Colchester United fan Si Collinson gives his U's views

We are inconsistent – a worrying trend that seems to be the only consistent.

How we can go from beating Gillingham 3-0 away to then labouring to a 1-0 defeat at Walsall had everyone scratching their heads.

There was an anticipation that we could kick on and get back-to-back wins. Sadly, what transpired was anything but.

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Ben Garner has already said that they had worked on a system all week and when Saturday came, we were unable to execute it.

While a change of system midway through the first half helped, it is worrying to hear that the players could not follow the instructions as was pre-planned.

There was a plan B and the change did help settle us down and improve. Matt Jay tried to make things happen and gave an insight onto what he can offer.

But even this was not enough to help and a wonder strike from Isaac Hutchinson on 65 minutes was enough to condemn us to defeat.

We did go close to an equaliser with Connor Hall forcing Owen Evans into action, but in all honesty, we did not really deserve anything from the game.

One of the problems with a mid-half system change is that it doesn’t always suit the players on the pitch and Alex Newby was the player sacrificed to bring on Jay.

Now, I understand managers are paid to make big decisions and at the end of the day, the result is what matters, but I did feel for Newby.

He was putting the work rate in and compared to others, I didn't think he was necessarily having the worst game.

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No player likes to come off on 32 minutes and it must have grated with him that he had to.

While Garner has to make these calls, there is also the management side of things.

This is something that will be interesting to see play out and hopefully a balance point will be reached before it potentially affects the dressing-room morale.

There should be no undroppable players and with the new signings available for our next game, the competition for places should hot up and no-one carried.

On the transfer front, I think we had a good window.

Owura Edwards returning on a permanent basis was a real plus; we saw how good he can be with the glimpses he showed between injury when he was on loan with us.

Then there was the arrival of Jay Mingi, someone who seems to get decent reviews as a defensive midfield workhorse.

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He apparently turned down a three-year contract with Portsmouth, so they must have thought something of him to offer it.

However, this social media praise was all on the proviso that he stays fit.

Reading between the lines, he is a player who on his day, is better than League Two level but we need to keep him fit.

We also picked up young Zach Mitchell from Charlton Athletic, on loan.

He's only 18 but has worked with Garner before so both parties known what to expect; hopefully he will provide a welcome addition to our depleted defensive options.

Enough has already been said about the feelings that Junior Tchamadeu's departure has caused with the fanbase.

All I will add is that it shows how a player can do so much positive at a club, only to have it all tarnished at the last moment by how they act on departure, something that all young players should take note of.

Let's hope all these new players will make an impact and that come the weekend, Garner has steadied the ship and we can start to put things right when Tranmere come to town. Up the U’s.