| No sympathy for Col Who but … 23:53 - Sep 18 with 3786 views | TheRicardo94 |
I feel for Chambo, Skusey, Judge, Sears.
They have all shifted their careers into “end of career” mode by moving to Col Who.
I am still surprised that players who managed a mid table finish in League One 20/21 season, turned into almost National League players in one season.
I have the upmost respect for Chambo, Skusey and Judge for what they did for us through what can only be described as a “challenging time” in our history. But to see them commit themselves to such a “football club” down the A12. I feel for them.
Not sure how everyone else sees it, but I feel bad for them having to join the Ipswich Retirement Home. |  | | |  |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 00:09 - Sep 19 with 3701 views | Tangledupin_Blue |
What a weird post. Sneering at Colchester presumably because they are a smaller club than ours. I imagine that plenty of supporters of bigger clubs sneer at us for being smaller tbough the more intelligent among them understand better the dynamics of supporting a club.
Then the absurd assertion that those players "had to" join Colchester. As if they had no choice. |  |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 00:10 - Sep 19 with 3693 views | Stewart27 |
Why on earth do you feel bad for them? | | | |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 01:55 - Sep 19 with 3595 views | mylittletown |
Yeah, who'd have thought that Chambers and Skuse, both 36 years old, would be somewhere near the end of their careers?
Desperate idiot post. |  | | |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 02:29 - Sep 19 with 3540 views | Illinoisblue |
Are you a time traveler stuck in 15 months ago? |  |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 07:43 - Sep 19 with 3303 views | blueoxford |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 02:29 - Sep 19 by Illinoisblue |
Are you a time traveler stuck in 15 months ago? |
They should appoint Chambo and Skuse as player managers. | | | |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 07:50 - Sep 19 with 3281 views | ElephantintheRoom |
On thé other hand they probably feel going to another club at the end of their careers without moving house was quite a good move. As is the opportunity to move into management.
I’ve always felt Skues and Chambers would make an excellent management team. Might find out soon. | |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 08:38 - Sep 19 with 3137 views | Sharkey |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 07:50 - Sep 19 by ElephantintheRoom |
On thé other hand they probably feel going to another club at the end of their careers without moving house was quite a good move. As is the opportunity to move into management.
I’ve always felt Skues and Chambers would make an excellent management team. Might find out soon. |
We might. It would certainly be the Colchester way of doing things. Wayne Brown is still at the club as far as I know, along with umpteen other previous first team coaches. (McGreal's the only one who's actually ever had the decency to leave!) I think Brown and Skuse are friends. so it would all be a bit strange. But I did hear a whisper that Chambers said to a fan who was complaining about the miserable do-not-concede mentality of both Brown and Hayden Mullins before him, "d'you think we [expletive] like it?" [Post edited 19 Sep 2022 8:43]
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 09:45 - Sep 19 with 2948 views | ArnoldMoorhen |
Maybe a team with them in was dragged up to Mid Table in League One by Flynn Downes and James Norwood?
Or maybe they were solid pros who are now 18 months older and not quite so able to do it anymore? | | | |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 10:04 - Sep 19 with 2899 views | itfcjoe |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 08:38 - Sep 19 by Sharkey |
We might. It would certainly be the Colchester way of doing things. Wayne Brown is still at the club as far as I know, along with umpteen other previous first team coaches. (McGreal's the only one who's actually ever had the decency to leave!) I think Brown and Skuse are friends. so it would all be a bit strange. But I did hear a whisper that Chambers said to a fan who was complaining about the miserable do-not-concede mentality of both Brown and Hayden Mullins before him, "d'you think we [expletive] like it?" [Post edited 19 Sep 2022 8:43]
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Chambers, Skuse and Brown are all good friends - but guess they all know the game. I've got no inside info at all on it, but would be surprised if they step up (even if they are wanted to) for various reasons |  |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 10:49 - Sep 19 with 2788 views | ClareBlue |
Not many pros make it to 36. To get a couple of seasons without moving house or uprooting the family on more than most of us earn at the end of our careers doesn't seem that bad a choice. Nothing wrong with Colchester as a club that is positioned as a local club competing in the lower tiers of the football league. Which is still in the top hundred or so clubs in the country out of thousands of clubs across England.
