Home Match Day Thread 18/5/2021 Play Off L1 OUFC v Blackpool

[DXB Yellow]

It was tough to watch. My 2 pence worth.....

Hanson seemed to get a nosebleed every time he went past the halfway line and looked like he had been told that he wasn't allowed to pass the ball forward.
Ruffles looked like he has already signed a contract somewhere else.
Our two 'star' CBs were outplayed and outclassed.
Cam played far too deep at times and hasn't got the consistency with his passing ability. The other 2 in the middle of the park then dropped so deep causing Taylor to be isolated.
Barker sat on the side line twiddling his thumbs until he was passed the ball. When he did get the ball he was our biggest threat.
Lee might as well not have been playing.

We are a long, long, long (not just Sam Long) away from being good enough for the Championship.

Also, all these fans saying that we over achieved getting to 6th anyway and oh well never mind and oh its ok, at least we enjoyed being back in the stadium. Are these the same fans that moan when the players/manager/board don't seem to have any ambition or don't seem to care? Yawn!

It was rubbish, not good enough and very disappointing. We as fans should be upset and the players/manager should be held accountable.

 

[Paul Cannell]

Plastic that I undoubtedly am I'll not be shelling out for a Sky pass.

My agent & his missus are coming down on Friday, the pub don't have Sky. We have to talk to the women on Saturday, £10's not so much.

What have you planned instead, if I may.....?

 

[bazzer9461]

Under no pressure at the back? They had 3 players high pressing every time Jack had the ball. He rarely had the option of doing other than kick it long. We didn't throw our game out of the window, they stopped us opening the window.

He did more short pass outs from the back then go long and when he did go long it was because he dithered in the ball inviting the pool forwards to come to him and then he had to hurry and go long. No organisation at the back the ball is rolled out to a full back and they closed us down very quickly. We are just not good enough to go long quickly and catch out the opponents, so we go short and spend so much time passing between the defence and Stevens.

 

[m]

Take Blackpool's managers post match comments "It’s not an accident, certainly not. It’s something we’ve highlighted and practised, because that’s how we prepare,” “We try to find weaknesses in the opposition and how we can exploit them, what are their strengths and how we can stop them from doing what they want to do".

This is interesting. There are plenty who say that we should play our own game and leave it to the opposition to worry about us.

 

[oufc1991]

After gathering some thoughts from last night I’ve decided that we didn’t have much chance of making the play off but we got there we completely fucked the first leg up giving ourselves pretty much no hope of progressing to the final so on that aspect im going to watch Fridays game and just enjoy it for what it is and you never know we might just surprise ourselves

 

[m]

My agent & his missus are coming down on Friday, the pub don't have Sky. We have to talk to the women on Saturday, £10's not so much.

What have you planned instead, if I may.....?

You may: nothing.

 

[bazzer9461]

What irks me is that 'better' teams set up to stop us. Do we ever set up to stop them? It seems like (as I am no expert) we play the same way/formation no matter what. It is all too predictable. Take Blackpool's managers post match comments "It’s not an accident, certainly not. It’s something we’ve highlighted and practised, because that’s how we prepare,” “We try to find weaknesses in the opposition and how we can exploit them, what are their strengths and how we can stop them from doing what they want to do".

But KR won’t deviate from his set up. The slow moving out from the back 4 is a trait that every club know is the way we play and this damned 4 2 3 1 instead of 3 5 2 or 4 3 3or even the good old fashion 4 4 2

 

[Mad Dog]

Roll on Friday when we turn it around and batter them.

It`s only half time..... remember we were going down before Christmas, we were never going to make the play offs.

Stick a £10 on us turning it around............. Year of the Ox.

If we turn it around, and win, I will streak in the final at Wembley.

Trust me, nobody wants to see that

 

[Manorlounger]

To answer your most pertinent question: no he can’t. He is tactically naive and this was apparent again last night. We were not only outfought - we were out-thought. Can you really see him altering his tactics to deal with the inevitable onslaught on Friday?

What irks me is that 'better' teams set up to stop us. Do we ever set up to stop them? It seems like (as I am no expert) we play the same way/formation no matter what. It is all too predictable. Take Blackpool's managers post match comments "It’s not an accident, certainly not. It’s something we’ve highlighted and practised, because that’s how we prepare,” “We try to find weaknesses in the opposition and how we can exploit them, what are their strengths and how we can stop them from doing what they want to do".

