Colchester United 1 - West Bromwich Albion 1

Colchester win 2-1 after extra time

Chiang Mai Baggie:

Albion playing 3-5-2 today, so it's:
Kuszczak,
Moore, Albrechtsen, Gaardsoe,
Contra, Scimeca, Koumas, Gera, Dyer,
Horsfield, Dobie.

I missed the first few minutes through reception problems. Albion won the first corner on 3 minutes. Koumas crossed, but a player was flagged offside from Gera's ball in. Colchester broke well on 5 minutes, and Danns headed wide of the goal from the cross. Colchester look lively, breaking fast, and causing problems for our defence. Colchester had a free kick outside the box on 7 minutes, and Kuszczak caught it well.

Keith shot over the bar from 14 yards on 8 minutes, when he should have put the ball on target from a good cross-ball. Horsfield shot low from a Scimeca pass on 10 minutes, but Davidson was able to save easily. Dobie had a good run on 11 minutes, but the defenders closed him down before he could shoot. Albion won a free kick on 12 minutes, swung into the penalty box, but Moore's header was straight at Davidson. Dyer won a free kick on a run forward on 14 minutes, but Koumas' free kick was poor and was cleared.

Fagan put in a dangerous cross on 24 minutes, but cleared by the defence. Kuszczak did well to cut out a ball into the box from the right flank on 25 minutes. Kuszczak did well to cut out a cross for a corner after Albrechtsen was beaten by Fagan on 27 minutes. The corner cross was cleared by Dobie back defending. Fagan spun, beating Moore, and shot into the right corner of the goal after 29 minutes.

Colchester piled on the pressure after going ahead. Danns had a good shot saved on 33 minutes, and Garcia should have put the rebound on target, but shot high. Albrechtsen conceded a corner on 34 minutes. The ball was swung in and headed out by Moore. The long shot from the clearance was weak and wide. Albion are still being beaten by Fagan, with several chances for him to attack the Albion defence in the past few minutes. Fagan was booked on 39 minutes for persistent fouling. (In contrast, Cardiff are 3-0 up at MK Dons and Man City are walking on Barnsley, 4-0 already!)

Albion had the first attack in some time (since well before the goal) on 42 minutes, but couldn't get near a shooting chance. Colchester had a free kick on 43 minutes. Keith chipped it into the box, and Horsfield headed out. Albion broke well on 44 minutes, with a good run by Dobie, and the ball was eventually hit high over the bar by Koumas as he came up to support the forwards. 1 minute added. Danns shot well wide of the goal from range in injury time. HT 1-0.

Colchester won a free kick on 46 minutes, but Keith shot wide. Horsfield scored when he beat the offside trap from a Gaardsoe chip and ran through to finish well on 50 minutes.

Scimeca went down and needed treatment on 56 minutes. Albion starting to break with more confidence after the equaliser. Dyer beat the offside trap, and won a corner on 54 minutes. Koumas crossed, but cleared by the defence and upfield. Horsfield and Dyer combined well on 55 minutes, but Horsfield's shot was wide of the post when he should have scored.

Colchester substitution Halford on for Chilvers on 59 minutes. Gaardsoe was booked for a tackle from behind on 61 minutes. The cross from the free kick was good, and put out for a corner by Albrechtsen and Moore. The cross went across the face of goal and a shot came in but well wide. Greening on for Gera on 64 minutes.

Greening immediately played a good ball in and it was flicked on by Horsfield to Dobie, who headed just wide. Albrechtsen has taken the left back position in a 4-4-2 now. Colchester had a free kick, swung in by Watson on 66 minutes, and cleared upfield by Horsfield. Colchester won a corner on 67 minutes. The cross was eventually collected by Kuszczak after bobbling about.

Scimeca booked for a foul on 69 minutes. Scimeca headed the cross clear. Horsfield shot wide from 25 yards on 70 minutes. Colchester broke well, and should have scored, but Kuszczak beat the ball out for a corner. The cross was collected by Kuszczak. Horsfield passed to Koumas on 71 minutes, but his shot was poor. Watson off for May on 62 minutes after Colchester won another corner. The corner cross was cleared, and eventually the shot came in but was hit wide. Koumas ran well on 73 minutes, but the tackle came in for an Albion corner. O'Connor on for Contra on 74 minutes, before the corner could be taken. It was cleared.

