Home Match Day Thread 09/04/2022 L1: OUFC v Sunderland

[QR]

Our deficiencies wouldn't have been solved by playing anyone else available (unless counting unavailable Gorrin, Baldock, Browne etc)

Sorry, that's wrong. Given the good form he is in since his return Eastwood could well have got to their first effort. Stevens was a liability all game. Gives me the same amount of confidence as Paul Kee used to.

 

[ljs]

Randoms:

We pretty much had our best team out there yesterday , played well enough , but still lost. It’s the end of the road for promotion.

Ciaron Brown must be signed. We haven’t got enough big and strong players.

Holland had a decent game; he seems to have bulked up.

Long was dreadful.Worst game for two or three years.

Stevens kicking is all over the shop.

Ref was good.

Sunderland pretty colourless outfit, well drilled though and had a better keeper.

There is going to be a big changing of the guard in the close season. With so many loan players going back and contracts expiring we can’t actually afford to sell McNally from a squad building/continuity perspective.

Big picture. Robinson has performed to budget and we are effectively at the limit of where we can get to in the pyramid.(Fringes of playoffs.) To get further - and stated aim of top 30 club- we need our new ground. It’s going to take a few more years. Be patient.

It’s been a most entertaining season. So to
those naysayers out there be careful what you wish for.

Sacking the manager is just nonsense talk.

Brown had a decent game but was the main culprit for their second goal. Although, as he himself said he isn't a full back so not his fault he's playing out of position, that's down go poor recruitment.
Thought Nick Harris was talking out of his arris saying lack of defensive cover was hindsight.

I thought Holland was pretty poor and still totally lightweight. Not sure how you are seeing him as bulked up.

Agree about Long and Stevens.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Exactly what I thought, PRB, on pretty much every count

Our deficiencies wouldn't have been solved by playing anyone else available (unless counting unavailable Gorrin, Baldock, Browne etc)

I thought he was outstanding, and whatever he says I was more impressed with him at left back than I have been at CB. I've no idea what game those who were knocking him were watching.

Ditto. In the first half he was almost untouchable for a while and kept the ball alive again and again - made a huge difference to our overall performance. Second half not really, but KR said before the game he would have to take him off after 60, and he did.

Couldn't seem to get to the ball, or pass to our players or play it into space.

I try not to swear in front of my 13 year old, but those repeated (and predictable) sliced shanks when under slight pressure were horrific.

Lack of fuss was nice.

I know I'm an armchair fan by necessity, and I hate crawling into bed at 1am having seen us lose, but this has been the most entertaining season I remember in a long time. It's the first season where I've got up for the 3:45 am wednesday morning KOs on a few occasions.

I do wonder how people survive in life with such a high bar for the definition of failure.

What you say about the def of failure is right, but I wouldn’t be amazed if Karl did get fired. It just depends on how impatient the board are for promotion,and whether they think they’ve got a predictably better candidate who can achieve top three success on top six money.

 

[Mad Dog]

The ways to get promotion seem to be: have a huge budget and keep changing manager till one gets it right - that hasn’t worked yet for Sunderland or Ipswich; get relegated from the championship and keep most of your team; or simply find an unknown guy who is a miracle worker. That's worked for Luton, Blackpool, etc but is the hardest to get right.

KR has been here for FOUR YEARS. That's a long time in football.

Yes he's done great things for our club, and brought exciting football, and after the Clotet debacle, has taken us to the point of being playoff/promotion hopefuls every season, and for that I applaud him.

However, there is another side to the coin, where his constant neglecting of actual quality Full backs, Centre backs, defensive midfielders, and more than just one genuine effective striker, and his insistence on packing the squad out with wingers, injury prone crocks and players who have hardly played for 2-3 seasons, is holding us back from taking that next step.

If he'd instead brought in the right amount of defenders, midfielders and strikers to provide quality cover and competition for those areas, then we would've been able to deal with the inevitable injuries or losses of form that have occurred throughout the season, and who knows where we'd be now?

But instead, he's built an incredibly unbalanced squad, again, and basically said "it's ok, our wingers can play as strikers, and our wingers can also play as full backs, our full backs can play as centre backs, our centre backs can play as full backs, and our attacking midfielders can play as defensive midfielders"

I'm surprised he hasn't turned round and said "it's ok, our centre backs can play in goal" and got rid of all our goalkeepers as well!

For all the good he has done, and he has done a lot of good, he's repeatedly shown that he's incapable of building balanced, solid squads for an entire season, and I don't know weather it's an ego thing, or a genuine inability to understand what is needed to build an effective, balanced squad, but after FOUR YEARS, he's still showing no signs that his approach is going to change.

