Ex Player Alex Rodriguez Gorrin

[Foley]

With the exception of a few example (yes (Plymouth was brilliant) he doesn't offer the attacking option better teams have at fullback. Sorry.

I am surprised at this.
Long has improved hugely this season going forwards as has been shown by the stats.
Meanwhile as KR has said, he is the best one on one defender at the club.
Our problem this season with full backs has been more that when Long and Ruffels have been out the replacements have been much poorer.

 

[QR]

I am surprised at this.
Long has improved hugely this season going forwards as has been shown by the stats.
Meanwhile as KR has said, he is the best one on one defender at the club.
Our problem this season with full backs has been more that when Long and Ruffels have been out the replacements have been much poorer.

Do I like Long as fullback?
Do I think he adds to the current team?
Do I think he's improved this season?
Do I think he's good defensively?
Do I think he's deserved his MotM awards?

Do I think he can push on and be an asset at a higher level like Baldock and Cadden? The jury's still out for me.

Nothing really to be surprised about I would suggest.

 

[Colin B]

Whatever deficiencies we may have in our team/squad, Sam Long is not one of them.

He's now been given his chance and has taken it with both hands. He is a very good League One full back, and probably one of the first, and easiest, names on the team sheet. I always thought he was decent at the defensive side of the game, but he's developed the possession and attacking side of his game immeasurably since becoming a regular.

We have more obvious gaps to fill than right back.

 

[LowerSouth]

Whatever deficiencies we may have in our team/squad, Sam Long is not one of them.

He's now been given his chance and has taken it with both hands. He is a very good League One full back, and probably one of the first, and easiest, names on the team sheet. I always thought he was decent at the defensive side of the game, but he's developed the possession and attacking side of his game immeasurably since becoming a regular.

We have more obvious gaps to fill than right back.

Exactly this .

 

[QR]

Whatever deficiencies we may have in our team/squad, Sam Long is not one of them.

He's now been given his chance and has taken it with both hands. He is a very good League One full back, and probably one of the first, and easiest, names on the team sheet. I always thought he was decent at the defensive side of the game, but he's developed the possession and attacking side of his game immeasurably since becoming a regular.

We have more obvious gaps to fill than right back.

Agreed. You haven't contradicted anything I've said.

 

[OxfordYankee]

Whatever deficiencies we may have in our team/squad, Sam Long is not one of them.

He's now been given his chance and has taken it with both hands. He is a very good League One full back, and probably one of the first, and easiest, names on the team sheet. I always thought he was decent at the defensive side of the game, but he's developed the possession and attacking side of his game immeasurably since becoming a regular.

We have more obvious gaps to fill than right back.

He’s had a great season, which has both demonstrated his progress and the paper-thin cover we have at both FB positions. We need proper competition for SL and JR to not only challenge them for further improvement, but to balance the squad and remove points of individual reliance.

 

[unification]

Do I like Long as fullback?
Do I think he adds to the current team?
Do I think he's improved this season?
Do I think he's good defensively?
Do I think he's deserved his MotM awards?

Do I think he can push on and be an asset at a higher level like Baldock and Cadden? The jury's still out for me.

Nothing really to be surprised about I would suggest.

I’m in agreement with you. It comes across as unpopular to say it but the fact that Sam Long is our POTS shows that we aren’t a top six side. He’s dependable, much improved and has chipped in with goals and assists but he is a solid 7/10 player. There was a reason why the likes of James Constable and Ryan Clarke won awards over Tonkin and Clist in 2009-10 or Kemar Roofe bossed the POTS awards instead of Joe Skarz in 2015-16. They had that extra edge to make special seasons. You need players like Long, Tonkin et al to supplement those special players - not to be them.

If we had kept Brannagan fit from the start or not lost McGuane so early before the season’s end this year it could have been different.

It’s a case of well played, Sam Long. I hope to see him lining up alongside some truly excellent players next season.

 

[werthersoriginal]

I’m in agreement with you. It comes across as unpopular to say it but the fact that Sam Long is our POTS shows that we aren’t a top six side. He’s dependable, much improved and has chipped in with goals and assists but he is a solid 7/10 player. There was a reason why the likes of James Constable and Ryan Clarke won awards over Tonkin and Clist in 2009-10 or Kemar Roofe bossed the POTS awards instead of Joe Skarz in 2015-16. They had that extra edge to make special seasons. You need players like Long, Tonkin et al to supplement those special players - not to be them.

If we had kept Brannagan fit from the start or not lost McGuane so early before the season’s end this year it could have been different.

It’s a case of well played, Sam Long. I hope to see him lining up alongside some truly excellent players next season.

I’m a big fan of Sam but think you’ve got a good point. If Taylor or Henry were poty we’d be in the playoffs

 

[Carpy]

I’m in agreement with you. It comes across as unpopular to say it but the fact that Sam Long is our POTS shows that we aren’t a top six side. He’s dependable, much improved and has chipped in with goals and assists but he is a solid 7/10 player. There was a reason why the likes of James Constable and Ryan Clarke won awards over Tonkin and Clist in 2009-10 or Kemar Roofe bossed the POTS awards instead of Joe Skarz in 2015-16. They had that extra edge to make special seasons. You need players like Long, Tonkin et al to supplement those special players - not to be them.

If we had kept Brannagan fit from the start or not lost McGuane so early before the season’s end this year it could have been different.

It’s a case of well played, Sam Long. I hope to see him lining up alongside some truly excellent players next season.

