v Oxford United (H) Match Thread

[Walkley Ram]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGit said:

Oxford fan coming in peace.

This thread has been quite some read and you are rightly concerned that you’ve lost to lowly Oxford. But, let me try and calm your concerns and correct some comments.

Yes, we finished 2 points clear of relegation and as one of your contributors said we’d only won 3 games in 7 months. But to put that into perspective, we had Karl Robinson as our “manager” last season until he was sacked. After 5 seasons we eventually got rid of  him. He had some good games, we got to the playoff final and lost to Wycombe, perhaps the least deserving team to get promoted, their brand of footy was truly awful. The following season we lost in the playoff semifinal to Blackpool, we got thumped at home, game over. We then followed that with 8th.

He got the sack after picking up 1 point in 24, the board should’ve acted sooner because he had his mind on other things. His marriage had collapsed, but if you shag the women’s team captain what do you expect. His signings, were a disaster. He gave contract extensions to injured players. Signed players with known mental health issues, signed more crocks and brought in square pegs for round holes. He also signed big Sam’s grandson, not on merit.  His post match comments were those of a scouce smack-head who’d just found a bottle of LSD.  We’d watched United get annihilated and he’d be talking about Brazil, the rainforest and samba bands.

In came Liam Manning and Chris Hogg… who?  Manning got MK into the L1 playoffs which they lost and got the push from MK after a bad run.

He came in and picked up 11 points to keep us up, instilling some grit and professionalism.

During the close season, he’s brought in 8 new players, some of whom we have been shocked we’d signed. Ruben Rodrigues from Notts Country, Mark Harris from Cardiff, on loan Stan Mills from Everton and James Beadle from Brighton. 
We had PSF against Swansea 2-2 then beat QPR 5-0.

First game of the season was a 2-0 away defeat to Cambridge and our forum was similar to this thread. However a 1-0 win against Carlisle and last night has completely changed the outlook. As many people say, give it 10 games, then start judging. New players in, old ones out, injured players back etc.

I can understand your pain, but I think we’ll be top 10 this year, we are playing free flowing footy. You are hamstrung by past crimes and until you can spend you’ll be stuck in this league, but once sanctions are lifted, 25,000 customers is going to give you plenty of buying power. 

Good luck for the season, especially against, Wigan, Reading and Bolton.

We're not being disrespectful at all to Oxford. It's not the fact that you beat us that's the issue. You were really, really good, and you deserved the win. We're derby, we lose all the time, we're used to it.

We're more upset at how badly we're set up. How the players have seemingly already given up, how the system is toss, and how our manager has taken a team and made it worse. By a long, long margin. We can take losing, it's just the manner of not competing at all. We should not be pinned into our own half for long stages at home. Blackpool had the ball for 7 solid minutes at pride park the other day. Go and set a timer for 7 minutes, and imagine watching your team run aimlessly around trying to get the ball back. At home.

Best of luck for the rest of the season. Your fans were decent last night.

[Sparkle]

13 hours ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Only a fluke because Warne is a bad judge if character and thought he has an ego. I wonder how many other players we've missed out on because of it.

Chris Martin 😉

[Scott129]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGit said:

Oxford fan coming in peace.

This thread has been quite some read and you are rightly concerned that you’ve lost to lowly Oxford. But, let me try and calm your concerns and correct some comments.

Yes, we finished 2 points clear of relegation and as one of your contributors said we’d only won 3 games in 7 months. But to put that into perspective, we had Karl Robinson as our “manager” last season until he was sacked. After 5/seasons we eventually got rid of  him. He had some good games, we got to the playoff final and lost to Wycombe, perhaps the least deserving team to get promoted, their brand of footy was truly awful. The following season we lost in the playoff semifinal to Blackpool, we got thumped at home, game over. We then followed that with 8th.

