The end-of-season fixtures seem to have started early this year going by Bristol Rovers' bore draw against an uncompromising Colchester United side.

Some 0-0 draws can be very entertaining, but that cannot be said of a game in which the visitors' goalkeeper hardly had a shot to save and we did not have any excuses like a bad Memorial Stadium pitch or windy conditions.

Colchester appeared to come for the draw, but as the home side you have to take the game to the visitors and once again it was very disappointing to see us adopt such negative tactics in a home game.

Apart from Jo Kuffour's opportunity in the first minute we didn't get into top gear and, in a rare visit to the Centenary Stand, I was able to see from up on high how we lacked movement off the ball, particularly with our midfield playing so deep, leaving Kuffour and Rickie Lambert isolated up front. The only entertainment in the first half stemmed from Steve Phillips' juggling act, keeping everyone guessing as to whether he was coming for crosses, and his kicking that was as wild as my golf shots.

He settled down in the second half and, after he took his first cross in front of the Blackthorn End turned and bowed to the fans following their sarcastic cheers, before having the last laugh with a good late save to earn us a point.

But the biggest talking point was over Paul Trollope's second substitution. Yes, the introduction of David Pipe brought some much-needed urgency to our play but inexplicably as the game was slowly meandering towards the inevitable draw, why did he bring on full-back Joe Jacobson and not Darryl Duffy, who must have been desperate to get on after his winning goal at Orient? It just about summed up our aspirations for the match.

Once again we had no width on the left in a home game, though Jeff Hughes was brought in to fill that role. Some fans argue he is playing well away from home but I feel he is having very little impact in games at the Mem.

Our display was summed up when in the last minute Kuffour broke into the box and squared a good ball, only to find we had no-one following up when we should have been going in search of that late winner.

Our tannoy man quickly gauged the mood as we filed out at the end when he started to play "Glad All Over" by the Dave Clark Five, but quickly stopped it because we were not in the mood to be glad about a home draw..

Things need freshening up and I hope Trolls puts out a more attacking line-up tomorrow against struggling Cheltenham and we can all go home with Dave Clark ringing in our ears.