My blood is blue - Comments

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#864364 Colchester United Save | Built the Hard Way 🔵⚪️

My blood is blue

14 years ago

3 months ago

15 Jan 2026 20:40:20

Cmon the Us…

Thought I’d post this because it’s ended up being one of the most enjoyable saves I’ve done, mainly because it never felt comfortable at any point.

Took over with basically no money at all, and for the first three seasons I didn’t spend anything. First window summed it up really — two signings, both useless.

Vitinho did absolutely nothing and Ebiowei’s only real consistency was bad training reports. No money to fix it either, so I just had to get on with it.

I ended up loaning out most of the youth team early on just to get wages down. It wasn’t about development at that stage, just keeping the club going.

League Two was a slog.

First season we somehow finished 7th and nicked the playoffs, but we completely fell apart at the end of the season. Form was awful and we honestly just weren’t good enough — the semis showed that.

Mbick basically carried us that year with 32 goals, then went back to his parent club and we had no chance of replacing that output.

Second season, Tovide finally got his chance after playing second fiddle and just as he started to look decent… ACL in January. Out for nine months. From there it just drifted and we finished 8th.

Third season was tight. Really tight. We went up automatically in 2nd, finished on 86 points with two other teams, but got over the line on goal difference. Nothing comfortable about it at all.

By then the save had kind of decided what it was going to be.

Youth stopped being a future plan and became the main thing. Abidekun, Emery and Bostock all came through and have been involved every season. I’ve also had two really good youth intakes, and the youth team is stacked now compared to where it was.

I’m now in season four, and this is where things finally changed financially.

I sold James Bostock to Fulham for £11m. That sale is literally the only reason I’ve been able to spend any money at all. Fulham loaned him straight back and he had a brilliant League One season for us — which makes it even more annoying that he won’t be part of the Championship squad, because he’s been massive.

Because of that sale I was able to bring in Harrison Ashby for £1.1m as a right wing-back, which suits the system perfectly. Emery, who filled in at right-back last season, now covers him.

The tactics in the screenshots are basically how I’ve played all season. In possession I tweak things depending on who I’m playing, but the idea is always the same — be aggressive and outscore teams. We commit bodies forward, accept a bit of risk, but when we lose the ball it still drops into a solid shape so we’re not completely open.

And it’s worked.

We’ve just won League One, scoring 98 goals in 43 games. The title was secured with a 3–2 win against Cardiff, which felt like a perfect microcosm of our League One season — we’ll concede chances, but we’ll score more than you.

Now it’s Championship time, and the big question is which youngsters are actually ready and which probably need another year or a loan.

Happy to share more if anyone’s interested — tactics, youth players, or how I’m planning to approach the Championship.