And after chatting to a young forest Green fan the other week, there are still thousands of fans who enjoy supporting their local clubs who will never win anything but enjoy a day out with their dads, that is within a bus ride, doesn't cost them a fortune and are home an hour after the game.
Socrates played for Garforth Town in 2004 at aged 50 | | | |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 12:17 - Sep 19 with 2630 views | Trequartista |
Perhaps they are just not very good players anymore. They were all Championship standard in 2015. It's not 2015. |  |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 12:45 - Sep 19 with 2532 views | WeWereZombies |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 10:49 - Sep 19 by ClareBlue |
Not many pros make it to 36. To get a couple of seasons without moving house or uprooting the family on more than most of us earn at the end of our careers doesn't seem that bad a choice. Nothing wrong with Colchester as a club that is positioned as a local club competing in the lower tiers of the football league. Which is still in the top hundred or so clubs in the country out of thousands of clubs across England.
And after chatting to a young forest Green fan the other week, there are still thousands of fans who enjoy supporting their local clubs who will never win anything but enjoy a day out with their dads, that is within a bus ride, doesn't cost them a fortune and are home an hour after the game.
Socrates played for Garforth Town in 2004 at aged 50 |
You only have Plato's word for that last sentence... |  |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 13:09 - Sep 19 with 2467 views | Radlett_blue |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 10:49 - Sep 19 by ClareBlue |
Not many pros make it to 36. To get a couple of seasons without moving house or uprooting the family on more than most of us earn at the end of our careers doesn't seem that bad a choice. Nothing wrong with Colchester as a club that is positioned as a local club competing in the lower tiers of the football league. Which is still in the top hundred or so clubs in the country out of thousands of clubs across England.
And after chatting to a young forest Green fan the other week, there are still thousands of fans who enjoy supporting their local clubs who will never win anything but enjoy a day out with their dads, that is within a bus ride, doesn't cost them a fortune and are home an hour after the game.
Socrates played for Garforth Town in 2004 at aged 50 |
And also nothing will ever replace the adrenaline rush that a professional footballer gets from playing his chosen sport. |  |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 09:51 - Sep 20 with 2025 views | Garv |
Do you not think it was all a bit 'easy' going there, though?
They could have stayed in League One fairly easily, but they chose the club 10 minutes down the road, almost one by one. I'm sure I would have done the same thing so I don't blame them, but it never looked like a football decision and with that many 30+ year olds signing at the same time, was it ever likely to go well? |  |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 09:54 - Sep 20 with 2017 views | Swansea_Blue |
I suspect they were very pleased to get contracts to extend their careers with the added bonus of not having to move. It's an obvious 'retirement home' for them. And good for them. All seem like decent blokes and have done well to keep going when so many drop out. |  |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 09:58 - Sep 20 with 1985 views | WeWereZombies |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 09:51 - Sep 20 by Garv |
Do you not think it was all a bit 'easy' going there, though?
They could have stayed in League One fairly easily, but they chose the club 10 minutes down the road, almost one by one. I'm sure I would have done the same thing so I don't blame them, but it never looked like a football decision and with that many 30+ year olds signing at the same time, was it ever likely to go well? |
Ten minutes down the road ?
You haven't been stuck in that queue along the forty mile an hour limit on the A12 recently, have you ? I bet Skuse, Judge and Chambers are all regretting turning down the offers from Inter and Real so that they could try for TOWIE... | |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 12:34 - Sep 20 with 1802 views | jayessess |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 09:51 - Sep 20 by Garv |
Do you not think it was all a bit 'easy' going there, though?
They could have stayed in League One fairly easily, but they chose the club 10 minutes down the road, almost one by one. I'm sure I would have done the same thing so I don't blame them, but it never looked like a football decision and with that many 30+ year olds signing at the same time, was it ever likely to go well? |
It hasn't necessarily gone badly, has it?
They finished 20th in 2020-21 and 15th last season. They look pretty bad so far this season but will probably end up steering clear of the bottom 2. Luke Chambers and Cole Skuse are being paid to play league football into their 21st and 18th seasons respectively, not sure they could ask for much more than that.
