Revitalised Rose blossoms in new U's role (From Essex County Standard)
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Revitalised Rose blossoms in new U's role
10:43am Thursday 3rd May 2012 in Sport By Jonathan Waldron
Revitalised Rose blossoms in new U's role
Revitalised Michael Rose has admitted he does not want the season to end after flourishing in a new midfield role.
Rose has shone in an advanced left-sided position, in Colchester United’s last two matches.
The 29-year-old has played the majority of his career as a left-back.
But after a testing start to his U’s career, Rose says he is relishing the chance to finish the season in a new position.
Rose said: “I’m enjoying playing there and enjoying playing games.
“It’s just a shame for me that there’s now only one more game left this season.
“I played in a central midfield role when I was 19 or 20 at Hereford United.
“But it’s not a position I’ve played in much, during my career.
“I’ve always liked getting forward though and it’s a good opportunity for me to get back into the swing of things.”
See Thursday's Gazette for more on this story and all of the latest Colchester United news, including Karl Duguid's exclusive weekly column.
Comments(11)
crazy comments
says...
12:34pm Thu 3 May 12
Sparkfilms
says...
1:27pm Thu 3 May 12
With Brian on the pitch you could have played with 9 men as he could easily cover left back, left side midfield and left wing.
He once passed the ball forward ( to himself! ) from inside his own half, ran 50 yards picking up his pass, homed in on the Layer Road goal and scored.
All this somehow brings me to Jimmy Oliver.
Jimmy had the ability to flick the ball outside his full back ( from the right wing ), allow the ball to almost go out of play, then somehow whip in fast crosses that were very difficult for defenders to deal with. This was a great technique and I cannot recall seeing anything quite like it since.
By all accounts Michael Rose was most impressive at Bournmouth.
And back to Brian Hall - is he the only full back to score a hat trick for Colchester United?
crazy comments
says...
2:08pm Thu 3 May 12
Sparkfilms wrote:Great player Brian and not had to many like him since. Whe he bombed forward from defence on his mazy runs he had people standing on their toes to see it. Pity we never had players like Jimmy Oliver now and Gilly would then score a hatfull. Have also seen some good other wingers Micky Mahon, Brian Lewis, Peter Wright at Layer Road in my time.
Brian did it the other way round however - began as a winger and moved to full back. With Brian on the pitch you could have played with 9 men as he could easily cover left back, left side midfield and left wing. He once passed the ball forward ( to himself! ) from inside his own half, ran 50 yards picking up his pass, homed in on the Layer Road goal and scored. All this somehow brings me to Jimmy Oliver. Jimmy had the ability to flick the ball outside his full back ( from the right wing ), allow the ball to almost go out of play, then somehow whip in fast crosses that were very difficult for defenders to deal with. This was a great technique and I cannot recall seeing anything quite like it since. By all accounts Michael Rose was most impressive at Bournmouth. And back to Brian Hall - is he the only full back to score a hat trick for Colchester United?
itsawedge
says...
6:42pm Thu 3 May 12
Anyone else remember the forward line of Alan Shires, Peter Bullock, Reg Stratton,Ken Hodgson and Johnny Martin?.
Sparkfilms
says...
7:57pm Thu 3 May 12
And at Luton in the Easter sunshine when Reg Stratton scored in a 1-1 draw.
Was David Pleat playing for Luton that day on the wing?
Ours was a classic front line with a centre forward, two clever inside forwards and a couple of very decent players on the right and left wing.
Luton had some good players too around that time, Ray Whittaker ( left wing ) signed for the U's soon after.
John O'Rourke ( or was it his brother Ken? ) scored for the Hatters at Kenilworth Road with a towering header in the second half.
Every time Luton had a corner their fans would chant 'in the net, in the net'.
Our supporters club ran 10 coaches to the game and many other U's fans travelled on buses and coaches put on by our factories ( which have all pretty much disappeared over the years ).