But, listening to Mr Robinson post match, we were the better team for a lot of the time. (As we always are)

 

[Cass63]

Strongly disagree with that. He's been one of the plus points of the second halve of the season, for me. Classy talented player. Yes, like a lot of wingers he can dip out of a game, but that's what you get with someone that can turn defences over like he can.

Just a shame he didn’t try to do it last night then.

 

[bazzer9461]

He might not have any choice with all them poorly hamstrings

He still won’t

 

[oufc1991]

But, listening to Mr Robinson post match, we were the better team for a lot of the time. (As we always are)

That was KR talking out of his a**e again if we was the better team we wouldn’t have lost 0-3

 

[SteMerritt]

This is interesting. There are plenty who say that we should play our own game and leave it to the opposition to worry about us.

Well it's obviously somewhere in the middle as I'm sure you know, you can't just ignore an opponents strengths, just as much as you shouldn't be compromising your own.

But in these social media days, your view has to be either black or white, no shades allowed.

 

[bazzer9461]

But, listening to Mr Robinson post match, we were the better team for a lot of the time. (As we always are)

Clueless springs to mind from his interviews

 

[bazzer9461]

Next season will have to be KRs last season unless we are promoted.

 

[razorwire]

Morning folks, another Blackpool fan here but one with a big soft spot for you guys as I spend a few years in the early 80s watching Oxford as part of the Junior Supporters club.

I grew up in Aylesbury which meant a 400+ mile round trip to Blackpool every other week as a kid wasn't really feasible at the time, so my dad (a lifelong Blackpool fan himself) and I adopted you as our local team so we could watch some football on a Saturday (and a 45 minute each way drive as opposed to 4 hours or so!). This meant a good few years at the Manor Ground (probably 80-84 or so), of which I still have very fond memories, watching the likes of Shotton, Briggs (later to be a favourite of mine at Blackpool), Chicken George, Hebberd etc. My love of Oxford was only every going to be a temporary affair as Blackpool always had my heart (despite us being utterly rubbish back then) but I really enjoyed my time watching you, still look out for you now and relish the games against you (they feel like some sort of weird derby just for me!)

I miss the Manor Ground, it was a great place to watch football, although I still question the wisdom of putting the families in that terrace in the corner next to the away fans - I can remember at least one occasion when me, my dad and my grandad had to avoid coins and other missiles coming the the Cuckoo Lane stand aimed at the fans beyond where we stood! I also learnt a lot of new words from listening to the away support too back then. The only thing I probably didn't really enjoy was the pissy stench of that tunnel under the stand when going to the toilet or snack bar.

My last visit to the Manor Ground was 1996 and that Joey Beauchamp wonder-strike that killed our hopes of automatic. It was inevitable that he would score as I'd brought a couple of mates with me that day, one of which was a West Ham fan who had been slagging him off all morning. We had a great laugh with some of your fans before the game, and agreed that we'd meet up after the game whatever the result in a pub just around the corner (maybe on Stephen Road or the Old High street?). I was a bit apprehensive about walking into a pub full of home fans wearing my Blackpool colours but we stuck to the plan and ended up having a cracking night - no aggro from potential promotion rivals, just some lads buying me drinks for making up for beating us! It's stuck with me ever since - you are a decent set of supporters.

I obviously hope that Friday should be a formality now, but any Blackpool fan will have Bradford 1996 in my mind when we threw away a two goal away lead in the play offs to lose 3 nil so I'm taking nothing for granted. Whatever happens I'll continue to look out for you and all the best for next season (apart from if you are playing us obviously).

 

[ljs]

...
Barker sat on the side line twiddling his thumbs until he was passed the ball. When he did get the ball he was our biggest threat.
Lee might as well not have been playing.

I agree with most of what you posted, but especially this about Barker.

Yes, he is great (usually) when he has the ball and can glide past players, but... he is always so static when he receives it and is often just standing still inside our half when he does so.
This really slows down our attacks and allows opposition defenders to get back and set. It was noticeable how often Blackpool had two, or even three, players around him.

