ROBBIE Cowling has promised to provide a ‘good budget’ to help the Cowleys establish a winning attitude at Colchester United.
The U’s secured their League Two status on the penultimate day of the season, marking the club’s fourth consecutive year in relegation danger.
Danny and Nicky Cowley, the club’s management combination, plan to make significant changes to the first-team roster this summer in order to build a team capable of competing at the right end of the table.
Mr Cowling, Colchester’s owner and chairman, believes lessons have been learned from this season and wants to support the U’s management team in turning around the club’s approach.
At a recent U’s season-ticket holder fans’ conference, Mr Cowling stated: “As we all know, we’ve had four bad seasons – there’s no getting around it.
“It’s no joy, and it’s especially no fun to own a club when there’s the risk of being relegated and the consequences of that.
“The last two seasons, I promised myself that it might cost a few extra pounds, but I don’t want to go through another relegation battle.
“I promised myself last year that if I put more money into it, we would not have another relegation battle.
“I think the most important lesson I’ve learned is that you can’t just buy yourself a good season; it doesn’t work that way.
“I’ve learned some lessons from the mistakes we’ve made this season.
“We are convinced that we have learned lessons and can perform far better.
“The promise I made last year was that we’d have a better budget.
“During the pandemic years, my businesses suffered, and I was unable to invest in the team.
“I couldn’t be dissatisfied with the coaches at the time, such as Hayden (Mullins), because we had a bottom-six budget and were spending our time in the bottom six.
“We’ve been able to boost the budget in recent years, but those two years of difficulty have had an impact.
“It fosters a mindset within the club that is difficult to change.
“I’ll give you a decent budget next year – I’m not sure where that will take us, but it should ensure that we do not face relegation.
“I guess I’ll leave it to these gentlemen (the Cowleys) to try to change the club’s mindset and get us back to the winning mentality that they’re clearly used to.
“I’ll do my bit and I think everyone at the club really wants us to do well.”
Colchester has had a rough season, with challenges on the play compounded by difficulties off the pitch, with their pitch proving particularly troublesome in the last months of the season.
However, Mr Cowling expressed pride in the club’s staff’s ability to work together throughout difficult times.
“For me, one of the big successes this year that’s made me most proud of the club is the way that all of the staff at the club have reacted to what we go through,” he said.
“This has been a challenging season.
“There have been difficult times at the club, but it’s terrific to see Tim (Waddington) and his team, as well as the rest of the staff, dig deep.
“You can also see some of our young players and coaches doing their absolute best.”
“There are so many factors in football, and I could easily make excuses for all of the injuries we’ve had, but I won’t, because they may come back and blame us for them.
“But seeing how the individuals at the club have handled the criticism and dug deep has made me really proud of our personnel.
“The efforts of this club and the people that work there are outstanding, and sometimes you only realise it when things are horrible or going wrong.
“You sort of figure out who you want to be in the trenches with, and we’re very fortunate at this club; we have some amazing guys.
“I’m particularly proud of the staff and they go well beyond what they need to do.”
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