Away Match Day Thread 23/03/2021 L1 Northampton Town v OUFC

[The mighty Aldo]

Long and Gorrin are two of our most important players.

Missed my point, I agree at the moment they are but if you want to build a team to win this league and not come straight back(Wycombe) then we need players like Baldock/Kane and Lundstum in those positions.

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

We have the basis of a very good team, but we’ve been unlucky with injuries and made some wrong choices

Stevens
Long Moore Atkinson Ruffels
Gorrin
Brannigan McGuane
Clare Agyei/Taylor Barker​

That team wins most games in League One I reckon. We may never see it, but it shows we don’t have bad players. Just need to get them on the pitch all together

 

[Paul Cannell]

Ironically the attacking midfielder area was the one position that many suggested we were overloaded on.

It was. As above McGuane and Clare were bonafide items, Henry's supposed to be one. Heaven knows what Kelly is and Brannagan sits so deep he's stopped being one. Then there are the wingers.

Where we are deeply under loaded is still defence. Long out has helped lose all the rhythm the team developed playing rubbish and, whether we now have a spare cb or not I can't see how anyone deny that we only have 1 fit fullback in the squad.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

Missed my point, I agree at the moment they are but if you want to build a team to win this league and not come straight back(Wycombe) then we need players like Baldock/Kane and Lundstum in those positions.

Teams with worse players consistently win promotion because they play as a team and have a consistent game plan that everyone understands and can execute. Wycombe are the case in point.

Ah...but look where Wycombe are now, I hear you say.

Yes - they are in a division above us, and are set for the next several years in L1 when they are relegated to seriously challenge in the top half following their championship payday. Contiune that yo-yo between L1 and the Championship could prove pretty lucrative for a club with limited ambition.

I think we would do well on concentrating on putting together a team and squad that has what it takes to get out of this division first before worrying about what we want to do next - leave that to the ambition of the board/owners.

 

[OxfordYankee]

On any given day, Robinson can be a superb or an appalling manager. Just like them all.

Start to judge over a longer period, say a season, and I would say that his first was a huge underachievement (made to feel better than it was by the run at the end), the second he met expectations of a playoff place but couldn’t get them over the line, and this one is another underachievement, but one that feels to me more frustrating the the first.

Why?

Because he’s had time and resources to ensure progression in the playing squad, its style, tactical flexibility and know how. We’ve regressed in all areas this season, and badly at that. I’d argue that L1 is poorer this season, too.

After 3 years, he’s got us to the lofty heights of a mid-table L1 side that has not progressed. For me, that’s not good enough and I am very surprised that it’s good enough for the owners.

 

[wolvercoteyellow]

What a fickle lot we are!!! We were all saying what a great manager and team we had a few weeks ago when we won 9 in a row, with the 3rd best record in Europe. KR and the team don't become bad overnight, unless of course, they flattered to deceive during that winning run.

That's exactly what happened. Slightly better than average players for this level played out of their skins and rode their luck against a string of poor/lower table sides.

 

[Shaun Rice]

Every loose ball there is always a Northampton player picking it up

And let’s face it there were a lot of loose balls!

 

[horseman]

Dear Me this place really is an over reactionary one, Yet again critical comments are made after a defeat.

Let's accept then that we all felt it was a strange line up followed by a very poor performance (likely worst of the season) but to write off the players and manager because of it is way way way over the top.

Football is all about opinions but why must the negative one's "Always" surface after a defeat.

 

[Shaun Rice]

On any given day, Robinson can be a superb or an appalling manager. Just like them all.

Start to judge over a longer period, say a season, and I would say that his first was a huge underachievement (made to feel better than it was by the run at the end), the second he met expectations of a playoff place but couldn’t get them over the line, and this one is another underachievement, but one that feels to me more frustrating the the first.

Why?

Because he’s had time and resources to ensure progression in the playing squad, its style, tactical flexibility and know how. We’ve regressed in all areas this season, and badly at that. I’d argue that L1 is poorer this season, too.

After 3 years, he’s got us to the lofty heights of a mid-table L1 side that has not progressed. For me, that’s not good enough and I am very surprised that it’s good enough for the owners.

I agree with you. The one area I think we’re really weak in is recruitment. Over his time we have signed some very very good players and some absolute stinkers (which all managers do) I think the best managers minimise the poor. However our recruitment is very slow and we’re not ready when the season starts. I’m not sure if that comes from Tiger or KR.
It feels like now we have all the right parts but KR can’t seem to put them together.

 

[Paul Cannell]

Football is all about opinions but why must the negative one's "Always" surface after a defeat.

Speaking personally I'm not usually pissed off enough to bother after a win.