Colchester won a free kick on 75 minutes, and the free kick was crossed in and Kuszczak punched out, but was fouled. Davidson caught a Dobie ball well on 77 minutes, as Albion threatened to score. (Cardiff obviously don't need Earnie, they're 4-0 up now against the Dons). Koumas broke on 80 minutes, but the attack was not well executed, and the shot from Dobie off the rebound from Horsfield's effort was wide. Watson did well on the right, beating Albrechtsen on 82 minutes, but the final ball was poor.

Greening crossed on 83 minutes, but Horsfield's header was high. Greening ran to the bye-line, and his cross went out for a corner on 84 minutes. The cross was just wide of Gaardsoe's head, and Colchester took the ball out of defence. Dobie ran and passed to Koumas on 85 minutes, but no-one was there in support. Koumas managed to win a corner. The cross was defended. Koumas chipped in towards Dobie on 87 minutes, and the clearance was put back in by Dyer. Koumas shot on 88 minutes, and won a corner. The ball was cleared and Albion pressured again. Colchester broke on 89 minutes, but Watson shot well over the bar. Kuszczak had to smother a shot on 89 minutes, but the flag went up for offside. 3 minutes added.

Scimeca conceded a corner in injury time. The ball was headed out by Gaardsoe, and Kuszczak was fouled as he went for the cross back in. Gaardsoe did well to head a cross away well into injury time. Colchester had a long throw into the box, and the ref blew for 90 minutes. Extra time to be played.

Bowry on for Fagan at the start of extra time. Koumas went forward straight away, and Dyer had a shot, but wide. Not a lot of real action in the first minutes of extra time, as neither team could make a good chance. Koumas did well on 5 minutes, trying to chip the keeper on 5 minutes. Colchester won a corner on the break on 6 minutes. Albion defended and Danns shot from the edge of the box, but it went well wide. Hulse on for Dobie on 7 minutes of et.

O'Connor broke well on 8 minutes, but the attack was too fancy, and was cleared. Colchester came forwards again, and the shot was well over again on 9 minutes. Koumas was hit in the face by a clearance on 11 minutes, and had to recover for a while. Keith shot well wide again on 12 minutes. Albion attacked on 13 minutes, but couldn't make a chance for a shot. Colchester shot over the bar through Keith yet again on 15 minutes. HT in ET, 1-1.

Albion attacked from the restart, but a shot didn't appear. May broke on the right on 16 minutes, but his cross was poor and cleared by Dyer. Colchester attacked well on 17 minutes, but May and Garcia collided, and the attack broke down. Moore and Greening conceded a free kick in a dangerous position on 18 minutes, and danns and Keith stood over the ball as Albion built their wall. The ball was struck into the wall by Danns and the rebound was hit well wide.

Greening fouled Garcia, and was booked on 20 minutes. Albrechtsen headed the free kick clear, and the rebound went out for a goal kick. May advanced and passed to Bowry whose ball in was cleared by Kuszczak to Albrechtsen on 22 minutes. Albion won a corner on 24 minutes after a good attack. The corner was crossed in, but it was poor. Colchester won a corner on 26 minutes of the 30. May bundled the ball over the line to score after Dyer cleared off the line.

Moore has gone forward to add to the front line. Moore crossed well, but Davidson collected well. 2 minutes added. Koumas went forwards, but his chip into the box was cleared. Danns got the ball in a dangerous position, and Kuzszcak saved well with his foot. FT 2-1.

David Allen (Essex Baggie):

I watched Colchester lose 1-0 at home to M K Dons on Saturday. This was their second consecutive 1-0 defeat at home. They were dreadful. 3 days later they were able to play Albion off the park. Too many so called Premiership players simply did not turn up. Scimeca is NOT a midfield player, Dyer is not a left back and Albrechsten has no right foot (but is our fittest player). Koumas was unbelievably disappointing, sulking for most of a game he clearly did not want to play in. Earnshaw was cup tied, Clement suspended and Robinson and Hoult injured, but Purse, Greening, Johnson and Haas (silly) were not selected.

