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No U's deal for Guttridge or Watson

7:57am Monday 5th May 2008

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THE process of rebuilding for next season has already begun for the U's.

Colchester United boss Geraint Williams began before the trip to Scunthorpe, with four players told they will not be handed new deals for next season.

The biggest of the casualties were midfield duo Kevin Watson and Luke Guttridge, who will both be leaving the U's.

Also on their way are Tom Webb and Tom Devaux.

"We decided to let them know before we came away to Scunthorpe that we wouldn't be able to offer them contracts," said Williams.

"Luke is a very talented footballer but he hasn't quite gelled with anyone in that midfield unit.

"Kevin has been a magnificent servant for the club and was fantastic in the promotion season and in the Championship.

"He's struggled with injuries and we've missed him.

"But I just felt that it was time Kevin moved on to pastures new and we looked to the future."

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Muffdiver, Colchester says...
4:52pm Mon 5 May 08

Good riddance Watson. You lost the fans with your stinking comments earlier in the season. You can watch Coronation Street till your hearts content. Guttridge shouldnt have come in the first place. Not a championship player but we have gone down and could do the business in League One. When are you announcing that Balogh, Guy, Duguid, Platt and Izzet are going fat boy Williams.

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The Doctor, Colchester says...
8:13pm Mon 5 May 08

I did hear that the players had a whip round for Watson, they brought him a cardigan, pipe & slipers and a box set of coronation street to catch up on!!!
Agree with the above players to go but also including Virgo and McClown

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Say It As It Is, Clackers says...
9:04am Tue 6 May 08

Good riddance Watson. Your talents are probably more suited to watching Coronation Street anyway.

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Bigmouths Strike Again !, Colchester says...
10:25am Tue 6 May 08

Thanks to Kevin Watson for his contribution to Colchester United over the last four years, together with his honesty.Good luck for the future - will always receive a warm welcome at Cuckoo Farm. Maybe his observations with regards to a certain element of the U's "support" hit a nerve with some, but how right he was !

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WTF, Essex says...
10:52am Tue 6 May 08

WTF ???!!!??? Pretty obvious from the above that he doesnt go to any games. The pratt Watson hasnt been welcomed by fans at Layer Road since his comments. The only noise I have heard when his name is read out on the team sheet is booing.

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Bigmouths Strike Again !, Colchester says...
11:59am Tue 6 May 08

Dear friend, as a supporter of thirty two years, I have seen plenty of games to know when a player has made a significant contribution to the club and this guy did that plus a bit more. But we could never expect people like you to recognise or appreciate that

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WTF, Essex says...
12:14pm Tue 6 May 08

Dear Friend, I am afraid in my 29 years of coming to the club, not once in that time have I heard one other Us player slag off the fans, nor can I recall any other Colchester United player being boo'd by his own fans. The public have spoken, wake up and smell the roses. He might have been good but reputations are made and broken in a single moment and his lasting legacy will be his verbal contribution. If he plays against us at Cuckoo Farm, th eonly welcome he will get is an equally unfriendly one.

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WTF, Essex says...
12:43pm Tue 6 May 08

So friend, in all your years at the club, can you ever remember any other Colchester player who has acted so unprofessionally as to slate his own fans? Can you ever recall any other player at the club who has been booed every time his name is read out? But WTF do I know I have only been going for 28 years.

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Bigmouths Strike Again !, Colchester says...
1:36pm Tue 6 May 08

In all the time that that I have followed the U's, I can never think of a time where I have been more disillusioned with some of the supposed support our club receives.How can you even consider booing a player in a U's shirt ? Can you not forgive one moment of frustration from one of the key players for Colchester United in the last 4 seasons ?

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Wakey Wakey, Colchester says...
2:41pm Tue 6 May 08

I think the comments on this thread pretty much back up what Bigmouth has to say about the short term thinking and fickle nature of our fans. Kevin says one thing in the heat of the moment and some spoilt supporters forget what he has done for us over the past three or four years. History will show him to be one of the best and most important midfielders this club has had.

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Jason, Colchester says...
3:03pm Tue 6 May 08

This is not widely known because the Gazette never ran a story on it, but was mentioned on here a few months ago from someone else that Watson apologised for his comments shortly afterwards.

With that it mind, it comes solely down to performances on the pitch, and I no longer feel he is what we need so the right decision has been made releasing him. Injuries and his age have taken their toll I'm afraid. And he was honest enough to admit that he wouldn't have offered himself a contract which is more than can be said for some of his team-mates who still think they're the best thing since sliced bread.

But he made a major contribution to us getting to the Championship and last season so I thank him for that and wish him well wherever he goes next.

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WTF, Essex says...
3:28pm Tue 6 May 08

I can live with losing a game but I can easily boo a player in a U's shirt if they dont provide a 100% effort on the pitch. My throat is hoarse after last season.

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Bigmouths Strike Again !, Colchester says...
4:23pm Tue 6 May 08

Tell me what do you get out of booing a Colchester player - what do you feel when doing it (apart from hoarse)?

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WTF, Essex says...
4:32pm Tue 6 May 08

Its called expressing dissatisfaction, it has nothing to do with not supporting the team.

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Bigmouths Strike Again !, Colchester says...
8:34am Wed 7 May 08

And how does that help the team and help the player at whom you are directing this dissatisfation ?

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WTF, Essex says...
9:11am Wed 7 May 08

It informs them that they arent doing well enough.
Let me guess your one of these idiots who never complains about anything arent you? I bet when you get the painters or plumbers in and they do a shoddy job at your house, you just sit there with a silly smile on your face and say well done lads (or lasses), nice job?
No difference in my book, I pay for something I dont expect to see a lame arse performance.