The build up and approach play is clearly where KR shines, but he seems to think that we don't need strikers, or defenders, and that WINGERS and attacking midfielders can do it all, and as I've said many times, if he could remove his ego and stubborn arrogance, and accept that defending, and having more than one reliable fit striker for the entire season is just as important, and build a squad accordingly, then he could be a great manager, who really could take us to the next level.

But he's shown repeatedly over the years, that this isn't going to happen, and it's for this reason, that I'm finally starting to think he's not the right man for the job.

 

[Nadi-]

Very bizarre post.

If you'd actually read my post properly, you'd see I clearly stated that even though Brown was at fault, he wasn't the only one!

I clearly stated that McNally and Moore were both marking the same player, which was their fault, Moore was ball watching, and drifted too far over to McNally's man, meaning that Moore's man was then unmarked, and that if Moore came away, and covered that player that Brown was now, understandably drifting inside to cover, then that would've freed up Brown to cover that player behind him, who eventually had all the time in the world to pick his spot and score, at that point that was Browns fault, for not communicating with Moore.

I also clearly stated that Whyte or even Brannagan, who were both playing on the left of midfield and attack, should've tracked back to provide support for Brown, so even though he was drifting inside to cover the player in the middle, the backtracking player could've covered the player behind him.

I don't rate Brown, I've made that very clear, but at NO POINT have I solely blamed him for that goal, I clearly stated that while he made his own mistakes, so did others.

It was a collective shambles, that actually started higher up the pitch on the opposite side to which we ended up conceding the goal, Sunderland sliced through us like a hot knife through butter, from front to back, which has actually happened on multiple occasions this season, and ALL of our defenders have been guilty of poor positioning, ball watching, and poor communication, multiple times this season.

I guess that's what happens when you don't bring in enough defenders in the transfer windows, and end up with patched up defences, and no defensive midfield cover, for the entire season.

I did read your post
And understand what your saying.
But not hard to work out if you have 3 against 3 in your own box, your in trouble.
And should never come to that, as others have not done their jobs.
As you say you don’t rate Brown

 

[Sinner]

Fwit I thought Oxford were better team apart from our young goalie, who was motm. Second goal was good, mind, but on another day Oxford could easily have won.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Fwit I thought Oxford were better team apart from our young goalie, who was motm. Second goal was good, mind, but on another day Oxford could easily have won.

Your lot were decent but maybe not quite as good as I expected- and the fans very quiet. Are you all chewing your fingernails?

 

[OX14]

Your lot were decent but maybe not quite as good as I expected- and the fans very quiet. Are you all chewing your fingernails?

Well sounds abit like our support recently, everyone in the crowd nervous and the songs filtering away, then we go behind with a few minutes to go and its like there is a fire drill. We had chances to equalise still like the Ipswich game ffs. I get the car park is rubbish to get out off but is leaving 5 minutes early going to save you much queuing up?

 

[Jonny G]

I haven't and can't bring myself to watch the highlights and I'm sure there were a number of factors contributing to their second goal. But their midfielder #27 (Matete, I just looked that up) had got himself ahead of both Branagan and Kane in the lead up to the goal, just inside our half on their left hand side. The way we lined up, with Bodin in the "#10" role as opposed to making a three in midfield left us short there a number of times and was never addressed..... We could have swapped Bodin over with Sykes and had Sykes in the middle to address this..... it was bloody infuriating.
I'm no football expert and don't watch an awful lot of football other than our games, or play management games, look at data etc... so I may well be wrong, but that looked to be a serious area of concern for me throughout the game.

 

[TailsWeWin]

KR has been here for FOUR YEARS. That's a long time in football.

Yes he's done great things for our club, and brought exciting football, and after the Clotet debacle, has taken us to the point of being playoff/promotion hopefuls every season, and for that I applaud him.

However, there is another side to the coin, where his constant neglecting of actual quality Full backs, Centre backs, defensive midfielders, and more than just one genuine effective striker, and his insistence on packing the squad out with wingers, injury prone crocks and players who have hardly played for 2-3 seasons, is holding us back from taking that next step.

If he'd instead brought in the right amount of defenders, midfielders and strikers to provide quality cover and competition for those areas, then we would've been able to deal with the inevitable injuries or losses of form that have occurred throughout the season, and who knows where we'd be now?

But instead, he's built an incredibly unbalanced squad, again, and basically said "it's ok, our wingers can play as strikers, and our wingers can also play as full backs, our full backs can play as centre backs, our centre backs can play as full backs, and our attacking midfielders can play as defensive midfielders"

I'm surprised he hasn't turned round and said "it's ok, our centre backs can play in goal" and got rid of all our goalkeepers as well!