This was no fluke. Fagan, a free transfer from Birmingham, scored an unstoppable goal worthy of any Premiership encounter. Horsfield somehow equalised in the second half against the run of play. After that Albion rarely threatened the goal, couldn?t create except using route one, while Colchester attempted to break the world record for the most number of shots over the cross bar (around 10). Substitutions saw the abysmal Gera replaced by a more workmanlike Greening, and O?Connor take over from the equally useless debutante Contra. This was a man, so legend has it, who once cost ?5,000,000. He must have one hell of an agent! His performance tonight explains the reluctance of Megson to blood him in the Premiership.

The only positive from this nightmare was the performance of Kuszczak who single handedly kept us in the game until finally his most impressive block saw the rebound scrambled in by Ben May, a free transfer from Millwall.

This was a night to forget. Some supporters had travelled from a far as Yorkshire to witness this, and I can admit that I would have been embarrassed to go to work in Colchester tomorrow had Albion pinched this match on penalties. As it is, I will just have to take a hell of a lot of stick. Still, I got home at 10:45!

Megson?s job now hangs by a thread. He believed any side he put out tonight should have won. Wrong! However, if our chairman?s guest last Saturday is anything to go by, I cannot see us doing any better in the Premiership with David Pleat at the helm. Where will we get our first win from? Tonight made it ten games without a win. That is also ten matches without keeping a clean sheet, and ten matches without scoring two goals in any match!

Jon Want:

Is it just that cup competitions don't suit us as a Premiership club or what. This was our third cup tie as a Premiership club and it has resulted in a third ignominious defeat to lower league opposition. I didn't go to Wigan two years ago, but this match reminded me very much of what happened at Watford two years ago.

Pure and simple, the best team won. And if they'd have taken half their chances, Colchester would have won by a country mile. Albion were simply awful. Colchester may have harried and battled their hearts out, but Albion are supposed to be a top flight club and there were several internationals in the side tonight - Albion simply could not keep the ball. You can point to key absentees from the first team such as Kanu, Clement and Purse, but the players out there are good enough to have beaten Colchester comfortably.

If Jeremy Peace was looking for an excuse to sack Megson, he surely has it now. It may have been a group of players that had never played together before, but they looked as if they had never met. One has to question why we played with three at the back against a League One side, with Contra as a wing back when I doubt he's ever played in that position before - Albrechtsen certainly doesn't look comfortable in a back three. And why, with the exception of Big Dave, did the team appear to be so devoid of passion and desire. Are the players waiting for Megson to be sacked?

I've not advocated getting rid of Megson before, but I'm not sure whether he has the ability, or the support of the players, necessary to turn this around.

Marks

• Tomasz Kuszczak - 5 - Not called into too much action, but was less than convincing when he was.
• Martin Albrechtsen - 5 - Out of sorts, obviously uncomfortable in a back three.
• Cosmin Contra - 5 - Early days to make a judgment, but he failed to impress both defensively and with his passing. He must be better than that.
• Thomas Gaardsoe - 6 - One of the better performers, but not the Gaard we saw last season by a long stretch.
• Darren Moore - 7 - MOM. Only because he never stopped battling and he did what he is capable of doing. Won most things in the air and read the game well.
• Riccardo Scimeca - 4 - An awful night for Ricky; couldn't pass wind.
• Lloyd Dyer - 5 - Tried hard, one or two useful moments but tired badly.
• Jason Koumas - 5 - Was on for a 3 or 4 until the last ten minutes when he finally produced some quality.
• Scott Dobie - 5 - Caught offside time and time again; did little else.
• Zoltan Gera - 5 - Didn't produce what we know he can; got caught in possession too often.
• Geoff Horsfield - 5 - Dreadful in the first half, a little better in the second.
• Jonathan Greening - 7 - Positive impact but had little around him to work with.
• James O'Connor - 6 - Very bright for the first ten minutes but faded.
• Rob Hulse - 5 - No service, made no difference.
• Gary Megson - 4 - Team selection may have been forced through injury, but tactics looked all wrong and there was no sign of being able to change the game.

For reports, previews and comments, visit www.jonwant.com

wbajf:

Essex,Suffolk,Cambridgeshire,Northamptonshire,Leicestershire & Warwickshire

They were all the counties that I drove through last night after witnessing an appalling, gutless display.

As the Colchester team warmed up in front of me I thought they looked like a bunch of fat arsed non leaguers, never heard of any of them and wondered if any man in the world had less hair than their no.3!

