Colchester United fan Si Collinson gives his U's views

I am sure I was not the only one who made the trip with little hope of getting much from the game.

Fair play to the 665 U's fans who made the journey, but I am sure that was more for the fact the hosts have celebrity owners, rather than the hope of a possible football masterclass.

As normal, we were victims of our own mistakes and after conceding an early goal only four minutes in, it looked like we were in for a very long afternoon.

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The hosts in fairness to them, did try and make a game of it by going down to ten men and give us a bit of hope for the remaining 66 minutes.

But of course, instead of capitalising on the man advantage, we laboured our way through the remainder of the half and gave Wrexham the half-time break to regroup and settle into a defensive game.

Even with our superior numbers we failed to make much headway and once they hit the back of the net with their second – or rather we did it for them - it was game over.

Admittedly we did get a late goal, but in all honestly, we never looked like getting anything from the game.

No matter what was said in the post-match interviews, we were second best all over the field.

This poor performance highlights how misleading stats can be in the game.

We topped Wrexham on possession, passes and shots, so this looked like we were in the game and were unlucky to come away empty handed.

However, I think these show an even bigger problem with how we currently play.

Wrexham were happy to let us have the ball and pass it around aimlessly without feeling we were going to threaten them.

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Even the shots we did have were from distance and very few would have troubled a Sunday League keeper, let alone a professional.

There there is of course the management side of the game, or sadly again lack of.

As soon as they went down to ten men, we should have been on the front foot.

A formation and/or an intensity change should have seen Wrexham up against it, struggling to settle into the number deficit.

But Col U, being Col U, we did nothing of the sort and let them still play the game how they wanted.

They had a game plan and that was clearly evident with how they were looking to win throw-ins in-order to get the ball in a dangerous area via a long throw.

The failure to combat this after their opener and a few other scares was criminal.

As for the own goal, not a single home player was a threat to the ball and simple communication would have seen the ball dealt with in a timely manner rather than the sliced hurried clearance that went wrong.

These are basic footballing things, and part of a skill set that is taught from a young age.

It's nothing complicated or hard, a simple matter of identifying areas that the opposition will look to exploit and the simplest of tasks in communication across the pitch.

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I would love to know what the actual current thinking is within the manager's mind in terms of how he wants us to play, as at the moment, the only constant is poor football with no leadership or passion.

Matt Jay played well, but once again, we aided our own downfall but taking him off instead of other players.

Fiacre Kelleher also deserves a mention, as it was him who showed the maturity and leadership that should have come from the captain.

When the own goal went in, he was the one trying to pick up the heads and the one seen defusing situations when tempers were rising.

We need a reset with a new manager and one who understands just how big the job is; there also needs to be look at the leadership roles within the dressing room and on the pitch.

I hate being negative every week and long for the lads to do well, but at the same time it is a measure of how things are.

If I am losing the faith, I dread to think what others are feeling and as time goes on, it will get more and more vocal.

Mr Cowling needs to make a change now and give the new man the January window to tweak the squad and bring his own touch to the squad. Up the U’s.