Home Match Day Thread 28/11/2020 L1 OUFC v Swindon Town

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Totally agree that Forde should have come on in the middle of the park. He has some degree of responsibility for the role. Whilst we were not great in the second half those 3 subs just created panic across the pitch. We started lumping because none of them could keep the ball. They also didn't want to defend when we didn't have the ball. I could understand Sykes coming on if we were chasing the game but we were desperately trying to hold it together and he does not have the desire to play that role.
This isn’t a response purely to your comments, but I just wanted to point out that we were not at the races well before our substitutions so think they’re being labelled as the black sheep in our overall performance in the 2nd half, whereas, it was very clear that we were poor prior to their introduction. For example, Henry was non-existent, Obita was spent and we were clearly losing the middle of the park. Defensively we kept giving the ball away when more simpler/easy balls were on meaning we could retain the ball. We struggled to do 2 passes which was down to our style/mentality of our players. As good as Long & Ruffels are as squad players they are we tend to lose possession when they are involved in the play. For example, when we broke with Long on the ball and virtually 3 against 2 he gave a very poor ball inside when 2 easier options were on. They rarely cross a ball into the box beating the first man, away from the keeper and into the danger areas as David Langan did in his day.

I can understand Skyes coming on as we were lacking energy, but felt Forde should have come on instead of Agyei or Shodipo.

In addition to the above our defence are so lackadaisical e.g. waiting for the ball in ala Atkinson against Pompey and Moore yesterday and many more occasions.

Separate to using the substitutions as an excuse, I am really questioning our mentality throughout the squad and I’m not sure if Robinson as a lot to answer here. I’m not sure if he’s managing this situation well or actually exacerbating the situation as we know he’s a guy who is an advocate of mental well-being which is a good thing, but not if he’s struggling personally or allowing players to have too much of a free rein under current circumstances e.g. they become less passionate or don’t even have the desire etc. It’s a balance especially under the current circumstances, but I think it’s having an impact, especially when we know players who are generally reassuring, but are projecting the opposite attributes at present e.g. Henry, Eastwood, Taylor etc.
 
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I was hoping it was all a bad dream.......

The warning signs were there with Eastwood when he sliced a clearance at the start of the second half. There’s no doubting he’s a good keeper but he seems to have a real issue concerntratng when he doesn’t have a lot to do, the Wycombe play off game was the same.

When we took Obika, Henry and McGuane off it gave them a lift. Also why is KR prepared to publicly slag Sykes etc but not Eastwood.

That is the worse Swindon team I’ve seen in years and still can’t believe they beat us but let them have their day after 19 years of waiting.

On a positive I thought Kelly, Obika & McGuane linked up well at times. Just a very bad day at the office and we will finish above that lot anyway.
 
This isn’t a response purely to your comments, but I just wanted to point out that we were not at the races well before our substitutions so think they’re being labelled as the black sheep in our overall performance in the 2nd half, whereas, it was very clear that we were poor prior to their introduction. For example, Henry was non-existent, Obita was spent and we were clearly losing the middle of the park. Defensively we kept giving the ball away when more simpler/easy balls were on meaning we could retain the ball. We struggled to do 2 passes which was down to our style/mentality of our players. As good as Long & Ruffels are as squad players they are we tend to lose possession when they are involved in the play. For example, when we broke with Long on the ball and virtually 3 against 2 he gave a very poor ball inside when 2 easier options were on. They rarely cross a ball into the box beating the first man, away from the keeper and into the danger areas as David Langan did in his day.

I can understand Skyes coming on as we were lacking energy, but felt Forde should have come on instead of Agyei or Shodipo.

In addition to the above our defence are so lackadaisical e.g. waiting for the ball in ala Atkinson against Pompey and Moore yesterday and many more occasions.

