Fan Preview - Colchester (h)

Hi all,

Due to time constraints I haven’t been able to provide a full newsletter for the last couple of weeks.

I do have a a fan preview for this weekend, with questions answered by Jamie Wooler :

When we spoke back in September, your hopes were for a midtable finish, but find yourselves towards the foot of the table, albeit with a couple of games in hand. Where has it gone wrong this season?

Results weren’t great early in the season but our underlying numbers were pretty good and it felt like the tide may turn under Garner. However, in my opinion our owner panicked and sacked him and subsequently appointed Matty Etherington which proved to be a disaster.

Things have improved under the Cowley’s but individual errors have cost us points in recent weeks.

Do you believe you have enough to be able to avoid the drop?

I do. We have a tough run in, but Forest Greens fixtures look a lot harder. There’s enough in recent performances, and players coming back from injury, for me to be confident that we’ll beat the drop.

Danny Cowley is the current manager, how has he done since taking the reins and what has the reaction been?

Both Danny & Nicky Cowley are very popular with the fans. They’re very good at ‘PR’ and know how to use the media to get fans onside.

The majority of fans seem more patient now, despite results not drastically improving.

What formation should we expecting, and who might catch the eye this weekend?

Formation is difficult to say.

Last weekend we were missing six defenders, so we played a 3-5-2 with a central midfielder at RCB, and two naturally attacking wingers at wingback.

It’s expected we’ll have a few players return this weekend (former Mansfield defender Riley Harbottle being one of them) and we’ve been more effective when playing a 4-2-3-1.

Personally, I’d like to see the latter, but it depends on who’s available.

Keep an eye on Brad Ihonvien. He’s impressed when coming off the bench and started against Walsall last week. Physical, has pace and decent technical ability. Reportedly caught the eye of teams further up the pyramid already.

Samson Tovide is expected to be in the squad tomorrow too after a long term injury.

Do you think Mansfield will achieve promotion this season?

I do. Mansfield and Stockport are the best two sides in the division and both will be promoted in my opinion.

Score Prediction?

I’d love to be proved wrong but I can’t see anything other than a home win. We’ve become harder to beat but ultimately I think Mansfield will have too much for us.

2-0 home win.