Match Thread - Oxford United (A) - Tuesday 22nd October 2024

[DavesaRam]

15 minutes ago, Millenniumram said:

Why do we always bring Collins on rather than give Brown a chance? He offers nothing at this level 

When the Oxford goalscorer went off, RD  described him as a young lad learning his trade. A bit like Dajun Brown, then. The only difference being that the Oxford guy actually gets onto the pitch. 

[DiggerB]

3 minutes ago, JPRamFan said:

Game we could have won but happy enough with the point. NML and Adams stand outs. Osborne decent.

[RadioactiveWaste]

Better than 2 losses I guess.

 

[Caerphilly Ram]

1 minute ago, Barney1991 said:

I have quite enjoyed a few of the home games tbh but I’d like a little bit of excitement. We have nothing from open play we don’t create anything. Simple pass and move or combinations are non exsistent. The only real joy I get is when we get a corner. 

I agree that it was lacking in the first half, though there were a couple examples of CBT getting in down the left, overall we couldn’t string a couple of passes together. I felt it was much better second half with some more intricate play creating chances (the blocked Kenzo shot, the equaliser). We had more shots and more on target than them tonight, more corners, more touches in the oppositions penalty area yet some people were talking like they played us off the park. 
It’s never going to be consistently controlled and polished attacking football under Warne, it’s seemingly just not his thing, but so far he’s doing a solid job on our return to the championship and with players like Ozoh to come back in from injury I think we’ll continue to do alright. Some excitement from time to time and some stubborn doggedness, it’ll do for me.

[Sparkle]

I will always take a point away from home but we could easily have won that if anybody had any composure near the goal - kick and rush football tonight which we were better at whilst the ref really needs to understand his impact on the game 

[Topram]

Was a poor first half showing much better second half, couple decent points away from home, solid start to the season, noT really sure about all this negativity though, it’s pretty draining how people just expect us to win every game whilst playing like prime Barca, think we’re doing very well with what we’ve got and where we’ve come from 

[Tyler Durden]

The mitigation of playing teams like Sunderland and Sheffield Utd away from home is now diluted to a large degree after our last two performances against relatively poor Championship teams which frankly have not been good enough and already have started to alarm.

Seeing as the status quo seems to be we neither can keep a clean sheet nor score more than one goal away from home then we will struggle to win any away games unless one or both aspects change quickly. 

[DiggerB]

2 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Better than 2 losses I guess.

 

That’s the spirit! 

[Nuwtfly]

Much improved second half. Can we get McClaren in to do a couple of seasons on passing and ball retention, though? So frustrating to watch. 

[eddielewis]

Another point on the road. Naff 1st half making up for it in the 2nd. 

Pretty much a quarter of the season gone and were midtable which if we keep it going is more than what most people wanted. 

 

[Barney1991]

4 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said:

I think the majority were hoping for a season of "mid-table mediocrity".  We seem to be getting our wish so far, but that hardly screams "excitement".

I’d take finishing 4th from bottom tbh. Give me 4th from bottom playing half decent football with a couple of academy kids getting game time than finishing 12th watching some of the games this season. Like I’ve said some of the home games I’ve enjoyed and we have a bit about ourselves. Away from home so far we look like a team who have come up out of our depth 

[JPRamFan]

5 minutes ago, DiggerB said:

Ok better than he has been.

[Ambitious]

5 minutes ago, thischarmingram said:

We really aren’t going to win many if any away games if we can’t beat sides this bad. 

Positive is 2 points from two aways games and most of us would have taken that before these two games. It just puts so much pressure on us to keep winning at home. 

Oxford are unbeaten and have conceded 3 goals in 6 games at home. They’ve only dropped points at home to Burnley and West Brom - both comfortably top six sides. They beat Preston, Norwich and Stoke.

Tonight was the most shots they’ve faced in any home game this season. 

Are we saying Burnley, West Brom, Norwich and Stoke aren’t going to win many away if they can’t beat teams as bad as Oxford?

[Mick Brolly]

13 minutes ago, Millenniumram said:

That’s a good point, particularly after yet another horrific 45 mins away from home. Oxford are a good side, have recruited well and will finish above us imo. HAVE to back this up with a win on Saturday though.

Just out of interest do you still think we’re relegation certainties 

[Castor]

Said lots of times already, the moment Ozoh comes back in and Kenzo plays as the 10, we'll see more control in midfield and more composure/chances up top. 

Hopefully he's back on Saturday.

[Jourdan]

A point that will look really good and a good building block if we go on and beat Hull on Saturday. If not, we might look at the past two games as missed opportunities. Two points that could have been more if we had shown more quality and composure.

To our credit, we improved in the second half and showed a fighting response and it was a deserved draw on the balance of the two halves. However neither team really had the conviction or the quality to go on and win the game. 

On that evidence, it’s going to be a long and barren winter on our travels unless we improve drastically. Teams with more quality will surely swat us aside. For that to be avoided, we need Ozoh and Nyambe back and we need Goudmijn to be more consistent and more assertive in games.

Looking to January, as much as I like Yates, we need a more orthodox number nine up top to help the ball stick and some genuine quality in the wide areas. We have plenty of athleticism and industry but we need some stardust.

[Ram-Alf]

7 minutes ago, vonwright said:

Much better second half in terms of commitment and urgency. Lack of quality remains a real worry though.

A scrappy game and a 1st half to forget, But I don't think it's a lack of quality all round..., Oxford took a point off WBA so we aint that bad, We had some 16 shots but only 4 on target, It's that kind of Quality I'd like to see addressed, It's not like it's a double top with a dart, The goals are pretty big so missing 12 from 16 shots is something we need to remedy.

Good away point imo tho   

[Malty]

1 minute ago, JPRamFan said:

Ok better than he has been.

Don’t back track so quickly. Osbourn was good in the second half today. I agree with your original post. 👍

[Anag Ram]

Thought Harness did okay when he came on. CBT’s petulance cost him his place. He was doing okay.

 We have plenty of players who show fight and commitment but so few who show composure, especially in front of goal. We missed loads of chances tonight.

 

[rad1919]

4 minutes ago, Topram said:

Was a poor first half showing much better second half, couple decent points away from home, solid start to the season, noT really sure about all this negativity though, it’s pretty draining how people just expect us to win every game whilst playing like prime Barca, think we’re doing very well with what we’ve got and where we’ve come from 

Couldn’t agree more.

The first half was terrible but fair play getting a point.

We’re 12th, exactly if not exceeding where the majority thought we would end the season.

Two points from two horrible looking away fixtures is a good return.