Home Match Day Thread 20/02/2024 L1: OUFC v Northampton Town

[Northstandboy]

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Interview - Des Buckingham

Interview - Will Goodwin

Interview - Jon Brady

Match Highlights

Match Report

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[Eaststanding]

A forum of misery..it’s painful at times.
Embrace the plans for the future and the evolution of our footballing style, and football in general. Or don’t. And stay rooted in the ‘good old days’ of the past..
Sure the management could communicate better with the fanbase but they have great plans for the future, and I’m right with them. Top 30? Yes please.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

My lad went in the East Stand with his mates for the first time last night.

Needless to say he had a good time with his mates, but I thought it was a real pity that this was his first experience of a home end at an Oxford United game.

I also couldn't help but compare that with my own early experiences with my mates, which was a packed to the rafters London Rd (right side), and where I fell in love with OUFC. I couldn't help thinking how dispassionate and uninspiring it has all become. . . .last night being the worst I've witnessed for a long time.

He no doubt loves OUFC, but it is a different relationship to the one I had back then. It all seems far more sterile, more transactional and far less passionate and I feel just a tiny bit sorry that he won't experience it in the same way I did.

Here's hoping the future is brighter when it comes to atmosphere and the whole experience.

 

[Yellowecky]

FFS now a draw at home against poxy Northampton.

Will the DESciples on here ever take their heads out of the sands.

Fans need to get together with a protest to get Des replaced by a manager who at least has EFL experience to give us a chance to keep in the play offs otherwise the season is over from us being in 2nd place when Manning left. Come on.

When does the half term holiday finish?

 

[JimSmith2]

Gentrification and rules going too far "the other way".....

As an old boy I would never look down on lads having a day out making some noise, bouncing about and having a laugh because we have all been there and done similar.

Getting rid of that by applying a fear factor of rude words, causing offence, punitive sanctions, grass by text etc has contributed to the dullness of football these days.

Its a bit sad when there is more atmosphere at the rugby than at the football!

Yes well the silent majority are letting a minority of woke fascists with their cancel culture create that fear factor when it comes to banter and the possibility of offending even one person. Youngsters feel they are being policed, they are on camera.

I say minority but perhaps it is a majority on this forum. Any link to Oxford being a University town?

 

[Yello]

As has been said above , Northampton sat back and let our defence have the ball to their hearts content, they were never going to overload , Same as the goal kicks, every team knows what we're going to do , they dont all suddenly leave gaping holes everywhere for us to exploit. All we do is put undue pressure on ourselves in the wrong areas. I have watched a couple of away games on the box this year with the other teams commentry on and both times they have commented on our over playing pretty but passive , in harmless ( to them) areas of the pitch . I know its the "in" model and Man city can do it cause they have world class players , unfortunately we dont . Again , im sure plenty of fans are totally content with it, personally, fine in moderation, done all the time , bores the pants off me.

 

[JimSmith2]

I sat in the away end with Reading fans recently and I have to say Oxford were quiet. Reading fans were chanting about libraries.
Even in the 4-2 win recently Oxford were hardly vocal

I was at the Coventry game and to some extent right from the off and fully once Coventry went two goals ahead there was literally no supportive noise from the Oxford end, just a sense of boredom, oh except a few exchanges of chants with the Coventry fans nearby. Very strange.

I starting watching Oxford in the early 1970s and for all games the supporters especially in the London Road would roar their support for most of a game no matter what.

 

[Essexyellows]

That big grass message on the screen is starting to do my head in, pay money to have that flashing every ten seconds. No one makes any noise so what's the point of it?

That's one for the supporters group, does that message have to keep flashing up during the game? According to Tim we are customers, how about treating us like that and not naughty schoolboys.

The same group that were promoting the same posters albeit to report stadium issues?

The whole "text in" thing needs sacking off. We pay for stewards, its their job.

 

[JimSmith2]

Welcome, please don't question Des, it's currently regarded as not good form. The point is well made and we as a collective we appear to be failing to learn game after game. Yes we are 6 undefeated but 8 points from 6 games. That is the form of mid table mediocrity and that is currently what we are. Fans are disengaged because it basically has limited excitement.
We need to reset because we have all seen this before and ultimately it ends in failure. It reminds me of playing under Atkins, winning games and top of the table but feeling after each match was a relegation battle.

