Away Match Day Thread 29/4/2023 L1: Forest Green Rovers v OUFC

[Golden Dr Otto]

Your 100% hit rate at predictions continues. Great stuff.

I’m going to go out on a limb here knowing both your online personalities , and meeting you in person…

Pre season you were probably predicting a decent season and Kip was predicting the apocalypse that almost happened. We might have to just give him this season for once

 

[Patch1262]

still need 5 signings

Two strikers
Two wingbacks
Goalkeeper
Go 352 next season

And a central midfield player

 

[BDJ]

It’s me again !

Even the FGR ball boy's enjoying it!

 

[Swaby39]

Again, we are creating a narrative that isn't there to make for some kind of division amongst fans.

Literally no one has spoken of filling a few gaps and going again.

No one.

However, a few have suggested that some of those that have improved in the last few weeks may continue to improve with a full preseason, whilst others want a complete overhaul. Neither are 100% right, they are just opinions.

Egg, you yourself have suggested Seddon should be a part of the squad next year when he hasn’t had a good game here for a year and now can’t even hold down a spot at Cambridge. One example from your squad sheet which left me in disbelief having taken a relegation battle to the last 3 games with most of it.

The players have improved with Manning, yes, I’d expect nothing less given the gross neglect of duties by the previous manager. The good news is, we now have a manager we can rely on. A bit of coaching sure goes a long way. But I think in most cases he’s got the best out of a lot of them - that’s concerning. We are still only 16th in the league over his 10 games which is not to discredit him, it’s highlighting that he had a really tough job extracting points out of this group and we are still well short in terms of the squad.

Depending on what you see us going for next year, I’m baffled by any suggestion we can go in to next season with a squad remotely similar to this years and expect much more than mid table - an Exeter-type season. There are so, so many areas to address to become a competitive side again. Peterborough are 7th and struggling to break in to the top 6. I don’t think they’d take one of our players from this season for their starting XI. But sure, let’s just fine tune it.

 

[Barbadosyellow]

Remember all those drawn games when we said they could turn out to be a decent point at the end of the season to make ourselves feel better. Well turns out they were, all of them.

The worst moment of this dreadful season for me was when we fell into the live table bottom four for a few minutes during the Barnsley game. That was the moment when I really thought we'd be going down. Amazing the difference a week can make.

 

[Scotchegg]

Egg, you yourself have suggested Seddon should be a part of the squad next year when he can’t even hold down a spot at Cambridge. One example from your squad sheet which left me in disbelief having taken a relegation battle to the last 3 games.

The players have improved with Manning, yes, I’d expect nothing less given the gross neglect of duties by the previous manager. The good news is, we now have a manager we can rely on. A bit of coaching sure goes a long way. But I think in most cases he’s got the best out of a lot of them - that’s concerning.

Depending on what you see us going for next year, I’m baffled by any suggestion we can go in to next season with a squad remotely similar to this years. There are so, so many areas to address to become a competitive side again. Peterborough are 7th and struggling to break in to the top 6. I don’t think they’d take one of our players from this season for their starting XI. But sure, let’s just fine tune it.

I've suggested that Seddon, Henry and others are contracted and nothing else. My post was clear that we would likely need to move some players on, but that there's an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and Manning to have a proper look at everyone in the summer!

If you read the posts as well as looking at the graphic then there's nothing baffling at all!

 

[Swaby39]

I've suggested that Seddon, Henry and others are contracted and nothing else. My post was clear that we would likely need to move some players on, but that there's an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and Manning to have a proper look at everyone in the summer!

If you read the posts as well as looking at the graphic then there's nothing baffling at all!

The opening line to that post is ‘My squad for next season looks like this’…

How can I read that opening sentence and think anything other than that’s what you want to take in to next season?

 

[Grumpy Git]

I don't think he's the sort of manager to go away for a month and completely switch off. Radio Oxford touched on it yesterday of how many times he watches the games back to analyse of where we can improve. We might actually see some signings early on and not scrambling around in August.

This summer we won’t have a fat, useless, whining scoucer telling us he’s going to do business early. Then doing sweet FA and having to scrabble round looking for sloppy seconds to try a complete a squad.
I think Manning and Hogg will know who and what they need already. They’re professionals, not chancers.

 

[Yellowmania]

Even the FGR ball boy's enjoying it!

Not sure, I think he’s throwing us a gesture with his right hand.

 

[Mellowyellow]

Let him kick off with a month sunning himself in Spain. That's the norm, isn't it?