For all the good he has done, and he has done a lot of good, he's repeatedly shown that he's incapable of building balanced, solid squads for an entire season, and I don't know weather it's an ego thing, or a genuine inability to understand what is needed to build an effective, balanced squad, but after FOUR YEARS, he's still showing no signs that his approach is going to change.

The build up and approach play is clearly where KR shines, but he seems to think that we don't need strikers, or defenders, and that WINGERS and attacking midfielders can do it all, and as I've said many times, if he could remove his ego and stubborn arrogance, and accept that defending, and having more than one reliable fit striker for the entire season is just as important, and build a squad accordingly, then he could be a great manager, who really could take us to the next level.

But he's shown repeatedly over the years, that this isn't going to happen, and it's for this reason, that I'm finally starting to think he's not the right man for the job.

Excellent post.
I, too, think Robinson is clearly a very decent guy whose heart is in the right place. But, no, he just doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes and has become the master of excuses. It’s depressing to think this might continue through next season, it really is.

 

[nige01ox]

Your lot were decent but maybe not quite as good as I expected- and the fans very quiet. Are you all chewing your fingernails?

We were also v quiet I thought - dreadful lack of atmosphere given the attendance and importance of the occasion.

 

[Sinner]

Your lot were decent but maybe not quite as good as I expected- and the fans very quiet. Are you all chewing your fingernails?

Yes, chewing fingernails. Very noisy at the end, obviously. Thought our fans were great tbh, apart from bit quiet for parts of second half.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Yes, chewing fingernails. Very noisy at the end, obviously. Thought our fans were great tbh, apart from bit quiet for parts of second half.

I suspect we’ll see each other next season! Which won’t be so bad

 

[Horse]

We said before the game we’d concede two goals so needed three ourselves for the win. I think we conceded the second because we thought we could win it.

 

[Mellowyellow]

There's some crazy knee jerk stuff going on tonight!

Sykes never plays again.
KR's future might rest on Forde getting a new deal.
Craig Short has to go.
Sam Long 3/10 today.

A get everyone is frustrated and I'm not going to force my positivity on anyone. But a week ago everything was looking pretty good. We've put in 3 performances that would normally get 7/9 points. We got zip of course, but we're talking very fine margins.

If by some miracle we get 4 wins, we could still make the playoffs. Throw all our luck into those games and we may just still be walking out in the Championship come August.

Will it happen? Almost certainly not. But some perspective is needed.

The kind of perspective ad train of thought should have had in these past 3 games, when thinking of a way to play those teams and win, instead of applauding how each of the opposition teams played, as they won, when it should be his own team he is speaking about in such glowing terms.

 

[Mellowyellow]

What a day.

I only saw 10 mins before having to seek medical attention. After the first half in the First Aid room in the South Stand (thanks to all there) and then the the rest of it at the JR (brilliant), I’ve just got home.

For the first time in my life, I have a modicum of perspective on the importance of OUFC. Ask me again tomorrow, I will have swept my new found perspective clean away.

It’s been a highly enjoyable season but I can’t help but think it’s an opportunity wasted.

Still, i’m home, feeling better and the misery can wait until tomorrow.

All the best.

Get well soon!

 

[Mellowyellow]

A lot of wishful thinking on here from anti KR faction.

Not so much wishful thinking, simply judging the madness of such a season being wasted, with such a talented squad, overseen by a manager who has had 3 years to achieve promotion.
With lesser squads we got to the play offs twice, with the best squad we have gone backwards, as it looks like it will be FGR next year rather than Notts Forest, not having made the play offs.
don't confuse realism with wishful thinking. Three years of Ground Hog day is enough for most, who want the best for the club.

 

[ECYellow]

Probably can’t add anything to the points already made about the game or season perspective.

But…did anyone actually like that dreadful KR cut out thing before the game?

Personally, I thought it was horrendous. It was most bizarre considering the bloke has achieved 0 promotions with OUFC and it was unveiled on a day where we’d already dropped out the play offs.

Who funds those things?

In fact, I thought it looked tin pot.

 

[Oxford1996]

Probably can’t add anything to the points already made about the game or season perspective but, did anyone actually like that dreadful KR cut out thing before the game?

Personally, I thought it was horrendous. It was most bizarre considering the bloke has achieved 0 promotions with OUFC and it was unveiled on a day where we’d already dropped out the play offs. Who funds those things?

In fact, I thought it looked tin pot.

At least someone has said it..

 

[Paul Cannell]

Probably can’t add anything to the points already made about the game or season perspective but, did anyone actually like that dreadful KR cut out thing before the game?

Wasn't there. Bet it had feet of clay.