Some belated comments as I have not been able to get on the site since Saturday (anyone else had problems ?).
I thought for the first twenty minutes we were excellent but very poor thereafter, and I agree with Ian that we did not deserve three points. The second half showing was a real disappointment and it was the first time this season I have come away from the ground feeling quite deflated. We simply did not keep the ball after half time, with Banks well below par, and as negative as Colchester were in the first half, I thought they controlled the game after the break.
I thought both wide men really struggled, which made me wonder whether we should be persisting with the 442 formation at the moment. Smith started the season brightly but has faded recently, while Connor is struggling to play out of position at a decent level, as any player would. It might be worth sacrificing Smith to play Jennings centrally in a 532, which might also address our goalscoring problems, at least partially. At the moment we are struggling to maintain consistent performances over ninety minutes, and the lack of control in midfield is a problem, particularly against the better sides; it was an issue at Northampton and again in the second half on Saturday.
I also did not think Micky had his greatest day tactically on Saturday: the substitutions were made too late and were simply like for like. At half time Colchester changed shape, but we did not respond tactically and we lost control of the game from that point onwards. I also thought DMH was lucky to get on the pitch after his really poor showing against Crewe, and Tollitt might have been more effective.
The real positive from the game was that Colchester did not actually carve us open in general play once, and it was another individual error that cost us the goal. It was uncharacteristic from Davies, who has been excellent this season.
I thought Cole put in his best performance since rejoining in the first half, but we are clearly short up front. We seem to have hit a glass ceiling at the moment, where we are always competitive in games, nobody gives us a hiding, but we are clearly two or three players away from being really competitive at this level. I think we need another striker, another creative player in midfield, and something extra in the wide areas, despite the number of bodies we have in that position. However, if I had been offered a mid-table finish this season, I would have been very pleased.