Home Match Day Thread 13/02/2024 L1: OUFC v Wigan Athletic

[Northstandboy]

POST MATCH PACK:

Post Match Discussion

Interview - Des Buckingham

Interview - Cameron Brannagan

Interview - Shaun Maloney (Wigan Manager)

Match Highlights

Match Report

Ref Watch

Fans View

 

[dickwalton1964]

I think Des has been handed Burey - a long term target - but doesn’t really fancy him. Might be wrong but that’s the impression I get, looks like one the recruitment team wanted more than the manager.

 

[MustardYellow]

First half woeful, better second.

Goodrham deserves so much credit. Really only started playing consistently when we were in a bad place, and has really come into his own this season. The run in the build up to Ruben's goal was incredible.

I dread to think where we'd be without Brannagan.

 

[Davox]

As many have said, the first half was just terrible. They psychologically beat us as we went from passing out the back to kicking long as they pushed up very high. I did think we capitulated there as we panicked on the ball and when we persisted with it we developed chances .
Second half totally different. We were measured in the passing and didn’t panic on the ball and when we didn’t have an option forward we went back and started again (nothing wrong with that despite many fans in the crowd who shout ‘don’t go back’) as sometimes you have to.
Murphy deserved his standing ovation when he came off and Goodhram is a phenomenal talent. Great on the ball and off it. He needs to start Saturday but he’s also devastating off the bench!! Great sub as Dale was useless first half. I think Mcguane needs a rest which may happen Saturday.

Well done Oxford for turning it around!! COYY

 

[Osleroad]

Am very pleased to see we got ourselves out of a hole two games running and why it is thought to be a conspiracy against players not in the side heaven knows. It is clear that a bunch of our players need minutes, need easing in and/or reward for performance-what a good position now to have a squad to choose from!

 

[Foley]

Again that Brannagan shot was from range, good strike mind. Did we really open them up tonight or connect with a cross? Most didn’t get past the first man. That’s all I’m saying. Not great as the home side vying for promotion against a mid table team. We’ve still conceded 2 at home and the first was just diabolical. On another day Brannagan’s deflects for a corner and Goodrham puts one wide and the best we get is a draw. That’s the game we’re playing. I don’t think we could’ve argued with a 2-2 tonight. I felt we were fortunate. Very fortunate to go in at 1-1. But you know what, a win is a win, I’d just like to see us do more with the ball than we do under Des. It’s one dimensional and hopeful. I didn’t see a lot different tonight to previous games where we dropped points, the ball just fell nicely for us today and we had a bit of individual quality when it was needed.

The 4th was a good strike but also deflected and judging by a furious keeper on both deflected goals, he would’ve got something on both.

See what Saturday brings but hopefully with confidence from a win we’ll see a good performance.

I think that is a pretty negative way of looking at things.
The first half was poor, but I enjoyed the second half. We pressed much higher, and gave them a lot of problems.
Goodrham made a big difference.
We scored some good goals, which ultimately win games!
Wigan were a decent side ( have had some good results against good sides).

 

[WRox]

I think Des has been handed Burey - a long term target - but doesn’t really fancy him. Might be wrong but that’s the impression I get, looks like one the recruitment team wanted more than the manager.

Based on what? Seems to me he’s just managing workloads, especially for those that haven’t played a lot. Been burnt with the Edwards injury and now being careful.

 

[38yearsofpain]

I seem to be alone in that I enjoyed that game, we won, 6 goals and plenty of action.

It’s league one football, it’s not going to be perfect.

Long probably summed that up tonight, he was truly terrible in the first half, looked like a bloke who had never played before and won a competition to be out there. Second half he was much better, looked like he remembered how to play.

Great for Murphy to notch for the first time in about a decade, pretty restrained celebrations from him considering how long it had been, deserved his man of the match and his best game for us. Goodrham was a quality sub, hurt them and made a big impact, Harris led the line and is a proper athlete.

