Away Match Day Thread 12/12/2023 L1: Reading v OUFC

[Bath Yellow]

84. First game.
Headington United v Chelmsford City,
Southern League ( Now Conference ) Won 2-0.
Boxing Day 1949. 75yrs ago

The last 6 games v Reading:

W: 1
L: 6

07 Nov 1999	Reading v Oxford United	W	1-2	League Division 2
07 Mar 2000	Oxford United v Reading	L	1-3	League Division 2
28 Oct 2000	Reading v Oxford United	L	4-3	League Division 2
17 Apr 2001	Oxford United v Reading	L	0-2	League Division 2
24 Sep 2003	Oxford United v Reading	L	1-3	League Cup
25 Aug 2004	Oxford United v Reading	L	0-2	League Cup

 

[Jster]

Bet all the people writing off Des already were writing off Appleton at the start too. Ridiculous to judge someone over less than half a season, I reckon.

 

[holdsteady]

Murphy whipped a few balls across the box but we don’t get many people into the box to attack them, we need a couple of strikers in but we also need to find a way of getting more players into the box than at the moment.

 

[m]

Thought I'd wait until the morning after.

All a bit flat really, game, fans, and evening out.

Not a disaster, just a bit meh.

 

[LeftSideLarry]

I’m old enough to remember games at Elm Park and what games against Reading used to be like.

Last night was a world away from those games. Time has taken its toll on the fixture and I suspect it will take a long time before any real sense of ‘hatred’ to return (if it ever does).

It was all so flat and ordinary. A bit like our performance on the pitch, which, along with the atmosphere, was almost devoid of threat.

 

[m]

Bet all the people writing off Des already were writing off Appleton at the start too. Ridiculous to judge someone over less than half a season, I reckon.

For sure.

You can see where some of the frustration comes from though; several times this season opposition supporters have described us as being a class above, or the best team they've played. That feels a long time ago now.

But there are mitigating circumstances.

 

[Gregortheox]

I think time has taken its toll on the game itself if I’m honest.
I feel watching football is like coming home to a woman who used to cook me a rump steak and then drag me upstairs for a mind blowing blow job, who now offers me a tesco lasagne and an episode of I’m a celebrity.
Bored.

 

[m]

I think time has taken its toll on the game itself if I’m honest.
I feel watching football is like coming home to a woman who used to cook me a rump steak and then drag me upstairs for a mind blowing blow job, who now offers me a tesco lasagne and an episode of I’m a celebrity.
Bored.

I feel like I started with Tesco lasagne and now grub for roots and tubers on the way home, while stopping occasionally to gnaw at fresh roadkill.

What's a blow job?

 

[Gregortheox]

I feel like I started with Tesco lasagne and now grub for roots and tubers on the way home, while stopping occasionally to gnaw at fresh roadkill.

What's a blow job?

I can barely remember.

 

[Essexyellows]

Well that was a game of two halves and not in a good way.

First half seemed to have tired both teams out, then the fear of losing kicked in in the second.

61% possession and 1 shot on target says it all, on the positive side its a 100% shots/goal ratio.

Anyone see/hear the attendance? Looked mostly "sparse".

 

[LeftSideLarry]

It was just over 14k

 

[OUFCwaffle]

Unlucky overall- we lost because of a blatantly offside goal. We dominated the second half.

How embarrassing to see some apparently loyal supporters keen to work off their anger by fulminating about the City Group rather than paying attention to what was happening on the pitch.

Our most exciting attacking players are all injured. (Leigh, Edwards, Rodrigues) and yet we dominated the second half and were unlucky not t ogo away with all three points.

Having the ball and doing nothing with it against a poor team destined for relegation does not count as "dominating the second half". Apart from individual moments from Murphy, when else did we look like scoring? It's no good relying on 2 or 3 players to allow us to win. The whole squad needs to put in a shift and pull together which simply is not happening right now. We look slow, indecisive and lacking of any creativity, and we're never going to challenge the top teams by playing like we have.