 

[Manorlounger]

Dear Me this place really is an over reactionary one, Yet again critical comments are made after a defeat.

Let's accept then that we all felt it was a strange line up followed by a very poor performance (likely worst of the season) but to write off the players and manager because of it is way way way over the top.

Football is all about opinions but why must the negative one's "Always" surface after a defeat.

But it's not just a defeat, it's both the nature of the defeat and the timing. Having lost to Blackpool on Saturday, who were clearly a better team on the day, we still had the chance of getting into the play off spots. (as it transpired Blackpool won and took the spot)
For KR to come out and declare that his intention was to 'achieve' 0-0 after 60 minutes against a side short of victories and edging towards relegation and, to boot, a team that we trounced 4-0 at home, is just a red rag to supporters.
We actually have a manager who considers 0-0 an achievement. No wonder we are negative, we've been inspired by KR himself.

 

[battman]

Started to think that but all he was doing was protecting the players ( himself as well no doubt) in saying 0-0 he was happy with. He wasn't but 10 matches to go he needs to somehow keep / get some positive reaction.
I think quite a few players are proving they are not up to it .
Blackpool had a great win , they are a very tough side and despite losing to them no reason to change tactics.

When was the last time he protected his players? He's wrung Agyei out to dry every other week and said of Mark Sykes that 'people tell me he's a good footballer'. He doesn't hesitate to throw other people under the bus when protecting himself, which makes his reaction to last night's result a bit more concerning.

 

[werthersoriginal]

We have the basis of a very good team, but we’ve been unlucky with injuries and made some wrong choices

Stevens
Long Moore Atkinson Ruffels
Gorrin
Brannigan McGuane
Clare Agyei/Taylor Barker​

That team wins most games in League One I reckon. We may never see it, but it shows we don’t have bad players. Just need to get them on the pitch all together

When we have a bad run it doesn’t seem to matter what tweaks you make to the team- ditto when we are on a good run, we can withstand quite a few injuries until it becomes just too much. The team as a whole has become out of sorts, panicky, not moving or making the right decisions, and arguing about specific players isn’t the point. I don’t know why this happens, I’m not even sure how much is the managers fault.

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

When was the last time he protected his players? He's run Agyei out to dry every other week and said of Mark Sykes that 'people tell me he's a good footballer'. He doesn't hesitate to throw other people under the bus when protecting himself, which makes his reaction to last night's result a bit more concerning.

Surely he couldn't have seriously wanted 0-0 after an hour, that cannot be what he was after .

 

[bazzer9461]

Long and Gorrin are two of our most important players.

I agree but weren’t there a few on here who were saying we need a RB as long isn’t good enough, they need to gone themselves a wobble. Long has been immense although Gorrin we do know of his importance of being in the team but the last few games haven’t been his best.

 

[battman]

What a fickle lot we are!!! We were all saying what a great manager and team we had a few weeks ago when we won 9 in a row, with the 3rd best record in Europe. KR and the team don't become bad overnight, unless of course, they flattered to deceive during that winning run.

Were we? I think a lot of us knew that while the run was great, it was proceeded by some total dross for the first 1/3 of the season. We always seem to follow a pattern of poor results followed by good results followed by poor results. So even when we did win all those games in a row I wasn't getting carried away because we've all seen before how easy it is to slump to yet another bad run of form under this manager.

 

[AbsoluteZero]

Dear Me this place really is an over reactionary one, Yet again critical comments are made after a defeat.

Let's accept then that we all felt it was a strange line up followed by a very poor performance (likely worst of the season) but to write off the players and manager because of it is way way way over the top.

Football is all about opinions but why must the negative one's "Always" surface after a defeat.

This is maybe so, but there were equal amounts of posters on here with praise when the team went on a record breaking winning run. The test was always going to be if the manager was capable enough when the team finally did lose a game to get them back into a winning mould. We bounced back from the Doncaster defeat well with 2 scrappy wins, but we have never recovered from the Tranmere defeat and the manager has now completely lost the formula to pick these players back up, his constant tinkering with the team, formation and tactics demonstrate that he doesn't really know how to deal with it.

And it was obvious that the January transfer window required back up at right back and left back (after Obita was sold) because if either Long or Ruffels got injured the team would be seriously deficient in how they could play bearing in mind both of these players were really the catalyst for the 9 game winning run. Failed to get cover, Long got injured, we haven't been the same team since. Many of the team's current problems were foreseeable by any competent football coach or analyst, so could have been avoided if jobs were done properly. Whether there was a lack of support from the top is another question, the fact that we got McNally, Lee, Barker and Grayson in January suggests they were supportive, it's just that we got the wrong players in the wrong positions in. We didn't need Lee, Henry and Sykes already covered his position. We did need someone to cover Centre Back so signing Grayson was understandable, but he has proved really disappointing so good intention, wrong player selected. McNally was a long term project so is accepted and was never intended to be a part of this seasons promotion push. Barker is a player any team would want, but he has gone into Shodipo's position from where he was scoring for fun albeit maybe his overall performances were patchy, and since he has lost his left attack role Shodipo has turned rubbish, whilst Barker hasn't exactly set the team alight either when he really should be bossing every game at this level with the quality he clearly has.