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Bigmouths Strike Again !, Colchester says...
11:21am Wed 7 May 08

Fair enough when you are expecting a service in your every day life, we all expect an excellent standard of service. But football is pretty much different. It is a notoriously inconsistent business - one week the best team will look world beaters, the next they can be as bad if not worse than sides at the bottom of the table. It was clear to all that the U's fell short of the standards required to stay in The Championship for large parts of the season, that is the reason we have been relegated. For how long did you seriously expect the U's to survive in The Championship, given their financial status, facilities and fan base ? Those disadvantages were at some point going to weigh up against us and it happened to be last season. It has always had to be evolution not revolution with Colchester United and we have done pretty well on that ethos so far. Next season is a new chapter in our club's history, who knows what it will bring ? Whatever happens I hope all supporters stand by the club - Southend were in pretty much the same position as us last year but after a slow start this season managed to turn their season around with the prospect of an immediate return to The Championship - surely that is what we all want ?

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WTF, Essex says...
12:06pm Wed 7 May 08

We also expect our entertainers to entertain and not roll over in a manner so easily demonstrated last season. Would you think much of a boxer who quit on his stool without putting up a fight? Would you be inspired by an entertainer who couldnt bother to play his guitar on stage? I can think of examples of both.
The rest of your comments I dont disagree with and whatever my gripes I am always going to be a Colchester fan.

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Bigmouths Strike Again !, Colchester says...
1:55pm Wed 7 May 08

If it is constant entertainment you want then, sadly, you are supporting the wrong team. This highlights my point exactly, we all want the U's to perform brilliantly every game, but it just doesn't happen like that. Which team anywhere in the world can reach those sort of heights ? For the record my musical favourite is Morrissey and he is world renowned for cancelling concerts at short notice and generally being very temperamental on stage. For me, it is part of being a fan of someone who has human frailty, these people are not robots who can turn it on and off at will. I am sure you will tell me if I am wrong but, as far as the U's last season were concerned, you seem to be mistaking lack of effort for a lack of ability. Effort alone cannot win you football matches. Sadly, the U's just never had quite the same team, due to the sum parts (ie the players that left) being much altered.Anyway heres to a successful 2008-2009 season, in a new home, new team (by the look of the number of players that have left in the last couple of days!)and belief that the U's can progress upwards once again

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Say It As It Is, Clackers says...
2:10pm Wed 7 May 08

You are misunderstanding my comments regarding entertainment its more the effort put into it that bothers me or in the Us case, lack of it. There is a huge difference between being outplayed despite trying and being outplayed and rolling over. Too many of the Us performances last season were the later. The Boxing Day performance and the recent 5-1 drubbing at home particularly come to mind. I also put the reasons down to the break up of the squad. The change in the standard of play was all too noticeable. Too many long balls and hoofing. It doesnt work at Championship level certainly and from the Peterborough result I am not hopefuly its going to succeed at this new lower level either. I do hope we have a succesful 2008-2009 but that really depends on who Williams can bring in to fill the gaps. The club is run on a shoestring as we all well know and its going to be difficult to attract the talent neccessary to get us back up, its going to be a tough year ahead I suspect. Its going to be interesting watching the transfer market this summer!

PS I also like Morrissey, I saw The Smiths live just as they were coming into national promience.

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Bigmouths Strike Again !, Colchester says...
2:23pm Wed 7 May 08

Another Morrissey fan in Colchester ? So I am not the only one in Colchester ! Was due to see him in concert in London back in January, but just as I was stepping out of the house, to set off, the venue phoned to say he had cancelled due to illness. My first Moz cancellation, I felt quite honoured ! Never seeing The Smiths live will always irk me !

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Bigmouths Strike Again !, Colchester says...
2:43pm Wed 7 May 08

My apologies - you are in Clacton ! So I am still the only Morrissey fan in the village !

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Jason, Colchester says...
4:12pm Wed 7 May 08

I got a copy of this season's league table, screwed it up into a ball and threw it into the bin, and will be trying to erase it from my memory as far as possible. The problems are evident enough to most people but it's whats going to be done about them that really matters.

The ball is in the club's court as regards next season. They can keep up this pretence that we are not far away from being a good team, when in reality we are a million miles away from being genuine promotion material. They will sleepwalk into League Two if they continue this stance, in the same manner that we've ended up in League One when it was said in October/November that a top half Championship finish was achieveable.

Or they can wake up, smell the coffee and bring about the drastic change in management, players and attitudes needed to trouble the top six.

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Bigmouths Strike Again !, Colchester says...
8:28am Thu 8 May 08

Jason wrote:
I got a copy of this season\'s league table, screwed it up into a ball and threw it into the bin, and will be trying to erase it from my memory as far as possible. The problems are evident enough to most people but it\'s whats going to be done about them that really matters. The ball is in the club\'s court as regards next season. They can keep up this pretence that we are not far away from being a good team, when in reality we are a million miles away from being genuine promotion material. They will sleepwalk into League Two if they continue this stance, in the same manner that we\'ve ended up in League One when it was said in October/November that a top half Championship finish was achieveable. Or they can wake up, smell the coffee and bring about the drastic change in management, players and attitudes needed to trouble the top six.
Exactly what Southend fans were saying on their various forums last season and look where they finished up in the table this season; not guaranteed an immediate return but given themselves a hell of a chance. An immediate return to The Championship for the U's can never be a certainty because we all remember that the sheer effort, skill and nerve needed to get there back in 2006 shows that that was a mammoth task and it would require something similar to ensure a quick return. Yes, we all know what caused our downfall this season just gone but just because a club has a bad season, does not neccessarily mean the following one will be as poor - just look at Southend and Hull City for example.

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