Separate to using the substitutions as an excuse, I am really questioning our mentality throughout the squad and I’m not sure if Robinson as a lot to answer here. I’m not sure if he’s managing this situation well or actually exacerbating the situation as we know he’s a guy who is an advocate of mental well-being which is a good thing, but not if he’s struggling personally or allowing players to have too much of a free rein under current circumstances e.g. they become less passionate or don’t even have the desire etc. It’s a balance especially under the current circumstances, but I think it’s having an impact, especially when we know players who are generally reassuring, but are projecting the opposite attributes at present e.g. Henry, Eastwood, Taylor etc.
Great summary.
For the first 10-15 minutes of the second half I found myself saying "the most important thing is to win this match even if we do seem to have relaxed way too much". Swindon seemed to be expecting us to push on and seemed defeated.
Then the longer we dithered around the more interested they became.
The substitutions just compounded this aimless drift and it became an aimless panic.
 
I wonder if what you say about Tiger and KR being more like mates is replicated throughout. I see how much KR cares for the squad and protects them, he is rightly aware of and concerned for their mental health especially in the current crisis. But there needs to be a decent distance between Gaffer and players so that when they need a right dressing down they get it and respect it.
I also wonder if Tiger is getting involved in the transfers, almost like he’s playing director of football.
As far I can see all the protracted signings the unbalanced squad and number of iffy signings began when Tiger took control.

KR has said several times about getting business done early, knowing what we need etc etc. Then nothing happens! it’s obvious he is not in control otherwise why does he not just do what he says? It’s very worrisome that he’s yet again not taking responsibility for the squad of players. I think it’s good there is a recruitment team but that should be advisory to KR not dictated. It’s like we’re playing badly, erratically and nobody is to blame because it’s a group decision. This seasons recruitment has turned a playoff and maybe even automatic promotion squad into a relegation candidate.

To lose someone like Dickie and not have a direct replacement almost ready to go is terrible management. Everyone knew it was going to happen.
 
This isn’t a response purely to your comments, but I just wanted to point out that we were not at the races well before our substitutions so think they’re being labelled as the black sheep in our overall performance in the 2nd half, whereas, it was very clear that we were poor prior to their introduction. For example, Henry was non-existent, Obita was spent and we were clearly losing the middle of the park. Defensively we kept giving the ball away when more simpler/easy balls were on meaning we could retain the ball. We struggled to do 2 passes which was down to our style/mentality of our players. As good as Long & Ruffels are as squad players they are we tend to lose possession when they are involved in the play. For example, when we broke with Long on the ball and virtually 3 against 2 he gave a very poor ball inside when 2 easier options were on. They rarely cross a ball into the box beating the first man, away from the keeper and into the danger areas as David Langan did in his day.

I can understand Skyes coming on as we were lacking energy, but felt Forde should have come on instead of Agyei or Shodipo.

In addition to the above our defence are so lackadaisical e.g. waiting for the ball in ala Atkinson against Pompey and Moore yesterday and many more occasions.

Separate to using the substitutions as an excuse, I am really questioning our mentality throughout the squad and I’m not sure if Robinson as a lot to answer here. I’m not sure if he’s managing this situation well or actually exacerbating the situation as we know he’s a guy who is an advocate of mental well-being which is a good thing, but not if he’s struggling personally or allowing players to have too much of a free rein under current circumstances e.g. they become less passionate or don’t even have the desire etc. It’s a balance especially under the current circumstances, but I think it’s having an impact, especially when we know players who are generally reassuring, but are projecting the opposite attributes at present e.g. Henry, Eastwood, Taylor etc.
Totally agree that we were already sitting back and inviting pressure before subs. In fact that was the reason for the subs. Obita did look shot and Henry wasnt great. Can see why he wanted to put some pace on. In hindsight though he removed all the experience and put on inexperienced players. I think Forde should have come on to be honest. We desperately need an experienced CB who can lead. Mous is that player but clearly has fitness issues otherwise surely would have started a match with us not keeping a clean sheet for so long. Come January I can see Mous being deregistered as a player and an experienced CB coming in.
 