He got the sack after picking up 1 point in 24, the board should’ve acted sooner because he had his mind on other things. His marriage had collapsed, but if you shag the women’s team captain what do you expect. His signings, were a disaster. He gave contract extensions to injured players. Signed players with known mental health issues, signed more crocks and brought in square pegs for round holes. He also signed big Sam’s grandson, not on merit.  His post match comments were those of a scouce smack-head who’d just found a bottle of LSD.  We’d watched United get annihilated and he’d be talking about Brazil, the rainforest and samba bands.

In came Liam Manning and Chris Hogg… who?  Manning got MK into the L1 playoffs which they lost and got the push from MK after a bad run.

He came in and picked up 11 points to keep us up, instilling some grit and professionalism.

During the close season, he’s brought in 8 new players, some of whom we have been shocked we’d signed. Ruben Rodrigues from Notts Country, Mark Harris from Cardiff, on loan Stan Mills from Everton and James Beadle from Brighton. 
We had PSF against Swansea 2-2 then beat QPR 5-0.

First game of the season was a 2-0 away defeat to Cambridge and our forum was similar to this thread. However a 1-0 win against Carlisle and last night has completely changed the outlook. As many people say, give it 10 games, then start judging. New players in, old ones out, injured players back etc.

I can understand your pain, but I think we’ll be top 10 this year, we are playing free flowing footy. You are hamstrung by past crimes and until you can spend you’ll be stuck in this league, but once sanctions are lifted, 25,000 customers is going to give you plenty of buying power. 

Good luck for the season, especially against, Wigan, Reading and Bolton.

I hope that this wasn't your main takeaway from reading this thread. We have another thread somewhere for league predictions and a lot of us do think you will be right up there come the end of the season. So it's not arrogance in that 'Oh, we should be smashing Oxford, no questions asked'.

Our frustration is that, usually, we are so, so good at home. Whether it's against Ilkeston Town, Oxford United, or Arsenal, we would give anyone a good game at Pride Park (primarily attractive football played by technically good footballers). What we all saw last night is not what we have been used to - no identity, no intensity, and (seemingly) no coaching. And we justifiably got taken apart by the better team.

Edited August 16, 2023 by Scott129

[IlsonDerby]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGit said:

Oxford fan coming in peace.

This thread has been quite some read and you are rightly concerned that you’ve lost to lowly Oxford. But, let me try and calm your concerns and correct some comments.

Yes, we finished 2 points clear of relegation and as one of your contributors said we’d only won 3 games in 7 months. But to put that into perspective, we had Karl Robinson as our “manager” last season until he was sacked. After 5 seasons we eventually got rid of  him. He had some good games, we got to the playoff final and lost to Wycombe, perhaps the least deserving team to get promoted, their brand of footy was truly awful. The following season we lost in the playoff semifinal to Blackpool, we got thumped at home, game over. We then followed that with 8th.

He got the sack after picking up 1 point in 24, the board should’ve acted sooner because he had his mind on other things. His marriage had collapsed, but if you shag the women’s team captain what do you expect. His signings, were a disaster. He gave contract extensions to injured players. Signed players with known mental health issues, signed more crocks and brought in square pegs for round holes. He also signed big Sam’s grandson, not on merit.  His post match comments were those of a scouce smack-head who’d just found a bottle of LSD.  We’d watched United get annihilated and he’d be talking about Brazil, the rainforest and samba bands.

In came Liam Manning and Chris Hogg… who?  Manning got MK into the L1 playoffs which they lost and got the push from MK after a bad run.

He came in and picked up 11 points to keep us up, instilling some grit and professionalism.

During the close season, he’s brought in 8 new players, some of whom we have been shocked we’d signed. Ruben Rodrigues from Notts Country, Mark Harris from Cardiff, on loan Stan Mills from Everton and James Beadle from Brighton. 
We had PSF against Swansea 2-2 then beat QPR 5-0.

First game of the season was a 2-0 away defeat to Cambridge and our forum was similar to this thread. However a 1-0 win against Carlisle and last night has completely changed the outlook. As many people say, give it 10 games, then start judging. New players in, old ones out, injured players back etc.