I think Murphy's restrained goal celebration was because he had played for Wigan on loan or it could be he had forgotten what to do.
First half we were dreadful, yes we improved second half but Wigan defended like bigger clowns than we were.
As many people have said the win was the important thing, and nobody can doubt the commitment of the players but the overall performance as a team leaves a lot to be desired. A few brilliant individual moments and a couple wicked deflections saved the day but summing up the following day we beat a poor Wigan in difficult conditions.
Moving on you cannot help think we need to start playing with some purpose and with a plan. Not every team are going to play as Wigan did, next up we go Adams Park and an improving Wycombe.
As each set of results come in, the quality of League One gets exposed, if we can harness our now ample resources into a proper football team we are more than capable of the play offs. As always the big question is IF?

 

[holdsteady]

I think Murphy's restrained goal celebration was because he had played for Wigan on loan or it could be he had forgotten what to do.
First half we were dreadful, yes we improved second half but Wigan defended like bigger clowns than we were.
As many people have said the win was the important thing, and nobody can doubt the commitment of the players but the overall performance as a team leaves a lot to be desired. A few brilliant individual moments and a couple wicked deflections saved the day but summing up the following day we beat a poor Wigan in difficult conditions.
Moving on you cannot help think we need to start playing with some purpose and with a plan. Not every team are going to play as Wigan did, next up we go Adams Park and an improving Wycombe.
As each set of results come in, the quality of League One gets exposed, if we can harness our now ample resources into a proper football team we are more than capable of the play offs. As always the big question is IF?

It was a 4-2 win, I found it a mostly enjoyable game with some exciting moments. Like I say this is league one, if you only enjoy the games where we are technically and tactically very good then its a long old season, the truth is league one is a pretty low standard of football, not seen a single team this season that has looked good enough for the championship or even particularly impressive.

We can be better in our all round play, better defensively etc but a few moments of magic like Goodrham produced tends to win wet Tuesday night matches and that's what happened.

 

[Upthecowboys]

I think Des has been handed Burey - a long term target - but doesn’t really fancy him. Might be wrong but that’s the impression I get, looks like one the recruitment team wanted more than the manager.

Not so sure myself, I think he’s being eased back after a period of not playing much. He had a couple of initial early appearances for us when we really were bare bones. I think Dale started last night as he is match fit and had a decent amount of match time this year (= less likely to get injured?) and Murphy when fit & firing is a high quality player.

If Murphy stays fits and contributes for the rest of the season then an interesting decision will need to be made. It seems he’s on great money here, would he be worth (or accept) a reduction in salary for a new contract offer. We know we can’t carry as many players with poor injury records, but does he become the ‘one’ we take a risk on.

I thought it was a strange game last night. Can’t say it was that exciting but there were 6 goals and a tense finish. Wycombe apparently played OK last night, and their results over the last 3/4 weeks has been decent - they’ve beaten Posh and an improving Cheltenham. But a serious play off team (which I think we are) should be winning at Wycombe.

 

[Andy1505]

Pleased with that result as wasn't sure what OUFC we would get turning up.

Mate of mine is a Wigan fan and he said that was typical of them this season, good in parts but they're very inconsistent too (like us!), they have mostly free transfers and kids in their squad, and they keep conceding sloppy goals at important times.

Pleased we got the win, need to push on now and build on it by going down the M40 and getting at the Wyc-scum from the off! COYY's!!

 

[Osei Yaw]

We were very fortunate to go in level at half time. Not for the first time, we just couldn't deal with an opponent that played with wing backs. Superb work from Harris and a brilliant hit from Murphy for the goal but it got it us off the hook.

We got the first half totally wrong, but credit is deserved for a much better second half where we seemed to deal with their wing backs much better and they didn't look anywhere near as threatening.

That said, I don't think the second half was a particularly good team performance. There were definitely moments of great individual play (Goodrham did fantastically well before he hit the post for Rodrigues to score) but we didn't look like a particularly well drilled side in either attack or defence, but having a bench with options made a massive difference and it was brilliant to see us finish a game so strongly.

