Colchester 0-2 Saints - Match Thread

[Suhari]

Great goal young man.

Congratulations!

Edited 2 hours ago by Suhari

[Lighthouse]

Quality goal that, delighted for the young lad. Great ball from Finn.

[davefizzy14]

Akachukwu 😊 get in! 

[OttawaSaint]

Did you see that Tom F?

[coalman]

We've looked so much better since Bragg and Larin came on. We shouldn't underestimate the difference that Bragg alongside Downes has made.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Brilliant goal from Romeo A!!!

[NewYorkSaint]

and that time a truly beautiful ping ping ping BOOM.  huzzah!  now bring on the season.

[Mr X]

Really good finish 

[Saint NL]

That's a great pass and finish. Happy for the lad

[whelk]

Tonda’s subs still working

[Lighthouse]

That was a rarebit of Colchester attacking from Leake.

[stknowle]

K’bosh. Luvverly finish. 

[The Kraken]

Lovely goal, lovely finish.

[macca155]

Good goal, always great to see one of youngsters score.

Job done

[James]

Romeo looks a good player.

[Saint Fan CaM]

He called for it - Azaz gave it - and the lad did the rest. Lovely. That’ll be another £20m in the coffers.

[Greedyfly]

Lovely stuff. 

 

Also highlights that despite me whining throughout this thread, that this really is a meh league cup game and we shouldn't read an awful lot into it. 

 

Been largely dominant second half, our first team probably wins this at a canter, in second gear and good to give a youngster some mins and a goal. 

 

And also I've had some alcohol.

[Swaythling Saint]

Great finish that

[Mr X]

Oh archer! 

[obelisk]

Archer through with a chance. Not a cool finish.

[sockeye]

lovely goal...

[CSA96]

FT: Colchester United 0-2 Southampton

[Saint Fan CaM]

Archer has almost the same job to do one on one and…flops.

[obelisk]

A win. Fairly comfortable but surely the BBD experiment has failed.

[Saint86]

Lovely goal for the 2nd one. Larin nod down and a great through ball by azaz! The young lad looks like he's going to have a good future... Reckon we'll be seeing a bit of him off the bench this year. Love that eckert trusts the academy - finally got a manager that brings them through properly.

[CanadaSaint]

The big takeaway for me is Bragg - composed, aware, did the defensive part well, and (unlike most of the others) didn’t waste time getting the ball forward.

[whelk]

lol at the pricks moaning about Archer for that 

 

[hypochondriac]

Much better second half. BBD should never play for us again. Not sure Dobbin has found his best position yet but obviously early days. Would be good to see Dobbin with all our first choice attacking players.

[Harry_SFC]

Amazing what happens when you've got a proper CF on the pitch.

[Sir Ralph]

Got through. Sell Diaz buy another target man. Bragg looked good - has always looked class and in my opinion will go onto achieve big things

Edited 2 hours ago by Sir Ralph

[The Kraken]

Second half much better but that’s understandable, Colchester pressed really well in the first half but couldn’t keep it up. 

Our lot seemed to gain in confidence, having big Cyle up top made a massive difference. Azaz for me ahead of Dobbin so far. Delighted for the lad Romeo, great finish to culminate a super move.

Braggy in midfield really shored it up too. Our formation just relies on a big man up top and a strong two sitting in midfield. Jander is a miss but hopefully Bragg and Downes do the job until he’s back.

Manning’s delivery is quality. When he’s on it, he’s one of the best at this level.

[Jimmy_D]

Not a fantastic game, but decent enough to knock the competitive rust off, especially once the subs came on. Decent practice against a team sitting deep and really good to see Larin off the mark already.

[captainchris]

41 minutes ago, Dr Who? said:

Seriously though we rarely start seasons well, not sure why! 

This game does feel like a friendly rather than a cup tie, that to be fair I only start getting interested at the quarter final stage… about when we go out! 