I really like him as a player, I just wish sometimes he would get on his bike to move into space to receive the ball quicker and at pace, and to also keep defenders guessing a bit more.

The above, and with Lee on the other side being slow, really doesn't get our attack going at pace very often.

 

[Reynolds97]

Flat performance which must have sucked the life out of the fans, was expecting a lot more to get behind the team.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

I agree with most of what you posted, but especially this about Barker.

Yes, he is great (usually) when he has the ball and can glide past players, but... he is always so static when he receives it and is often just standing still inside our half when he does so.
This really slows down our attacks and allows opposition defenders to get back and set. It was noticeable how often Blackpool had two, or even three, players around him.

I really like him as a player, I just wish sometimes he would get on his bike to move into space to receive the ball quicker and at pace, and to also keep defenders guessing a bit more.

The above, and with Lee on the other side being slow, really doesn't get our attack going at pace very often.

If we are looking at Barker, then I'd also say that he looks excellent when he has the ball at his feet and some space. But it's a rare thing to see him win any sort of challenge for the ball. That might be the nature of the beast, I suppose - but there is very little steel in him.

On the 'getting the ball when standing still' point - very true. But he is very far from alone in that. One of the reasons Long's goal (where he gave the ball to Clare, got it back and scored) was one of my favourites this season was because of the movement. Most of our players are static most of the time when we have the ball - it gets played into their feet all the time rather than in front of them to run on to. Our movement off the ball is often poor.

 

[The mighty Aldo]

Completely agree. And brilliantly articulated

Morning folks, another Blackpool fan here but one with a big soft spot for you guys as I spend a few years in the early 80s watching Oxford as part of the Junior Supporters club.

I grew up in Aylesbury which meant a 400+ mile round trip to Blackpool every other week as a kid wasn't really feasible at the time, so my dad (a lifelong Blackpool fan himself) and I adopted you as our local team so we could watch some football on a Saturday (and a 45 minute each way drive as opposed to 4 hours or so!). This meant a good few years at the Manor Ground (probably 80-84 or so), of which I still have very fond memories, watching the likes of Shotton, Briggs (later to be a favourite of mine at Blackpool), Chicken George, Hebberd etc. My love of Oxford was only every going to be a temporary affair as Blackpool always had my heart (despite us being utterly rubbish back then) but I really enjoyed my time watching you, still look out for you now and relish the games against you (they feel like some sort of weird derby just for me!)

I miss the Manor Ground, it was a great place to watch football, although I still question the wisdom of putting the families in that terrace in the corner next to the away fans - I can remember at least one occasion when me, my dad and my grandad had to avoid coins and other missiles coming the the Cuckoo Lane stand aimed at the fans beyond where we stood! I also learnt a lot of new words from listening to the away support too back then. The only thing I probably didn't really enjoy was the pissy stench of that tunnel under the stand when going to the toilet or snack bar.

My last visit to the Manor Ground was 1996 and that Joey Beauchamp wonder-strike that killed our hopes of automatic. It was inevitable that he would score as I'd brought a couple of mates with me that day, one of which was a West Ham fan who had been slagging him off all morning. We had a great laugh with some of your fans before the game, and agreed that we'd meet up after the game whatever the result in a pub just around the corner (maybe on Stephen Road or the Old High street?). I was a bit apprehensive about walking into a pub full of home fans wearing my Blackpool colours but we stuck to the plan and ended up having a cracking night - no aggro from potential promotion rivals, just some lads buying me drinks for making up for beating us! It's stuck with me ever since - you are a decent set of supporters.

I obviously hope that Friday should be a formality now, but any Blackpool fan will have Bradford 1996 in my mind when we threw away a two goal away lead in the play offs to lose 3 nil so I'm taking nothing for granted. Whatever happens I'll continue to look out for you and all the best for next season (apart from if you are playing us obviously).

Good luck in the final where I hope you beat Sunderland.
Blackpool showed us in both games at our place what a good side they are.We learnt nothing from the first game where you won 2 0
Think you will do well in the Championship if you go up. Remind me of Coventry last season
One favour, if Simms or whoever scores late on at Wembley against hopefully Sunderland could they please celebrate in front of the opposition dugout