Away Match Day Thread 21/5/2021 Playoff L1 Blackpool FC V OUFC

[derek]

I think Mcguane and Gorrin (when fit) will certainly go towards providing that..

And Dan, of course.

 

[QR]

They responded much better to going 1-0 down than we did. And they were louder. It's a fact.

They went 1:3 down ffs!

 

[Concretebob]

I think respect for a 9 year old boy who was tragically killed is totally different to respect over a game of football.

Personally I believe in mutual respect.

 

[MC Yellow]

Personally I thought it was really s**t of them. We've shown them respect. Show some back.

And why was their round of applause before the game, and ours was during the game? I have no problem with both, but ours did disrupt the flow of the game.

And they would have done exactly the same had it been a young lad from Oxford.

The two are really not connected.

A round of applause disrupting the flow of the game ? Do me a favour

 

[Followtheox]

I agree with KR’s comments about where we need to strengthen. We need to add to McQuaine. I think we can do better than Lee and Barker. We also need rid of Hall and we can do better than Ruffs who obviously doesn’t want to play anymore for us. Barker cannot tackle and rarely chases back. Two fast wingers and a strong midfielder in with a left back

 

[Mad Dog]

Certainly wouldn't want him ahead of Henry - Lee was certainly poor when it mattered - would be happy to have Shodipo back

Yeah Shodipo might be worth another punt next season, he has improved as a player as the season has gone on, and certainly puts in more of a shift than Barker, who, for all his obvious talent, only looks remotely interested when he has the ball at his feet, and unless he corrects that attitude, will end up falling by the wayside, as another wasted talent.

 

[QR]

I’m sorry QR but my Nan made more noise than us on Tuesday night…

Shes been dead for 15 years.

Speak for yourself... and your nan.

 

[Symp59]

Why have we signed Sykes if he's not the sort of player we are looking for ? Nice neat player never scores please score8 next year I will be the first to sent you 6 bottles of champagne please prove me wrong

 

[m]

They responded much better to going 1-0 down than we did. And they were louder. It's a fact.

Except they didn't really go 1-0 down, did they?

Context. Nothing more.

 

[unification]

Two play offs in 2 seasons finishing above Ipswich, Charlton
Do you seriously think he has done a bad job?

Guaranteed you can look around the forums for every team and there will be fans calling for the manager’s head. Tranmere sacked Keith Hill after they made the playoffs and the fans were thrilled about it!

‘We only made the playoffs when we should have made the autos - sack the manager.’
‘We’ve missed the playoffs - sack the manager.’
‘We’ve stayed up but that’s not good enough - sack the manager.’
‘We’ve gone down. It’s all the manager’s fault. Sack the manager.’

There’s a case to be made for wherever you finish for the manager to go depending on ambitions. I’d say KR is meeting his objectives and the next step is to surpass them. He’s good but he needs to prove he’s great.

 

[m]

I’m sorry QR but my Nan made more noise than us on Tuesday night…

Shes been dead for 15 years.

Give it a rest, you're embarrasing.

 

[Sir Winston]

Hope the twats lose in the final and we can take thousands up there next season and P**s on their promenade, knock that pathetic tower down like a game of Jenga, pull the plug on those tacky illuminations, trash the ball room and knick the Glitter Ball, take a beery slash in Harry Ramsdens cooking oil, cut each pier off at the legs and watch them float off into the Irish Sea, loot the Arcades, stamp on the sand sculptures, derail all the trams, set the donkeys free and turn the Golden Mile into a sea of Yellow.

 

[LeftSideBoy]

Give it a rest, you're embarrasing.

Am I wrong though?

 

[Leysboy]

Sometimes match day threads should be left to the adults.

 

[MC Yellow]

Am I wrong though?

With the greatest of respect to your Nan, I doubt she did make more noise.

So yes, technically you are wrong.

