Keeper Ben Williams is leaving Colchester United (From Gazette)

Mr Honest says...
10:55am Tue 3 Jul 12

I would love to come on here and praise the club one day instead of being negative all the time but they dont make it easy for me! Williams and Vincent have both left in the last 24 hours, Gillespie sold, Magnus leaving next. I think a relegation battle is on for next season. Mark Cousins as a number one doesnt fill me with confidence. I think keeping Wordsworth will be difficult now. Although he is an arrogant so and so, he is our biggest asset and I think our lack of ambition could see him handing in a transfer request. As for Sears joining, no chance, we wont be able to match his wage demands. Please CUFC, give me something to be positive about for once!

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super waluigi says...
11:08am Tue 3 Jul 12

This really was only a matter of time.

He is a good keeper, but lucky for us we have another 2 good goalies waiting.

I also don't think he is any less replaceable at col u than other goalies that have left in recent years. Davidson out and gerkin in, was a very similar situation for us.

We will be fine with out him (as good as he could have been for u's next season)

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Mr Honest says...
11:37am Tue 3 Jul 12

Magnus has just left too!!

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Another Point of View says...
11:49am Tue 3 Jul 12

Might get myself a pair of boots. Way things are going they are going to be picking the team from the stands next season.

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Ozzie says...
11:49am Tue 3 Jul 12

I agree with all previous comments on here, and I understand that Magnus decided last week to leave. It is really concerning, that so many reasonable players are leaving us though! I really hope that we can now move forward and rebuild our team. I am trying to be optimistic about the new season,but it is difficult in the light of no positive news for the lifelong U's fans. Up the U's!!

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lollardknight says...
12:23pm Tue 3 Jul 12

Both Ben and Magnus are good division one players but not top players! Ben was a good shot stopper but his kicking was terrible, thats why man united got rid of him when he was younger, as for Magnus all he was good at was cleaning up goal keepers punts down field, not as good a Pat Baldwin in controlling it bringing it out and passing it to others!
Lets see how they progress at their new clubs. Thanks for your time here but Cousins and Eastman will do us well.

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Feisty CBC says...
12:23pm Tue 3 Jul 12

I don't think there is anything much to choose between Williams and Cousins so no great loss. Wish Ben well in his search for a new club, he has done well for us.

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Surb says...
1:14pm Tue 3 Jul 12

Another Point of View wrote:
Might get myself a pair of boots. Way things are going they are going to be picking the team from the stands next season.

Well at least the club are doing the right things to bring in fans, and to increase attendences, NOT!

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TheCaptain says...
1:33pm Tue 3 Jul 12

What else couldd the club do? They have to cut the wage bill so can't comete with bigger clubs. Willams and Magnus will play at a higher level. Ok we could have kept Gilly but it appears to have been a good offer. Vincent always injured and Ode never scored goals. I'm not sure losing most of these players makes us weaker accept strength in depth.

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crazy comments says...
2:47pm Tue 3 Jul 12

Just about a 2000 guaranteed crowd for next season I reckon. COWLING and WARD are destroying this club.

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TheCaptain says...
3:07pm Tue 3 Jul 12

But what is the alternative. Yes we would all like a dynamic manager and quality players. But we haven't got any money for this.

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liamd1978 says...
3:12pm Tue 3 Jul 12

Great news i say,williams was a rubbish keeper and his new club will find this out,cousins is far better and should never of been dropped from the first team.Magus is a panic button and is rubbish at the back all he ever did was hoff the ball forward or out of play,frankly i think this move will give eastman a chance to shine as he is 100 times the player of magnus.all we need now is an experiened defender and two goal scorers

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liamd1978 says...
3:24pm Tue 3 Jul 12

Rubbish izshit has signed another deal,this is awfull news for the club,hes slow cant pass to save his life and never scores,lets hope bean keeps him out

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Boris says...
3:47pm Tue 3 Jul 12

Thanks, Ben, for all the shots you've saved over the last 3 years. And let's hope you help your new team to get promoted to the Premiership.
Meanwhile we have got two great keepers in Cousins and Pentney, so we'll get along OK.
Up the U's.

