This summer has been a confusing one for everyone surrounding Colchester United going into their 10th successive League Two campaign, following the failed takeover of the club after an agreement on a new deal couldn’t be reached between current chairman Robbie Cowling and American businessman Tim Foley.
As Cowling didn’t expect to still be in the chairman position going into this campaign, the playing budget has been significantly reduced, with out of contract players all being offered reduced terms, as well as the forced reliance on loan and free agent transfers.
The season hasn’t been ideal so far, with key players such as Ellis Iandolo and Jack Payne missing the opening period through injury. Consistent starters in Danny Cowley’s lineup the season prior, where his rebuilt squad accelerated up the League Two table to 10th off the back of their last ditch survival effort in 2023/24, where a 1-1 draw to Crewe Alexandra secured League Two football for another year, and cemented Crewe’s playoff position. With time, we will see how these new arrivals fair, but here’s an overall review based on what I’ve seen thus far.
Jaden Williams – 5.5/10
Colchester United’s opening signing to kick-off their business was former Tottenham Academy man Jaden Williams, who departed the side at the end of his contract, failing to register a first-team appearance for “The Spurs”. His transition from academy football to the professional men’s game has been evident, lacking the physicality and energy demand required to thrive at this level in his opening few cameos in League Two.
Despite these criticisms, one optimistic viewpoint I’ve observed is that on the occasions where he can find himself in a promising shooting position, the goalscoring instinct has been clear, narrowly shooting wide in the opening fixture against Tranmere despite being off-balance, but the placement and power were almost perfect, in what could have opened his tally for the season.
However, something changed in the EFL Trophy fixture against Wycombe Wanderers, almost as if a switch had been flicked on to fully transition into the men’s game, performing well and potentially earning him more future minutes in Danny Cowley’s side, scoring in the 29th minute after his shot was parried straight back to him from close range, and putting himself about the pitch twice as much as his debut against Tranmere.
Jack Tucker – 8.5/10
Most supporters saw this one coming in May, with Tucker’s contract expiring in June with MK Dons (who weren’t so keen on the lad to say the least) after spending the second half of the campaign on loan with the U’s, featuring mostly as the backup centre-back with his minutes coming sporadically.
Following Fiacre Kelleher’s return to his home city of Cork, Jack Tucker has made the centre-back position his own, alongside veteran EFL centre-back Tom Flanagan, who have started every league game together, fending off challenges for the starting position from fellow new arrivals Jack Baldwin and Harvey Araujo (although they arrived at a later date).
Despite being a central defender, Tucker leads the top scorer race at The U’s with three goals in all competitions so far, bagging the opening goals against Oldham and Barnet in away fixtures, and netting the winner against Wycombe Wanderers (arguably should have been counted as an own goal however). From my observations, the flow when playing out from the back has been enhanced, seeming overall more of a calm presence in possession, as well as moving forwards on the ball on a regular basis, functioning occasionally in the CDM role, which has been a weak area this season.
Dominic Gape – 6/10
There’s not much to criticise or praise too much in this transfer, it’s simply just solid albeit slightly uninspiring. He’s expected to play a similar role to Alex Woodyard in the first half of last season, as the second-choice central defensive midfield, much like Woodyard fitting in as Jamie McDonnell’s understudy, however it’s recently became a lot more complex. New signing and like-for-like Jamie McDonnell replacement Ben Perry picked up an ACL injury on the 16th August as Colchester United played Shrewsbury Town, likely to keep him out of action for the entire season, and with the lack of budget for an alternative, Gape and Teddy Bishop have been battling it out in this position.
The current midfield pairing of Teddy Bishop and Arthur Read seems unlikely to be broken anytime soon, but Gape’s few stints off the bench have appeared to be decent performances, especially as neither Read or Bishop possess traditional CDM qualities in their style of play, seeming to always put in the maximum effort required despite usually just 15 minute cameos. On a free transfer and a single year deal, a 6/10 rating sounds fair in my opinion.
Will Goodwin 3/10 (currently)
I wanted this to work, but it seems to be, yet another injury consumed season for the Oxford loanee, as he finds himself out of action until around mid-October with injury. If he remained fit, I could see this rating being upwards of a 7/10+, but after just a single appearance on the opening day versus Tranmere Rovers which was uninspiring to say the least, a 3/10 is about fair as it stands.
His records with Oxford United and Wigan Athletic are filled with absences due to injury woes, despite this however, I still believe their is a quality striker in there, given his impeccable form in front of goal at Cheltenham Town, which accelerated his career to earn his leap up the divisions to Oxford.
Questions do surround his future at Colchester United, whether he will get minutes ahead of our other three young strikers who are chomping at the bit to get more minutes and further develop themselves into EFL superstars, and once again, whether another injury will occur.
Adrian Akande 6/10
Akande featured as a trialist throughout pre-season, causing a bit of detective work online over his identity (eventually figured out by yours truly) in the opening pre-season fixture against Maldon & Tiptree, where he impressed with some flashy footwork on the wings, as well as setting up a late goal in the second half.
Since departing Reading where he made 21 appearances last campaign, Akande has been a part of Colchester United’s weekly rotation on the wings, starting in most midweek fixtures and coming off the bench on Saturdays, switching with fellow young wingers Thorn, Gordon and Edwards whilst Harry Anderson recovered from injury.
His standout display came in the Carabao Cup against Oxford United, where he caused full-backs Jack Currie and Hidde Ter Avest quite a few problems on the wing, regularly dribbling past them, especially on the counter, but lacking that final end product to finish off the chance with an accurate cross into the box or shot on target, which has been clear in his League Two appearances, hardly surprising given his raw talent he possesses.