Im new on here but im still píssed off with the scorelinen. I think we will go down if the scally stays in the charge. I live only in Oxford for 4mounths and only just discovering this forum on our biggest game. I love football but only been in England short time. But Oxford my passion and Swindon looked like they had more passion.

do you think if they sack Robinsons that we will get the man with Ricketts? I have head that David Flitcroft is very good manager for this level and not in a job? But what about Sol Campbell, he was my favorite England defender the Tony Adams. Maybe he can make our defence tighter than the ship.

Sorry im not sure if i spelling everything right or wrongs do not make but because I use a translator app sometimes and other times I use my mind. Hahaha its so funny because i think UMT is a very passion fruit man but he can make himself look an idiot too.

Anyway pleases to meet you Werther the original? Like the sweet? Oh we have them back home. Can you buy them here? You are probably good man, like the grandfather in the advert giving his goodness to all the children on his thighbone.

This is funny... cheered me up no end 🤣
I will work tomorrow, today keeping the hospitals running whilst many silly men sleep off their hangoverall. Some of then will fell more silly when they wake up like UMT.

What is best shouting for oxford city at the ground? I hope to win into a game. My friend said the arena is not finished yet? Does that mean I can't watch match? I did niot know what he means by this.

Thank you werther man.
Farooq
 
I can confirm that copious amounts of alcohol did not make yesterday any easier to digest. Right who’s next? Ah Ipswich. Good stuff. Oh and at the fortress. Great
 
We lost, get over it. The only positive is we didn't have to watch their fans celebrating in our ground, and the winning run against them couldn't continue for ever. Hopefully if we can bet them in the away fixture and some honour will be restored. Lets move on, we have a game on Tuesday
 
It’s very worrisome that he’s yet again not taking responsibility for the squad of players.
Funny how that wasn’t the case when the core of the squad were one game away from promotion. Eastwood, Long, Moore, Ruffels, Gorrin, Henry, Sykes, Taylor...

Bit of consistency wouldn’t go amiss. It can’t be “they’re not my players” when it goes wrong and not the rest of the time.
 
The first half from Oxford was decent , they were on the front foot and were very fluid, were passing it through the thirds ,got it wide and
Swindon were struggling to stay in the game. Oxford should have been two goals up at the break and had complete control of the game

The group that came out wearing yellow in the second half were unrecognisable and seemed to be possessed with fear and anxiety.

We were struggling before the three substitutions and never won a second ball. A catastrophic defeat that was largely self inflicted.

Robbo has got a task and a half on his hands to sort out this group of players going forwards.
 
The first half from Oxford was decent , they were on the front foot and were very fluid, were passing it through the thirds ,got it wide and
Swindon were struggling to stay in the game. Oxford should have been two goals up at the break and had complete control of the game

The group that came out wearing yellow in the second half were unrecognisable and seemed to be possessed with fear and anxiety.

We were struggling before the three substitutions and never won a second ball. A catastrophic defeat that was largely self inflicted.

Robbo has got a task and a half on his hands to sort out this group of players going forwards.
First half was better than the second, particularly attacking wise. I wouldn't call it good though. There were clear signs of them getting in behind us down the flanks.
 
Agreed they did get down the sides far too easily on a couple of occasions especially down their right , our left , where Ruffels was.

I couldn’t figure out why we were playing so deep and wondered where the leadership was. Don’t know who was skipper
after Henry , who was so poor, went off. In an empty stadium it can’t be too difficult for Messrs Robinson , Craig
Short and Mousinho to get instructions across?
 
Instructions and players following instructions are two very different things of course. Pressure does funny things to people.
 
Instructions and players following instructions are two very different things of course. Pressure does funny things to people.
Pressure is an interesting one. A lot was made about the fact we had 4 x Oxford born players starting so they would know what this game meant etc. This was seen as a positive but maybe it was a negative as it increased the pressure.
 
With the dust having settled, a few final points from me.

