..or the chickens coming home to roost.

The defence last season was so well protected by the likes of Hewitt, Yates and Hawkridge and since the departure of Yates, he was the key player that has not been replaced.

Player identification is the key for success. Look at Accrington last season, 23rd in L2 in terms of revenues yet the budget was allocated so precisely and a balanced team won promotion

By offering O'Connor allegedly 3 contract offers, we then panicked and signed Vaughan...the wrong type of midfielder when we already had Husin. Neither can tackle and win the second ball, yet players like Harry Pell were available at the right price and Colchester rightly identified him as a Bishop / O'Connor / Yates like midfielder

Similarly, Omar Sowunmi contract had expired and his towering performance Friday night, showed that there were better players than offering Duffy a new contract.

Calls for Hewitt to return to midfield I hear people voice out loud,. However, he must have one of the worst pass completion rates in L2. If we are serious about promotion, are there better midfielders available ( see Pell above!)

Brentford built their success on their own "moneyball" model. Even scouring Europe for "value for money" players that could give you a competitive advantage. Southampton also devoted a lot of resources behind the scenes watching lower European league videos, looking for "gems" at a low price.

Fitzsimons, has come under a lot of criticism but he was blameless against Yeovil, and it can be argued his saves, could have prevented a 0-8 loss

Well the loan window needs to be used to get that key central midfield bully.

It's early days too, but the strikers don't look like "natural goal scorers". You look at some strikers and can recognise a goal scoring instinct and coolness in front of goal. I just don't see that with Dennis and Hemmings at the moment.