Could it be playing weak teams pre season… 4 games, all except one against very weak opponents … 

[stknowle]

14 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Did you see that Tom F?

See what?

Edited 2 hours ago by stknowle

[Lighthouse]

Hardly an all time classic but I’ll take any away win, especially in the cup. It definitely had a first game of the season feel to it and overall we looked, let’s just say rusty. Two moments of quality from Manning and Azaz were the difference in the end. Hopefully next weekend the latter and Larin are both fit to start.

[beatlesaint]

I understand why Tonda tried BBD but the guy just isn’t the right fit here for some reason.

Hopefully Azaz can play next week, Dobbin can have Fellows place and Larin starts.

[Toussaint]

Good to get the rust out today rather than next week 

[saint michael]

Good controlled win. They were always going to tire chasing the game then we score. Professional performance 

[Toussaint]

Just now, beatlesaint said:

I understand why Tonda tried BBD but the guy just isn’t the right fit here for some reason.

Hopefully Azaz can play next week, Dobbin can have Fellows place and Larin starts.

It’s strange, seemingly done ok elsewhere but has some sort of PTSD when he puts the Saints shirt on. 

[hypochondriac]

Tonda looks a lot happier and more relaxed than last season. Maybe he's just more used to the job or maybe becoming a father has changed him a bit. Good to see.

[Saint_clark]

23 minutes ago, davefizzy14 said:

Akachukwu 😊 get in! 

Bless you.

[hypochondriac]

Today further confirmed how amazing it is that we have signed Peretz permanently. Probably our best player for me and just so important to have a top quality keeper. No more having to put up with Bazunu hopefully ever again.

[Toadhall Saint]

Just now, hypochondriac said:

Today further confirmed how amazing it is that we have signed Peretz permanently. Probably our best player for me and just so important to have a top quality keeper. No more having to put up with Bazunu hopefully ever again.

Never looks flustered. Whereas Baz….  

[Harry_SFC]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

Today further confirmed how amazing it is that we have signed Peretz permanently. Probably our best player for me and just so important to have a top quality keeper. No more having to put up with Bazunu hopefully ever again.

Most important player for sure. No one else could've had an impact like he has.

[davefizzy14]

Manning and Azaz assists were class 😊

[Saint86]

11 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

I understand why Tonda tried BBD but the guy just isn’t the right fit here for some reason.

Hopefully Azaz can play next week, Dobbin can have Fellows place and Larin starts.

He can't play target man or left wing with his limited ball control.

Edited 2 hours ago by Saint86

[BARCELONASAINT]

15 minutes ago, captainchris said:

Could it be playing weak teams pre season… 4 games, all except one against very weak opponents … 

I've been saying the exact same thing for the last 4 seasons. Our preseason preparations for me have been really poor.

[saintant]

Great goal by the young lad and Azaz played a slide rule pass. Bragg was very good when he came on. Dobbin was disappointing but hopefully will get better.

As Tonda said we wore them down then picked them off much as we did for many wins last season. 

Colchester deserve some credit and they gave us a good work out.

Should have had a penalty.

[The Kraken]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

Today further confirmed how amazing it is that we have signed Peretz permanently. Probably our best player for me and just so important to have a top quality keeper. No more having to put up with Bazunu hopefully ever again.

Just reinforces how much a strong spine is vital. Changing Bazunu and Armstrong/Archer for Peretz and Stewart/Larin made the biggest differences last term.  Having a four of Downes, Charles, Jander and Bragg was a privilege. Big chance for Bragg to be more of a CM cog if Charles goes as expected.

Thank god the Bazunu experiment is over (as you say, hopefully). His disastrous spell at Stoke really only served to enforced his quite obvious flaws.

[Gloucester Saint]

1 minute ago, Saint86 said:

He can't play target man or left wing with his limited control.

Difficult to understand how he achieved it with some success for Blackburn based on what we’ve seen. I wonder if it’s David Speedie syndrome eg moved from north, didn’t want to in many ways and just isn’t tuned in.