I can understand your pain, but I think we’ll be top 10 this year, we are playing free flowing footy. You are hamstrung by past crimes and until you can spend you’ll be stuck in this league, but once sanctions are lifted, 25,000 customers is going to give you plenty of buying power. 

Good luck for the season, especially against, Wigan, Reading and Bolton.

If your main takeaway from this is that we shouldn’t be losing to you because you’re not very good then I suggest re reading it. A few have pointed out your position last season but the majority has been aimed at Warnes football stinking the place out. 
 

You look a good young team with a good young manager. A million miles away from where we should be. 

[alram]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGit said:

Oxford fan coming in peace.

This thread has been quite some read and you are rightly concerned that you’ve lost to lowly Oxford. But, let me try and calm your concerns and correct some comments.

Yes, we finished 2 points clear of relegation and as one of your contributors said we’d only won 3 games in 7 months. But to put that into perspective, we had Karl Robinson as our “manager” last season until he was sacked. After 5 seasons we eventually got rid of  him. He had some good games, we got to the playoff final and lost to Wycombe, perhaps the least deserving team to get promoted, their brand of footy was truly awful. The following season we lost in the playoff semifinal to Blackpool, we got thumped at home, game over. We then followed that with 8th.

He got the sack after picking up 1 point in 24, the board should’ve acted sooner because he had his mind on other things. His marriage had collapsed, but if you shag the women’s team captain what do you expect. His signings, were a disaster. He gave contract extensions to injured players. Signed players with known mental health issues, signed more crocks and brought in square pegs for round holes. He also signed big Sam’s grandson, not on merit.  His post match comments were those of a scouce smack-head who’d just found a bottle of LSD.  We’d watched United get annihilated and he’d be talking about Brazil, the rainforest and samba bands.

In came Liam Manning and Chris Hogg… who?  Manning got MK into the L1 playoffs which they lost and got the push from MK after a bad run.

He came in and picked up 11 points to keep us up, instilling some grit and professionalism.

During the close season, he’s brought in 8 new players, some of whom we have been shocked we’d signed. Ruben Rodrigues from Notts Country, Mark Harris from Cardiff, on loan Stan Mills from Everton and James Beadle from Brighton. 
We had PSF against Swansea 2-2 then beat QPR 5-0.

First game of the season was a 2-0 away defeat to Cambridge and our forum was similar to this thread. However a 1-0 win against Carlisle and last night has completely changed the outlook. As many people say, give it 10 games, then start judging. New players in, old ones out, injured players back etc.

I can understand your pain, but I think we’ll be top 10 this year, we are playing free flowing footy. You are hamstrung by past crimes and until you can spend you’ll be stuck in this league, but once sanctions are lifted, 25,000 customers is going to give you plenty of buying power. 

Good luck for the season, especially against, Wigan, Reading and Bolton.

well done grumpy git.

 

a club with a vision and a plan to play, and sign players based on the way you want to play.

 

it is a novel idea around here it will never catch on

 

its no suprise rodrigues went to you guys instead of us, we are just not attractive for players that aren't 6 foot 6 and struggle to stand upright

Edited August 16, 2023 by alram

[cj9a408]

Yes we were poor last night but swapping 5 players off the bench for exactly the same set up without switching the formation is madness.

[Leeds Ram]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGit said:

Oxford fan coming in peace.

This thread has been quite some read and you are rightly concerned that you’ve lost to lowly Oxford. But, let me try and calm your concerns and correct some comments.

Yes, we finished 2 points clear of relegation and as one of your contributors said we’d only won 3 games in 7 months. But to put that into perspective, we had Karl Robinson as our “manager” last season until he was sacked. After 5 seasons we eventually got rid of  him. He had some good games, we got to the playoff final and lost to Wycombe, perhaps the least deserving team to get promoted, their brand of footy was truly awful. The following season we lost in the playoff semifinal to Blackpool, we got thumped at home, game over. We then followed that with 8th.

