Colchester United boss Danny Cowley has said he expects big changes this summer as the club aim for an improved League Two campaign next season.
The U’s narrowly avoided relegation to the National League by finishing 22nd in the fourth tier and it all came down to the final day with just three points separating themselves and Sutton United. However, with both team’s drawing their last fixtures, the Essex-based side secured their league status for another year.
It speaks volumes as to how much the ex-Lincoln City manager’s side have struggled this season that Joe Taylor finished as the club’s top scorer with 11 goals, despite leaving the club in January to take up a fresh loan spell with the Imps.
Colchester are expected to announce their retained list in the coming days, with a number of players expected to depart. The likes of John Akinde, Tom Dallison and Cameron McGeehan are all out of contract. All their loanees including Owen Goodman have already returned to their respective parent clubs.
The ex-Portsmouth boss revealed last week that he has had some difficult conversations with his players, as they look to build for next season.
Via Gazette News, Cowley admitted to being excited about next season:
“We’re actively looking and we will be really aggressive.
“I think we’re going to need to be, because if it unfolds the way I anticipate it will, we will need to bring a lot of players in to try to support the ones that we already have here.
“I think this can be really exciting.
“For us, we have total clarity over how we want to play and the type of player that we need to be able to play in the different positions within our team and then it’s about getting the right relationships and the right combinations.
“Partnerships can be so important in football and as well as all this, we need to get the right characters and the right people. “Robbie (Cowling) has built a club with really strong foundations and I think what we now have to do is turn those foundations into a springboard, so that we can really push on.”
Writer’s View
The U’s should finish a lot higher up next season. In Cowley, they have a confident manager who is close to home again. He will have the summer to get in his own squad of players in, adding to the likes of Arthur Read and Jayden Fevrier, who are contracted for next season.
If they get the same manager who helped Lincoln to climb the leagues, then they are onto a winner. He knows what he wants though and exactly the type of player he needs at the club. Colchester could be dark horses next season.