We made em look like Brazil!

• Scott Dobie - Gave the most disinterested performance I have seen since Fabien Defreitas! His lack of concentration led to him being caught offside 7,987,564 times!
• Horsefield - shocking lack of effort
• Lloyd Dyer - lovely lad, great sprinter can't play football
• Gera & Contra - caught out by rough & tumble of english cup competitions
• Gaardsoe - looked arrogant and appeared "above this" - one moment of class with ball to Horsefield
• Koumas - I would hate to see how he would be playing if he still had contract isues on his mind!
• Scimeca - reasonable
• Kuscak - Played OK
• Martin A - How much? on that form call the coppers we wuz robbed, however I think there is a player there!
• Big Dave - the only one who deserved his wages after last night! Despite the twat behind me screaming each time a defensive clearing header didnt land at the feet of an Albion player.

Where does the blame lie for all that? On the park those players should have walked that game and that was the problem - they thought they only had to show up.

Anybody want I adult and two kids tickets for Newcastle?

Best part of night - our kids beat theirs in a penno shoot out v eddie the eagle.

The Throstles are great:

Appalling? Garbage? A disgrace? Terrible? Humiliating? Unbelievable?....Oh, NO-NO-NO! It was WORSE than any combination of derogatory terms you could POSSIBLY imagine.

Those of us who were VERY unfortunate to have witnessed it at first hand, will never be able to communicate to those who were MORE fortunate not to have been there, the inglorious performance that has to cast more than a serious doubt on Gary Megson winning a confidence battle with Jeremy Peace.

Hardly a redeeming feature, although the keeper certainly showed more than a fair of bravery on several occasions, and as the final whistle was blown the anger of Baggie fans was as savage as I've heard for many a day, or as in this instance, night.

Where do we go from here? Well on this performance the answer as to be travelling to the likes of Gillingham, Rotherham, Burnley,etc, next season. AND remember if we do go down you can be sure the price of season tickets won't follow suit. And supporters surely won't take kindly to paying this season's heavily inflated prices for an infinitely lower standard of football. Or am i mistaken?

No last night the team in blue and white stripes playing their opponents off the park, wasn't, as many forecast, West Bromwich Albion. And fair play to Colchester, it was they who looked the Premiership outfit, and Albion the anticipated victims.

Gary Megson's future? The only man who can decide this is of course Jeremy Peace.And he's in in the unenviable 'Catch 22 situation'. Relieve Gary Megson of his duties (the polite term) and Gary's fans will be spitting blood. "You can't do it. Look what he's done for Albion".

Keep him on board, and see the club slip into a position where relegation is more a probability than a possibility, and those who want to see an immediate change, will be of one mind; "You should have sacked him before it got this far and bought someone else in"

So which faction is right, or wrong?

Looking back, and isn't it painful, one could make criticisms of the manager for the way the team performed. Another defensive outlook. Players only rarely advancing into forward positions, meaning Colchester were picking up 'every' midfield ball, and an almost total lack of genuine constructive play on the rare occasions we were in a potential position to cause them problems.

BUT for all that, the blunt truth (only my opinion) is that from the moment the teams ran out, Colchester looked 'more up' for it. They ran harder, and faster.Wanted to win the 40/60 ball, where as the Baggies often couldn't win a 50/50 confrontation. They chased and harried as if to show they believed the lyrics from a song from the musical "Kiss me Kate"...... "Anything you can do, we can do better"... AND THEY WERE RIGHT.

Yes, blame the manager for his team selection, but then it wasn't exactly a reserve team was it? Blame him for his tactical inability. Eleven defenders for most of the game! BUT, taking all of that into account, the performances of various individual players, when they had the ball was what could be more expected from the Colchester team. And when that happens even the likes of Fergie and Wenger would find themselves struggling to argue how, or why, that occurs.

Newcastle away and another 2-1 win? God I hope you're right but to my poor 'old' befuddled brain, UNLESS there's a MASSIVE, MASSIVE, improvement, the 'best' we can hope for is a two, or three goal defeat.

So come on Gary, come on the team. It's very expensive following Albion up and down the country these days. Colchester, followed by Newcastle away in four days... Nuff said, surely.

