Black ('n' White) Sheep

Chance to try a few players out...

                       Loach
Oduroh  Stearman  Cashin  Forsyth
           Knight  Smith  Sibley
    Barkhuizen  Collins  Dobbin

Give Collins and Cybulski 45mins each.

Am I bothered about the League Cup this year? Not particularly, no... I'd prefer to see us put a stronger team out in the Pizza Cup and try and get to Wembley.

Well we're playing well, but still can't seem to score many! I'm not panicking yet... it's only game 2... but we really do need to sort this out one way or another.

Is Cloughie's old 'shooting box' still lying around somewhere?

When did we last score from a corner? 9 times out of 10 either their goalkeeper catches it or it gets headed away!

Oh Knighty... what the f*** was that?!

f***'s sake!

Make some changes up top now. They've had 65mins and not scored... try something else!

Should be at least 3-0 up, if not more. I'm concerned about the chances to goals ratio at the minute!

Cracking save Wildsmith!

Try Dobbin in the second half. I'd like to see what he could do... very highly rated by the Everton fans.

Stating the obvious... but we really need to be making these chances count!

Well both teams had zero points at the start of the day. We now have 3. Oxford still have 0. That's football!

Also... on the subject of "a while"... this is the same Oxford that haven't been above the third tier in over 20 years, right?

7 minutes added on... what the f***?!

YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! ?

Sibley on for Hourihane please... His card's been marked by the ref and we can't afford to go down to 10!

Need some creativity in the middle of the pitch...

Having a lot of joy down the wings, but not much happening in the centre. Fast becoming a NML fan... it's great seeing an out-and-out winger who'll run at people!

Oxford starting to get a foothold in the game now after a bright Rams start

12 minutes ago, Ram1988 said:

 A right back surley needs to be the priority at the moment. Don't know too much about D Sterling or Ferguson to be fair, would you have a preference between them?

I'd be after Dujon Sterling personally... If only for the fact that he's played more first team football (on loan at Blackpool, Wigan and Coventry over the last few seasons).

First-team Premier League loans eh? Just guessing here, but going on where I think we'll need more depth some of these:

GKs - Steele (Brighton), Randolph (West Ham), Butland (Palace)... all third choices at their clubs. Wouldn't mind Iversen (Leicester) either, but can't see him dropping down to L1 after 2 Championship loans.

RBs - D Sterling (Chelsea), Ferguson (Palace)

Wingers - Anthony (Bournemouth), Sarmiento (Brighton), Palmer (Man City)

STs - Simms (Everton), Scarlett (Spurs)

Or maybe not... either way I'm intrigued to see who we'll get!

Not a bad game. Our goal was the pick of the bunch. Leicester's 2nd goal was a mile offside and their third was soft as ?.

Player wise... we could possibly do with a GK that can kick better if we're going to continue playing it out from the back. A proper first-choice right back is a must. Midfield fine; Max Bird was class. Collins showed some good touches in the build up even if he didn't get any clear chances on goal himself. We need to create more chances... but I think if our wingers ran beyond the opposition full backs more this would come.

Feeling positive for the first game. COYR ?

Smith, Davies, Chester/Cashin and Forsyth/Roberts... that would be a top-half Championship defence, never mind League One.

One of my players: "What are the tactics you want us to play today boss?".

My response: "Put the ball in their net more times than they put it in ours, lad".

1 hour ago, MACKWORTHRAM said:

What does everyone else think we need?

Bare minimum... we need a right back and Fozzy to re-sign for us.

To improve on what we have on matchdays... utilise the loan market and get a GK, winger and a CF (in addition to the RB).

That would do for me.

Slightly concerned how behind Stevenage we seem fitness/sharpness wise on this showing with a week and a bit to go until the start of the new season. Kind of hoping it's down to the heat (although we're both playing in the same conditions)!

Definitely missing Bird in that holding role. The midfield is just looking a tad lightweight tonight. Wouldn't mind seeing Knight, Bird and Hourihane in a 3 with Max sitting and the other 2 pushing on... might get a bit more service into Collins that way too.

I'm guessing we're going to see how we start the season before making a decision... no point giving LR a long-term contract only to sack him after 10-12 games if we start poorly (I consider this a very unlikely scenario before anyone says anything!).

Coventry?! Duck off!

Was expecting to see a bigger club linked.