Home Match Day Thread +++ 07/04/2018 OUFC v Oldham Athletic Match Day Thread +++

[carefreeoufc]

For a vital game I personally didn’t feel the players put in the shift/performance some have mentioned.

Oldham were useless yet we hardly pressed them or chased them down in midfield, we barely tested their goalkeeper (who was poor) all game. Obika was slow, ineffective and on a completely different planet to the players around him.

Mouse spent more time walking back from the half way line to the box than he did doing anything remotely useful. He should be leading by example and at least jogging back to his actual position.

The majority of players don’t seem interested at all as far as I’m concerned. I’m just hoping the teams below us don’t pick up form. Based on that performance I can’t see where we will pick up any more than two points. Blackburn and Wigan will rip us apart. Fleetwood and Southend will certainly test us far more than Oldham.

Dickie was my MOTM. Ricardinho, Rothwell and Thomas all did well too. I do think Ruffels coming off was a shame as it looked like the two on the left were causing some problems

 

[radicalox]

With regard to the hardest games, we have three games against teams whose season is effectively over.
Its the age old issue of whether those teams will play with no fear and play well or are already thinking of the beach.
I reckon I would rather play them than teams like Oldham who are scrapping for their lives.

This is a good point. It is a shame Fleetwood didn't at least draw today giving them 52, what seems to be the magic number for almost guaranteed safety.

 

[makv]

I'm rather surprised that you can sound so smug, Dave... as if you were yourself predicting this horrendous demise (which you most certainly were not). I really hope that Robinson is not so complacent and self-satisfied.

Saying that we are five points clear is technically true, but not effectively true, as Rochdale have a game in hand and their current points accumulation is more than a point a game. Assuming they are going to lose is no way to go. We should assume that teams will continue to do at least as well as they are doing, if not a little better. We must, must, must remember that we have two games that are effective write-offs. So whilst we have "six games to go", it is effectively 4 games. If we win one of them and lose the rest, then I believe that we may well go down with 50 points. Football history is filled with the carcasses of clubs who thought that some rival or other could surely never pull off two wins. But that is all it is.

Much more worrying, though, is performance level. To have three shots on target at home against a relegation struggler is just abysmal. If that is the standard then it is perfectly possible that we will not win another game. They really do have to buck their ideas up pretty swiftish. Today was our easiest remaining game. A draw does not help us, and it is delusion to think that it does. Our whole club needs to front up seriously now to to the possibility of relegation, man up etc. You make your own luck, and at the moment we are begging for the Gods to knee us in the stomach.

The numbers don't really back up what you are saying. Below shows recent form in PPG and then finishing points based on recent form. This would put us on 53 points and 6 teams below us and Rochdale equal. Even if we exclude the 2 games, which i don't agree with, we would be on 51 and safe.

I agree we are a bad team, but it is a fallacy to discount how poor teams below/around us are.


PPG (last 5 games using bbc league table)/ Estimated finishing position based on PPG and games left
Oxford 1 / 53
Walsall 0.6 / 50.6
Oldham 1 / 51
AFC wimbledon 1 / 49
Rochdale 1.6 / 53.2
Dons 1.4 /49
Nothhampton 0.2 /41
Bury 0 / 30

We’re gonna finish 53rd? Dang. What League is that?

 

[Itsthehopethatkillsyou]

I thought we were lucky the ref didn't give them a pen in 1st half, seen them given.
Back to Obika, I'm presuming his attributes (big....and...erm....big) got him in the starting 11 to hold up the play/get the ball off to players, he failed at this task miserably, Thomas came on and immediately showed him how it's done - pity he is made of glass :-(
Lego, Rothwell, Ricardinho - good games, though hampered by our toothlessness up front.
Dickie - absolutely superb, want to have his babies ?
Mous - makes me anxious
Kane - did ok, certainly took one for the team (can understand why it was just a yellow, don't think their #3 saw him coming)
Henry - never in the game.
On to Tuesday...