He got the sack after picking up 1 point in 24, the board should’ve acted sooner because he had his mind on other things. His marriage had collapsed, but if you shag the women’s team captain what do you expect. His signings, were a disaster. He gave contract extensions to injured players. Signed players with known mental health issues, signed more crocks and brought in square pegs for round holes. He also signed big Sam’s grandson, not on merit.  His post match comments were those of a scouce smack-head who’d just found a bottle of LSD.  We’d watched United get annihilated and he’d be talking about Brazil, the rainforest and samba bands.

In came Liam Manning and Chris Hogg… who?  Manning got MK into the L1 playoffs which they lost and got the push from MK after a bad run.

He came in and picked up 11 points to keep us up, instilling some grit and professionalism.

During the close season, he’s brought in 8 new players, some of whom we have been shocked we’d signed. Ruben Rodrigues from Notts Country, Mark Harris from Cardiff, on loan Stan Mills from Everton and James Beadle from Brighton. 
We had PSF against Swansea 2-2 then beat QPR 5-0.

First game of the season was a 2-0 away defeat to Cambridge and our forum was similar to this thread. However a 1-0 win against Carlisle and last night has completely changed the outlook. As many people say, give it 10 games, then start judging. New players in, old ones out, injured players back etc.

I can understand your pain, but I think we’ll be top 10 this year, we are playing free flowing footy. You are hamstrung by past crimes and until you can spend you’ll be stuck in this league, but once sanctions are lifted, 25,000 customers is going to give you plenty of buying power. 

Good luck for the season, especially against, Wigan, Reading and Bolton.

It's got nothing to do with losing to 'lowly Oxford', and btw the big chip on the shoulders of third-division teams gets a bit tiresome tbh. It's got everything to do with how we played, how we have played in the past, and our current lack of a plan. We weren't good enough for our standards, for where we want to be, which is like any team near the top of the division. I thought you were good value for your win, and if we had nicked a point at the end it would have been criminal. You looked like everything we were not; well-organised, quick, strong, and well-balanced. 

[Tombo]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGit said:

Oxford fan coming in peace.

This thread has been quite some read and you are rightly concerned that you’ve lost to lowly Oxford. But, let me try and calm your concerns and correct some comments.

Yes, we finished 2 points clear of relegation and as one of your contributors said we’d only won 3 games in 7 months. But to put that into perspective, we had Karl Robinson as our “manager” last season until he was sacked. After 5 seasons we eventually got rid of  him. He had some good games, we got to the playoff final and lost to Wycombe, perhaps the least deserving team to get promoted, their brand of footy was truly awful. The following season we lost in the playoff semifinal to Blackpool, we got thumped at home, game over. We then followed that with 8th.

He got the sack after picking up 1 point in 24, the board should’ve acted sooner because he had his mind on other things. His marriage had collapsed, but if you shag the women’s team captain what do you expect. His signings, were a disaster. He gave contract extensions to injured players. Signed players with known mental health issues, signed more crocks and brought in square pegs for round holes. He also signed big Sam’s grandson, not on merit.  His post match comments were those of a scouce smack-head who’d just found a bottle of LSD.  We’d watched United get annihilated and he’d be talking about Brazil, the rainforest and samba bands.

In came Liam Manning and Chris Hogg… who?  Manning got MK into the L1 playoffs which they lost and got the push from MK after a bad run.

He came in and picked up 11 points to keep us up, instilling some grit and professionalism.

During the close season, he’s brought in 8 new players, some of whom we have been shocked we’d signed. Ruben Rodrigues from Notts Country, Mark Harris from Cardiff, on loan Stan Mills from Everton and James Beadle from Brighton. 
We had PSF against Swansea 2-2 then beat QPR 5-0.

First game of the season was a 2-0 away defeat to Cambridge and our forum was similar to this thread. However a 1-0 win against Carlisle and last night has completely changed the outlook. As many people say, give it 10 games, then start judging. New players in, old ones out, injured players back etc.

