Ribs: The Life of a Loanee

The loan move to Colchester came about as a bit of a surprise really. I didn’t know anything was going to happen until I went in to see Gary Johnson, the manager at Bristol City, and he said Aidy Boothroyd had been asking about me. I think I played well against Colchester for Stockport when I was on loan there, and once he had heard that I’d come back to Bristol I think he’d been asking about me for a while. But I didn’t know this at the time so it all happened very quickly.

I only found out on the Thursday morning and by Friday I was travelling up to Gillingham to play on the Saturday. I hadn’t even trained with them and I was straight into the team – that was quite interesting!

But I wasn’t playing at Bristol City anyway and it’s always good to go out and play and get experience. I was pleased to come to a side that were already fourth in the league so it was a real step-up in that sense. I’m hoping to impress now and fingers crossed I’ll be closer to the Bristol City team when I’m back. And I’d played in League One already anyway so I knew the level and knew I could do well here.

I’m currently in a Holiday Inn in Colchester. The clubs sort out all your accommodation and whatever. It is difficult being so far away from home knowing you might not be here for very long. But in football you have to make sacrifices like this and in the long run it’ll be better for me. I was glad to come down here and I’d be more than happy to stay here if it gets extended.

When I’m not with the players I spend a fair bit of my spare time playing computer games and watching TV. It is a bit boring stuck in a hotel but you get used to it after a while. But to be honest both loan periods I’ve had I’ve really enjoyed. All the people are very friendly and the players have been great so it’s worked out well.

Unfortunately I got injured in the second game here. Half-way through the match against MK Dons I slipped and over-stretched my groin a bit. But I’m coming back from that now and hopefully I’ll start playing a few more games.

It’s very frustrating to come off injured. The game against Gillingham was my first in three or four weeks so to play again so soon on the Tuesday afterwards was maybe a bit too much and my body wasn’t quite ready for it. Luckily it wasn’t too serious and there are loads of games in this period anyway. It’ll be good for me, and if it does get extended we’ll play it by ear.

It looks good on the CV to say I’ve played X-amount of games. Fingers crossed by the end of the season I’ll have played 15-20 league games which will be a really successful season for me.

I came in after we’d lost 7-0 and 5-0 and since I’ve been here we haven’t conceded a goal so that’s my claim to fame! Maybe I’m a lucky charm.

Maybe I’ll even get a first league goal. I’ve kind of come close a couple of times, but judging by my previous record I don’t think it’ll be anytime soon!

Christian Ribeiro