 

[uptheus]

I think that was one of our hardest remaining games. Six pointers are always tough and it was a very intense contest.

Really?

 

[Grumpy Git]

Thought the referee was appalling today

A tackle at head height only warranted a yellow. Dickie got smacked in the head and he lets play go on. Thomas taken out and he does nothing. At the final whistle, does he check,on the two players lying on the ground. Appalling isn't a good enough description for his lack of the laws of the game and lack of care for injured players.

 

[Mellowyellow]

I think that was one of our hardest remaining games. Six pointers are always tough and it was a very intense contest.

I think that was one of our hardest remaining games. Six pointers are always tough and it was a very intense contest.

Fully agree. Do Fleetwood or Southend have anything to play for?
Oldham certainly did, so it does put less pressure on Fleetwood to come and force the game on us.

 

[Grumpy Git]

I think that was one of our hardest remaining games. Six pointers are always tough and it was a very intense contest.

Agree. Fleetwood and Southend don't need the points.

 

[uptheus]

For a vital game I personally didn’t feel the players put in the shift/performance some have mentioned.

Oldham were useless yet we hardly pressed them or chased them down in midfield, we barely tested their goalkeeper (who was poor) all game. Obika was slow, ineffective and on a completely different planet to the players around him.

Mouse spent more time walking back from the half way line to the box than he did doing anything remotely useful. He should be leading by example and at least jogging back to his actual position.

The majority of players don’t seem interested at all as far as I’m concerned. I’m just hoping the teams below us don’t pick up form. Based on that performance I can’t see where we will pick up any more than two points. Blackburn and Wigan will rip us apart. Fleetwood and Southend will certainly test us far more than Oldham.

Dickie was my MOTM. Ricardinho, Rothwell and Thomas all did well too. I do think Ruffels coming off was a shame as it looked like the two on the left were causing some problems

Richardinho is much better at left back, so I was pleasantly happy Robinson was forced to change it around. In fact, I would have started the other way around.

 

[uptheus]

Agree. Fleetwood and Southend don't need the points.

We’ll see

 

[uptheus]

How shite is Obika, the bloke hasn’t got a clue, no pace, lacks strength for a big gut, cannot header, hold up the ball, pass a non hospital ball....the list goes on. Henry is a another player that frustrates me too, thinks he has hours of time on the ball, cannot run, hence last few minutes, and thinks he’s too good for this level as he’s played atva higher level, but the truth is, this level is to high for him as he’s passed it.

 

[lerekdilley]

A tackle at head height only warranted a yellow. Dickie got smacked in the head and he lets play go on. Thomas taken out and he does nothing. At the final whistle, does he check,on the two players lying on the ground. Appalling isn't a good enough description for his lack of the laws of the game and lack of care for injured players.

When referees don’t even know the rules of the game you’re in trouble. Twice he never stopped the game for head injuries and made Kane and Rothwell leave the field after treatment despite booking the Oldham players. I’d have been incensed at the two penalty shouts if I was an Oldham fan.

 

[bazzer9461]

Definite? Really? Didnt look it from where I am sat

Definite right in front of us he got pushed over

 

[Mack Jidson]

One problem in the final third was we weren't flooding the box when we had the ball on the wing. For all Ledson and Rothwell do, they've got to get into the box more and force the defenders there to make bad decisions when we've got it out wide. It was a regular problem second half. You can't expect to score when only Thomas or occasionally one of Henry or Obika are in there - the Oldham defenders knew where the crosses were going. It's no surprise that the closest we came to scoring was Dickie's attempt after that set piece - we had men in the box.

When we've got it in the middle in the final third, someone off the ball has to run in behind the defenders, didn't see that enough today too - we were trying to hold everything up. That's fine but you need to mix it up too. At least that's what that seemed like to me...

Still though, first clean sheet in a while (thought Dickie was absolutely class today), it's certainly not all bad. 6 games left and I think there are points to be taken. The fans were very good today but we need to do it again on Tuesday night against Fleetwood. I hope everyone who can make it does, because this will be another big match for us.

