Home Match Day Thread 12/08/2023 L1: OUFC v Carlisle

[uptheus]

An uninspiring game and a questionable finish, but at least we got the win and Harris has got off the mark.

I thought it looked like two poor teams today, and Carlisle looked very poor to me.

 

[OUFCwaffle]

My view of the game is that for the most part we looked confident and Carlisle were mediocre/poor. Had it ended up 0-0 you'd think it was an unfair result given the number of chances we had.

Definitely grew into the game and the crowd reacted well to it, not sure what Manning said at HT but it obviously did the trick and got the team playing with much more fluidity. Also the substitutions were perfectly timed.

Difference between the first and second half though was the ability to switch it up when playing out from the back. First half was quite slow and mostly sideways and backwards, with a few near misses passing it back to Beadle. Whereas second half we played the ball around their front line better and got more direct balls forward. Our passing accuracy was also much better and we pressed them well out of possession to stop them playing.

Harris looks a breath of fresh air and took his goal really well. Browne played a good game. Back line did well to keep Carlisle at arms length, they never really looked like scoring all game. GOD looks to have built some real muscle and could be the physical unit up top that we're craving, he just needs a goal or two to kick start it, held the ball up well in the dying minutes. Ruben had a bit of a shocker with his 1 on 1 trying to square it rather than putting his foot through it, expect to see him improve as time goes on though.

Carlisle fans were silent, whish is ironic given they started the game off chanting that our support is s**t.

Ref had a good game, Carlisle were dirty but didn't do anything to deserve a red card, but they must have had what half their team booked. Not sure where 8 minutes came from though?

Good to shut some of the moaners up after the nonsense on here over the last week. We're a team in transition and still need time after the mess Robinson left us in.

Loving the new shirt, clean and stylish, hoping it will be a symbol of better times. If that means playing more competitively more consistently for now then I'm happy with that.

Manningball is here.

Up the Ox!

 

[Jason N]

Mark Harris sounds like Dean Saunders.

Hopefully he can play as well as his fellow native from Swansea - and his punditry and summary of the game are already better than Saunders!

(As I type this, Jerome just said exactly the same. Spooky!)

Loved his explanation of the goal and his thinking, brilliant. Negru, a proper defender. If we can get 3 points from the next two games, I reckon we will do OK.

 

[uptheus]

Where was Murphy today?

 

[Didcotox]

My random thoughts on the game (apologies if this has already all been said:

I know Negru is only 21 and has played all of four professional games in his life - but I think he might just be our best defender already. Big, strong and seems to just naturally understand defensive positioning. I think McNally got into the side because of an injury and then never gave up his place - could see Negru doing the same.

Beadle's distribution is outstanding. One of his drilled balls forward in the first half was something Messi would have been proud of. We'll get a better idea about how the rest of his keeping is (and whether the Cambridge error was an aberration) when we play someone more dangerous than Carlisle.

I'm in the "We should loan out GOD" camp, but I can see the logic for keeping him solely to come on at 90 minutes and kill games we're winning!

Marcus Browne is big, strong, quick, athletic, constantly causes opposition defenses problems......and I'm not sure that I would have him in our starting XI. Constantly found his way into dangerous positions, and never once made the right decision and/or executed the final ball. And it's a recurring issue. Goodrham may not have his physical skills, but he offers more end product.

Mark Harris is quick and his movement is great, but for 75 minutes he looked like a deer in headlights every time he got the ball. Honestly don't know if the finish for his goal was genius or he shanked it and got lucky......but either way hopefully it gives him some confidence, because that looks to be what he's lacking.


Overall, Carlisle were very poor and I would almost guarantee that they'll finish the season in the bottom third of the table. We did just enough to win a crucial three points, and to be fair never really looked trouble. But if we have any aspirations of being involved in the playoff discussion, we've got to get masively better in the final third.

I thought Harris came across really well in the post match IV. Seems the sort of guy that would bring a dressing room together.

 

[Sarge]

a win is a win ... wasnt a great watch, but 3pts and a clean sheet will do

 

[behindthegoal]

Shocking performance, yet 3 points. Needed that.tonnes more work to do.

Shocking?... 1st... Not that good,
2nd...improved, got into the game a lot more and some nice movement.
Not shocking but, we need to improve quite a lot

 

[Manorlounger]

Enjoyed the result and good to be back watching a home game but, the chances that weren't taken led to some frustration in the SSU. Positive was to hear Harris, post match, accept that he should have taken his chances and would maybe have had 2 or 3 more goals.
Still a lot of work to do and more players to come in. However, a win, 3 points and a clean sheet, it's a start.

 

[Mad Dog]

I thought it looked two poor trans today

Jesus, what game were you watching?

 

[Belgium Yellow]

I hope you put the Scotchegg glasses on at half time because the second half looked much better!

You're welcome!

Yep, I guess the glasses can be the new prayer mat.

