Home Match Day Thread 20/02/2024 L1: OUFC v Northampton Town

Who was your Man of the Match

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ThatSlopesATwelfthMan said:
Several things happened. Cumming didn't have a particularly safe short ball so hoofed it up for them to send back at us. Negru got a bit distracted by an offside player and tried to control the ball with his head then lost it quite deep in our own half. They pushed forward and Matete backed out of a challenge. They sent a percentage ball across our six yard box which we didn't intercept and which they got a toe onto.

I know what you mean about killing the game but to do it from that position with so many of our lot up the pitch and then pressing for and equaliser was just madness
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Precisely how I saw it.
 
Eaststanding said:
A forum of misery..it’s painful at times.
Embrace the plans for the future and the evolution of our footballing style, and football in general. Or don’t. And stay rooted in the ‘good old days’ of the past..
Sure the management could communicate better with the fanbase but they have great plans for the future, and I’m right with them. Top 30? Yes please.
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X/Twitter and Facebook is no better, I assume you don’t visit this places!?
 
Sheik djibouti said:
I think it was Long's inexplicable back pass from deep in their half (he was in the right wing position) to Cumming (about 1.10 into stoppage time on the full match replay), that Cumming lumps upfield and is returned by their Centre Back (where you picked up the story above), which most frustrated me. For some reason the full match replay has the Northampton commentary on this video and even their commentator describes it as a "bizarre" pass.

It was literally a 70 yard back pass to the furthest player back for us (Cumming) when Long was pretty much the furthest forward player. It was also a first time pass - he didn't even take a touch, and I would argue that there were several safer and easier options closer to him. Long also failed to get back all that quickly to support Negru when he was struggling to control the ball as you described, in the build up for their second equaliser, and the rest is history.

Long DID do some good things last night. I did think he got forward well and overlapped at times but he also did some other questionable stuff and this was not the only example of lumping it backwards when an easier short pass was on. He also looked better defensively whne he had Murphy helping him out on the right. There were several times when Murphy got back quickly to help him out - he didn't get that to the same degree when Dale came on.

It is things like this, where we invite pressure onto ourselves for no good reason (and Long was by no means the only one guilty last night) or don't take the game to the opposition which is currently making us our own worst enemies.

That said, had Goodwin connected with his second chance, or Gregly's shot been on target (he didn't miss one in the warm up!) or had Tylers cheeky chip come off, we'd have been out of sight by this point!
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But was it a mistake? The goal was caused by poor play by Negru and then Matete. It was not Long’s fault.
 
PottersRightBoot said:
But was it a mistake? The goal was caused by poor play by Negru and then Matete. It was not Long’s fault.
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That's like saying a pile up on the motorway has nothing to do with the initial collision. It was the root cause of everything that happened afterwards. The minute Long hits that pass, the crowd let out an incredibly anxious moan... How do you think his team mates felt that had to deal with it? Not least a young kid trying to prove himself. I said last night, he exchanged a position of complete safety for one of high risk for absolutely no reason. A young player is subsequently taking the fall for a terrible mistake from someone who is predominantly in the squad for his experience and should know better. Stop giving him a free pass.
 
I have to say that amidst the dross and the ranting there have been some really good analysis of how we played under Manning, how we play under Buckingham and the strengths and weaknesses of various players and combinations. I've learned a lot even if I don't agree with everyone.

Trouble is football analysis is mostly hindsight. When we make an analysis we know what the consequences of (say) that Long backpass was. The players and the coach can't know that at the time.
 
PottersRightBoot said:
But was it a mistake? The goal was caused by poor play by Negru and then Matete. It was not Long’s fault.
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A Sliding Doors moment.

I am not for a second having a pop at Longs game last night, but that particular decision just reeked of negativity at a time where we should have still been pressing an under pressure Northampton.

If Long hadn’t made that decision we wouldn’t even be talking about Negru or Matete.

I agree that you can’t blame Long for their failings, but that decision in that particular circumstance was just bizarre and deserves criticism.

I was fuming as soon as he made it … the goal seconds later just made it worse.
 
MC Yellow said:
A Sliding Doors moment.

I am not for a second having a pop at Longs game last night, but that particular decision just reeked of negativity at a time where we should have still been pressing an under pressure Northampton.

If Long hadn’t made that decision we wouldn’t even be talking about Negru or Matete.

I agree that you can’t blame Long for their failings, but that decision in that particular circumstance was just bizarre and deserves criticism.

I was fuming as soon as he made it … the goal seconds later just made it worse.
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Me and you both...I was gobsmacked at the time and the equaliser just rubbed salt into the wounds.

We should've been home and hosed, we were dominating possession and we should've been looking to play out the last 7 minutes as high up the pitch as we could and make Northampton come and get it off us. Most of our team were trying to do that, but a brain fart moment ultimately handed the opposition the initiative, they exploited it and we weren't robust enough to deny them.
 
PottersRightBoot said:
But was it a mistake? The goal was caused by poor play by Negru and then Matete. It was not Long’s fault.
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Do you think the player in the offside position was interfering with play?

And do you recognise that once Negru touches the ball that that offside player is then active?