Technically, thats two weeks sunning himself and two weeks with the phone stuck to his ear as he doesnt like flying therefore it doesn't seem worth coming back to the UK for those two weeks, sunning himself.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I've not read this entire thread, but could someone estimate how many OUFC fans were actually at FGR on Saturday? I realise there were officially 1,224 away fans recorded, but the pictures posted suggest that well over 50% of the total crowd of 4,070 were Oxford fans. Any reasonable estimates?

On twitter people were saying at least 200 yellows in home crowd.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I'm split on that. My mate is a AFC Wimbledon fan and my daughter is at Cambridge uni and gave me loads of s**t when they beat us in February because she thinks we have the same rivalries as the uni do.

Thinking about it, I'd like MK Don's to go down because I'm town not gown.

Franchise getting relegated is good for football's soul.

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

If anyone says this time last week they were confident we'd stay up, they were lying!

Let's not rewrite history we have been f*****g abysmal this season. 18 without a win almost deserved relegation. We have come good at the last possible moment but it doesn't cloud the fact that Karl Robinson assembled one of the worst teams seen at this level.

Ferguson out. Williams out.

But only you were confident that we were going down when we had everything to play for.
Maybe concentrate on the chicken zinger a bit more and get happy rather than being soooooo negative .
With the right recruitment no reason for us not to be challenging next season......bring on the Reading

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

To be fair GUK did say Shrewsbury would finish above us.

Uncle Kip's Shrewsbury Town as they became ( well in my mind whenever I said them anyway )

 

[The mighty Aldo]

Uncle Kip's Shrewsbury Town as they became ( well in my mind whenever I said them anyway )

They really have had an odd season,they won 6/7 on the bounce which got them on the fringes of the playoffs but have recently lost 6 on the bounce

 

[christenedinjericho]

I've suggested that Seddon, Henry and others are contracted and nothing else. My post was clear that we would likely need to move some players on, but that there's an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and Manning to have a proper look at everyone in the summer!

If you read the posts as well as looking at the graphic then there's nothing baffling at all!

The whole football club if they have any nous needs to prune and put the cuttings in the garden waste bin pronto.

Unfortunately, keeping player's like Seddon and Henry will unfortunately these days win you f*ck all. No more giving out binding contracts for a few more kisses on individuals birthday cards.

From yesterday's squad of 16/17 around 40% should be pruned and Capt Mannering will become a decent Percy Thower if he has got plenty of fertiliser in his tank.We need to be ruthless not only in the squad but in the office/back room staff too. The club became rudderless because of the power it seems the previous manager held. However, if the clubs hierarchy want this club in the championship then they need to step on people's toes from tomorrow onwards however they bruise.

Other than that our fans too have to get on board and start talking this club up and by thinking big. This club have a more than evens chance to do this on a site and be digging the foundations to this in the near future.

Personally, I speak to alot of Kidlington businesses and residents and I'm non stop in their shell like banging this drum. Everyone who support this club should be doing the same!

A great day yesterday which after the Ipswich home game was never on anyone's lips. Let's hope that this season was a f*cking one off.

COYY'S.

 

[Yellowecky]

No. MK are now an established club with supporters who started going as kids and are now taking their own kids along. Besides we will get more MK turn up up at the Kaz Stad than Cambridge fans. More dosh for us.

I couldn’t disagree more. MK Dung didn’t play their way into the Football League, they bought it. I dislike them more than Slumdon and shan’t tolerate them until they’ve been relegated out of the Football League and worked their way back in the proper way.

 

[Yellowecky]

Yes, I am still bitter!

 

[The mighty Aldo]

I couldn’t disagree more. MK Dung didn’t play their way into the Football League, they bought it. I dislike them more than Slumdon and shan’t tolerate them until they’ve been relegated out of the Football League and worked their way back in the proper way.

Back in the early seventies I played in the Oxford Sunday League.
There were seven divisions back then. We played for a team in Division 4 at the end of the season we wanted to change the name of the club. We were told we could but would have to start in the bottom tier. As we played for a team that were closing down their business we had to start again in Division 7.
MK franchise should never been allowed to do what they did and should have started as MK at the bottom rung.If the Oxfordshire FA have those rules so should the EFL
I loathe MK and their franchise fans

 

[Wallop]

Back in the early seventies I played in the Oxford Sunday League.
There were seven divisions back then. We played for a team in Division 4 at the end of the season we wanted to change the name of the club. We were told we could but would have to start in the bottom tier. As we played for a team that were closing down their business we had to start again in Division 7.
MK franchise should never been allowed to do what they did and should have started as MK at the bottom rung.If the Oxfordshire FA have those rules so should the EFL
I loathe MK and their franchise fans

I loathe MK but is it fair to loathe their fans? What's better - parents taking their kids to support their local team (regardless of history) or parents pointing at the telly and saying - let's all support Arsenal/Spurs/Chelsea to their kids (given MK geography).