Competently run, there's probably a bottom half League One club to be made of Colchester United, but it isn't competently run so being the experienced heads who make sure the thing doesn't drop into the National League is a decent days work at 36. |  |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 12:49 - Sep 20 with 1745 views | SE1blue |
Watching Colchester Uniteds plight is like A Muppets Christmas Carol version of Ipswich had we not got rid of our Scrooge (Marcus Evans).
Chambers and Skuse are Kermit and Miss Piggy. Sears is their son, Tiny Tim Cratchit. |  |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 13:49 - Sep 20 with 1653 views | itfcjoe |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 09:51 - Sep 20 by Garv |
Do you not think it was all a bit 'easy' going there, though?
They could have stayed in League One fairly easily, but they chose the club 10 minutes down the road, almost one by one. I'm sure I would have done the same thing so I don't blame them, but it never looked like a football decision and with that many 30+ year olds signing at the same time, was it ever likely to go well? |
I think Col U got a bit too excited with the players available and signed too many older ones which means team lacked pace.
The problem was post covid, was just so little money in game, that you were talking literally an extra £50-100 a week to go to a club you at worse had to drive to (Gillingham would have signed at least a couple) or had to relocate to play for. | |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 14:39 - Sep 20 with 1521 views | Sharkey |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 12:34 - Sep 20 by jayessess |
It hasn't necessarily gone badly, has it?
They finished 20th in 2020-21 and 15th last season. They look pretty bad so far this season but will probably end up steering clear of the bottom 2. Luke Chambers and Cole Skuse are being paid to play league football into their 21st and 18th seasons respectively, not sure they could ask for much more than that.
Competently run, there's probably a bottom half League One club to be made of Colchester United, but it isn't competently run so being the experienced heads who make sure the thing doesn't drop into the National League is a decent days work at 36. |
I think your second paragraph is spot on, but I'd expand a bit on the 'not competently run'.
The club is run with a fair amount of what seems to be idealism, with the Academy prioritised, and perhaps even fetishised. The academy is certainly competently run, and gets some decent results. (Certainly the highlight of last season for the club was beating Arsenal 3-0 in the FA youth cup.) Having said that, it's been disappointing that no player has gone onto great things (sorry all you Ladapo and KVY fans!), as even Szmodics has not yet fully convinced as a Championship player.
I suspect that it's in the training ground in Tiptree, named after his mother, that Cowling's heart really lies. He is of the belief that if you can produce good players brought up to play in a certain way, the first team will 'take care of itself'. Almost everyone else (everyone except Tony Humes, basically) believes this is completely fanciful, though some like me believe it is at least well-intentioned.
Where the club is inexcusably incompetently run is in P.R. When it comes to social media, I don't notice it as much being almost pensionable, but my nephew and his friends in their early twenties pull out their (abundant) hair at all that is not being done in the marketing department. How can it be that the chairman can pay salaries to well over thirty players but still not employ anyone who understands modern social media? I mean David Gregory was a decent midfielder and is a nice bloke and an honest pundit (and someone who knows how to pronounce Colchester in the proper two-syllabled way,!) but he should not be media manager. [Post edited 21 Sep 2022 15:29]
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 16:31 - Sep 20 with 1405 views | jayessess |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 14:39 - Sep 20 by Sharkey |
I think your second paragraph is spot on, but I'd expand a bit on the 'not competently run'.
The club is run with a fair amount of what seems to be idealism, with the Academy prioritised, and perhaps even fetishised. The academy is certainly competently run, and gets some decent results. (Certainly the highlight of last season for the club was beating Arsenal 3-0 in the FA youth cup.) Having said that, it's been disappointing that no player has gone onto great things (sorry all you Ladapo and KVY fans!), as even Szmodics has not yet fully convinced as a Championship player.
I suspect that it's in the training ground in Tiptree, named after his mother, that Cowling's heart really lies. He is of the belief that if you can produce good players brought up to play in a certain way, the first team will 'take care of itself'. Almost everyone else (everyone except Tony Humes, basically) believes this is completely fanciful, though some like me believe it is at least well-intentioned.