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crazy comments says...
4:49pm Tue 3 Jul 12

liamd1978 wrote:
Great news i say,williams was a rubbish keeper and his new club will find this out,cousins is far better and should never of been dropped from the first team.Magus is a panic button and is rubbish at the back all he ever did was hoff the ball forward or out of play,frankly i think this move will give eastman a chance to shine as he is 100 times the player of magnus.all we need now is an experiened defender and two goal scorers

Personally I think Cousins was a better stopper at close range shots , but if you then get a side that pump high balls across the area, Cousins struggles. I am sure Ben will prove his worth and show you and a few others that he is capable of playing in the championship and I wish him every success. I'm sure Mark will not less us down. He never has done before and now it will give him the chance to the permanent No1

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Eddy D says...
5:35pm Tue 3 Jul 12

Good player for sure ad yes he will be missed, as will Magnus, but they're not irreplaceable. Last season was William's worst and he made a fair few mistakes and his kicking is as I've seen at this level. Cousins has been wrongly dropped after good form the last few seasons and he's always had that air about him that he knows that, regardless of his form, he will always be dropped when Williams is fit. Hopefully now knowing he IS number 1 will see him make the position his own. He deserves his chance and we should be focusing on Mark Cousins as a loyal, patient, good servant to the club being rewarded and not on another "star" g. Good luck to Ben but this has been on the cards for some time. As for Magnus? Always over rated in my opinion. He has had some very shaky games and there are better players out there than him anyway. Again I wish him all the best but he's the past and I look forward to what the future holds. Vincent is the same. I always raved about Vincnet and really thought he had the ability to go far but watching him against MK Dons last season, when Dean Lewington gave him a rough ride, he completely dissappeared out of the game and never had the bottle to take him on. After that he lost his edge and his iinjury record is a gamble. With Ben, Kay, Gilly, Magnus, Lloyd James (never lived up to his potential) and Ashley now gone it clears a lot of that excess on the wage bill as these guys were invariably the higher earners and opefully some of that money can be reivnested a little more wisely this time. To be fair to Ward of the guys mentioned above only James was recruited by him, (on a free), and Ward's use of the transfer market has been better pound for pound than the last few managers. (He never threw money at the likes of Hakney did he?). At least we can stop playing this guessing game now and we know who of these players are no gone. I look forward to seeing a fresher, hopefully more committed sqad, next season. We're still to see the best of Coker, Aldred, Eastman and O'toole (the one I really felt we needed to hang onto with Wilson), and we have Bender, Sanderson, Hamilton and Ladapo a little closer to the first team now. I'm quietly optimisitic. Not saying were going up or even reach the play off offs but we'll be mid table or better I think. Oh and I'm glad Izzett is staying on too. I know he splits opinions but as a team we look more solid with him there when he's not and i think he and Duguid, (and to an extent Heath who, for all his faults, is a sound professional), will have a bigger "off the pitch" role and influence with the younger lads than they will contribute on it. I'm going for "glass half full" on this. Can't wait for the new season and 6 easy points against the blades and pompey!

Good player for sure ad yes he will be missed, as will Magnus, but they're not irreplaceable. Last season was William's worst and he made a fair few mistakes and his kicking is as I've seen at this level. Cousins has been wrongly dropped after good form the last few seasons and he's always had that air about him that he knows that, regardless of his form, he will always be dropped when Williams is fit. Hopefully now knowing he IS number 1 will see him make the position his own. He deserves his chance and we should be focusing on Mark Cousins as a loyal, patient, good servant to the club being rewarded and not on another "star" g. Good luck to Ben but this has been on the cards for some time. As for Magnus? Always over rated in my opinion. He has had some very shaky games and there are better players out there than him anyway. Again I wish him all the best but he's the past and I look forward to what the future holds. Vincent is the same. I always raved about Vincnet and really thought he had the ability to go far but watching him against MK Dons last season, when Dean Lewington gave him a rough ride, he completely dissappeared out of the game and never had the bottle to take him on. After that he lost his edge and his iinjury record is a gamble. With Ben, Kay, Gilly, Magnus, Lloyd James (never lived up to his potential) and Ashley now gone it clears a lot of that excess on the wage bill as these guys were invariably the higher earners and opefully some of that money can be reivnested a little more wisely this time. To be fair to Ward of the guys mentioned above only James was recruited by him, (on a free), and Ward's use of the transfer market has been better pound for pound than the last few managers. (He never threw money at the likes of Hakney did he?). At least we can stop playing this guessing game now and we know who of these players are no gone. I look forward to seeing a fresher, hopefully more committed sqad, next season. We're still to see the best of Coker, Aldred, Eastman and O'toole (the one I really felt we needed to hang onto with Wilson), and we have Bender, Sanderson, Hamilton and Ladapo a little closer to the first team now. I'm quietly optimisitic. Not saying were going up or even reach the play off offs but we'll be mid table or better I think. Oh and I'm glad Izzett is staying on too. I know he splits opinions but as a team we look more solid with him there when he's not and i think he and Duguid, (and to an extent Heath who, for all his faults, is a sound professional), will have a bigger "off the pitch" role and influence with the younger lads than they will contribute on it. I'm going for "glass half full" on this. Can't wait for the new season and 6 easy points against the blades and pompey! Eddy D

