The Voice - Match preview Colchester United vs Bradford City Tuesday 16 August @ 7:45pm

I'd be surprised if any of those clubs are run sustainably (maybe Burnley?) and most blow us out of the water in terms of playing budgets
(with the exception of Accrington and Morecambe).
Coventry have always had decent budgets, even during the stadium saga.
Blackpool are heavily subsidised by their new owners.

On the flip side, the national league is a graveyard of former football league stalwarts.
Plenty of other 'big' towns have lower league football teams, or none at all...
Wakefield, Swindon, Oxford, Peterborough, Cambridge, Northampton... i could go on.

I think our problem is having big expectations while just having a 'competitive' playing budget.
Teams like Morecambe, who don't have a large impatient fanbase, can get away with playing dull football and grinding out results.
Unfortunately we don't have that luxury

 

I don't quite agree with everything you've said here but not far off. I'm quite chilled about the top of our club regarding off the field stuff because it looks like it's working to generate a decent playing budget and the infrastructure is slowly but surely being improved but I am unconvinced about the competence of the senior management regarding the football side of the club.

We were a long way off the pace last season in what I believe to be a much weaker division than we are in this season and then lost arguably our best 4 players in POC, Vernam, Watt and Pereira so the size of the rebuild required should not be underestimated. However, it's quite rare for promotion winning teams in L2 to have built on a strong position from the previous season, clubs like FGR 21/22 are the exception rather than the norm, most teams who gain promotion fall in to three categories: relegated L1 teams, promoted NL teams and L2 teams who significantly improve on the previous season, so hopefully we fit into this last category.

My concern is that Hughes could significantly improve our performance and results and it would still be seen as a total failure. If we increased our wins by 50%, reduced our losses by 25%, increased our goals scored by 40%, reduced our goals against by 15% and improved our overall points by 30% Hughes would have delivered a huge improvement on what Adams achieved but we'd still probably just miss out on the play offs which gives an idea of the scale of the task Hughes has on his hands.

I think we've a chance this season and I expect us to be challenging at the right end of the table but failure to me would be not getting out of this division by the end of next season rather than missing out on promotion this season.

 

I’ve not mentioned sustainable. What I’d ask to that is where do you think a realistic aim for this club is? Or where would you like to see it? If the answer is the Championship then we won’t be sustainable for long.

 

And the best of them all at getting right to the byline and crossing. Don Hutchins. No early balls from Donny, went to the byline everytime.

 

Just interested in one of your comments regarding “Dull Football” what do you class as dull The way We played in the Parky years or the way we are playing at the moment.
Do you want slow build up keeping possession and playing from the back or a more direct style which produces more goalmouth action.

 

Spot on.

Our signings have been 2-3 year contracts. This season we will fight and try for go for it.

However, signing the amount of players we did so far means it will take time for them to settle and for me next season will be a season of no excuses.

The club won’t come out and say we aim to go up
next season but for me that looks like the plan.

 

Nonsense without a doubt the aim is promotion this season with the basis of a squad ready for next. Now that’s the aim of course targets are often missed

 

Absolutely. No-one builds a squad with the aim of promotion the year after. Far too many unknowns for that.

 

Beags was the best of the lot I have seen. Not really comparable, I know as the were roughly 20 years apart, different era’s completely.

 

Water under the bridge I know but I’ve now seen the replay re “Angol penalty “

Tripped from behind as I thought on the night. Hughes said the refs explanation was it wasn’t a penalty because Angol “dived”. Funny explanation ….why didn’t he book him then!
He bottled it pure and simple. Also in the highlights he did absolutely nothing about blatant shirt pulling at set pieces. One City corner someone had Platt in a headlock!

 

We were probably behind you, about eight rows back nearest block to the half way line

 

Beags must have been a nightmare though if you were a centre forward trying to time your run. He loved to shape to cross and then drag it back onto his other foot . But it left many a full back on their arse

 

Absolutely right I have only seen it on highlights but it was plain as day no dive and as you say no booking

 

He was awful , another one was the studs up tackle on Gilly , second half which is on the highlights . Multiple incidents “ live” not shown were difficult to comprehend.

 

He did that more than any player I have ever seen!

 

Do you have the link.

 

Refs employ a different set of rules in the box. Defenders get away with a lot in the there

 

Why do they do that, if its a foul its a pen, if its a dive then its a yellow for the offending player, because it happened in the penalty area why should it be treat any different ?

 

The tackle on Gilliead didn't look a million miles away from the Osadebe tackle. Follow through rolled over the ball and caught Gilliead half way up the shin. The ref didn't even give a free kick.

 

You're right, it was a shocker. Gilly was very lucky and their player was lucky that the ref was incompetent and we don't have VAR in L2.