THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

THE MELTDOWN – COLCHESTER UTD
Mentally in my head I’d written this “Meltdown” several times as I sat bored to death at the top of the stands throughout the 2nd half. The Dons drum had fallen silent the drummer more interested what was going on up and down the leagues, and people that had previously been standing, were sitting, and taking little or no interest in the game, it was only heading one way…..right.

Several of us joked that Colchester should hurry up and score a third so we could escape the usual carpark free for all, a few did wander to the turnstiles, but not being a school night most seemed determined to stick it out to the bitter end however unlikely it was looking for us.

It had all started so well shortly after 3pm as Mo scored his 4th in 4 and incredibly another glanced header from a decent cross from Norman. Mo doesn’t score headers, so you start to think if Mo is winning headers and they’re going in, this could be our season, but within 5 minutes Colchester scored two quick fire similar goals, balls played in from the wing, nobody inside the six yard box took any responsibility and Joe Taylor comfortably found the back of the net both times.

Against Crawley we looked weak against this type of delivery and on this evidence we have learned nothing from that game, also concerning, that’s yet another game we have fallen for the old one two.

At halftime as usual I went outside to smokers’ corner where you can always find a good critic of the regime and the “MK Way” and there was no shortage of candidates as one or two were already predicting that if this dross football continued GA could well be gone by Christmas, it was hard to argue as this style of anti-football was hard to watch and looked suspiciously like a re-run of the Crawley game, and there was still no sign of the stench of last seasons’ relegation being gone.

Despite trying the hoof ball technique up field for 90 minutes on Tuesday night and getting nothing, undaunted the Dons ploughed the same pointless furrow with Tucker being the main culprit just hoofing it indiscriminately forward to no one, so long as it went high and long, that seemed to be the criteria, it was awful…. bloody awful.

Before I get any further I should probably mention the fact that Colchester didn’t look anything special…far from it…. but we were so poor, they didn’t really need to be much good, and so far the only thing I can deduce out of League 2 is it is contrary to pre-season beliefs, bloody awful, and lacking in quality of any kind. To think we are second in the league playing like this takes some understanding, which also leads me to think, if Pete allows GA to do a bit of decent business and we secure the players needed that could really strengthen our hand in a very poor division.

I suggested leading up to this game in my preview, our fortune or lack of it would depend on what version of the Dons would turn up, initially it looked like the Wrexham version, but the two quick goals quickly reset us to the Crawley default, as I’ve said, terrible football to watch, and seemingly devoid of any real plan or tactic.

So, for those that never went or watched on a dodgy firestick, or listened in on IFollow or 3CR you will doubtless want to know how we went from cruising to defeat, to pulling off a smash and grab.

It’s an admission that sticks in my throat somewhat, but the introduction of Dennis and the questionable Ash Hunter seemed the most likely reason. For those that tune in on a regular basis you will know I haven’t given glowing reports about Hunter, and I was already preparing a “Ash is Gash” type theme, but in the final 15 minutes his experience told and instead of all the hit and hope that we had been subjected to, he hit a delicate intelligent ball to Gilbey who forced his way past two defenders and knocked it over the onrushing Goodman in the Colchester goal. Strangely the goal wasn’t celebrated wildly by Dons fans, I think it was just pure relief we had finally drawn level however unlikely it had seemed up to that point.

A minute or two later regular time was up, and the board went up….. “11 minutes” …..and the whole mentality of the game seemed to change. Colchester fans fell silent, our drum fired up, and all of a sudden we and the players smelt blood.

We were loud…very loud…and you just sensed we might just steal this from right under their noses. Their keeper pulled off a wonder save on the line but it looked like our chance had gone but with about a minute left Harvie knocked a cracking ball into the box to pick out Hunter, he controlled it and laid it to the edge of the box to Dennis who took a touch and fired it into the bottom corner past the despairing dive of Goodman…..all hell broke loose…..chaos, with fans charging down the steps to join in the celebrations of the players….you had to be there it was epic, it was bloody lovely.

Two minutes later it was done, Colchester’s players sunk to their knees, and their keeper who had spent much of the 2nd half eating up the seconds with his slow play collapsed faced down on the turf…. crestfallen…..it was a magic moment to finally enjoy after watching such turgid football.

As I walked out of the ground following the GA fist pump, I saw two coppers hurrying towards our exit gates and I shouted out “Hurry up, there’s been a robbery”, …. well, it got a laugh, but it really was daylight robbery.

