Its not just injuries, suspensions...

[Colchester and proud!]

Colchester n proud your chairman is slowly pulling the plug on your cash flow .And with the kind of gates you get sooner or later you may well be in the money pit we are in .Your cant live on loan players for ever .

I realise that TT things have to change in football in general they are all living above their means at present I suspect league 1 and 2 will be part time in a few years time.

 

[Colchester and proud!]

It's not completely Robbie Cowling's fault (although he has been looking for an excuse to make drastic cuts for some time), but it's probably more to do with Colchester having to live within the 55% salary cap which, with the state of their gates, will be hard to do.

Yes gates are very poor and getting worse, the new park and ride opens next year it will be just across the road from the stadium and with more parking available I think gates will rise a little.

 

[tonie]

yes something is wrong when sign lads from youth team on say 1 year pro deal, but it is in fact 1 year of not playing any football,then let him go did not make the grade,so much could be done with some form of reserve team football,players back from injury,payers without clubs and there are many gives you a chance to have good look,if braintree can have a reserve team on gates of 600 how come we cant

 

[Reefs]

I'd like to see the reserve team play in the Essex Senior League, but rules dictate that clubs in senior non-league, in whatever shape or form, have to be separate entities.

A way round it would be perhaps to just call the reserve side Prittlewell or something, set it up a new entity, and put the players on 'dual registration'. Get the home games played at a local non-league club, either Great Wakering Rovers, Southend Manor or Hullbridge Sports.

It's just an idea of the top of my head, and I'm sure those with much more insight into the workings of non-league football will point out the pitfalls of it, but it would ensure the reserves have regular weekend football at a half decent level.

An excellent idea Groyney - and one which is quite obviously used all across Continental Europe - just look at the major teams in Spain...their reserve sides are playing in the equivalent of the Championship, Leagues 1 and 2!

It seems to be a cultural thing here that stops the authorities from backing a similar scenario in the UK.

 

[EastStandBlue]

yes something is wrong when sign lads from youth team on say 1 year pro deal, but it is in fact 1 year of not playing any football,then let him go did not make the grade,so much could be done with some form of reserve team football,players back from injury,payers without clubs and there are many gives you a chance to have good look,if braintree can have a reserve team on gates of 600 how come we cant

It's not so much a case of us being able to sustain a reserve side - we've plenty of fringe players and players on youth contracts who'd relish the chance to play - it's that there isn't really an official competition for it anymore. There is the U21 Professional Development League that Colchester and proud speaks of, but I think you have to maintain a Cat 2 Academy to be able to enter that (we're Category 3). There is a sort-of-equivalent tournament for Cat 3 clubs, it's called the Central League but if you have a look at the clubs competing in it, I think the nearest team to us would be Mansfield or Stoke.

 

[Colchester and proud!]

It's not so much a case of us being able to sustain a reserve side - we've plenty of fringe players and players on youth contracts who'd relish the chance to play - it's that there isn't really an official competition for it anymore. There is the U21 Professional Development League that Colchester and proud speaks of, but I think you have to maintain a Cat 2 Academy to be able to enter that (we're Category 3). There is a sort-of-equivalent tournament for Cat 3 clubs, it's called the Central League but if you have a look at the clubs competing in it, I think the nearest team to us would be Mansfield or Stoke.

Yes you do need to be a cat 2 status for the under 21 league and of course most of the time we get beaten because many of the clubs are Championship or Prem clubs, take today we are playing Cardiff this afternoon but not at the WHCS this time it will be at our training ground Florence park.

 

[Gremlin]

yes something is wrong when sign lads from youth team on say 1 year pro deal, but it is in fact 1 year of not playing any football,then let him go did not make the grade,so much could be done with some form of reserve team football,players back from injury,payers without clubs and there are many gives you a chance to have good look,if braintree can have a reserve team on gates of 600 how come we cant

I'm exhausted after reading that sentence.

 

[tonie]

lay down and have a rest