Ben Perry – Was 8.5/10 Before His Injury
I truly believe this had potential to be one of the best pickups in League Two this summer; after battling it out with League One side Northampton Town for his signature this summer, Colchester United snapped him up on a three-year deal from Nottingham Forest academy, a good friend and talent pool for The U’s!
He seemed slightly off it in the opening fixture against Tranmere, looking slightly shaky on the ball, but returned to the player all supporters expected in the next couple of fixtures, functioning as a like-for-like Jamie McDonnell alternative.
As the injury curse continued, Perry picked up a serious looking injury in the opening minutes away at Shrewsbury Town, but despite trying to run it off like a warrior, he instantly was subbed off, with scans later finding it was an ACL injury that would rule him out for the season. Well, at least he’s someone to look forward to starting next year…
Josh Powell – 6/10
With Iandolo injured in the final pre-season fixture, the Cowley’s scrambled to get a new left-back over the line as not a single natural left-back was contracted to the club at the time, and they looked no further than their good friends over at Nottingham Forest academy to bring in Josh Powell for his first taste of men’s football.
His debut came against Oxford United in the Carabao Cup, where he looked immense going forward, linking up with Owura Edwards, Adrian Akande and at times Kyreece Lisbie on the wing with fluidity, although felt like a slight downgrade on the defensive side of things, compared to Ellis Iandolo.
His defensive cracks were evident in the away fixture as Colchester United faced Barnet, with Idris Kanu having a man of the match performance out on the wing after picking up on these flaws, regularly dribbling past with ease, in particular the final 20 minutes, where his fitness has been picked up upon, with Cowley’s post-match interview stating that he was out of breath and exhausted after 60 minutes in his opening appearance.
With Iandolo’s return in the coming months, Powell will likely feature on fewer occasions but remains a decent option for the upcoming weeks.
Jack Baldwin 7/10
Another transfer in the uninspiring but solid category is Jack Baldwin, who joined on a one-year deal from Northampton Town after Kevin Nolan no longer saw him as a part of his future plans with The Cobblers. An EFL veteran, he provided Colchester United with another centre-back option following Frankie Terry’s loan move across Essex to Braintree Town.
Baldwin made his first start for Colchester United on Tuesday night against Wycombe Wanderers in the Vertu Trophy and put on a fabulous defensive display which included over 20 defensive contributions, with supporters calling for Baldwin to start alongside Tucker in the upcoming fixtures, ahead of club captain Tom Flanagan. I can’t comment too much at this stage, as he’s only featured twice and one of those was an injury time substitution on for the cramped-up Tom Flanagan, but signs so far allude to positivity.
Harvey Araujo 7/10
Yet again, much like Baldwin it’s early days to judge this transfer to heavily, as Araujo has only featured on one occasion, but looked tidy alongside Jack Baldwin on Tuesday night, only being beaten by a stunner from Alex Lowry.
Last campaign he spent the opening half with Chesterfield, before the loan was cut short due to a serious injury, returning to Fulham Academy, where he spent the early stages of this season and preseason back at. This transfer is incredibly low risk as it’s a simple loan deal until the end of the season and presumably quite low wages being registered on the U’s books.
Micah Mbick ?/10
Mbick joined Colchester United at 8PM on deadline day, being the U’s only business, letting down a majority of supporters who expected more advances to be made on Monday, so it’s harsh to give a judgement yet, however this isn’t who supporters would have expected as their deadline day striker, desiring perhaps someone with more EFL experience rather than an 18-year-old with just 11 professional appearances, which lead to calls of a panic buy. This could be down to budget restrictions, but I do have a feeling Cowley would have wanted more on deadline day, especially after missing out on Jay Mingi’s return to Essex on loan from Stockport.
Key Departures:
Lyle Taylor – 1/10
Last campaign’s top scorer was denied a new contract with Colchester United, following his terms being reduced by around 40% and higher ups at the club denying Cowley of his striker due to injury concerns and a reduced budget, who arguably was the glue of the side last season, developing fellow young strikers with his experience and being one of the biggest personalities in the dressing room.
What hurt supporters even more, was Taylor ended up at Chelmsford City in the National League South, who offered an improved contract on what was offered at Colchester United, leading to absolute outrage online.
Fiacre Kelleher 3/10
Kelleher’s return to Ireland wasn’t too unsurprising, despite being one of the U’s most consistent performers in their playoff push last campaign. Likewise, being offered reduced terms, he opted for a move back to his hometown of Cork to join Cork City in the Irish Premier Division.
His departure wasn’t ideal, but he’s definitely more easily replaceable than perhaps Lyle Taylor, and with Tucker’s performances at the back so far, there’s an argument that Tucker for Kelleher is an upgrade.
Mandela Egbo 5/10
Yet another consistent starter in the playoff push, Egbo refused a new contract fairly early in the window, making it clear he didn’t want reduced terms with the club. His departure allowed Kane Vincent-Young and Rob Hunt to fight for the right-back spot this campaign, who didn’t get as much playing time as they perhaps wished, due to Egbo’s regular starting of games. Whilst disappointing that he’s moved on, it’s by no means a big loss for the U’s, but he would have undoubtebly been welcomed back if he did agree to a new deal.
Oscar Thorn 9/10
Colchester lived up to their “conveyer belt club” reputation, selling winger Oscar Thorn (a position where Colchester still have a plethora of options available) to Lincoln City in League One for an undisclosed fee, despite 3 years remaining on his contract. Thorn’s runs on the wing will be missed, as well as being one of the few players who can cross the ball with some variety of success contracted to the club! However, the step up was well earned for the ex-Norwich City academy man, and this seems like a great move for both parties here.
