HE hears every chant, every jeer and every creative insult from behind the goal - and then, at full-time, he applauds them anyway.
For Colchester United goalkeeper Thimothée Lo-Tutala, building a rapport with supporters is not a gimmick but a principle, one he has applied ever since breaking into senior football.
“I think having a rapport with supporters is important, because ultimately without them, there is no football,” he said.
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“As someone who loves football, I know what it feels like to be on the other side.
"Ultimately, I’m in goal to do a job, to keep the ball out of the net but I feel like in my personality, I’m quite positive and optimistic and I like to feed off that energy, home and away.”
Lo-Tutala acknowledges the verbal volleys that come with wearing the gloves but refuses to be drawn into negativity.
“People say stuff behind the goal and you can hear everything but at the end of the 90 minutes, when you applaud them no matter what the score is, it’s just a mutual thing and I feel like you get respect doing so," said the on-loan Hull City goalkeeper.
“I feel like you earn the opposition’s respect by the way you conduct yourself, because ultimately, you are the enemy but when they see that you’ve got a bit of personality and you can give some back, I feel like that’s when that aspect comes into play.
“I’ve done it almost every game now since I started playing and I feel like that’s definitely something I’ve learnt.
"I enjoy it – even 10-year-old’s giving me abuse in front of their parents which to this day amazes me! To be a goalkeeper, you can’t take it personally.”
With Crewe Alexandra visiting the JobServe Community Stadium on Saturday, Lo-Tutala is targeting another shut-out to help maintain Colchester’s fine early-season home form.
The 23-year-old helped the U’s record their first league clean sheet of the season in their last home game, a 1-0 win over Rochdale.
“It’s a keeper’s dream, getting a clean sheet. As long as we win, that’s the most important thing for me and hopefully, we can keep the home form going,” he said.
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“The home fans are great, the away fans are incredible – we just need them to be behind us, as always. The boys and I take that quite personally, the fans being behind us and it’s our pride really.”
Colchester’s 3-1 defeat at Swindon Town, in which Aaron Drinan scored a second-half hat-trick, offered both encouragement and frustration for the U’s.
“It was definitely a game of two halves but we should take the positives from the first half and take the learning curves from the second half,” Lo-Tutala said.
“We definitely have the players to sustain what we showed we can do in the first half and now in the games going forward, it’s just about maintaining that same level of performance and being clinical and ruthless, when we’re on top in games.”
Lo-Tutala’s penalty save at Swindon – before Drinan netted the rebound – underlined the narrow margins that define goalkeeping.
“Listen, goalkeeping is fine margins. It was a great feeling to save it but ultimately, you’re not sure where the ball will go with the rebound – it happens,” he said.
“I don’t know my penalty stats off by heart but I feel like they’re leaning towards the positive side. I do enjoy them – I feel like it’s an opportunity for me to stand out and show what I’m about and ultimately, you just have to keep the ball out of the net.
“The odds are against you but from my point of view, I feel like it’s very much a mental thing.
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“Let’s not take away from a striker – it is a very pressured situation and if I can impose even more pressure in their head, then I’m making the odds even greater in my favour.
“I just feel like it’s in my personality as well to try and get the fine margins.”
Lo-Tutala’s parent club Hull City have made an impressive start to their Premier League return, and he is following their progress.
He said: “Hull are flying! I knew they’d do well – everyone kind of wrote them off before they kicked a ball and I feel like that’s quite a powerful position to be in, when no-one expects you to do well.
“Listen, it’s a great manager, great boys and they’ve made some really good signings. I just hope that they can keep it up and I’ll be supporting them.”
For Lo-Tutala, the loan move to Colchester has a personal dimension: he grew up in Hainault and is now based close to family again.
He said: “I’m not too far from home. It’s quite weird, as I’m used to being so far up north!
“I kind of have to pinch myself and tell myself it’s OK to go home and see your parents! I can’t complain – it’s definitely a positive.”
Lo-Tutala praised the goalkeeping unit at Colchester, where he is working under goalkeeper coach, Dom Colman.
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He said: “Dom and I have a great relationship – he’s one of the key figures who brought me in.
“Day by day, we’re getting to know each other more and more, especially in the goalkeeping union and also Tom Smith, who’s a great guy.
“It’s such a tight knit group and such a special relationship.”
Despite a relatively late summer of recruitment, Lo-Tutala remains confident Colchester have the quality and character to compete.
“We definitely have the squad and the manager to perform a full 90 or 95 minutes,” he added.
“We have come in quite late in terms of player arrivals whereas other teams might have come together a little bit earlier, so might know each other a little bit better but we have to perform for however long it takes.
“I feel like everyone is gelling well – it’s a great management group and there’s some great senior boys here, so I feel like everyone is on the same page and we’re just learning more and more about each other on the training pitch and in games.”
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