for, what, lets face it, is a decent strikeforce for this level.

Pretty appalled with tonight...thought we were finally making ground in the right direction.

You're right, the game was crying out for width, and I am at a loss to understand why in those circumstances both Betsy and Scannell were not on the pitch, and for that matter, not on early doors. Unless we get players in on loan, then we have to go with what we have, and the centre of midfield is as strong as we can have it right now, but unfortunately, that contains barely a forward pass among them.

We need to use our wide men to create - To be fair to Francis, he did well against Tranmere, where as tonight, he was invisible. Moussa will never be a left winger as long as I am breathing, but then we don't have a left footed player in the side, apart from Barrett!!

Saturday will be different - it's a derby game, blood, guts and thunder, and to be fair, we have our share of players who are up for the fight - I reiterate, tonight will not affect the outcome of the game on Saturday, no matter what the result is.

 

[Beefy]

Saturday will be different - it's a derby game, blood, guts and thunder, and to be fair, we have our share of players who are up for the fight - I reiterate, tonight will not affect the outcome of the game on Saturday, no matter what the result is.

Absolutely. Again, there's no lack of character or effort from this squad. They just aren't good enough to get us above midtable in League One.

 

[Reefs]

You're right, the game was crying out for width, and I am at a loss to understand why in those circumstances both Betsy and Scannell were not on the pitch, and for that matter, not on early doors. Unless we get players in on loan, then we have to go with what we have, and the centre of midfield is as strong as we can have it right now, but unfortunately, that contains barely a forward pass among them.

We need to use our wide men to create - To be fair to Francis, he did well against Tranmere, where as tonight, he was invisible. Moussa will never be a left winger as long as I am breathing, but then we don't have a left footed player in the side, apart from Barrett!!

Saturday will be different - it's a derby game, blood, guts and thunder, and to be fair, we have our share of players who are up for the fight - I reiterate, tonight will not affect the outcome of the game on Saturday, no matter what the result is.

You know I respect your views RC, but my point is that tonight, if we showed any true grit and passion, we could have, I am sure managed to pluck an equaliser from somewhere. It doesn't take class and tactical cunning to score against a team such as Crewe...look at Orient away...above Crewe in the league, and an equally **** poor performance, but we ground out a draw.

 

[A Century United]

Absolutely. Again, there's no lack of character or effort from this squad. They just aren't good enough to get us above midtable in League One.

Yet I do think that we are only a couple of players away from being very competetive.

 

[Andyhsufc]

Absolutely. Again, there's no lack of character or effort from this squad. They just aren't good enough to get us above midtable in League One.

Absolutely right there. A good team will have a mix of grafters (i.e. revells) and skillful players (i.e. eastwood, Gower). Sadly, I dont think we have got any of the later.

 

[Richard_Cadette]

You know I respect your views RC, but my point is that tonight, if we showed any true grit and passion, we could have, I am sure managed to pluck an equaliser from somewhere. It doesn't take class and tactical cunning to score against a team such as Crewe...look at Orient away...above Crewe in the league, and an equally **** poor performance, but we ground out a draw.

To be fair, on tonights evidence, Crewe would say the same about us. I am not defending how we played tonight, in most parts it's indefensible, but I am just saying it doesn't matter that we were playing Crewe, it matters only that we didn't perform particularly well, nor IMO, did we utilise the players we had at our disposal to help us score.