This exactly.

 

[chromeyellow]

Yes well the silent majority are letting a minority of woke fascists with their cancel culture create that fear factor when it comes to banter and the possibility of offending even one person. Youngsters feel they are being policed, they are on camera.

I say minority but perhaps it is a majority on this forum. Any link to Oxford being a University town?

Northampton is also a University Town.

"Woke Fascists with their cancel culture"

Finding it hard to figure out if you are a parody account or just very stupid. Youngsters (and oldsters) are being policed. They are on camera and if they commit an offence they may be charged. it's true at Carfax and it's also true at the Kassam.

 

[holdsteady]

Look, I’m a parent - I bring my younger kids to football and intentionally don’t sit in the ‘family’ section because I prefer a bit of atmosphere, a bit of ‘industrial’ language etc. That was how I was brought up, how i was indoctrinated into being a lifelong OUFC fan despite only spending less than a year of my life actually living in Oxford (grew up in MK, as an adult live in Reading). It’s the same way I’m bringing my kids up. Inherently i agree with you about the edginess being appealing.

And you make a great point around what is being done / what more could be done to retain the ‘young adult’ (17-25??) demographic. Presumably those with limited income and the most ‘competition’ for ways in which they can spend their limited ‘leisure income’. The honest answer is I don’t know if we as a club do enough. I suspect not (but as I’m nearly 40 I’m not best placed to answer!)…

But it’s 2024. Inclusion is relevant, extremely important and a desirable direction of travel for all elements of society. More people than not want to feel ‘safe’ at a football ground. And that means accepting that more people than not probably won’t want that edginess.

Football needs to react to that if it wants to preserve atmospheres. That means ticket pricing and recognising that if you want to stop football becoming a gentrified, entirely sanitised sport played in front of polite applause like Lords cricket ground then the pursuit of pound and profit at the expense of the supporter who actually wants to attend in person needs to cease (that social media image of beds in executive boxes at Stamford Bridge ). That means allowing fans to select their seats for away games avoiding the farcical ‘sit in your allocated seat’ scenes at almost every away game which literally pisses everyone off. That means embracing safe standing. It means pivoting from linear, singular approaches to crowds and provide a more diverse, inclusive ticketing/crowd management strategy which caters to all.

I do know that pricing people out of the game, not retaining young adult supporters, not fostering an environment where vocal supporters are able to freely group together and generate atmosphere which then cascades out and encourages others to get more vocal too are vital - and not impossible to achieve alongside making football stadiums more safe, inclusive and welcoming.

Getting annoyed because it’s 2024, blaming inclusion and complaining that too many families aren’t joining in with the Sparky Harris chant or going ‘duh duh duh duh duh duh, Cameron Brannagan’ chant seems a little too simplistic to me.

I don't disagree with a lot you are saying, don't really see a solution in a three sided ground with very little room for dividing home fans into areas where they can enjoy the experience as they want to, hopefully the new ground is a chance to improve that and the club take the opportunity it presents to create something where an atmosphere is achievable without pissing off others and pricing doesn't keep out young adults nor force them to sit/stand apart from each other rather than gather in groups. Other clubs seem to manage that better than we do, can't say having the worst atmosphere in professional football in this country is anything to be anything other than embarrassed by.

 

[JimSmith2]

Northampton is also a University Town.

"Woke Fascists with their cancel culture"

Finding it hard to figure out if you are a parody account or just very stupid. Youngsters (and oldsters) are being policed. They are on camera and if they commit an offence they may be charged. it's true at Carfax and it's also true at the Kassam.

Yes you are one of those I am complaining about, trying to cancel the views of others that you disagree with.

 

[chromeyellow]

I

Yes you are one of those I am complaining about, trying to cancel the views of others that you disagree with.

You think i should be agreeing with you?

 

[38yearsofpain]

Yes you are one of those I am complaining about, trying to cancel the views of others that you disagree with.

In polite forums it's called debate, in others banter but here it's cancelling. How closed minded this forum can be.

 

[PottersRightBoot]

Looking back at the highlights, Sam Long had nothing to do with their second equaliser.

