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Saturday preview: Mikey takes the reins for the first time
Doug Boulton6 Nov - 11:16
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By Edward Marriage
Colchester head to Kent to play Westcombe Park on Saturday with Mikey Haywood taking charge of the team for the first time.
Haywood has stepped up as interim head coach after the departure of Craig Burrows and his assistant Brad James following the home defeat to Dorking last month.
“I’m super excited to stand in as interim head coach,” said Mikey. “For me it’s a real honour. This was my club growing up and I’m very excited to work with this talented group of players and hopefully push us up the table.”
Mike returned to the club as forwards coach at the start of the 2023/4 season after a lengthy playing career at Premiership side Northampton Saints.
Colchester are still looking for their first win since being promoted to National 2 East, and while there have been positives along the way – as well as four bonus points – the club decided to make changes to the coaching structure in a bid to improve the team’s fortunes.
“We’ve got to build consistency,” said Haywood about the challenge ahead. “We’re getting in the right areas but we’re choosing the wrong options here and there.
“I just think it’s about the consistency of our decision-making, the execution of our drills and getting clear exactly what we want to do on the pitch.”
Westcombe Park just pipped Colchester to promotion from Regional 1 South East in the 2022/3 season when the Kent side beat The Blacks home and away. This season Park are ninth in the league after four wins and four defeats, their latest outing seeing them lose heavily at Tonbridge Juddians.
A fortnight’s break since the last match has enabled Colchester to get some of their injured players back in action, with Jonah Varela and Vili Tabuatamata expected to return this weekend.
Further changes are in the pipeline, with at least one new player on the way, while the process of overhauling the coaching structure is ongoing, including the recruitment of someone to help with off-field organisation and planning.
“We’ve got things in place to give Mikey assistance from a coaching perspective but also to help with the overall set-up of the coaching team,” said club chairman Karl O’Brien.
Karl is not expecting the changes to bring an immediate change in fortune on the pitch but is looking for a medium to long-term upturn in results.
“We may not have everything in place exactly where we’d like them by the Westcombe Park game, but we’d hope to have them in place for the match against Sevenoaks (the following week).
“Things are moving forward. Plans are coming together to really kick us on for the rest of the season.”
Supporters planning to make the trip across the bridge should note kick-off at Westcombe Park is at 2pm.
The Ravens are in league action at home this weekend, the match against eight-placed Ely kicking-off at 3pm.
The 3s travel to Brightlingsea (kick-off 2pm) while the 4s are home to Braintree 2s (2pm).
As usual, all four teams would really appreciate your support, whether staying at home or traveling away.
Haywood has stepped up as interim head coach after the departure of Craig Burrows and his assistant Brad James following the home defeat to Dorking last month.
“I’m super excited to stand in as interim head coach,” said Mikey. “For me it’s a real honour. This was my club growing up and I’m very excited to work with this talented group of players and hopefully push us up the table.”
Mike returned to the club as forwards coach at the start of the 2023/4 season after a lengthy playing career at Premiership side Northampton Saints.
Colchester are still looking for their first win since being promoted to National 2 East, and while there have been positives along the way – as well as four bonus points – the club decided to make changes to the coaching structure in a bid to improve the team’s fortunes.
“We’ve got to build consistency,” said Haywood about the challenge ahead. “We’re getting in the right areas but we’re choosing the wrong options here and there.
“I just think it’s about the consistency of our decision-making, the execution of our drills and getting clear exactly what we want to do on the pitch.”
Westcombe Park just pipped Colchester to promotion from Regional 1 South East in the 2022/3 season when the Kent side beat The Blacks home and away. This season Park are ninth in the league after four wins and four defeats, their latest outing seeing them lose heavily at Tonbridge Juddians.
A fortnight’s break since the last match has enabled Colchester to get some of their injured players back in action, with Jonah Varela and Vili Tabuatamata expected to return this weekend.
Further changes are in the pipeline, with at least one new player on the way, while the process of overhauling the coaching structure is ongoing, including the recruitment of someone to help with off-field organisation and planning.
“We’ve got things in place to give Mikey assistance from a coaching perspective but also to help with the overall set-up of the coaching team,” said club chairman Karl O’Brien.
Karl is not expecting the changes to bring an immediate change in fortune on the pitch but is looking for a medium to long-term upturn in results.
“We may not have everything in place exactly where we’d like them by the Westcombe Park game, but we’d hope to have them in place for the match against Sevenoaks (the following week).
“Things are moving forward. Plans are coming together to really kick us on for the rest of the season.”
Supporters planning to make the trip across the bridge should note kick-off at Westcombe Park is at 2pm.
The Ravens are in league action at home this weekend, the match against eight-placed Ely kicking-off at 3pm.
The 3s travel to Brightlingsea (kick-off 2pm) while the 4s are home to Braintree 2s (2pm).
As usual, all four teams would really appreciate your support, whether staying at home or traveling away.
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