When Danny Cowley took over on January 4 2024, Colchester were only five points above the Sky Bet League Two relegation zone. In the end, the U’s survived by just a three-point margin.Last season, they flipped it and finished 10th, outside the play-offs by the same margin. At present, the same margin is keeping them outside of the top seven.
But Cowley’s side have won 10 of their last 16 games, and there are still 20 to play. As of January 24, Sky Bet have them priced at 11/4 to be promoted and end a 10-season run in the fourth tier.
These are exciting times in Essex, but they have come after a testing start.
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Danny Cowley was named Sky Bet League Two Manager of the Month for November
With 10 games gone, Colchester had won just once and drawn 1-1 no fewer than five times.
“We had some real challenges with injury at the start of the season, and we are a very small squad,” Cowley explains.
“We don’t have loads of depth, so we need our key players fit.
“We lost Jack Payne and Ben Perry, who are two key midfielders. Dom Gape was out as well, so we’ve been decimated in that midfield area. We haven’t had our captain, Tom Flanagan, since November, either.”I’ve managed for 17 years and normally you can sense it and you can feel it, and by this time of the season, you pretty much know where your team are going to end up.”With this group, you’re just not sure because we have to be lucky and we have to stay on the right side of injuries, and probably we have to stay on the right side of the January transfer window because we have so many good young players and there’s so many clubs that are keen to take them.
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Highlights of the Sky Bet League Two match between Colchester United and Fleetwood Town.
“If we can do those things, then genuinely anything is possible for this group.”Cowley is as personable as managers come. He is living his dream, too. It is less than a decade since he and his brother Nicky took their first steps into EFL management with Lincoln.The privilege of working in professional football will never be…
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2026-01-26 10:00:00
