Colchester United fans asked to have their say in big readers' survey

The U's finished 15th in League Two, with interim head coach Wayne Brown guiding them to safety.

After becoming embroiled in a relegation struggle, Colchester finished 17 points above the relegation zone and finished strongly, taking ten points from a possible 12 in their final four games.

Now the U's season has finished, we wanted to find out how the fanbase is feeling about some of the most important issues around the club.

More than 200 people have responded to our U's fans survey and part one of the results can be found below.

Question one: How satisfied are you with Colchester's 2021/22 campaign?

More than half of the U's supporters who responded to our survey admitted that they were 'somewhat dissatisfied' with the club's 2021/22 campaign.

More than a quarter were either 'very dissatisfied' or 'neither satisfied nor dissatisfied' while only two respondants were 'very satisfied', reflecting the club's struggles particularly in the first half of the season. 

Question two: How pleased are you with the job Wayne Brown has done as interim head coach?

Half of the Colchester fans who took part in our survey made it clear that they are 'somewhat pleased' with the job that Wayne Brown has done during his three-and-a-half month spell as interim coach.

And more than a quarter of the U's fans who responded said they were 'very pleased' with the job the former Colchester defender did, after taking charge following the departure of Hayden Mullins.

Only eight of the 200-plus fans who responded said they were 'very displeased' with the job Brown has done, alongside Joe Dunne and Dave Huzzey.

Question three: Would you be happy to see Wayne Brown appointed U's permanent head coach?

Of the 211 people who answered, 127 said an outright yes.

51 replied with a definite' no', while the remaining 33 who answered did not provide a definite yes or no.

Others elaborated on their reasons as to why they felt Wayne Brown should be appointed as Colchester's permanent boss - here are a selection.

'Yes, but if we start poorly then a decision needs to be made quickly'

'Yes I think he’s earned it'

'Yes, but if it is not working then bring in someone else quickly'

'Yes - 3 months ago, no. But he has proven his worths and deserves the chance. Nonetheless, if the first 10 games are a struggle, we need to line up a replacement'

Some U's fans who were against Brown being appointed permanently explained why - here are a selection:

'No - we have made the mistake of not bringing in an experienced football league manager too many times'

'No - need to consider an external candidate with proven ability at getting clubs promoted'

'No, an average of 1.5 points per game wouldn't get us into the top 10 next season'

Question four: Who was your U's player of the season?

More than half of the U's fans who responded picked either Shamal George or Cole Skuse as their Colchester United player of the season, in keeping with the awards dished out after the club's final game of the season against Walsall.

Top goalscorer Freddie Sears picked up just under a quarter of the vote, while Noah Chilvers was close behind in fourth place.

Brendan Wiredu, Cameron Coxe, Luke Chambers, Junior Tchamadeu and Tom Eastman were also acknowledged by fans.

Question five: What was your favourite U's game of the 2021/22 season?

Colchester's game at Leyton Orient in February - where Freddie Sears' early strike gave them a 1-0 win - proved the most popular choice among fans who responded in this category.

The U's 3-0 triumph over Mark Hughes' Bradford City at the JobServe Community Stadium last month, which sealed the club's place in League Two again for next season, was also named by several supporters as their favourite match of the season.

However, most of the games picked by fans as their favourite U's games were away games, with the matches at Salford City, Harrogate Town, Hartlepool United, Scunthorpe United and Barrow - all of which ended in wins - all mentioned as particular favourites.

The splendid 3-1 home triumph over Exeter City last November was also highlighted.

Question six: How pleased have you been with the U's style of play this season?

For the vast majority of their games, Colchester adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation with Freddie Sears as their main striker.

However, in the closing stages of the season, Sears was paired up with John Akinde to good effect.

Almost half of the U's supporters to respond to the survey stated that they were 'somewhat displeased' with the style of play Colchester played throughout the season.

Of course, Wayne Brown was in charge for less than half of the season and for much of that, he was attempting to guide the U's to safety, after taking charge of them with the side three points above the relegation zone and having suffered five straight defeats.

Nearly a quarter of U's fans who responded said 'neither pleased nor displeased', while a similar number said they were 'somewhat pleased'.

Question seven: Which positions do you think the U's most need to strengthen, this summer?

We asked Colchester fans which position they feel the club most need to strengthen, this season.

Of those who responded, 34 per cent felt that bringing in a new centre-forward was the priority for the U's this summer.

Almost a quarter felt that a winger should be targeted, while the next most popular position to strengthen among fans according to those who responded was a new centre-back.