Football Season Guide

Colchester are coming from another underwhelming season, as the U's were relatively close to the top six throughout the campaign, but always lacked that something extra that would help them break into the Play-Off places. Without any doubt, the main problem for the U's last term was the poor form of their strikers, as, apart from Steven Gilespie over a one month spell in February, they couldn't really count on any of their hitmen to score goals on a consistent basis. Unfortunately, from their fans' point of view, not much has been done to change this. Both Gilespie and his strike partner Kay Odejayi have left the club, while veteran Clinton Morrison signed, as did Freddie Sears, who signs permanently from West Ham after a lengthy loan spell with the club last season, despite the fact that his scoring record with the U's last term was very poor. It is well known that manager John Ward is working under a very limited budget, and this summer was yet another case of the U's not spending the money required to solve the problems that were obvious in their squad. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to see them doing better than last season, unless Morrison has a swan song season or Sears finally manages to live up from his early career promise.