Bees v Colchester Match Reports and Reactions

[To Bee Someone]

It's worth noting, reading the reports in my local paper that Colchester's sole function these days is to stifle the opposition. The Colchester fans have been moaning about it for ages and want the manager out . Bearing that in mind, we did well to break them apart so often, even if we didn't get the goals.

I think they made the mistake in letting Gillespie go. They don't seeme to have the forwards to hurt the opposition.

[Inappropriate Smilies Bee]

looks like i am the first one back. great stuff. well done. seeing Bean on their side and not missing him at all showed me that we have progressed since last season imho. good old last minute winners. STAYING UP!!

[North London Bee]

Wow some people are tough on here.

Yes the finishing was totally unacceptable and we were pathetically pigate in front of goal and yes Sam Saunders was poor but I really think there was a lot to feel positive about.

We kept going to the end in tropical heat

We created 22, yes 22 chances in a game. There were times last season when we didn't create 22 chances in a month of home games

We kept trying to keep possession and pass the ball to feet and not hoof it like our opponents

The back four used the ball well

The 2 fullbacks did their job and gave us width and attacking options in the diamond

We have some really talented young players will could tear this league apart in Dean, Forshaw, Forrester, Bidwell and Adeyemi

We now have an aerial threat up front in Farid who scares teams

We have strength in depth and a plethora of choices particularly in midfield where we now have 8 options from which to choose 4

UR showed that CD and SS are NOT untouchables by subbing them both at the right time

Forrester showed that his skills can also have an end result

Dean and Craig looked that they might jell as a partnership

Moore had little to do but came through when he was really needed

Douglas had his best game so far this season and supported the attack well - 3 attempts at goal in the second half

I am not looking at things through rose tinted spectacles but merely trying to be objective.

We should have 5 more points already and still make silly schoolboy errors but maybe, just maybe we are gaining momentum and on the way to achieving what we all crave for this season.

Donaldson IS infuriating but yesterday's withdrawal might concentrate his mind.

We certainly made it hard for ourselves and through our own shortcomings a game we should have won 4-0 was almost drawn 0-0 and we could conceivably have lost it if Colchester had taken one of their 3 gilt-edged chances as the heads would have gone down and the game would surely have drifted away in the heat.

The win must not make us forget our errors which were many but I really think there is quite a bit to be happy about too.

[wanderer paul]

Well put NLB, last season we'd have created 2 chances and put neither away, so far this season we have created quite a number of chances in most games, there's some tough people to please!

[Inappropriate Smilies Bee]

Good post NLB

[NorthamptonBee]

Do you morons realise you are agreeing with a bloke who got a football whacked into the side of his head before kick off? I spent the 2nd half watching him hold an ice-pack to his temple whilst dribbling and asking me when Ga Ga was coming on.
Yesterday was ok but we made hard work of beating a very ordinary side, loads of positives but some negatives where there to be seen, it's 3 points nearer to the Championship and hopefully enough of watching the team's progression and understanding, it needs to be as yesterday's prformance won't get us into the next level when the better boys come out to play.

[King John]

Am I the only one who thinks Craig played well and looked solid?:S

He was inconsistent and always makes mistakes. He does not seem to be very confident- give hima run in the reserves to he gets his confidence back. Leon Legge is better in my opinion and has played well this season but for some reason Rosler is not picking him. Legge can play at championship level easily. I feeel sorry for him that Craig is getting in ahead of him and he is the better defender. No loyalty from Rosler for a player who does not let us down.

[Kettering Bee]

Let's agree to disagree, I thought he did ok and certainly didn't come off second best when up against Douglas who had to foul him. I don't want him back but think your viewpoint biased and inaccurate on this occasion.

Agree with this Sonofa.

[staines_bee]

A good performance against a team who only set up to come for a point. Didn't realise we created as many as 22 chances in the game so I guess Col U finally wilted at the end and it was a deserved victory. Farid is the striker the endless debates on here have been talking of, has great link up play and is clinical when it matters. Donaldson on the other hand is a barrel of laughs... unbelievably frustrating yesterday, yes, I know Farid missed a one-on-one but CD was woeful. Despite that he gives defenders more to think about than Hayes at this moment in time, though that could not be for much longer.

On to the midfield, Saunders deserved to be subbed just after half-time, Douglas wasn't much better however he didn't need to be as Dave and especially Forshaw put in two excellent shifts. I agree with others on here that the latter is too good for League One and we'll do well to keep him for as long as remain in this division. I felt once Harry came on we looked a lot more vibrant in attack and kept in on the floor more often, like Forshaw he is a little gem and the cross for the goal was worthy of a division higher. Adeyemi looked hungry when he came on and linked up well with Logan on the right hand side.

With regards to the defence, the two fullbacks were solid, getting forward whenever possible and defensively competent. Dean was my MOTM, absolute tyrant at the back and won EVERYTHING, really pleased we were able to get him this season. Despite not being threatened much by the opposition, having a CB like him inspires confidence throughout the whole team. Craig on the other hand looked suspect and nervy at times, is he suffering a crisis of confidence? As for Moore, he seems to get better with every game. Lee hasn't done much wrong to be dropped but any competition for places is healthy and this is evident for the whole squad.

A win at Orient on Thursday and we are dead-certs for the top six.

[jlove]

He was inconsistent and always makes mistakes. He does not seem to be very confident- give hima run in the reserves to he gets his confidence back. Leon Legge is better in my opinion and has played well this season but for some reason Rosler is not picking him. Legge can play at championship level easily. I feeel sorry for him that Craig is getting in ahead of him and he is the better defender. No loyalty from Rosler for a player who does not let us down.

