Back from the game: Colchester

[Big Foot]

Dire, dire game with very little quality or tempo on display

Blackman missed a pure sitter in the first 5 minutes, had that gone in then I think we'd have won at a canter

New wingers needed immediately, not even having Gemma off TOWIE on the wing would've given us enough width

Williams not a winger at all, if Clarke persists with playing him out of position then I have a hunch Williams will throw a wobbly by Xmas and be gone in January

Cox and Samuel seemed to link up well when they came on

Ferdinand & McShane class together at the back. Taylor steady, reminded me of Stretch

Gunter = banter. Played like a prick most of the game then pops up with the winner

Al-Habsi very shaky, dropped a seemingly easy cross and bailed out by McShane

Norwood the crab

Quinn - hundred dragbacks too many onto his left peg but otherwise steady

HRK & Blackman - ineffective and about as sharp as Jade Goody's intellect

Overall, thank phuck there was a goal to save an even layer finish

AIDS traffic on M25 there and back, this country!!

Man of the match - McShane

[Steve_Upper_West]

Pretty much agree with Bigfoot - especially about traffic

Hector may have a job to get back in the side - unless we play 3 at the back?

McShane excellent will pop up with a few goals from set pieces too

Al-Habsi looks like an accident waiting to happen, his place is on the bench it seems

Blackman - not his greatest fan but he did put in a shift tonight and even passed once from a shooting position

Sa - totally underwhelmed, will wind quite a few people up this season - at least when Pog topples over he does not feign injury !

Still at least Gunter came to the rescue and saved us from the 'dreaded penalties'

[Kitsondinho]

Sounds like an enjoyable evening of football......

[RoyalBlue]

Al-Habsi looks like an accident waiting to happen, his place is on the bench it seems

Looked like this every time he played against us too. Not a great signing. Would have preferred to have kept Andersen as back up.

[Nameless]

The new wingers bit is unlikely but when the 3 injured ones and one currently on the way are actually available we might look a bit better balanced !!
Williams is definitely not a winger, in the same was he isn't a forward in the way he was used against Espanyol. He's unlucky that being a good athlete he'll fill in anywhere if needed and may suffer as a result.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Read on twitter that Clarke was turning away in disgust every time Cox lost the ball. Don't think he likes him much...

Watts said Norwood was MoM by a mile.

[Big Foot]

Read on twitter that Clarke was turning away in disgust every time Cox lost the ball. Don't think he likes him much...

Watts said Norwood was MoM by a mile.

Yeah, I read that too

Cox's days here are numbered

[Stuka]

Left at 90 mins because it was a bit tight with getting last train back to London and we had already be subjected to enough torture on the pitch.

Despite the journey getting there, I actually quite liked the Weston Homes Community Stadium. Modern ground but with distinct stands and good sound projection of the fans even though very few in attendance. Shame it has to be located in the middle of a farm. Had it been in town it would be a great away fixture.

[Norfolk Royal]

People seem to be forgetting that McCleary will be coming back in on the right. Presumably then Williams will slot back in to centre mid, with Quinn on the left and Norwood also in the middle.

It then remains to be seen whether we play two or one up front with the Peruvian fella being accommodated, if he signs that is.

[Big Foot]

People seem to be forgetting that McCleary will be coming back in on the right. Presumably then Williams will slot back in to centre mid, with Quinn on the left and Norwood also in the middle.

It then remains to be seen whether we play two or one up front with the Peruvian fella being accommodated, if he signs that is.

McCleary will play less than 20 league games for us this season, he is too injury prone to rely upon to fix it all for us

Quinn much better suited in the middle

I would say we'd look at our best with Fosu on the left, Hurtado on the right (if he comes in) & Williams/Quinn in the middle

[Zaretsky]

Williams not a winger at all, if Clarke persists with playing him out of position then I have a hunch Williams will throw a wobbly by Xmas and be gone in January

Looked the best player on the park to my ill-informed eyes, despite being played wildly out of position.

[Norfolk Royal]

Hurtado is a left sided player though innit? Certainly what he says on his profile. Agree with you about McCleary but if fit he's a first pick presumably.

[Hoop Blah]

I certainly agree on McCleary's prospects for playing the majority of games this season. He may do, but it looks like Clarke is being typically pragmatic and rightly bringing in options to cover him being missing.

Having said that, Hurtado sounds like he can play as the number 10 as well as being a genuine winger. A forward 3 of Fosu, Hurtado and McCleary is full of pace and trickery and would add a whole lot of flair to the side as it is.

[Norfolk Royal]

I forgot Tshibola is in the mix as well. A relative embarrassment of riches for Clarke to sort out.

[genome]

A win's a win I guess, looking at the results for other Championship sides. I don't think the gap between League One and the Champ is very much at all nowadays.

[melonhead]

cup games are cup games

[genome]

Having said that not sure what kind of teams those Champ sides put out.

Although Brentford had Andreas "Premier League quality" Bellend in their starting line up and conceded 3 in 12 minutes

[paultheroyal]

A win's a win I guess, looking at the results for other Championship sides. I don't think the gap between League One and the Champ is very much at all nowadays.

No comparison....Brentford for instance made 11 (eleven) changes!

[Blakey's Chin]

Dull game last night. Result is a result. If that was a league game I would like to think we would have stepped it up a gear much earlier on than we did. Can't bare to see Williams and Quinn being used as wingers. I understand we have injuries and in the middle of 'negotiating signings' but if there still being used in that position after the international break (I know McCleary's meant to be back by then), we haven't got a hope of scoring many. The last 2 game's we've lacked so much width. I also don't understand why this Espanyol guy is being lined up along with rumours of Chalobah? That leaves us with 6 CM's. We need a winger (hurtado), a striker, and ideally a number 10 in that order. I also agree with those saying Hector needs to be dropped/rested. He's got real quality but he looked mentally tired against Birmingham and who can blame him with 2 international tournaments over the summer.

[No Fixed Abode]

Whilst driving last night I put BBC Berkshire on to find out the score - just before it went into ET.

Tim Dellor said "Going into extra time would have no bearing on Sunday's game against Leeds". Erm - an extra 30 minutes of football where you can pick up a sending off or an injury.......ok then Tim......

How did he get that job? Oh - I know, his dad.