Former Colchester defender Charlie Daniels backs Cowleys

That’s the view of former U’s left-back Charlie Daniels, who says the club should now be pushing for better things next season under their management duo.

Daniels has first-hand experience of exactly how Danny and Nicky Cowley work, having played under them at Portsmouth in the 2020-21 season.

And the ex-Premier League defender, who played 19 times in total for the U’s in the 2021-22 season, is hoping for better things for his former side after they clinched their League Two safety on the final day.

READ MORE: Cameron McGeehan unsure where future lies after U's offer

Daniels said: “It was a little bit touch and go for a while.

“It was a good result in the end but now, it needs to be pushed on.

“It’s a club that shouldn’t be down there; it’s a club that needs to be up higher.

“I know the Cowleys from my time at Pompey and I know how hard they work and how much they want to improve the whole club.

“Colchester are in good hands with them in charge and hopefully, with their desire for success it translates into results.

“It’s a club that should be higher and should be pushing on.

“It has a good academy with a good history of pushing through academy players and selling them on, with Junior Tchamadeu being the most recent one.

“If everything goes right and everything clicks, then the club should be going up because it has the fundamentals and it has the foundations.

“It just needs that little spark, that X Factor, to get up the league.”

READ MORE: The incident-packed tale of Colchester United's FA Trophy win

Daniels joined Colchester on a free transfer in the summer of 2021, having been training with them for a number of weeks following his departure from Portsmouth.

The former AFC Bournemouth defender’s final game for the U’s was in a game at Forest Green Rovers in January 2022, his 500th career appearance.

“I was disappointed I didn’t play more games for Colchester but that’s football,” said Daniels.

“There’s loads of different elements to it.

“It was just one of those things that happened.

“I met some fantastic characters in the dressing room.”

Daniels is now working as Watford’s under-21 coach and was back at his former club Colchester earlier this week, for the Professional Development League game between the two sides.

Daniels added: “I love coaching; it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do.

“When I was playing at Colchester, in my spare time I was going up and helping the under-18s and it’s trying to just evolve from there.

“It’s something that I’m really passionate about and something that I know I want to do and that I’m improving on.

“It’s something that in the future whenever it comes, I’m ready to take the next step.”