Negru fails to deal with a punt upfield from their centre back and is partly impeded by their forward coming back from offside position. Matete then fails to clear out the second ball and then it’s plain sailing for their goal.

But blame Sam, follow the herd.

Repeat he had a decent game last night and the pelters he’s generally getting is simply unfair.

Also social media is just a cesspit. Some ‘OUFC’ old boy calling out Long for being a c**t,

All this and we’re fifth. Depressing.

 

[dickwalton1964]

Looking back at the highlights, Sam Long had nothing to do with their second equaliser.

Negru fails to deal with a punt upfield from their centre back and is partly impeded by their forward coming back from offside position. Matete then fails to clear out the second ball and then it’s plain sailing for their goal.

But blame Sam, follow the herd.

Repeat he had a decent game last night and the pelters he’s generally getting is simply unfair.

Also social media is just a cesspit. Some ‘OUFC’ old boy calling out Long for being a c**t,

All this and we’re fifth. Depressing.

Forget the goal. It was just his all round performance - woeful. Aimless balls, balls in to the channel going in to touch. What the hell is he doing 20 yards in their half and out of position for their second with 5 minutes left on the clock ? A brainless footballer giving a brainless performance.

 

[38yearsofpain]

Forget the goal. It was just his all round performance - woeful. Aimless balls, balls in to the channel going in to touch. What the hell is he doing 20 yards in their half and out of position for their second with 5 minutes left on the clock ? A brainless footballer giving a brainless performance.

I know he still has a bandage on his head, I thought it was a just a cut not a labotamy. No wonder he is struggling.

 

[Jster]

Yes you are one of those I am complaining about, trying to cancel the views of others that you disagree with.

So what kind of banter would you like to see allowed that is currently being prevented by the police? Racism ok with you? Sexism? Let's have some examples, please.

 

[lodeyellow]

Yes well the silent majority are letting a minority of woke fascists with their cancel culture create that fear factor when it comes to banter and the possibility of offending even one person. Youngsters feel they are being policed, they are on camera.

I say minority but perhaps it is a majority on this forum. Any link to Oxford being a University town?

No, not really.

 

[Bigdwoolly]

I personally think Ryan is bang on, so you can add me to those that are in the same camp as him.

Which is why I didn't say "no-else feels the same way you do".....

but my thoughts are the same, have you thought about taking a break from going to games, if it makes you so miserable during/after and anxious before?

 

[Osei Yaw]

We're as close as we've ever been to potentially leaving behind a stadium that virtually everyone hates - and equally close as we've ever been to losing the club entirely or have to face the prospect of playing in somewhere like Milton Keynes for one or two seasons

We've got the deepest potential pockets in our history with billionaire backers - but only if the stadium gets signed off, the 2 year contracts maximum offered are already showing everybody that if the stadium doesn't happen they pull the plug

We're in the play-off places and have massively turned around last year's car crash of a season - only if the teams behind us don't win their games in hand and even then our current form doesn't bode well against a team coming out of the pack and catching us

We've bought in a number of highly rated players and reverted back to something resembling a productive trading model - no argument with this one after the more recent KR signings disaster

Crowds are generally on the up - yet the atmosphere and match experience is shockingly bad

Re your last paragraph, have to agree the disconnect between the senior management and the fans has become as wide as it possibly could be at such a critical stage in the clubs history. It would be interesting to know what the actual owners think, do the senior management actually represent their views and actions they want taken or is there concern at the very top about how things are really working out whether that is stadium, board, marketing, communication, team, on pitch performances. It's really not gone well in the last 18 months yet there is still a chance of promotion this season, and there is a chance the stadium gets a yes, and no doubt should these successes happen the board will be all over it saying they knew what they were doing all along and it was never in doubt and they are the saviours of the club. But we all know they have not considered the bigger picture, and particularly without the fans there isn't much left anyway.

I would be amazed if the owners know much more than what Tim and Grant are telling them. I'm not sure they would lose much sleep over a crap atmosphere anyway, they are billionaires with bigger fish to fry and whilst we should be grateful for their considerable ongoing financial support, we can only hope they replace Tim and Grant with people who 'get' League 1 football fans.