Two minutes from normal time Social Media was on the brink of a biblical meltdown and I won’t be the only one that has had to temper their criticisms post-match, for what it’s worth, IMHO the late comeback has plonked a bloody big bit of wallpaper over the cracks.

Sorry but you might be thinking what a miserable sod…we won…..yes I get that, and I am chuffed to bits, and I know I said we are not going to get away with playing rubbish and win again very soon when we beat Tranmere, and we’ve gone and done it again a week later…..like I said the only conclusion I can reach after watching every game this season, is this league (currently) is very poor.

Last season we would have undoubtedly lost this, so we should probably praise them for believing we could get something out of the game, but I have the feeling we the fans should take a lot of praise out of this for dragging the players kicking and screaming over the winning line.

Of course, I would love the victories to continue, but I’m not really sure I can cope with watching this every week for another 42 games.

Doncaster next, and no, I have no idea what’s going to happen…. see you later in the week for the preview.

WD

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Read the MELTDOWN after every game, no bullshit, just giving it straight

Thanks WD. I agree with nearly all. I thought their two wingbacks were potent. Both were strong, tricky and quick, but their 48 was on a different level. His pace was like watching a Road Runner cartoon (which I haven’t done in 50 years before you ask).

You can find my fuller thoughts on this numbnuts anti-football way of playing on the’GA after 2 games’ thread. I get an emphasis on fitness, workrate and winning mentality, but if we don’t start to see some evidence of actual coaching going on soon, I’d want to claw back half GA’s wages if I was Pete. If the ‘find a way to win’ mantra amounts to GA’s overall philosophy, then that is an excuse for coaching bordering on absenteeism IMO.

There was no evidence of coaching in pre-season and none since the season started (albeit opportunities have been few in recent weeks). If we don’t see any evidence in the coming weeks with just one league match per week, then I’ll be counting the days until GA is ousted.

Upon his appointment, few on here (myself included) could understand why GA was sacked from Salford, five games into the season and sitting in fifth place. Maybe now we know why. And then there was Motherwell's poor run of form before his dismissal......

That’s a very good point…..I’d forgotten about that.

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Read the MELTDOWN after every game, no bullshit, just giving it straight

I said a few weeks ago regarding style - if we are winning you can turn a blind eye to the style of play (well almost, I personally hate the football and it’s destroyed my enjoyment) but as soon as we have a spell of poorer results things will turn sour very very fast. There is no enjoyment on offer other than the possible 3 points.

Imagine the atmosphere on here if we didn’t win yesterday.

I like the phrase 'anti football'.
The rest is ok(ish).

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Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment

Three points is three points.

For an "anti-football" side playing away from home, we had:

55% of the possession
11 shots
7 on target
6 corners
Forced 4 saves

All of which were superior to Colchester.

I still prefer anti-football, keeps Aliramone happy….and that’s not easy.

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Read the MELTDOWN after every game, no bullshit, just giving it straight

Goes to show how false a picture stats can present. They were much better on the ball than us. By a long way.

I like the winning and I was ecstatic as everyone else. But we can’t continue like this. Even if we continue winning we will not be building the foundations we’ll need going forward.

If GA turns us into another Preston, fine. But we’re a long way from that.

Tbh in May we were a long way from being any sort of side. I always think that two symptoms of a good side are:

a) Scoring last minute goals, and
b) Winning when playing way off the pace

We are a very long way from a finished article and there is so much to still be done, but there is no way either of those two things happen for us last season, against any side in the division.

If it was Wrexham, Notts, Stockport or Gills winning 3-2 away from home - against anyone - coming from behind with a last minute goal, we would be shitting our pants and waxing lyrical about stuff like resilience, bouncebackability, togetherness, "that's what it takes to win sometimes" blah blah blah.

"Much better on the ball than us", well...maybe? So? Much better on the ball (despite somehow not actually having it for as long as we did), and zero points. Being better on the ball counts for very little if you concede more goals than you score.

I'm still a little bit confused why the big concern is the style of play as opposed to basic things like cutting out crosses which have nothing at all to do with the style and everything to do with individual coaching.

I'll save my blackpill doomsaying until after the window closes. If we make 2-3 good additions we will be alright. If not, then I agree that we will be found out, for sure, later this season, and the fans will need to start asking some serious questions.