I can understand your pain, but I think we’ll be top 10 this year, we are playing free flowing footy. You are hamstrung by past crimes and until you can spend you’ll be stuck in this league, but once sanctions are lifted, 25,000 customers is going to give you plenty of buying power. 

Good luck for the season, especially against, Wigan, Reading and Bolton.

I don't want you going away thinking that we are embarrassed by a poor result vs Oxford. This is the league we are in and there are tough teams. We are not underestimating anyone

You were very good last night and I think you'll be in the top 6.

Even so, we are also expecting to challenge at that end of the table with the squad we have. And we were nowhere near your level and it should have been a closer contest if we have promotion ambitions.

Spending is not so much the issue. We are free of embargo and have a bit of spending power to play with. Problem is we don't seem to have any ideas where to spend the money. We are chasing Championship quality players and missing out because we have a healthy League One budget, but not a Championship one. We seem to be clueless on recruitment despite our new Head of Recruitment joining nearly a year ago

We also have no discernable football philosophy, identity or style of play, and no cohesion between players.

We were nowhere near you last night, and you will have much tougher games ahead than Derby away if that's what we've got to offer

Well done and good luck for the season

[Somersall Ram]

14 hours ago, DCFC Kicks said:

Brannagan and McGuane are two of the best midfielders in the league. Derby were probably scared they would just pass through them if we pressed high. Saying that, we have Bird and Hourihane who are also two of the best midfielders in the league. We also outnumbered them as we had Smith as well, but there you go... 

I’m mystified why anyone would consider Bird and Hourihane as two of the leagues best midfielders 

[Magicman]

Wildsmith needs resting too. 

[eddy779h34]

I said after the Stoke pre season match ,that we aren't as good as you all think and I was laughed at, I said that the midfield was non existant despite the fluky 3 nil win 

How a football manager  couldn't see we have no midfield baffles me. We are tiny. Derby are massively weaker than last season , a season that we struggled !! 

No replacement for McGoldrick and Knight is madness , and why do we always have cr*p defenders sign. who actually scouts these players 

Rosienor should of stayed imo His recuitment was far better than this clown 

[Eoghan1884]

I think it looks very obvious we are terrible at beating the press. Teams seem to have found us out, every time a team initiates a high press trap we crumble and boot the ball ( yes I know players have been told to play long ball).
 

This also is a reason for a few of the mistakes leading to goals and a few that have been lucky escapes this season. That right hand triangle of Nelson Bradley and Smith coming deep is terrible on the ball. If I can see it no wonder other managers can and when them 3 get on the ball the opposition usually set a (succesfull) trap through pressing. 

But a few simple changes like bringing in a competent right footed 6, dropping bird deeper (where he can help control a game), and playing Rooney over Nelson who is definitely better on the ball, Would all benefit us as a side. I also think Bradley would benefit having a bit more pace either side of him long term but through this rocky spell Forsyth in the centre of defence is a must for me.

On the topic of dropping Bird deeper. Warne needs to eat humble pie on that one and accept we need him to help us control the game. I also think Hourihane behind a front 3 or behind 2 strikers would benefit us. He’s a great technical player who has a good footballing brain so having him in and round the box making passes and having more shots can only be a positive. 

Edited August 16, 2023 by Eoghan1884

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, Somersall Ram said:

I’m mystified why anyone would consider Bird and Hourihane as two of the leagues best midfielders 

Hourihane was voted one of the league’s best midfielders by his League One peers so I do wonder if I’m missing something. He’s obviously got quality but keeps it to himself too much!

I don’t think Bird is considered one of the best at present, but he could be, and he has started well this season.

[eddy779h34]

7 minutes ago, jameso said:

Hourihane was voted one of the league’s best midfielders by his League One peers so I do wonder if I’m missing something. He’s obviously got quality but keeps it to himself too much!

I don’t think Bird is considered one of the best at present, but he could be, and he has started well this season.

 

7 minutes ago, jameso said:

Hourihane was voted one of the league’s best midfielders by his League One peers so I do wonder if I’m missing something. He’s obviously got quality but keeps it to himself too much!

