rjwc22

I''m with you Salahuddin, cannot help but feel optimistic in the summer and as we saw last year all can change in 45 mins of the first game! I really like the squad Lambo is assembling and think Surman is a quality signing. A couple more like this and might be hitting an 8, but think we will struggle to do better than playoffs as there are still some big strong teams like Cardiff and Boro to contend with.

How have we all been fooled - are they not really signing or are they not really players? I think most people recognise that nobody signed so far is going to set the world on fire but at least the club appear to be being proactive and I for one agree with having the team together for preseason to mould them into an integrated group.

That is not right in this day and age! Are they run by First group?

Why can''t you use buses - head height too low for the pointy hat one assumes!

I think the longer we hear nothing about Forster the better it looks tbh. I think this one is in the bag for the loan but maybe there is talk ongoing about a view to a permanent move. No news is good news!

Would be nice to get a bonus £250k for the transfer kitty though. No idea how much it might be as we were pretty over a barrel when we sold him. I seem to remember something like 15% of the profit being talked about at the time.

I think Keane is too focused on getting Chopra and keeping Wickham to be looking at Bailey at the moment. Plus he has consistently shown a preference for Prem players, not sure he would spend the money on a league 1 midfielder.

Following football teams has never been subject to much of a drop in recessions etc with more problems being caused by TV coverage. At a basic level, the club have a ground to fill and would rather have a full stadium just covering their costs than a half empty one costing them money. They would drop prices accordingly. Either way, nice attempt to integrate political considerations into the board!

http://www.teamtalk.com/news/2483/6197825/Hammers-not-planning-Green-talks Seems they are not planning to offer him a new contract any time soon - might pave the way for a move to Arsenal or somethere else if he has a good world cup. Pretty sure we have a sell on clause on him so a big money move would be great for the transfer kitty. Then again knowing Green, think it quite likely he injures himself before saturday, misses the whole tournament and rots at Upton Park!

Not sure this says anything about Cowling except that he will let his manager makes decisions about which players to keep or sell. We also don''t know how much we have paid or how good the guy is so think it is a bit early for gloating.

I think having a cultured cm who can pass the ball around a al Chippy is no bad thing. I think Gill and TJ will be off and will wait and see with Rusty.

I think it is great for fans that we do not have to sit through 8 weeks of off season with nothing to get excited about. That said, think you can only call it the right way to do it if it brings the results next season. I will not pre-judge any players PL brings in, but nor will I pre-judge his transfer dealings.

Joe Cole?

[quote user="cufcone"][quote user="Old Shuck"]Cowling is like a small child that''s had its lollipop taken away by a nasty grown up! Now its crying, screaming, and throwing a tantrum, "I hate you, I hate you!", adding "I''m going to tell on you!!", when will the "na na na na naaaaa!" follow? You do think he might have made the same effort to keep hold of Bothroyd-he let him go without a fight, yet is still lamenting for his predecessor! Its almost as if he let Bothroyd go to Coventry so easily and smoothly -and made such a big deal about how well CCFC "conducted themselves" in the process-just to try and rub our noses in it a little more, therefore using Bothroyd as a pawn in his little anti-Norwich game! He won''t get a points deduction. Every other case in the future would see, if that happened, us demand that the same sanctions apply to clubs who break the same rule (and we admitted to it, FFS!) in future-does Cowling think that clubs are never going to approach managers in work again? It happens with players, people see transfers as part and parcel of the game, and yes, of course they are tapped up, of course they leave whilst under contract, thats what transfer fees are for, and we''ve just paid a transfer fee for Lambert! No wonder they appointed Ward from within, he and CUFC couldn''t possibly be seen, with all this going on, to even think about approaching a Manager currently in work somewhere else! "...you start next season on -10 points" -nice one![/quote] I think we let Aidy go to Coventry without a fight because i''m not sure if Cowling thought he was the right man for the job after the way we played towards the end of the season,we slipped out the play offs because Aidy only had one style of play and when teams found out how to play against it he just didn''t know what to do. The reason Cowling was so upset about what happened with Lambert was because of the timing of when he walked out,he put alot of his own money into building a squad that Lambert wanted only for him to leave after two games so i can understand why he is so p**sed off even if i think some of his comments the last 10 months have gone a bit too far. As for Ward i know alot of Colchester fans are not happy but to be honest we are still only a small club in this league and appointing someone from within is the best option,if we had gone for a big name we would probably be looking again next summer for a new manager. Hopefully both clubs can just accept the punishment given and concentrate on what will be an important season for both of us as i''m sure thats what all us fans want.... [/quote] Well said CUFCONE! Best of luck for next season.

Now you have just opened yourself up again if there is no conference with 3 signings this week. Sometimes best to give up on these things old man.

I think a full and frank apology is in order to the whole of the forum and Wayne Bridge.

Early days still but certainly good times back at CR. I think there will be a big shift to adapt back to Champ football but the league will be open and think we have a chance. Just need a couple of stellar signings to drop in and who knows!

Al Bangura was highly rated when he was at Watford I seem to remember - def cm.

Tallies with what my Cov mate has told me, will certainly give the guy a chance to prove himself.

[quote user="Big Slob"]If it''s the one i think it is, he''s a very good penalty taker, don''t know much about his defending though[/quote] Think that is his brother Darren.

Just got off the phone with a friend who is a Cov season ticket holder. He says that a few seasons back Ward was great but did not get on with Dowie which led to a run in the reserves and questionable fitness. Not the quickest but apparently solid and good in the air. Not sure I take much confidence from this as imagine his wages will not be small.

I think certainly for a few years the season ticket sales will still be buoyant. Would be a nice problem to have though.

Well said macdougall...

[quote user="Mustachio Furioso"]The last sentence says it all...[/quote] Not really as it refers to the previous sentence, but see what you mean.

Is this a prelude to the exit of Rusty?