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

 

[Bicester Yellow]

It's been far to easy to get crosses in from the wings for opposition. To an extent from both sides of the pitch but worse in my view from the right. If you put enough crosses in, at some point you will score.

Yes, and against teams like Barnsley it was exacerbated as they played with wingbacks but even yesterday when Reading played 4-1-4-1, their wingers and wingbacks doubled up on our full backs. Goodrham & Rodrigues both don’t defend or track back or if they do it’s on very rare occasions and the gap between the midfield & Harris is vast, the whole middle of the pitch is so open and we lose every second ball.

 

[Oxford84]

Have to say love him or hate him Sam Smith showed exactly what a good lone striker is capable of.
Reading hit the ball long a lot and he managed to get a flick on or hold the ball up and play other players in. Moore gave him a tough time as well.
Harris is not that sort of striker and why we persist in knocking long balls to him is a mystery.Not his fault but I am really hopeful that maybe he can work with Goodwin and benefit.
Under Manning we pressed from the front all game, now we appear to start the game doing this but slowly drop back and Harris is the only player who does anything resembling a press, Consequently we drop deeper and the opposition back four have time to play through us.
Better teams than Reading will exploit this

Mightve pressed with Manning from the start but wed often drop back deep and try to defend a 1 goal lead under him.

 

[Followtheox1]

Yes, and against teams like Barnsley it was exacerbated as they played with wingbacks but even yesterday when Reading played 4-1-4-1, their wingers and wingbacks doubled up on our full backs. Goodrham & Rodrigues both don’t defend or track back or if they do it’s on very rare occasions and the gap between the midfield & Harris is vast, the whole middle of the pitch is so open and we lose every second ball.

Out of our attacking players I actually think those two are better at getting back than most. Rodrigues plays almost like a 10 or second striker so wouldn't be expecting him to get back all the time but he definitely does his work up top. Mills was very inconsistent with his defending, so is Bodin, Stevens ironically wasn't great a getting back when playing further ahead of Long, Burey it is early days but he certainly doesn't look he will track back consistently.

 

[ChamonixOx]

If Des says one more time we have [enter how many games left] to learn from that, to put it right, etc. I’ll lose the plot. He needs to start coaching them properly on the training ground, that is where they should be learning, and subsequently be ready and right match time! His interviews are only one step up from Robinson’s bull s**t!

And on Robinson, how anyone can show respect for that man after leaving us in the mess he did, is beyond me. Five years of failure (good budget but no promotion) and so many players not fit to play and or past it (on high wages too)! You only have to look at how Manning performed with his mess and one window to see how poor KR is and was!

 

[Oufccraig45]

Don't think DES will know what to do with the players once they come back still say he's out of his DEPTH we are going into a downward spiral with him in charge we need a new MANAGER

 

[Oxford84]

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.

It was also a game of 2 halves under Manning.

 

[RgYellows]

Don't think DES will know what to do with the players once they come back still say he's out of his DEPTH we are going into a downward spiral with him in charge we need a new MANAGER

How did you choose which words to capitalise?

 

[Followtheox1]

A lot of the posts on here are borderline bonkers. It's not just about one game, you know! Here we go ..1. Was KR a disaster? Generally no, he was really good for the first 3-4 years. But he completely lost the plot in the last 12 months, mostly because he's a bit thick and couldn't cope with having to follow a 'process' instead of having his mates guffawing at all his jokes and phoning up his favourite agents...2. Was Manning any good? Yes, he did a great job tidying up KR's mess, but left some obvious gaps...3. Did Manning run away ? Yes, probably because he knew we wouldn't get promoted and he doesn't really believe in himself despite all the boring management-speak..4. Would Manning have got us promoted? Almost certainly not- see answer (3)...4. Is Buckingham a poor hire? Who knows, but he is really well rated in football 'circles', so he'll probably work out fine..5. Will we get promoted this season? Probably not. The squad is too weak...6. Are the Board supportive? Err, yes. Very much so. They are building us a £100M+ stadium and have given our managers very significant financial support in the last 2+ years. I think that's all I have to say for now! A bit of perspective always helps imo!

I don't think Manning leaving is as straight forward as you make it out to be i.e doesn't believe in himself, didn't think he could get us up etc. It might make some people feel better to think those the were the reasons. Reality is Bristol City are a bigger club than us, playing consistently in a higher division who were able to offer significantly more in wages. I think a better argument would be that he went there because he does believe in himself and that he had no emotional attachment to Oxford.

 

[Mad Dog]

Nah, plenty of dull games then, and far more skill now, though granted the slow technical passing can be dull.

Come on, I’m not saying every single game was like a cup final, but very often that place could get seriously noisy!

And just because, technically, on average it wasn’t as good, it was still sooooo much more enjoyable than watching these supposedly more technically gifted players relentlessly pass the ball around like a bunch of over trained zombies, whilst the crowd fall asleep!

 

[East Stand Fan]

Does anyone remember 10 years ago when Wilder left? I swear we were really high up in the table back then but the general atmosphere at the time was quite deflated and we eventually slid out of the playoffs and missed out despite a promising start. This season is beginning to feel extremely similar. I think he left sometime around January if my memory serves as the Rugby was on but I can't quite remember where we were in the table. We scraped a 1-0 win playing dreadfully and then he left merely hours after the match concluded. You could just sense that no matter where we were in the table, we were in an irredeemable place off the pitch and it kinda feels the same now. Ironically it was also the same 10 years before that in the 03/04 season which we fumbled spectacularly.