Where the club is inexcusably incompetently run is in P.R. When it comes to social media, I don't notice it as much being almost pensionable, but my nephew and his friends in their early twenties pull out their (abundant) hair at all that is not being done in the marketing department. How can it be that the chairman can pay salaries to well over thirty players but still not employ anyone who understands modern social media? I mean David Gregory was a decent midfielder and is a nice bloke and an honest pundit (and someone who knows how to pronounce Colchester in the proper two-syllabled way,!) but he should not be media manager. [Post edited 21 Sep 2022 15:29]
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Only them and Crewe are Category 2 at that level, I suppose that's relatively expensive to maintain and very difficult to reap much financial reward from in the 4th tier.
Probably much more reliable to pick up dropouts from richer team's academies or older players who've rebuilt their careers in non-league, although I think Exeter City have a lot of academy first teamers?
There was talk about a big debt hanging over them a while back too, wasn't there? | |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 16:42 - Sep 20 with 1369 views | Radlett_blue |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 16:31 - Sep 20 by jayessess |
Only them and Crewe are Category 2 at that level, I suppose that's relatively expensive to maintain and very difficult to reap much financial reward from in the 4th tier.
Probably much more reliable to pick up dropouts from richer team's academies or older players who've rebuilt their careers in non-league, although I think Exeter City have a lot of academy first teamers?
There was talk about a big debt hanging over them a while back too, wasn't there? |
I think Col U, like most Football League clubs, can only continue losing £2m a year if their owner is willing to keep funding them. I think the owe Robbie Cowling's company over £20m, but like Marcus Evans at Town, he's probably aware he isn't ever going to see that money again. | |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 16:45 - Sep 20 with 1359 views | jayessess |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 16:42 - Sep 20 by Radlett_blue |
I think Col U, like most Football League clubs, can only continue losing £2m a year if their owner is willing to keep funding them. I think the owe Robbie Cowling's company over £20m, but like Marcus Evans at Town, he's probably aware he isn't ever going to see that money again. |
I wonder if they regret the stadium move. Very difficult to keep a community interest in a club that size when you move outside of town. I love watching football but if I lived locally the prospect of having to get to and from the stadium would put me off any casual trips to a game. | |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 16:55 - Sep 20 with 1333 views | Radlett_blue |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 16:45 - Sep 20 by jayessess |
I wonder if they regret the stadium move. Very difficult to keep a community interest in a club that size when you move outside of town. I love watching football but if I lived locally the prospect of having to get to and from the stadium would put me off any casual trips to a game. |
Colchester were getting piddling crowds of about 2,500 & Layer Road needed huge, mandatory safety improvements. Col U sold the ground back to the council for £1.2m, clearing the club's debts. The council was co-operative, finding them the land for the new ground. The Council backed the £14 million new stadium by taking out a £10 million loan & Col U are tenants. The remaining £4 million came in the form of grants from the Football Foundation and local government and development agencies. They're still only attracting 2,000 or so fans. | |
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| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 17:51 - Sep 20 with 1211 views | Sharkey |
| No sympathy for Col Who but … on 16:45 - Sep 20 by jayessess |
I wonder if they regret the stadium move. Very difficult to keep a community interest in a club that size when you move outside of town. I love watching football but if I lived locally the prospect of having to get to and from the stadium would put me off any casual trips to a game. |
Of course nobody liked moving out of town, but there was no way they could have stayed at Layer Road. What's galling is that there was so much M.O.D. land in central Colchester that could have been used, but the M.O.D. sells it off in dribs and drabs for lego housing with no grand vision at all. I'm thinking in particular of areas quite near Layer Road, but also areas up the Mersea Road, near the garrison cricket ground. (That would have been a fabulous site, being near Colchester Town (city?) railway station and in walking distance of several of the town's better pubs. . (It would still be the ideal place for building a proper cricket stadium for East Anglia.)
p.s. Luke Garrard (Boreham Wood manager) now hotly tipped for the job. At 37 he is older than all the players. but only just. Seems like a decent choice to me.
[Post edited 20 Sep 2022 18:06]
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