A manager does not select players on loyalty, otherwise Kev would playing every week. We don't have a reserve team and if you think Legge is easily championship level then you must be his agent. Leon is what Leon is; great at heading but scary as anything with the ball near his feet. There will be games this season where his abilities will be most welcome but I doubt it will be many times at home.

[The Pipe]

King John I respect your views regarding Leon however toraly disagree with you. Leon is ideal as a tough CB in a team without aspirations. He is not gifted with pace and neither is he a ball player, his strengths are there for all to see and ideal to come off the bench if we are being battered or in some Northern outpost where they have a giant forward

As for playing in the Championship I fear that it is a step to far for a player of his ability. Have a great deal of respect for him as a person and as a player but wonder whether he will be with us next season

[wibs]

I am not looking at things through rose tinted spectacles

No, just the fog of concussion. :-)

[KD]

May be a generation thing but why do so many people abbreviate like COYR nowadays?!!! May be we have the likes of twitter with it's limited number of characters to thank for it? I'm a traditionalist therefore still love....

Up The Bees!

Only the GPG (Griffin Park Grapevine) could complain about posts being too long and too short on the same page. Good work.

[Berkobee]

I think what impressed me most about yesterday's performance was the way we maintained our tempo and urgency for the whole 90 minutes in very hot conditions. If we had gone ahead, as we should have, early on, we would have sat back and defended our lead, at least in the second half. I wish we had, of course, but it wouldn't have been such a good game.

[Brickie Chap]

Deserved win but Donaldson is never going to be the forward to get us up. Woeful in front of goal.

[macsalisbee]

listened to Radio Solent on the way back from hols in Weymouth-the reporter said 'a late goal from Colchester at Griffin Park could well be the decider' -a minute later 'sorry_correct score Brentford 1 Colchester 1'-waited through Weymouth and Bashley FA Cup reports before final score stated as 1-0!

[Plug One]

Mick C - don't stop your match reports, they're a great read fella!

[wibs]

listened to Radio Solent on the way back from hols in Weymouth-the reporter said 'a late goal from Colchester at Griffin Park could well be the decider' -a minute later 'sorry_correct score Brentford 1 Colchester 1'-waited through Weymouth and Bashley FA Cup reports before final score stated as 1-0!

Rollercoaster!

[Paul O'Brien]

Battled to the end again, which is good. But, seriously, those two one on ones we missed - shocking.
First pen call was nailed on. Second not so sure but we had a good shout for it. Atwell is rubbish.
Ok Clayton wasn't putting them away but the fat Millwall boy doesn't tick many boxes ywt does he?
Col U's have a mountain to climb.

Crazy. I'm not a fan of Atwellm but he was perfectly good today. It he had been another ref, we'd have been commenting on his decent performance.

Douglas might have been inside the box or outside, but not sure which, and we'd have been rightly livid if the ref had given a free kick if it had been one of their players went down like that.

The second one was clearly not a penalty, and I was quite close to it. The ball was pretty much in the keeper's hands and our lad tripped over his arms as he was trying to get the ball.

Only quibble I had was whether we deserved our booking.

Like the ref the other week, no real controversy or brutal play to keep under control, but a definite 7-8 out of 10 for me.

[To Bee Someone]

He should have booked Henderson in the first half. Logan beat him to a loose ball on the byline and he had a kick at him as he broke away. Dirty little sh**

[wanderer paul]

Thought Attwell actually had a good game. Neither were penalties. Douglas went looking for it and failed miserably and Forrester was just beaten to it by the keeper. Probably the best ref at GP for a while.

Saunders got booked for pulling the oppos shirt twice.

[Paul O'Brien]

Thought Attwell actually had a good game. Neither were penalties. Douglas went looking for it and failed miserably and Forrester was just beaten to it by the keeper. Probably the best ref at GP for a while.

Saunders got booked for pulling the oppos shirt twice.

Generally agree, though I'd have had the one against Crewe; he let the game run a bit more.

[MikeL]

All these complaints about Donaldson, let's not forget that he still League One's top scorer with Farid in the second bunch of those who have scored 3. Not sure if this has been commented on yet but last Monday's Telegraph showed that we are top of League One in terms of shots on goal, a massive ten ahead of Crawley. And with 22 chances yesterday, we should still be there. Last season there were so few shots so let's be positive and get off the Forwards backs. Donaldson was the leading scorer in League 2 a couple of Seasons ago and so has proved that he can do it. With a bit of tweaking, the team is looking good and I saw a lot yesterday to make me feel very confident.

[beebopalula]

Main bonus for me was that everyone now looks comfortable with the playing style at last. The subs slotted in well. We kept playing the right way to the end and got the reward.It's a work in progress and we now need to show that we can get a result when we play a side that tries to knock us out of our stride i.e win or get a result ugly. If we can do that, we will be in business. I remain a bit concerned about the central defence but the management are working on it. Craig looks like he's playing the percentage stuff when the ball comes in the box-no silly errors.

[Infatuated Bees Alter Ego]

1st game of the season for me and so gald we won and got the 3 points. Only one team was going to score in the second half.
Not a great fan of Saunders and especially at the top of the diamond. His only offering seems to be from free kicks and think we could get so much more from someone like Tom playing there to support the front 2 more. Can't knock a win, but think we have some special talent in this squad and they could be utilised more.