Home Match Day Thread +++ 27/10/18 OUFC v Shrewsbury Town Matchday Thread +++

The Bird is buzzing. Don’t see any of this famous buffet though.
 
unification said:
Great result. Draw the away games and win the home ones and we’ll haul ourselves out of this mess. Scunthorpe next Saturday looks like a winnable or drawable game too.

I’m not making any predictions about what this little run will mean in the long run, but I have to give KR some praise. He’s happened upon a system that works better, has used Mackie effectively and seems to have used some emotional intelligence to get the players reacting better to him. He’s not completely convinced me yet although with each positive result my worries about him do start to fade.
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So can we actually drop the guff about him never having any "plan B" but keeps on doing the same thing over and over even when it doesn't work? [Not implying that it's you, Unification, who spouts that "guff".]
 
Fantastic result. Scunthorpe very winnable. Lets see how many we can get up there next week.
 
Jon-ioualways said:
So can we actually drop the guff about him never having any "plan B" but keeps on doing the same thing over and over even when it doesn't work? [Not implying that it's you, Unification, who spouts that "guff".]
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I think that was a fair argument a few games ago. I think what’s changed has been better management of the personnel at his disposal.

With 420 games under his belt, KR clearly isn’t a bad coach. He was a coach making bad mistakes and had shown something to suggest he could achieve his targets here.
 
Eastwood - 7.5 not much to do but one good save when he was called upon
McMahon - 7 two assists and an outlet down the right hand side. So much better than when I last saw him against Fleetwood when he was appalling.
Ruffels - 7.5 took his goal well. Looked a solid left back but not really tested
Nelson -8 thought he was very solid and won some decent headers. Very composed on the ball too
Dickie - 6 shaky at times. Didn’t fill me with a huge amount of confidence
Mousinho - 8 very good performance, just mopped up things nicely and some very good tackles.
Brannigan- 7.5 game passed him by at times when it was just hoof ball by Shrewsbury but always looked like he could create something
Holmes - 7.5 always looked like he could create something and was pleased with his work rate chasing back
Henry - 6 quite a quiet game from him. Didn’t really notice anything good or bad
Whyte - 7.5 took his goal well and some terrific one two moves at times. Jumps in to tackles at times and is easily beaten
Mackie- 8 just a nuisance for defenders. Plenty of effort. Good performance

Browne - 7 took his goal well
Hanson - 6.5
Smith not on for long enough to gain a rating.

I wouldn’t say three nil flattered us but I was never comfortable at two nil. Maybe a reflection on the season so far. Shrewsbury had plenty of the ball but only tested Eastwood once. Thought their fans were quite loud considering they were two nil down so early on but mystified that a group of twenty plus left with over 15 mins to play. Thought our fans were quite quiet today. It was also Bloody cold today, the wind was biting at times from my position right at the front of the SSU.

Pleasant afternoon, my first game since Fleetwood and a huge improvement.
 
Didcotox said:
Eastwood - 7.5 not much to do but one good save when he was called upon
McMahon - 7 two assists and an outlet down the right hand side. So much better than when I last saw him against Fleetwood when he was appalling.
Ruffels - 7.5 took his goal well. Looked a solid left back but not really tested
Nelson -8 thought he was very solid and won some decent headers. Very composed on the ball too
Dickie - 6 shaky at times. Didn’t fill me with a huge amount of confidence
Mousinho - 8 very good performance, just mopped up things nicely and some very good tackles.
Brannigan- 7.5 game passed him by at times when it was just hoof ball by Shrewsbury but always looked like he could create something
Holmes - 7.5 always looked like he could create something and was pleased with his work rate chasing back
Henry - 6 quite a quiet game from him. Didn’t really notice anything good or bad
Whyte - 7.5 took his goal well and some terrific one two moves at times. Jumps in to tackles at times and is easily beaten
Mackie- 8 just a nuisance for defenders. Plenty of effort. Good performance

Browne - 7 took his goal well
Hanson - 6.5
Smith not on for long enough to gain a rating.

I wouldn’t say three nil flattered us but I was never comfortable at two nil. Maybe a reflection on the season so far. Shrewsbury had plenty of the ball but only tested Eastwood once. Thought their fans were quite loud considering they were two nil down so early on but mystified that a group of twenty plus left with over 15 mins to play. Thought our fans were quite quiet today. It was also Bloody cold today, the wind was biting at times from my position right at the front of the SSU.

Pleasant afternoon, my first game since Fleetwood and a huge improvement.
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Can’t really disagree with any of that. At times we looked like a proper team but at times in the second half we gave the ball away too cheaply. As you say if they’d scored at 2-0 I would have been a bit worried. A win is a win though, and you can see that belief and confidence is slowly but surely returning. The big difference today was we took the two early chances.

A word on Shrewsbury - they looked a decent team at times. I was really impressed with the right back Emmanuel. Grant in midfield also looked decent. Angol up front looks to have all the attributes of a good centre-forward but did nothing except try and get himself a red card.
 
Home and taking in the day's results over a delicious cup of tea.

I didn't get carried away in our many defeats and I'm not going to get carried away now. Today was satisfactory. It wasn't a blowout, it wasn't domination from start to finish, but it was efficient. There were literally four chances in the game: we took our three, Easty saved theirs. Otherwise, very little of note.

The usual suspects will get the plaudits, Holmes, Whyte etc. but Mousinho was my standout man of the match today. He looks a level above in that position. Gives our back four so much protection.

I think Shrewsbury fans will have every right to be disappointed in the ref today. He really was giving us a lot. So many of the 50/50s, which were the classic 'six of one, half a dozen of the other', he gave our way. I honestly don't see what their #9 did to get the yellow, but then again I missed the off the ball with McMahon. And that final goal - blimey. We'd be absolutely seething if that had happened to us.

This is much more what I thought our team would be like this season given how we performed under KR at the end of last season. We look so difficult to beat. We're not going to be a thrilling team to watch, we're not going to create a shedload of chances, but we are solid and compact, and that's a great ground on which to build going forward. I hope those who were vehemently against KR can hold their hands up and at least acknowledge the progress we are making. One goal conceded in 5 games, and 8 points from those games (worth noting that that was App's 'promotion'-level target for the 5 game blocks in 15-16), with two comprehensive victories against sides who look like genuine relegation contenders, represents for me an undeniable turnaround.

As a last point - LOVED that kit. So classy.
 
Thought we were pretty comfortable second half tbh, nothing flashy, also thought we could step it up a bit if needed but we saw the game out well. Obviously nothing to get carried away over but a really decent job done today.
 
Good to have a win and the three win lints that go with it. Felt everyone played their part today. As has been said we didn’t dominate but something that happened today and in recent matches we have lacked in previous seasons and that is grit and steel getting stuck in battling for every 50/50 ball fighting them when they had the ball it’s good to see that type of spirit in the side.
So well done to the Oxford team today.
 
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