It's the 10 year curse. I'm gonna bookmark this for the 33/34 season..

 

[JimSmith2]

The atmosphere in the Manor days was amazing, it was a cauldron at times, a real lions den.

But this was helped by the fact the players really played with their hearts on their sleeve, which doesn’t really happen these days, with the exception of Brannagan, who would’ve been a real fans favourite in the Manor days!

But also in those days, we got the ball to the wingers, who really attacked the full back and got crosses in, for players who were bombing into the box, we had players shooting on site, creating chances, flying into crunching tackles, and generally going for the throat of the opposition right from the first minute, it was exciting to watch, and got the crowd going, so the singing and atmosphere was loud and intimidating for opponents and we regularly out sang their fans.

Modern football is by its very nature a lot more boring, very languid and passy passy, with slow build up play, it’s actually quite uninspiring and dull to watch, and that is reflected in the stands, at every level, the home crowds struggle to lift themselves, and it’s often the away fans who are the loudest these days.

But it’s a two way street, if the players want the fans to create an atmosphere, then they’ve got to give them something to sing and shout about.

That is a bit of a generalisation about modern football, it’s far more about quality of manager and players than about style.

Liverpool are a prime example, also Arsenal and Spurs and others. Liverpool in recent years under Klopp are always a force of nature literally poetry in motion playing exciting fast attacking football and usually top quality and sometimes world beating.
They are always the team for a neutral to watch.

The nearest that Oxford have come to this in recent times is under Appleton and Robinson. Worst has been under Wilder the master of anti football who is currently seeing if he can beat his previous worst ever PL stats with Sheffield Utd.

 

[yellowbow]

I blame the midfield and Rodrigues mostly as they had zero control of the game and Reading kept picking up second balls and finding space in the middle of the pitch second half.

Defence had no one to pass to so just kept hoofing it up the pitch.

I’m beginning to wonder if Rodrigues is a luxury we can’t currently afford. With him in the team we effectively play 4:2:4 with Brannagan and McGuane having to cover a ridiculously large area of the pitch against three opposing midfielders. No wonder they sometimes look lost.

I wonder if, now we have Matete, it would be better to play him with two of Brannagan, McGuane and Goodrham ahead of him.

 

[Roge]

We have gone more direct in the last 2 games 41% Reading, 35% Portsmouth. The problem is all 3 goals against could be attributed to defensive errors. I don't get why we didn't recall Findlay to play alongside Moore. I know he is not great at passing a ball out of defence but that doesn't appear to be our style at the moment. He is doing well at Kilmarnock

 

[Oxford84]

John Eustace was the man to bring in.

Still hasnt got another job and only 33% win rate at Birmingham, not ,much proof he wouldve been any good.?

 

[werthersoriginal]

I’m beginning to wonder if Rodrigues is a luxury we can’t currently afford. With him in the team we effectively play 4:2:4 with Brannagan and McGuane having to cover a ridiculously large area of the pitch against three opposing midfielders. No wonder they sometimes look lost.

I wonder if, now we have Matete, it would be better to play him with two of Brannagan, McGuane and Goodrham ahead of him.

I agree that with RR we are sometimes effectively playing 4-2-4 - but not in a good way. Under Manning he was elegantly sliding balls forward for Harris to run on to, but I’m not sure what he’s supposed to be doing now.

 

[Oufccraig45]

How did you choose which words to capitalise?

Quite easy and simple
Highlight the issues to make them stand out.

 

[dickwalton1964]

I don't think Manning leaving is as straight forward as you make it out to be i.e doesn't believe in himself, didn't think he could get us up etc. It might make some people feel better to think those the were the reasons. Reality is Bristol City are a bigger club than us, playing consistently in a higher division who were able to offer significantly more in wages. I think a better argument would be that he went there because he does believe in himself and that he had no emotional attachment to Oxford.

Manning went from £180,000 p/a here to £750,00 p/a - and a nigh on three year deal at Bristol City. I’d guess his decision had precisely nothing to do with expectation or otherwise here or, for that matter, what he might be able to achieve at Bristol. £10,000 a week extra in his pay packet is why he went. Why wouldn’t you go for that ? Those opportunities are not going to arise every day to provide that level of security for your family.

 

[Jster]

I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have left because he thought things might take a turn for the worse. We were second in the table, far exceeding expectations, he would be feeling pretty good about life - if anything, that would be a pulling factor to stay. It was obviously the chance to manage higher up with a higher wage.

 

[QuietYeller]

Frustrated about yesterdays result.
No way they score if we didn’t have our 4th choice right back playing.
For me the Midfield let us down 2nd half yesterday. We didn’t pick up hardly any 2nd balls, mcguane still struggling imo, Rodrigues, if we’re gonna have a go at someone then why not him(cant believe the comments towards GOD) he was terrible and Cam, although commitment was 110%, made some strange passes and ended up over doing things.

 

[QuietYeller]

FFS… have a day off will ya.

Agree, this is an insane post
TG is in our top 2 or three best players right now