If the answer to both of those questions is yes, then where was the advantage for us/Negru, and what would you advise Negru to have done?

And what are your thoughts on Long’s 60+ yard pass back to the keeper when we were deep into the oppositions half?
 
Quite enjoyed the game last night. Best performance for a while and a new system which was interesting. Not something we've seen this season and felt like it was a mark of Des Buckingham setting the team up the way he wants to.

I liked Brannigan sitting deep, almost between the centre halfs, to run the game. Also the overloads down each side. We're got more crosses in than I can remember for a long time.

Most times it's a boring 2-0 win (which I'm fine with) and I understand the frustration given our recent run of results. Too many bad goals conceded.

For their second, at the time I was fine with us playing possession and was most frustrated with Cumming for hitting it long rather than looking for a pass. It seemed like he had enough time.

Anyway it was a step up in performance and if we can play like that for the rest of the season we should land in the top 6. Anything can happen in the playoffs.
 
Swaby39 said:
That's like saying a pile up on the motorway has nothing to do with the initial collision. It was the root cause of everything that happened afterwards. The minute Long hits that pass, the crowd let out an incredibly anxious moan... How do you think his team mates felt that had to deal with it? Not least a young kid trying to prove himself. I said last night, he exchanged a position of complete safety for one of high risk for absolutely no reason. A young player is subsequently taking the fall for a terrible mistake from someone who is predominantly in the squad for his experience and should know better. Stop giving him a free pass.
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You’re missing the point, it was not his error that led to the goal. We were keeping possession as result of his accurate back pass. The goal came from a separate phase of play.

You don’t rate Long, no problem, you’re entitled to
your opinion.

But contriving to shoe horn him into the blame game is er a bit obvious.
 
RyanioBirdio said:
100% but I think the way they’re profiteering from a late legend is pretty appalling. Because the “customer” stumps up every penny of the donation via the increased price, all it actually means is that the club is playing on people’s emotions to increase profits. They make the same per unit as they make on a plain one. It’s being done in the most brutal manner possible, IMO.

Even if they put the price up by £5.50 for the Joey shirt, so it’s a “you pay half; we pay half” mechanism in terms of the £11 that goes to his foundation, it would have been infinitely better than what they’ve done, which is to basically go, “You mugs can donate money if you like, but we won’t be giving up a single penny from our end.” The club hasn’t actually done anything.
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That’s a really good point and unedifying when it’s broken down like you have.

Top level it seems like profiteering at the expense of a club legend.

Maybe a question at the forum is to ask for a breakdown of manufacturing costs of our match day kit versus this top. Margins should be easy to work out for both.

If the margins are the same then it’s poor at best from the club.

I’d be happy to stump up small margin to cover shipping, but if it’s the same as the match day shirt, I’d much rather donate directly
 
PottersRightBoot said:
You’re missing the point, it was not his error that led to the goal. We were keeping possession as result of his accurate back pass. The goal came from a separate phase of play.

You don’t rate Long, no problem, you’re entitled to
your opinion.

But contriving to shoe horn him into the blame game is er a bit obvious.
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Er...it wasn't accurate either. It was in the direction of Negru, but way behind him and Cummings had to scamper across his area to get to it, hence he had less time for his pass and so lumped it upfield.

It creates unnecessary pressure in an area of the pitch we didn't need to be playing.

But, like I said before, it wasn't the only mistake Long made, but at the same time he wasn't the only one making mistakes, it just stood out as a pretty inexplicable move at that moment.
 
RyanioBirdio said:
100% but I think the way they’re profiteering from a late legend is pretty appalling. Because the “customer” stumps up every penny of the donation via the increased price, all it actually means is that the club is playing on people’s emotions to increase profits. They make the same per unit as they make on a plain one. It’s being done in the most brutal manner possible, IMO.

Even if they put the price up by £5.50 for the Joey shirt, so it’s a “you pay half; we pay half” mechanism in terms of the £11 that goes to his foundation, it would have been infinitely better than what they’ve done, which is to basically go, “You mugs can donate money if you like, but we won’t be giving up a single penny from our end.” The club hasn’t actually done anything.
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Ryan has hit the nail on the head again, here.

Our club attempting to exploit us, off the back of Joey’s passing is absolutely grotesque. I’m staggered that there hasn’t been more made of this from supporters.

I chose to donate directly to the foundation, rather than buy the shirt. It’s a shame as I liked the shirt but it’s the principle of it.

Fair Play to our independent supporters group, their offer of matching donations from those that do not wish to purchase the shirt is a nice gesture. Kudos to OXVOX!
 
ECYellow said:
Ryan has hit the nail on the head again, here.

Our club attempting to exploit us, off the back of Joey’s passing is absolutely grotesque. I’m staggered that there hasn’t been more made of this from supporters.

I chose to donate directly to the foundation, rather than buy the shirt. It’s a shame as I liked the shirt but it’s the principle of it.

Fair Play to our independent supporters group, their offer of matching donations from those that do not wish to purchase the shirt is a nice gesture. Kudos to OXVOX!
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Couldn’t agree more!
 
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