I saw Ken Hodgson score in a 1-1 draw at Oxford around that time.
The away games were always a great day out.
A season or so later - Aldershot 1 Colchester 3 in the pouring rain. Another large following of U's fans watching from the side stand.
Sparkfilms
says...
8:36pm Thu 3 May 12
He was transferred to Ipswich shortly after and always looked a class player.
I'm not sure if O'Rourke would care much for the modern game, not too many crosses to feed off these days.
Back to Luton - our fans were led through the backstreets en-mass by Twiddle in his top hat with rattle in hand.
I can even remember the locals coming out from their terraced houses to see what all the commotion was about and the warmth in their smiles as they picked up their toddlers to give them a view of Twiddle and his troops.
crazy comments
says...
10:26pm Thu 3 May 12
Sparkfilms wrote:Oh what great days they were Sparky. I remember that game at Luton so well. Reason I made good friends with a lovely young lady from Luton who was serving in a local cafe near to the ground that day. Its amazing you come to mention that game. Great times
It was indeed John O'Rourke who was at Luton - just checked his record there, 84 matches and 64 goals! He was transferred to Ipswich shortly after and always looked a class player. I'm not sure if O'Rourke would care much for the modern game, not too many crosses to feed off these days. Back to Luton - our fans were led through the backstreets en-mass by Twiddle in his top hat with rattle in hand. I can even remember the locals coming out from their terraced houses to see what all the commotion was about and the warmth in their smiles as they picked up their toddlers to give them a view of Twiddle and his troops.
Sparkfilms
says...
7:28am Fri 4 May 12
Here is a little more on that weekend.
Easter Good Friday, 8th April, 1966 (!)
Layer Road
Colchester United 2
Luton Town 2
Crowd 10,200!
It was hot sunshine and blue skies.
David Knight and I walked to Layer Road from Jarmin Road / Margaret Road and arrived at Layer Road at 1.30pm - that's how keen we were.
I believe the U's fought back from 0-2 down to force a draw.
Easter Saturday, 9th April
Torquay United 0
Colchester United 1
I didn't make that but it was a big win as we were going for promotion.
Easter Monday, 11th April
Luton Town 1 Colchester United 1
Crowd - 15,245!
We lost the last two matches of the season but scraped promotion to Division 3 by one of the smallest margins ever on goal average.
The final game of the season was Newport County away. The coach left at 3am - David Knight was on it but I didn't make this one either.
We lost 2-1 but our fans found out on their transistor radios that we had been promoted and it was a happy coach journey back to Essex - and Jarmin Road.
David came round the following day after not much sleep and told me about the Newport experience.
The thing that sticks out in my mind after all these years is that he said many of our fans sat in a stand that was actually leaning like the tower of Pisa.
Here is somrthing from a few months earlier.
Monday 28th February
Layer Road - with a 7.15pm kick off.
Colchester United 6
Bradford Park Avenue 3
Kevin Hector - later of Derby County scored one of the greatest goals ever at Layer Road at the clock end for Bradford.
It came following a short corner.
The only time I ever saw a similar goal was by a certain George Best for Manchester United at Fulham.
It's amazing how we have all these little cameos of our lives stored away for a rainy Friday morning.
Great vibe and good wishes from CO1 for Crazy and anyone following our very happy trip down memory lane.
totallyfootball
says...
10:07am Fri 4 May 12
Catboy
says...
9:41am Sat 5 May 12
totallyfootball wrote:What a top bloke he was too. I was too young to see him play for the Us but I saw him play for Tiptree Utd. He taught me as a very young kid to use both feet - it came in handy as I became a two footed useless player instead of one footed useless player! He always had time for everyone - sadly missed.
Brian Hall is a legend and I feel that I can confidently saw you will not see another like him in a U's shirt. He seemed to run a marathon in every game?
crazy comments says...
12:32pm Thu 3 May 12