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crazy comments says...
5:44pm Tue 3 Jul 12

TheCaptain wrote:
But what is the alternative. Yes we would all like a dynamic manager and quality players. But we haven't got any money for this.

Cowling is digging his own grave and digging it deeper and deeper every season that passes. We had quality players and should still have,but through bad management now gone.

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Matthegame says...
6:58pm Tue 3 Jul 12

Crazy, behave yourself! Cowling ruining the club by building a £3 million pound state of the art training ground is he? Before you rant about housing value etc, answer me this if he was in it for the money who exactly is gonna pay £3 million plus for the training ground alone if/when he leaves the club. Some U's fans are so short sighted it's painful to read.
The players that have left are by no means irreplaceable, most of them on wages beyond our means as well. We have great back up in Cousins and Eastman (Great freebie signing by Ward BTW).
In the next few weeks we will pick up some fresh blood up front and at the back, in the meantime just be happy we have retained players of actual value such as Wordsworth, O'Toole, Wilson etc. Focus on that rather than whimper like orphaned puppies because we have cleared off some excessive earners from the wage bill. I have faith in Cowling (Ward not so much ;) )

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Mr Honest says...
7:13pm Tue 3 Jul 12

Mattthetwat, whats the point of having a top training ground if we have no players to train on it? The training ground was supposed to attract players. Not working is it? As for the other comments, its not about whether Williams and Magnus are irreplaceable or not its that its more players leaving and yet again no sign of anyone coming in. The youngsters are not up to it. Ladapo, Bender and Hamilton arent good enough.

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crazy comments says...
8:25pm Tue 3 Jul 12

Matthegame wrote:
Crazy, behave yourself! Cowling ruining the club by building a £3 million pound state of the art training ground is he? Before you rant about housing value etc, answer me this if he was in it for the money who exactly is gonna pay £3 million plus for the training ground alone if/when he leaves the club. Some U's fans are so short sighted it's painful to read. The players that have left are by no means irreplaceable, most of them on wages beyond our means as well. We have great back up in Cousins and Eastman (Great freebie signing by Ward BTW). In the next few weeks we will pick up some fresh blood up front and at the back, in the meantime just be happy we have retained players of actual value such as Wordsworth, O'Toole, Wilson etc. Focus on that rather than whimper like orphaned puppies because we have cleared off some excessive earners from the wage bill. I have faith in Cowling (Ward not so much ;) )

Behave myself. slap slap you naughty boy crazy. I take the point.
To me Cowling is trying to run before he walks. Its pointless in building such a large scale training ground if you have not got the structure in place to support it. Ive mentioned it on here before, who has actualy paid for this training ground. Is it out of the club funds that bemoans it has no money to spend on fresh players or has it come out of Mr Cowlings own pocket. If it has come out of the latter Mr Cowlings own pocket and then he leaves in a few years time, what happens then? The football club has no longer any share holders, which is more the pity,so that means Cowling can now dictate his own rules. If things did go pear shape,he can just walk away from a club,leaving it with nothing and himself still owning a training ground. I know through experience what goes through a switched on business mans head and how they are guided by very clever advisers. People will laugh I know but it happens. Regards this Tiptree training ground, to me its like building a large super car showroom fit for executive cars and then not having the stock to fill it, but instead having to fill it with old bangers. It does not work. Im certainly not ranting, nothing set in stone and just putting a point of view.