As to the question as to whether we'll be looking for a new manager i'll simply say this. If the board have faith in him, and we subsequently fail to beat Norwich and Palace, it could be too late to stave off the drop. Despite the end of the season being months away. SO is it worth taking that gamble?

AJ-B:

WHAT AN ABSOLUTE SHAMBLES!! This has got to be the worst non-showing of an Albion side witnessed in the past 5 years or more, Premier league - don't make me laugh. We were totally & completely outplayed by a side 2 divisions lower & who have lost their previous 2 home games, mind you on Saturday they were beaten by old Wimbledon (MK Dons) remember what they did to us last season, so it's no suprise really that we got 'tonked' again.

Getting off the baggie bus outside the ground I looked up & noticed the next home game advertising board it read: Colchester (first team)!!! v W.B.A. - pity they could'nt have played their reserves, although that would have been even greater humiliation!

Before the game with hour or so to kill I wandered towards the town centre & found a nice stylish Italian restaurant, so I popped in and had the most pleasing experience of the night - a superb Italian meal!!! because what was about to be dished up to us baggie 'world travellers' would make even the proverbial pig sick.

Only our new goalkeeper Tomaz Kuszczak & Tommy Gaardsoe came out with any credit at all, I give our keeper man of the match for us, but for him we would have lost by 3/4 goals, I have read John Wants report which I usually enjoy, but was he watching the same game? he states Kuszczak was not convincing, have you been watching Russell Hoult this season John? Also your player markings are always too generous, but even more so for this game, apart from the 2 players mentioned I would struggle to give a point each for all the rest, and zero to Megson! He really scraped the barrel bringing on O'Connor when Sakiri was on the bench. Also why have Greening on the bench for so long, changes should have been made after 15-20 minutes for it was obvious this team was as together as an ill fitting jigsaw & very puzzling!

If Megson has any honour he should accept he aint got it and resign, or will his true mercenary characteristics rule & become another football manager seeking a big final cash payment for being a failure. If I were our chairman I would relieve Megson of any first team duties with immediate effect, keep him on the payroll at his current rate until his contract expires, & bring in a proven first team coach who can re-kindle our fast dissolving chance of retaining premier status, after all thanks to our board we ARE a premiership club, but ARE NOT a premiership team.

Finally, I see on the website, Megson says changes will be made for our visit to Newcastle - profound or what!!

Dave Watkin:

For the first forty-five minutes the team in blue-and-white stripes outplayed pedestrian opposition. Normally this would be a cause for rejoicing, but last night it meant that the Baggies were being played off the park by a club two levels below them in the league ladder.

In the 29th minute, in the best move of the match, the ball was swept in from the right and twenty yards out FAGAN cleverly side-stepped an on-rushing defender before firing into the top corner of the net. It was a goal which would not have been out of place in the Premiership and meant that Colchester United led at the break by a single goal.

Five minutes after half time Thomas Gaardsoe won the ball deep in Albion territory advanced a few paces and played an inch perfect pass through to GEOFF HORSFIELD who slotted the ball home left footed low to the keeper's left. We hoped this might be a turning point and to be fair there was some improvement as Greening, O'Connor and later Hulse joined the fray in place of Gera, Contra and Dobie. However in the second period of extra time, when one might expect Premiership quality and fitness to count, the reverse was true. The home side pressed forward and with Albion hanging on, a left wing corner was flicked on and a shot blocked at the far post. When the ball ran free MAY reacted quickest and netted the winner from close range.

Colchester United thoroughly deserved to win. This was a dismal performance from an Albion team, which despite the lack of many automatic first team choices, should have had the necessary class and experience to overcome a side that on Saturday had lost at home to of all teams M K Dons. It must be said that with one or two exceptions, Thomas Gaardsoe, Darren Moore and James O'Connor spring to mind, we showed a remarkable reluctance to compete, particularly for anything approaching a fifty-fifty ball. Thomas Kuszczak also performed competently, otherwise we would have suffered an even more embarrassing defeat. Needless to say we will need to be a lot lot better at Newcastle this coming weekend to gain any reward.

STATS

Partly through necessity and partly through choice only four of Saturday's starting line-up were on the field at kick-off time.

ALBION FORMRATE : DISMAL

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH : THOMAS GAARDSOE