 

[Sarge]

Cold harsh light of day after the shitstorm of last night... Im feeling almost as low as I did after the collapse at home to scum. .. no team will win every game at l1 level, and in this weird season theres been more than a few eyebrow raising results, as the cliche goes, anyone can beat anyone. Putting that to one side, I dont like it when Oxford United lose, Even though as another cliche goes, you cant win em all. Losing to Blackpool hurt, but the U's lost to a much better footballing side.
Last night KRs sheer arrogance and tactical naivety was the main factor in losing to a very poor northampton side, who nicked a win. He evidently thought he knew best . Its not the losing, albeit I don't like it, is how the team play and how they lose (on the occasion of defeat) that is a huge factor for me. Doncaster away losing 3-2 and playing really well is one where a decent performance didnt win any thing, last nights debacle was a capitulation and poor team performace ( with one or maybe 2 individuals giving it thier all to no avail)

Whats the odds of getting 3 draws and 7 wins from the remaining 10 l1 matches?

It IS a funny old game....especially so this mainly behind closed doors season

 

[Jolteon]

I'm as disappointed as everyone else after last night - but I'm not going to call for KR's head by any means. The last manager overhaul we had when we were flirting between midtable and playoffs gave us Pep and a close run relegation battle with easily the worst Oxford side since MApp took over (Xemi, GvK, Mehmeti, Pekalski and Tiendalli, anyone?!). Thankfully Karl came in, steadied the ship, beat relegation, gave us lower mid table the following season, a brilliant season last year where we smashed expectations only to be stopped by first Covid, and second a masterclass in how to throw a big game from Henry and Easty, then this season back to where we probably should be given the budget and, more importantly, stadium restraints.

I think KR's biggest issue when it comes to recruitment is he seems to look for potential in every player he signs. We seem to sign a lot of "this player could be amazing if he lives up to his potential". Often it works, Whyte, Browne, Moore, Atkinson, Fosu, Cadden, Gorrin. But equally it has lumped us with a number of players who once were very solid championship players, but now can't stay fit enough to walk out the treatment room ie Holmes, Carruthers, Winnall, Thorne, Lee, Hanson, or players who are wildly inconsistent or downright rubbish, ie Garbutt, Sinclair, Jonte and Sam Smith, Woodburn, Kelly, Grayson, Shodipo. One thing that we don't seem to do anywhere near enough is sign reliable, fit league one quality players. Sure, they probably won't do much in a Championship side, but they'll give you 7/10 performances every week in League 1.

When MApp took us up, he lost some cracking players in Hylton, CoD and Roofe. But he made sure to bring in solid League 1 players in Easty, Nelson, Martin, Edwards, Marvin Johnson, Wes Thomas, Rob Hall (not so much now) as well as the punts (Lego, Rothwell, Hemmings etc.). 7 players in one window. In the three seasons, 6 windows Karl has had the only players he's brought in that could be seen the same light are Forde and Matty, and maybe Kashi. 3 in 6 windows. That is where our big issue lies in my opinion. In this squad the only solid, reliable L1 players we have are Matty, Ruffs, Long and Forde. Cam, Moore, Atkinson and Stevens will go onto bigger and better things, but the rest of the squad are either far to inconsistent, injury prone, or both. You can't get promoted with only 8 consistent performers.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

Dear Me this place really is an over reactionary one, Yet again critical comments are made after a defeat.

Let's accept then that we all felt it was a strange line up followed by a very poor performance (likely worst of the season) but to write off the players and manager because of it is way way way over the top.

Football is all about opinions but why must the negative one's "Always" surface after a defeat.

I think the phrase you need to bear in mind is "Credit where it's due"

Very little was due last night so I think most of the comments are fair.

Players and mangers don't become bad overnight and they have shown what they are capable of. All the more frustrating when they deliver the pile of cack they did last night then!

I don't think they flatter to deceive when they are good, neither do I think they are abjectly bad players/management when they perform poorly, but they DID perform very poorly last night - almost inexplicably so . The players and management collectively need to learn from this and not keep repeating the same mistakes - whether they do or not will probably pretty much determine what level they find themselves for the forseeable future.