 

[beyondthefourth]

There's a lot of overreaction from folk on here tonight. I'm leaping in with a defence for those that I'm hearing should be shipped out:

Karl - has done a decent job here and every time he's been in a stackable position, has turned it round and taken us on incredible runs of form. I would very much like him to work on starting the season as we mean to go on next term. But to say that we kneejerk and sack a guy who's not taken us up is very harsh. Remember how quickly all of Appleton's good work was undone by a dodgy successor, and how long it took to build us back up?

Ruffs - Pretty much single handedly involved in 4 of their 6 goals over the two legs, very disappointed with his output. Not sure what's next for him. What I do know is that he's been an incredible attacking outlet this season, and we are a team that likes to outscore rather than out-defend. He's responsible for at least 5/6 last minute goals in the last 3 seasons which put a real smile on my face, and he deserves to leave (or stay) with some respect to his name.

Barker - can definitely do special enough things as a dribbler to warrant interest, if we can find a way to make him consistently effective.

Lee - did most of his best work in conjunction with Sam Long, which is probably why he was less effective in the play offs. Definitely worth seeing if we can get him for another campaign. 6 goals in 20 is a good output.

Henry - see above, works well on the right when Long is also available. Anyone calling him 'dead wood' is insane, his numbers are less this season, but remember he was pretty much top of goal contributions last season. Take a look at any of our big wins and you'll see him heavily involved in the output.

We did well this season. We need to go further. We're in a better position than last season to build on what we have. Get positive, folks. Even if it takes a few days for this disappointment to fade.

 

[OX14]

Sometimes match day threads should be left to the adults.

What are you doing on here then? Isn't it past your bedtime?

 

[LeftSideBoy]

With the greatest of respect to your Nan, I doubt she did make more noise.

So yes, technically you are wrong.

Wasn’t far off, let’s be honest. Tuesday was shocking. Tonight we saw fans with passion for their club and Tuesday was more akin to a geriatric bingo hall.

 

[RgYellows]

Put me in the camp that thinks Blackpool had another couple of gears available to them tonight, if they had needed it. They looked better drilled, and they played with more energy and tenacity. When they broke forwards they attacked with pace and their passing was good. It reminded me of that trip to Luton on the final day a couple of years back, when I went away thinking we had just been shown the standard we needed to reach.

We were beaten by the better team. With that in mind, we did well to score some goals, get a draw and rescue a bit of pride on the night. In the playoffs, a team should not be losing 5-1 so I am glad we made it a bit more respectable.

I don't blame individual players because I thought we looked worse across the board. Robinson needs to learn the lessons from this showing, which really has been representative of the whole season when we've come up against good L1 teams. I agree with his comments on us needing a bit more presence and physicality and I am sure that all Oxford supporters are hoping or even expecting us to avoid another slow start next year - which we can work towards by doing business early and signing players ready to contribute immediately.

That said, there's no question in my mind that Robinson should be back next season and with our full backing. When you think of how Oxford have spent the past 20 years, a L1 playoff appearance should be considered a good showing, as disappointed as we might all feel by how it ended.

Our last promotion campaign reminds me just how much you have to get right to go up. So many within that team went on to Championship or higher standards of play within a few years. If we want to take that next step, we have to avoid being sentimental when looking at our squad. Clearly, the lack of defensive cover has hurt us - and the better teams have had joy attacking our full backs. Last season, I would have backed our midfield options against any other team in the division. Now, I think we need a real quality addition or two. We've lost our wingers and I think the decision on whether to pursue Barker or Shodipo alongside other options is going to be a big call. We need to decide whether Agyei is a striker - if he is, I think we're limited in the amount of resources we can commit to a new forward, and we must make sure we get the other attacking additions right. We do have some good building blocks, and a couple of players who really could take the next step in 2021, but we can't get complacent.

All in all, I've been grateful for the distraction that the club has provided during a horrible year. I'm thankful to all involved for their efforts and I can't question that they gave everything to get this far.

 

[Mad Dog]

Will be interesting to see what developments/announcments might occur in the next fortnight now the seasons over, and we know what league we'll be in next season...