This 7/10 badge was always given to Ruffs but Long is over and above that in my eyes (and has been for some time), he has more of an attacking threat and has always been much more solid than Ruffs defensively.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Our problem this season with full backs has been more that when Long and Ruffels have been out the replacements have been much poorer.

We don’t have replacements. That’s the problem. We play midfielders out of position to cover them because we only have two full backs on the books, which is absolutely absurd.

Then again, the idea of having more than one full back on each side has come up a few times over the season, and a few people viewed it as some sort of insult or insinuation that Sam Long isn’t good enough. If we only had three central midfielders at the entire club, or one centre forward, people would be up in arms. For some reason just having one right back and one left back is deemed completely fine.

The two full backs are okay. Long is probably the better of the two these days, but both are totally fine. No problem with them. But we need cover as well as competition, so that we know whoever is playing is doing so because they’re the best and most in-form, as well as not having to stick anyone who fancies a game into the back line when someone gets injured or sent off.

 

[Sarge]

Easty has signed a 3 year deal ....

Simon Eastwood Signs New Deal

Oxford United are delighted to announce that goalkeeper Simon Eastwood has pledged his future to the club, signing a new three-year deal.

www.oufc.co.uk

 

[Jolteon]

Easty has signed a 3 year deal ....

Simon Eastwood Signs New Deal

Oxford United are delighted to announce that goalkeeper Simon Eastwood has pledged his future to the club, signing a new three-year deal.

www.oufc.co.uk

Assuming he's signed with a view to being no.2 and maybe doing coaching badges this is a fantastic deal. There will be no better no.2 in the league. The fight for the no.1 shirt will make them both better.

 

[WRox]

And you know this for a fact?

That Lincoln are more trusted with PL2 players because of Appleton’s proven track record? I don’t think it’s a wild hypothesis.

 

[bazzer9461]

That Lincoln are more trusted with PL2 players because of Appleton’s proven track record? I don’t think it’s a wild hypothesis.

He’s only had success with one other club all the rest he’s been very poor so his track record isn’t the best it’s decent as is KR’s

 

[Marked Ox]

That Lincoln are more trusted with PL2 players because of Appleton’s proven track record? I don’t think it’s a wild hypothesis.

We got Nathan Holland and Marcus Browne as a counter to that.

 

[WRox]

We got Nathan Holland and Marcus Browne as a counter to that.

I don’t think it particularly counters the point around Appleton being trusted with PL2 players, just re-emphasises that we have the same opportunity and have had a decent record in the past. Lincoln have got four or five quality u24s from higher up this year on loan, that’s a sound model in terms of football and finance.

 

[Marked Ox]

I don’t think it particularly counters the point around Appleton being trusted with PL2 players, just re-emphasises that we have the same opportunity and have had a decent record in the past. Lincoln have got four or five quality u24s from higher up this year on loan, that’s a sound model in terms of football and finance.

I think I have misunderstood as I was working, clearly wrongly, that you were comparing them directly.

 

[captainox]

If the 20 players aged over 21 squad size cap is kept for next season (and that remains to be seen, as the PFA bring legal action), we're going to have a lot of shifting about to do to allow some fresh players into the club and/or some surprises will be let go.

I've updated the first post of the thread with the contractual situation but with Eastwood's new deal, we now have 14 players contracted for next season and beyond.
This is without counting Gorrin and Henry who the club have options on, as well as McGuane and Ruffels who we're led to believe are both in talks. So if all those commit then we'd be up to 18 contracted and that's before decisions are made on Forde, Hall (release surely) and Sykes.

It could well be that the contracted players out on loan - Clare, Cooper, Osei-Yaw - are destined to be let go and that would free 3 slots back-up.
An interesting summer ahead!

 

[Jolteon]

If the 20 players aged over 21 squad size cap is kept for next season (and that remains to be seen, as the PFA bring legal action), we're going to have a lot of shifting about to do to allow some fresh players into the club and/or some surprises will be let go.

I've updated the first post of the thread with the contractual situation but with Eastwood's new deal, we now have 14 players contracted for next season and beyond.
This is without counting Gorrin and Henry who the club have options on, as well as McGuane and Ruffels who we're led to believe are both in talks. So if all those commit then we'd be up to 18 contracted and that's before decisions are made on Forde, Hall (release surely) and Sykes.

It could well be that the contracted players out on loan - Clare, Cooper, Osei-Yaw - are destined to be let go and that would free 3 slots back-up.
An interesting summer ahead!

I really hope the squad size cap is scrapped, but if it isn't then I think people will get their wish of the youth team featuring on the bench more often. The fact we may have to release someone like Forde or Sykes or both just because we have Cooper and Clare contracted (I think DOY will go) is barbaric, not just for us but for the players across the league that get released as the 22 player cap drops to 20. The league will get filled with premier league loans and, as always, the people that benefit will be those at the top of the pyramid as us minnows train their players in a desperate attempt to escape this division.

 

[Sarge]

PFA arguing for a squad cap of 25 players ( over 21) across Championship, L1 & L2 .... EFL sticking to limits of 25 Championship, & 20 for L1 & L2 .... Id think squad limit of 25 (over 21) players is (just) about right ... EFL claim they have the backing of the majority of Champ', L1 & L2 clubs for their limit/ cap.... Who will blink first?

PFA wants EFL squad size limits scrapped

The Professional Footballers' Association says it will have to consider legal action if the English Football League do not scrap their proposed limits on squad sizes.

www.bbc.co.uk