 

[oufc1991]

My only two complaints are something that should be easy to fix ... What the hell is that goal.kick all about a centre back passing to the goalie for the goalie to then kick it long was so frustrating if your going to that at least mix it up abit.... Secondly why the need to pass and pass and lose the ball when it would be so much better to shoot especially with how wet the pitch was a shot on target could have caused all sorts of problems


Other than that I thought the boys played well we need a RB and LB most definitely a striker but hopefully they will come

 

[Oxymoron]

Wow, what service/company is that?

The set top box says "Infomir" - I guess that's the manufacturer - but it has Sky, TNT, DAZN, Viaplay, ESPN, BEIN and half a dozen more sports channels I've never heard of, plus the usual UK entertainment and movie channels.
Whether they are strictly legal is possibly another discussion......

 

[Wallop]

My random thoughts on the game (apologies if this has already all been said:

I know Negru is only 21 and has played all of four professional games in his life - but I think he might just be our best defender already. Big, strong and seems to just naturally understand defensive positioning. I think McNally got into the side because of an injury and then never gave up his place - could see Negru doing the same.

Beadle's distribution is outstanding. One of his drilled balls forward in the first half was something Messi would have been proud of. We'll get a better idea about how the rest of his keeping is (and whether the Cambridge error was an aberration) when we play someone more dangerous than Carlisle.

I'm in the "We should loan out GOD" camp, but I can see the logic for keeping him solely to come on at 90 minutes and kill games we're winning!

Marcus Browne is big, strong, quick, athletic, constantly causes opposition defenses problems......and I'm not sure that I would have him in our starting XI. Constantly found his way into dangerous positions, and never once made the right decision and/or executed the final ball. And it's a recurring issue. Goodrham may not have his physical skills, but he offers more end product.

Mark Harris is quick and his movement is great, but for 75 minutes he looked like a deer in headlights every time he got the ball. Honestly don't know if the finish for his goal was genius or he shanked it and got lucky......but either way hopefully it gives him some confidence, because that looks to be what he's lacking.


Overall, Carlisle were very poor and I would almost guarantee that they'll finish the season in the bottom third of the table. We did just enough to win a crucial three points, and to be fair never really looked trouble. But if we have any aspirations of being involved in the playoff discussion, we've got to get masively better in the final third.

All of the above

 

[Wallop]

The set top box says "Infomir" - I guess that's the manufacturer - but it has Sky, TNT, DAZN, Viaplay, ESPN, BEIN and half a dozen more sports channels I've never heard of, plus the usual UK entertainment and movie channels.
Whether they are strictly legal is possibly another discussion......

Wait until after the watershed….….happy viewing!

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

We're above Reading, Swindon, Wycombe and MK Dons. Best in the region.

 

[bazzer9461]

I hope you put the Scotchegg glasses on at half time because the second half looked much better!

You're welcome!

Even better when McGuane, Mills and Goodhram came on

 

[NorthernExile]

My only two complaints are something that should be easy to fix ... What the hell is that goal.kick all about a centre back passing to the goalie for the goalie to then kick it long was so frustrating if your going to that at least mix it up abit.... Secondly why the need to pass and pass and lose the ball when it would be so much better to shoot especially with how wet the pitch was a shot on target could have caused all sorts of problems


Other than that I thought the boys played well we need a RB and LB most definitely a striker but hopefully they will come

It creates a quick mismatch and gives us a more realistic opportunity of getting possession higher up the pitch. The alternative is 50/50 hoof ball, where not only are we less likely to keep possession, but it makes it more likely for us to be drawn out of position.

 

[oufc1991]

It creates a quick mismatch and gives us a more realistic opportunity of getting possession higher up the pitch. The alternative is 50/50 hoof ball, where not only are we less likely to keep possession, but it makes it more likely for us to be drawn out of position.

I get what you're saying but isn't that what was happening anyway Beadle would get the ball and kick it long and we'd lose it surely it would be better to just play out from the back ... against better team that is going to bite us on the a**e imo

 

[battman]

It creates a quick mismatch and gives us a more realistic opportunity of getting possession higher up the pitch. The alternative is 50/50 hoof ball, where not only are we less likely to keep possession, but it makes it more likely for us to be drawn out of position.

Nah give me a good old fashioned toe punt down the channel rather than this ‘passing’ malarkey all the trendy kids are talking about

 

[The mighty Aldo]

Weird seeing the negativity on here.

OK, so we were utter shite for the first 20 minutes, but we took over after that. Second half we were toying with them at times. (When we should have been putting the ball in the net!)

Did Beadle even touch the ball with his hands?

Off the back of the last two games I'll take that performance all day long.

Yes after 20 minutes we looked ok but a better side than Carlisle would have been 2-0 up by then
What is worrying is that our defence hasn’t changed since last year apart from Thornily coming in and it’s not going to be solid enough against the better teams
We also need to improve our final pass, several times we got into good positions but poor judgement cost us, we have to be more clinical
With that in mind we definitely need a new left back right back and a striker that may cost us some serious money.
If we get that right we could get to top 10