Home Match Day Thread 03/02/2024 L1: OUFC v Reading

[Carpy]

POST-MATCH PACK

Post Match Discussion

Interview - Des Buckingham

Interview - Cam Brannagan

Interview - Reading manager

Match Highlights

Match Report

Ref Watch

Fans View

 

[dickwalton1964]

Well, that was rubbish. What are we under Des ? I really have no idea - I’m not sure Des does either. The team needs a shake up, I’d take out McGuane, Rodrigues and Goodrham based on the past few games. The whole team looks disjointed but these three are too in and out - bit here, bit there but no real telling contributions. Negru looked a fish out of water and Brown had an awful last 20 minutes, reckless challenges, missed headers and bullied about a bit by their strikers.

Wish the window was still open, that Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan looked a great player off the bench for them. 6’3”, genuine pace, can hold it up and put in a cross right on the money for their equaliser. He was better than anything we had and was only on for 25 minutes.

 

[ECYellow]

With 10 first team players out injured and players like Negru playing in a different position.

Reading have some good players still and towards the end looked like they might win.

This is a Reading that have been under transfer embargo’s, are skint (so skint players and staff haven’t been paid on various occasions) have lost players in January AND have their own injuries?

I’m not sure our injury crisis cuts it as an excuse, tbh.

 

[kingoftheroad]

Just goes to show what a decent manager can do.

Just checking the Des in brigade, 'its 2 points " out of 12

 

[RgYellows]

Well, that was rubbish. What are we under Des ? I really have no idea - I’m not sure Des does either. The team needs a shake up, I’d take out McGuane, Rodrigues and Goodrham based on the past few games. The whole team looks disjointed but these three are too in and out - bit here, bit there but no real telling contributions.

No telling contributions from Goodrham in recent games?

None?

 

[Swaby39]

I hope des succeeds,but he has royally fucked this season right up

I think the trouble is he’s learning on our time. It was all tee’d up beautifully for him but he’s coming unstuck against coaches who just know that much more about EFL football. Occasionally the players will get us through a game but there’s a lot of individuality required for us to win, it seems.

He’s learning, you can see in the first half an hour today we improved, but he’s ultimately come unstuck again by another manager’s game plan. We could all see what was brewing (a late charge from Reading after keeping it tight for 70 mins) but going by his changes, he didn’t see it.

Too often it’s a game of two halves with Des. Today we were the more proactive side but then at 1-0 we seemed desperate to escape rather than kill them off. Not the mindset of a team at the top.

It’s not happening this season. I just don’t think Des will get his head around it quickly enough and he doesn’t have anybody in his ear to speed that process up.

 

[bazzer9461]

He held the ball up well, one excellent layoff. MJB called him "the work experience lad."

Compared to Tuesday night he was poor today

 

[holdsteady]

There’s no blame on the player!

It’s on the board, manager and recruitment team that’s the issue. GOD should be on loan gaining experience. He should have been since 2022 yet in February 2024 he’s still our second choice striker.

It’s a recruitment problem. Not one with the player.

He’s barely a second choice striker, he is a come on for ten minutes as I can’t think what else to do striker.

Soon he won’t even be on the bench, who knows what the point of this has been, a player no where near ready for league one coming on for a few minutes here and there, neither the team or the player gaining a single thing from it.

It’s terrible handling of a young player at the very beginning of his career from everyone who has been involved in it at the club.

 

[pommy80]

Stevenage with another late goal.. Back to 7th it looks like.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Well that was a mixed bag (being polite!). I thought we started OK - but created absolutely nothing. This really has been our main weakness all season IMO - you simply cannot expect L1 players to smash away every half chance or to repeatedly score worldies from 30 yards. It just won't happen.

As seem to happen with us all too often, we score a goal and then seem to think the job is done. Reading were marginally the better team for the last bit of the first half and for long periods of the second half - when I don't think anyone would disagree we were pretty terrible.

Burey was good again and as soon as he went off, our outlet went with him. Once Goodrham was also hooked we didn't have a single player even slightly interested in going past a man. And then Buckingham pops onto the radio to promise jam tomorrow again. I suspect next weeks returning players will be on the bench to start with.

For all that I'd like to 'believe' the evidence of my own eyes says we will finish in midtable.

 

[Symp59]

Out of the top 6 ,is that ? Are we doomed Mr Mannering.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Just checking the Des in brigade, 'its 2 points " out of 12

we are also unbeaten in 2

 

[chromeyellow]

Compared to Tuesday night he was poor today

Agree he - like the rest of the team were better on Tuesday

. I imagine that Portsmouth game took a lot out of the team and playing early on a Saturday it’s a little bit less time to recover as well. (Don’t think Reading played midweek, did they? )

I think the team is coming together Burey looks extremely good- Greg Leigh back makes us stronger. One stupid llgoal given away and we should’ve scored another.

Worth looking at the reasons why that didn’t happen in the actual incidents we created.

 

[holdsteady]

It’s fairly obvious we are not going up, this team just doesn’t have enough about it, that second half performance has happened to many times.

Buckingham is not going to go anywhere, we have only just appointed him and we are obviously in no danger of going down so it won’t be that that does for him, but for the rest of the season when we have more players available he needs to start showing something, its essentially an audition to still have the job next season for me, this team needed a manager like Manning to lead it by the hand and it’s not a team of players with very high footballing IQs, they come across as brainless watching them, so he needs to start doing more of that as it seems to be the only thing that works.

 

[dickwalton1964]

No telling contributions from Goodrham in recent games?

None?

Yes, he got a goal and obviously that is a contribution but there are players out there who score too and who then don’t go missing for the next 90 odd minutes. What does he do ? What did he do today ? Bar the goal, what did he do on Tuesday ? He can’t beat a man on the outside, he’s not that strong and is easily eased off the ball. He’s a passenger for very large parts of most games.

 

[notThisWayButThat]

Looks like Forster-Caskey got the win for Stevenage

 

[Jster]

Just checking the Des in brigade, 'its 2 points " out of 12

The "Des in" brigade? He's hardly been here 2 minutes - there's surely no question on his status so far.

Been watching the first season of the Wrexham documentary lately, as the fans start to get disgruntled in Phil Parkinson's first season. Lots of fans assuring others that a manager needs time. Definitely worked out in their case. In other cases it might not. But it's still a truism.

 

[Yellow2K22]

Average game that sums up our team, the season, this league. Categorically is not a derby though, I’ve felt more ‘tension’ pre and post game on a deserted beach. Even funnier when reading scored their celebrations were so subdued, looked like they politely clapped summing up the non event of a game it was.

 

[MiddleBartonYellow]

Ten players injured though, some people seem to want to overlook it.
I didn’t think this guy was the right appointment but I will judge him once everyone is fit again.
Also whatever anyone thinks he is here for the long haul regardless, because of the investment to bring him in.
So maybe just get behind the team perhaps for a change.

 

[Essexyellows]

If Des was making the same mistakes consistently I would worry but it doesn`t seem that way.

He might be tinkering with what he`s got to get the best out of it.... as they say its better to try and fail than not to try at all.

As long as he IS learning.

 

[Jster]

(Talking of Wrexham, I see KR's good start at Salford continued today. Didn't expect that at all.)