General What needs to change?

[Manorlounger]

Yes of course this is true. Every team has the odd disaster like Northampton, but for us it means too much because we are trying to catch up on our bad start. But whose fault is it that we take so long to assemble a fit squad? Is it all down to Karl? Genuinely not sure

Surely it is KR's job to assemble the squad? Either by direction or by personal intervention. He may have issues with budgets but that is something he would know about in advance. He may have issues with squad caps or salary caps but, again, he has advance knowledge.

There has to be something deeper that prevents us assembling that, let's call it 'adequate' squad. (I don't think anyone is going to get a 'perfect' squad)
There will always be players that can't be recruited for any number of reasons but that's when the second or third choice comes into selection. The recruitment side of the club will have a list of candidates who meet the requirements, sift through those names, pick out the best options and start a dialogue.
Apparently, we go down a different route. Set the target on one individual and forget the rest until it's too late. How many last second signings have we seen in recent times?

 

[werthersoriginal]

Surely it is KR's job to assemble the squad? Either by direction or by personal intervention. He may have issues with budgets but that is something he would know about in advance. He may have issues with squad caps or salary caps but, again, he has advance knowledge.

There has to be something deeper that prevents us assembling that, let's call it 'adequate' squad. (I don't think anyone is going to get a 'perfect' squad)
There will always be players that can't be recruited for any number of reasons but that's when the second or third choice comes into selection. The recruitment side of the club will have a list of candidates who meet the requirements, sift through those names, pick out the best options and start a dialogue.
Apparently, we go down a different route. Set the target on one individual and forget the rest until it's too late. How many last second signings have we seen in recent times?

We seem to be linked with tasty players but fail to get them, and then scrabble around for crocks and left field signings at the last minute. I’m not sure it is up to Karl to get the signings across the line though I could be wrong.

 

[TailsWeWin]

We would be firmly in them if we didn’t spend the entire opening quarter to every season in the relegation spots. Even a slightly below average start rather than an actively very bad one would have been the difference between an outside shot and being maybe one win away from preparing for a semi-final. Last season it would’ve meant automatic promotion instead of Rotherham - the sudden nature of the curtailment only serves to highlight the importance of not pissing the first dozen games up the wall as a matter of routine. You need to get the points on the board ASAP. You can’t constantly handicap yourself season after season. It’s like watching a runner who always falls over at the start of the race and ends up at the back of the pack, and then makes a dash for it and just misses out at the end. It’s all very exciting and lots of people cheer and clap, but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re empty handed purely because they can’t do something as simple as stop tripping over their own feet. Once or twice is bad luck; three or four times is a massive cock up.

This is why a number of people get pissed off - it’s completely preventable, and glorious defeat is still defeat. We get into positions to achieve something multiple times a season, and then we chuck it away or can’t sustain it because we put so much weight around our own necks that we don’t have enough in the tank to see it through. It’s all good and well people saying, “Well we would’ve been happy with that at the start of the season”, but things change. You’re supposed to adjust your goals based on your progress and the opportunities that present themselves. Lincoln have a mid-table budget, but if they didn’t finish in the top six at this point would they just shrug it off and say that 7th or 8th would’ve been fantastic in the summer, or would they say that they failed and badly threw it away? It’s all relative. There’s only so long that watching somebody fall over before narrowly missing out is exciting before people start to question why they can’t simply stand up.

We can’t have a fourth consecutive race where we don’t even make it to the first bend before we’re sprawled out on the track. Just stay in the pack for once and then we might actually be in danger of doing something.

Brilliant.

 

[Symp59]

So often after a playoff plip teams struggle for a while . We are still in with a chance .And it does make me smile when people go on about the club not investing etc etc.Alot of fans on here don't go to go to games don't watch follow and Still moan. I would like to thank the board for backing our club,thankyou. There are some big teams in our league Sheff wednesday next year. We are doing well it's exciting to be where we are more of the same please. Let's be honest top half of the first is probably our place, money talks more than ever. In the championship most clubs spend our budget on the manager and coaches . It's been another good year following our team . Well done to everyone

 

[Johnox37en]

Agree with Symp59 and just remember chaps, whatever or wherever we finish this campaign, at the end of all this we still have OUFC to support next season.

 

[joshua]

Agree with Symp59 and just remember chaps, whatever or wherever we finish this campaign, at the end of all this we still have OUFC to support next season.

Championship, or Division one, unlike some not to far away are looking forward to Division two

 

[Grumpy Git]

Do our transfer business early, keep the fk quiet about who we’re after and stop buying injured players.
We have an excellent and talented core of players, we just need to get in some quality cover for defence.

 

[Mellowyellow]

We have done as expected. We are a mid table Div 1 side in terms of support, revenue, budget, etc. Same as last year, we may flirt with the playoffs but we are where we should be.

Does that Still hold true when you look at teams like Accrington and Wycombe, who punch above their weight?

 

[Paul Cannell]

Presumably yes, as they have a better manager than we do. /ducks

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

Presumably yes, as they have a better manager than we do. /ducks

Well the majority it does balance out with budget / managers can come into it and Wyc got lucky as the season they had a great start playing shocking football they were dropping away , similar to Shrewsbury, when it finished and handed them an opportunity they took.
Accy do great to finish mid table and threaten the play offs .
24 clubs and we were 3rd when it finished last season and we will be top 8 this ( hopefully higher) but let's always find a reason to have a sly dig at K.Robbo as you don't like him.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Presumably yes, as they have a better manager than we do. /ducks

Yes they probably do. But you don't get many like John Coleman. Bristol Rovers have had lots of good managers in their search for success, about six in the last year?

 

[m]

Does that Still hold true when you look at teams like Accrington and Wycombe, who punch above their weight?

Of course it does, why wouldn't it?

 

[christenedinjericho]

Why would they be more attractive? What makes them bigger?
It does irritate me that some of our supporters are so keen to demean our club. I don't buy into this bigger club mentality. The likes of Portsmouth, Sunderland, Hull, Ipswich, even Blackpool have all played at a higher level than League 1 but, they have all been relegated to this level and some of them have serious financial question marks hanging over them. Having a bigger ground doesn't make them bigger clubs.
Oxford United played in the old First Division, we won the Milk Cup and should have played in European competition, granted, in recent times the big stage has eluded us but we have still beaten higher placed opposition and displayed to other clubs what a fantastic fanbase we have. OUFC is not a small club, we just happen to have landed in a three sided ground with a lack of consistent results. The ground will be sorted, the ambition will be instilled and the playing style will, must be improved to match.

We are, most definitely, NOT where we should be.

Absolutely spot on post.

I Mr Manorlounger, feel like I'm sometimes fighting a one way crusade in sticking and squaring up for my home city football club and after 50 years plus of doing so it is so refreshing to read a like minded supporter posting a spot on post about what should be standard procedure when talking about 'anything' to do with our club. Whether that is rubbing in our past history (hello chippy), rubbing in our two on the bounce championship trophies, rubbing in our three years in top flight, rubbing in our 19 seasons in today's championship equivalent , rubbing in our fantastic away support, rubbing in our Daily Express 5 a side win at Wembley arena back in the 1985, rubbing in our 6 a side win at the G-mex in Manchester the following season, rubbing in all the famous scalps we have beaten at the Manor and the K*assam over the years, rubbing in the four 30,000 plus takes to Wemblo which is more than some of the 'what makes them bigger' clubs have ever done consistently over a period of time and finally in rubbing in with yellow and blue crayons an old black and white picture of Trevor Hebberd. I must go now as my carer wants the table back for tonight's bingo.