The result is the most important thing last night. If we take 3 points on Saturday then it's looking like an excellent week.

 

[MustardYellow]

It was a 4-2 win, I found it a mostly enjoyable game with some exciting moments. Like I say this is league one, if you only enjoy the games where we are technically and tactically very good then its a long old season, the truth is league one is a pretty low standard of football, not seen a single team this season that has looked good enough for the championship or even particularly impressive.

We can be better in our all round play, better defensively etc but a few moments of magic like Goodrham produced tends to win wet Tuesday night matches and that's what happened.

We should be taking advantage of the fact the league is so poor this season and we haven't been.

 

[chromeyellow]

We should be taking advantage of the fact the league is so poor this season and we haven't been.

We won 4-2 last night.

You acknowledge that we were affected by injury… For the first time in two months we had options on the bench.

 

[MustardYellow]

We won 4-2 last night.

You acknowledge that we were affected by injury… For the first time in two months we had options on the bench.

Which was our first win in 5.

 

[chromeyellow]

And unbeaten in 4

Just checking Were we affected by injury or weren’t we ?

 

[Manorlounger]

Getting a win always makes us feel better. Yes, the performance wasn't up to the standards we should expect but, the result was a win. Sometimes that's how it is. A positive to take from yesterday is the improving squad number with, at last, choices to make even before kick off. Ridiculous to regard that as a luxury!
Side note, Chairman Ferguson, in his program notes, talks about "a local derby at Wycombe" - are we happy with the description?

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

I think Murphy's restrained goal celebration was because he had played for Wigan on loan or it could be he had forgotten what to do.
First half we were dreadful, yes we improved second half but Wigan defended like bigger clowns than we were.
As many people have said the win was the important thing, and nobody can doubt the commitment of the players but the overall performance as a team leaves a lot to be desired. A few brilliant individual moments and a couple wicked deflections saved the day but summing up the following day we beat a poor Wigan in difficult conditions.
Moving on you cannot help think we need to start playing with some purpose and with a plan. Not every team are going to play as Wigan did, next up we go Adams Park and an improving Wycombe.
As each set of results come in, the quality of League One gets exposed, if we can harness our now ample resources into a proper football team we are more than capable of the play offs. As always the big question is IF?

Was it restrained?

 

[WRox]

Improved squad depth already showing, two positives results back to back. Looking forward to seeing new players improve with minutes.

Feels like this was the start of a crucial week. We win and Stevenage lose. We play Wycombe and Northampton in the next week. They play Derby. It’s not inconceivable we could be eight points clear of 7th this time next week, albeit with extra games played.

 

[holdsteady]

We should be taking advantage of the fact the league is so poor this season and we haven't been.

I think us being in sixth is taking advantage of that, no way should a team who were as poor as us last season and needed such an overhaul have a shot at the play offs. We probably should have been in the fourth division this season, we had a poor team that was saved from relegation by (a very late) but excellent managerial change, unfortunately we couldn't keep hold of that manager. The fact that its a weaker league plus Manning and Waldrons work in the summer has pushed us forward quite a way in short space of time, but with a managerial change, injury problems, players here who don't contribute much etc has meant its to much to soon, only so much you can do over a couple of windows, we were always going to need another summer window to be truly competitive at the top.

Jury is out on Buckingham, he is obviously learning on the job but we are not going to change a manager we recently appointed on a long term deal when we are around the play offs, he will, rightly, be given a chance here.

 

[holdsteady]

Getting a win always makes us feel better. Yes, the performance wasn't up to the standards we should expect but, the result was a win. Sometimes that's how it is. A positive to take from yesterday is the improving squad number with, at last, choices to make even before kick off. Ridiculous to regard that as a luxury!
Side note, Chairman Ferguson, in his program notes, talks about "a local derby at Wycombe" - are we happy with the description?

Just happy he has spent enough time in the area to pick up a bit of local geography.

That's a joke by the way, I don't believe that he writes the program notes.