Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Colchester United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Colchester United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.38 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kane Vincent-Young is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Liam Ellis and Colchester United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Colchester United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kane Vincent-Young is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Colchester United can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Bristol Rovers for Liam Ellis was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Max Jolliffe was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jamie Pardington and Colchester United agree another 1 years.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Colchester United, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Colchester United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Percy Baker will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Colchester United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The name of Liam Ellis has come up in conversations Colchester United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings4 Sep 2034
Tyrese Hall was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.17. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. JK Gordon is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Colchester United can pretend not to have heard.
Adrian Akande was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Percy Baker will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Colchester United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The phone has started ringing about Liam Ellis again, and this time the name on the line is Bromley. Colchester United are listening politely and promising nothing.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 111 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Colchester United can pretend not to have heard.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
The name of Dan Cameron has come up in conversations Colchester United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Adrian Akande was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Colchester United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Colchester United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Colchester United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. JK Gordon is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Colchester United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Colchester United can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Colchester United can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Colchester United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Colchester United has to find a result from somewhere.
Adrian Akande was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Lincoln City left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad6 Feb 2034
JK Gordon falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Colchester United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
520 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Colchester United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Colchester United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Charles Taylor has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Colchester United have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Colchester United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
He is 20, and nobody at Colchester United signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Colchester United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Charlie Goode was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadAdrian Akande falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Colchester United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Owen Moore will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Colchester United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Colchester United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrian Akande is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Colchester United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Serebryakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Colchester United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Artem Serebryakov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Colchester United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad27 Jun 2033
Kien Connolly falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tyrese Hall signs something — a contract at Colchester United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.