[quote][p][bold]Matthegame[/bold] wrote: Crazy, behave yourself! Cowling ruining the club by building a £3 million pound state of the art training ground is he? Before you rant about housing value etc, answer me this if he was in it for the money who exactly is gonna pay £3 million plus for the training ground alone if/when he leaves the club. Some U's fans are so short sighted it's painful to read. The players that have left are by no means irreplaceable, most of them on wages beyond our means as well. We have great back up in Cousins and Eastman (Great freebie signing by Ward BTW). In the next few weeks we will pick up some fresh blood up front and at the back, in the meantime just be happy we have retained players of actual value such as Wordsworth, O'Toole, Wilson etc. Focus on that rather than whimper like orphaned puppies because we have cleared off some excessive earners from the wage bill. I have faith in Cowling (Ward not so much ;) )[/p][/quote]Behave myself. slap slap you naughty boy crazy. I take the point. To me Cowling is trying to run before he walks. Its pointless in building such a large scale training ground if you have not got the structure in place to support it. Ive mentioned it on here before, who has actualy paid for this training ground. Is it out of the club funds that bemoans it has no money to spend on fresh players or has it come out of Mr Cowlings own pocket. If it has come out of the latter Mr Cowlings own pocket and then he leaves in a few years time, what happens then? The football club has no longer any share holders, which is more the pity,so that means Cowling can now dictate his own rules. If things did go pear shape,he can just walk away from a club,leaving it with nothing and himself still owning a training ground. I know through experience what goes through a switched on business mans head and how they are guided by very clever advisers. People will laugh I know but it happens. Regards this Tiptree training ground, to me its like building a large super car showroom fit for executive cars and then not having the stock to fill it, but instead having to fill it with old bangers. It does not work. Im certainly not ranting, nothing set in stone and just putting a point of view. crazy comments

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angryman!!! says...
9:34pm Tue 3 Jul 12

I think it's a shame he's left, but cousins is very good, the goalie coach has always said he has the ability it was just Ben controlled the defence better, I'm sure the continuity will help him, hopefully Petney will be up to the challenge of stepping up

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crazy comments says...
9:56pm Tue 3 Jul 12

angryman!!! wrote:
I think it's a shame he's left, but cousins is very good, the goalie coach has always said he has the ability it was just Ben controlled the defence better, I'm sure the continuity will help him, hopefully Petney will be up to the challenge of stepping up

I think your right angry man. The final offer to these players never ticked their boxes so they have now moved on. All we can do now is hope Mr Ward starts to make a couple of awaited signings.

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Boris says...
10:31pm Tue 3 Jul 12

The famous training ground is not due to Cowling's generosity. It is simply the freebie he offered to the community on return for permission to build a housing estate. He will make enough profit on that to cover 20 years of losses on the football club.
If later on he sells CUFC then, if the new owner doesn't want to buy the training ground, it will become just another building site for yet more new houses for Tiptree.

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O rly? says...
1:42pm Wed 4 Jul 12

I'd love to see CUFC become an effective feeder club, and perhaps this new training ground will go some way in enabling them to do so.

We clearly aren't going to be able to attract the highest quality players right now, so bringing them in young and selling them on is the next best thing.

Would be great to watch some rising stars too!

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Matthegame says...
2:28pm Wed 4 Jul 12

Well Mr Panic

24 hours later we have a 22 year old, ex England under 21 international on a three year deal. That might help stop your whimpering about new players coming in...for a bit.
Mr Panic, you may remember from previous season that when players come to the end of their contract sometimes they move on, don't be so afraid. When was the last time any club had their entire squad ready for pre-season anyway? You may recall at this time we play 'friendlies', sometimes in those said matches we also play 'triallists'. With record numbers of players looking for clubs we can afford to shop around to an extent for extra squad members, remember to be patient and not panic when we lose players. It happens every year, try and remember this for future reference.
Welcome on board Freddie Sears, first of many I hope!

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Keeper Ben Williams is leaving Colchester United (From Gazette)

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Keeper Ben Williams is leaving Colchester United

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