“From haunts of coot and hern”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
The once commonly heard announcement on railway trains was “All change … All change”, and it has a certain significance for both Walsall and Colchester Utd supporters after a busy January in the transfer market. Our dealings were heading towards an assessment of “meh” as some of the incoming were perhaps of unknown quantity, but at the end of proceedings Mat Sadler netted Ellis Harrison on loan from M K Dons for the rest of the season. A 31 year-old with experience in Leagues 1 and 2, he looks to be a well-chosen back up to Jamma, and possibly a preference as and when promotion is secured.
Colchester Utd have also had an eventful January, signing Michael Forbes (West Ham Utd), Jack Tucker (M K Dons), Tyreece Simpson (Stevenage), and on deadline day they welcomed Anthony Scully (Portsmouth), Kyreece Lisbie (Brentford), Kane Vincent-Young (Unattached) and Ken Aboh (Norwich City). Talk about a match where the players seem to have only just met each other!!
Connections between our two clubs centre mainly on the rugged frame of Roy McDonough who played and managed Colchester back in the 90’s. On the playing side they also had Mark Kinsella (father of Liam), and for the past 10 years or so Mark has been involved in coaching at Drogheda United, as well as the Irish U-21 set up.
Colchester’s current League 2 form can be described as “middling” - they sit 13th in the table but have only been beaten 7 times in 28 games. They’ve actually conceded fewer goals than us, but their 13 drawn games explain a mid-table position. Having said that, they’re on a decent run …
January 1st Swindon Town (A) Lost 3-2
January 4th Accrington Stanley (H) Lost 0-2
January 18th Bromley (A) Won 0-1
January 21st Harrogate Town (A) Drew 0-0
January 25th Morecambe (H) Won 1-0
February 1st Tranmere Rovers (A) Won 1-3
Mat Sadler’s headache for this (and future) matches would appear to be “Who gets selected to start, who gets a place on the bench, and who drops out of the squad?” He has something of an embarrassment of riches numerically speaking, and the parent clubs of our loaned players will no doubt be expecting game time rather than exclusion. What are your thoughts and preferences? Answers on a postcard please …
Prediction? Tricky, as always. Hopefully we have got over our “blip” of under-performing against Bradford City and Fleetwood - and to a certain extent Salford City, although we were rescued by our “fox in the box” who ironically may suffer from the January influx of bodies! We shall see.
I’ll go for a nervy 1-2 away win with goals by Messrs Amantchi and Wheatley.
UTS