 

[OX14]

I think time has taken its toll on the game itself if I’m honest.
I feel watching football is like coming home to a woman who used to cook me a rump steak and then drag me upstairs for a mind blowing blow job, who now offers me a tesco lasagne and an episode of I’m a celebrity.
Bored.

Not all women are like that and neither is the football. It's just we seem to have turned into a team the equivalent of a man who would rather stay at home sat on the sofa in just his boxer shorts watching the whole series of red dwarf than going out with his mates and having some fun.

 

[TailsWeWin]

For periods in the second half we looked really dangerous, but FFS what was happening in the last 20 minutes? Were we desperately afraid of losing? Were DB’s instructions to tap it around at the back, sideways, backwards, sideways? Were they told not to take any risks? Was the overriding fear that we mustn’t lose the point we had (and with it the complete disintegration of confidence and belief if Reading had scored?)

It was frustrating beyond belief to watch. Reading are a VERY poor team but we are one whose self-belief is draining away with our gradual slide down the table.

We need a squeaky 1-0 win on Saturday. Anything.

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

If we have a goalscoring cf then we take all 3 points I'm sure . Gutted Harris just isn't going to be that guy after some promising early performances and goals . Bodin no answer up top and Harris does do some great work just not a natural finisher.
We come away 3-1 win and everyone happy .
Got to be Moore/Brown and what was Stevens on first half !

 

[Upthecowboys]

I think Brown is playing him on. There's a screenshot from a wider angle about somewhere and Brown is a touch deeper than the other defenders.

Edit- this one. The ball has already been played, and he still looks he's being played onside by Brown.
View attachment 17096

Des said it wasn’t offside post match and he also identified that he doesn’t want us passing it sideways with no intent.

I was quite heartened by his post match comments, no excuses and called out the mind numbing sideways passes.

 

[oufc1991]

I feel like someone needs to grab our football club and shake it back In to life because from top to bottom we seem to be in abit of a daze ... We need some fire some passion from players to fans we all need to wake up

 

[Older Shotts]

Thought I'd wait until the morning after.

All a bit flat really, game, fans, and evening out.

Not a disaster, just a bit meh.

Totally agree. Did not feel like a derby in any respect at all.
No urgency or passion from the team. Only Murphy looking to run at them or create anything.
Reading are VERY poor. We are mediocre at best. Mid table finish for us this season. We weren't great under Manning and looked like we had one way to play and were being found out when he jumped. Seen nothing since to change my mind on that.

We need to play Brown at CB, Thorniley isnt the player he was. He looks like a massive weakness at the back.
McEachran needs to go. Hes crap. Too slow to think and produce anything and always goes backwards. The number of times he couldve set Murphy off last night and just dawdled and took too long and the opportunity was gone.
Harris can leave too. Absolute donkey.

We were so boring to watch. Was no surprise we started booing our own team, in a supposed derby, as we just kept passing backwards. It was crap.

Chris boring Williams said in the interview with Buckingham it was a proper derby. B*****s. It was a damp squib of a game.

Very very disappointed. They were there for the taking, but it was them who really should've won with the chances they created (certainly in the first half down in front of us).

Lets get 2 strikers in, so we have someone to get on the end of Murphys bloody superb balls into the box.

On a positive:
What a revelation Super Murph is. Thats what 5 games in a row now where he's been MOTM or at least best outfield player by a country mile. And was very close to nicking it for us at the end last night.

 

[Jster]

Harris can leave too. Absolute donkey.

You did see his pass under pressure to Mills in the lead up to the goal, right?

 

[Older Shotts]

You did see his pass under pressure to Mills in the lead up to the goal, right?

1 pass, yes.

 

[Nadi-]

I think Brown is playing him on. There's a screenshot from a wider angle about somewhere and Brown is a touch deeper than the other defenders.

Edit- this one. The ball has already been played, and he still looks he's being played onside by Brown.
View attachment 17096

One photo can say it all.
He looks onside
how a long ball can catch out the central defence.
right back should cover the centre half, from the opposite wing.
Midfielders once again breaking through and clear of our midfield.