I don’t think Bird is considered one of the best at present, but he could be, and he has started well this season.

Hourihane doesn't control a game for all his CV he takes a half decent free kick but in general play he goes missing for long periods 

We don't need players going missing, we need players to get a grip and drive the team forward 

[MadAmster]

Best team on the night won. They looked fitter, faster. Had better ball control. Won 3/4 of the 2nd ball. We couldn't find a teammate with a 5yard pass most of the time.

Looks like we're playing zonal defence. Look at both goals against yesterday. First, a crap pass from Nelson finds an Oxford player just inside the Derby half. He runs 25 yards unchallenged and plays a good pass into our box. Harris runs on to it, nobody tracking him and beats Wildsmith top corner, near post (is the near post JW's achilles heel?). Half a dozen white shirts in our box all marking nobody. Their 2nd saw Harris, again without a Derby shirt anywhere near him, latch on to a ball on the edge of the box and put it away. Zonal defence is brilliant, I've yet to see a zone score... We have enough players back, IMO, they're just not marking opposition players. Who to blame? For all of, and there were many, the poor passes, we can blame the players. For what looks like the chosen defence strategy, it's PW and his staff.

Ref was poor but we shouldn't complain. Another ref would have given a penalty to them plus a red card for the arm pull. Collo hung his left elbow out and was given a yellow. A lot of refs would have given a red. Cash was very lucky not to pick up a 2nd yellow late on.

Edited August 16, 2023 by MadAmster

[ollycutts1982]

6 minutes ago, MadAmster said:

Best team on the night won. They looked fitter, faster. Had better ball control. Won 3/4 of the 2nd ball. We couldn't find a teammate with a 5yard pass most of the time.

Looks like we're playing zonal defence. Look at both goals against yesterday. First, a crap pass from SB finds an Oxford player just inside the Derby half. He runs 25 yards unchallenged and plays a good pass into our box. Harris runs on to it, nobody tracking him and beats Wildsmith top corner, near post (is the near post JW's achilles heel?). Half a dozen white shirts in our box all marking nobody. Their 2nd saw Harris, again without a Derby shirt anywhere near him, latch on to a ball on the edge of the box and put it away. Zonal defence is brilliant, I've yet to see a zone score... We have enough players back, IMO, they're just not marking opposition players. Who to blame? For all of, and there were many, the poor passes, we can blame the players. For what looks like the chosen defence strategy, it's PW and his staff.

Ref was poor but we shouldn't complain. Another ref would have given a penalty to them plus a red card for the arm pull. Collo hung his left elbow out and was given a yellow. A lot of refs would have given a red. Cash was very lucky not to pick up a 2nd yellow late on.

Totally agree. Apart from it was Nelson’s pass that led to the first. 

[MadAmster]

4 minutes ago, ollycutts1982 said:

Totally agree. Apart from it was Nelson’s pass that led to the first. 

Thanks Olly, original post edited....

 

[ollycutts1982]

6 minutes ago, MadAmster said:

Thanks Olly, original post edited....

 

No problem. Bradley is getting a lot of stick, mostly justified but Nelson hasn’t exactly looked like Nesta. 

[DCFC Kicks]

55 minutes ago, Somersall Ram said:

I’m mystified why anyone would consider Bird and Hourihane as two of the leagues best midfielders 

Why is Bird wanted by Championship clubs then? and Hourihane, who rejected Championship offers to sign for us. 

The problem is they're playing in a flat 5 in midfield. They need a CDM, or Bird should play CDM,  so they can get forward more. Hourihanes good a scoring from range and its being wasted.

[RoyMac5]

32 minutes ago, ollycutts1982 said:

Totally agree. Apart from it was Nelson’s pass that led to the first. 

But it was SBs poor header that ended up with Nelson. And whilst it was a poor pass there was plenty of defensive players between them and the goal. Why didn't we defend better, SB and Cash were both in the same place.

Edited August 16, 2023 by RoyMac5