- So much of the attention has been at the subs, the mistake from Eastwood and the general attitude of the second half. However, we should have had the game stitched up before then. Taylor’s open goal miss is not receiving the condemnation it deserves. Too often this season we labour to create chances and don’t convert them. Their keeper made a few good saves but we should have been out of sight.

- The midfield looked shot from the 60 minute. Why? Why are our players looking done so early in matches? Blowing out of your a**e with minutes to go is expected but not when you’ve only just come out the tunnel for the second half. Obita can qualify for a pass here and McGuane maybe too if we consider KR’s comments regarding him being injured.

- The Robins will rightly be chirping about this win. They didn’t win it though, we lost it. They’re a crap side who had mustered nothing until the end and even then we’re given gift wrapped chances. They’ll be in a relegation fight this season. We’ve not got to prove that somehow we aren’t either.
 
Can anyone explain to me why we have so many players who cannot perform for more than half a game? We do not exactly play at a high tempo. Add to that the frequent number of injuries in the squad, even excluding the usual sicknotes. Could there be any link to the weird pre-season training we adopt, playing a number of games over a short period of time? Do any other clubs adopt this unorthodox approach? It's not as though past seasons under Robbo have started much better.

Also what was happened to Cooper? Has he gone back to Northern Ireland?
 
With the dust having settled, a few final points from me.

- So much of the attention has been at the subs, the mistake from Eastwood and the general attitude of the second half. However, we should have had the game stitched up before then. Taylor’s open goal miss is not receiving the condemnation it deserves. Too often this season we labour to create chances and don’t convert them. Their keeper made a few good saves but we should have been out of sight.

- The midfield looked shot from the 60 minute. Why? Why are our players looking done so early in matches? Blowing out of your a**e with minutes to go is expected but not when you’ve only just come out the tunnel for the second half. Obita can qualify for a pass here and McGuane maybe too if we consider KR’s comments regarding him being injured.

- The Robins will rightly be chirping about this win. They didn’t win it though, we lost it. They’re a crap side who had mustered nothing until the end and even then we’re given gift wrapped chances. They’ll be in a relegation fight this season. We’ve not got to prove that somehow we aren’t either.
Very pleased you have pointed out the lack of condemnation of Taylor's glaring miss. There is nearly always a turning point in a game and this was it!
 
Agreed they did get down the sides far too easily on a couple of occasions especially down their right , our left , where Ruffels was.

I couldn’t figure out why we were playing so deep and wondered where the leadership was. Don’t know who was skipper
after Henry , who was so poor, went off. In an empty stadium it can’t be too difficult for Messrs Robinson , Craig
Short and Mousinho to get instructions across?
Elliott seemed to hear the call from the side of the pitch clearly enough at Wembley!
 
Yesterday’s game was just a continuation of the same problems we’ve had all season. We are weak in every department (Goalkeper, Defence, Midfield and Attack)

Sykes, Forde, Henry, Agyei, Clare, Long, Hall are consistently played out of their favoured position and there roles seem to change from week to week. This can’t be good for players form. Since Brannagan has been out one of those wingers has had to play in the centre.
McGuane is the only other actual CM and the team is better with him in there rather than a makeshift. Midfield is a big problem, we cannot seem to consistently win the midfield battle and control games like we did last season. Brannagan is sorely missed as is Dickie, Baptiste, Browne and Fosu a lot more than I imagined they would be. the latter 3 haven’t been adequately replaced and for all the wingers we have in the team, we don’t seem to have any that consistently produce.
Also, For all the talk last season of how fit the team was, it seems quite the opposite this time around.

January will be pivotal. We must replace Dickie, Baptiste, Fosu and Browne. adequately and surely cull the stupid amount of wingers in the squad. Winnall will also prove to be a waste of time (Will Hoskins, all over again) and even if fit is too similar a player to Taylor, so IMO wasn’t a sensible signing.

KR has to take the blame for this mess rather than throwing players, who are in and out of the team under the bus.
 
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