 

[HeyMcAleny]

As poor as the ref was today I am grateful he was in charge, as opposed to someone who might have given Oldham one or two of the penalties they had won.

Dickie.....superb.
Obika..... hugely frustrating player.
Henry.....below the standards we have recently come to expect from him.
Brannagan and Ledson.... Love it.
Thomas....showed Obika the level of effort required.
IBR must never play for us again.

 

[stokeu]

neither Thomas nor Obika are good enough

 

[Victor1986]

Yes you are right stokeu. Leaves us with b****r all up front doesn't it! We will win on Tuesday.

 

[gingerox]

Don't know if it's just me but whoever we play seems to look like they're going to score most times they attack, but we never do? Henry again poor, if he's not playing No.10 then might as well drop him.

 

[McXal]

I felt so angry coming away from that today - even though in truth I had absolutely nothing to direct my anger at.

The officials were appalling, but in the bigger picture we profited from their ineptitude more than we lost (didn’t think the 1st half one was a certain pen - but that Henry rugby tackle in the second looked nailed on).

We failed to win one of our most winnable games left - but in truth I can’t argue we deserved much more than a point. Plenty of endeavour but zero end product.

The game was an exceptionally poor watch for a neutral - but full of effort and workrate and desire. Can I really be angry at a lack of quality from a group of players we all know don’t possess enough of it to get us where we want to be in this league?

IBR’s cameo was abysmal - but in all honesty him getting hooked at HT then being completely (and deservedly) buried by Robbo post-match was as entertaining as any of the football I’ve witnessed today. I suspect our reputation as a good club to send your young players to in order to develop just took a hit though...

I suppose I’m angry at just how poor we are, and just how much Eales and Clotet destroyed what Ashton and Appleton put in place for them. That was a horrible reality check at just how low we’ve sunk - in terms of confidence, quality, strength in depth. We are in a bad place and, although I still think (or is that hope now?) we’ll scrape survival - if we go down I honestly couldn’t have a complaint to make. We are not good in enough in so many departments.

Focusing on the positives. Dickie was utterly superb. Not just in a ‘wins tackles, and heads it’ manner that most people credit him for. But he was outstanding in all aspects of CB play. Positionally excellent, covering Kane and Mousinho ably, distributing the ball well, moving forward in possession with purpose, more of a threat in their box than Obika. Whether it’s a good thing that Dickie was clear MOTM in a relegation 6-pointer against one of the few teams below us in the table is up for argument - but he was great today.

I thought the effort put forth by Ledson, Brannagan and Rothwell was exemplerary. They ran their socks off, challenged well, and showed the kind of passion we’ll need if we are to get out of this mess. Not a whole lot of quality from any of them (as usual, Roth moved well with the ball at his feet without ANY end product) - but they showed the guts for the fight which I appreciated.

Robinson’s interview after the game was also, again, excellent. There’s no way he goes home to his Mrs tonight genuinely thinking ‘well at least we have something to build on’. One look at him will tell you he’s as frustrated as us at how bad we are. But he has to guide them to 4-6 more points so gains nothing from slamming them to the press endlessly. Focus on the positives, comment realistically on the game we’ve all witnessed, and find a way to cobble together something better on Tuesday...somehow

Lengthy rant? I come away more fearful of the drop than I was this morning. But also more confident that we have at least some players with the bottle for the challenge, and a manager who may be able to eek enough out of this shambles of a squad to get over the line.

 

[sox]

When you look at other results, and the various run-ins and form of other teams, a point wasn’t the end of the world. Sets it up for a few big games ... other teams will have to completely buck their current form and we’ll have to get worse still (which I think is unlikely under Robinson) to see us go down... but stranger things have happened ?

Poor up front again although I thought Thomas had one of his better games energy wise. Dickie, Kane, Rothwell, Ledson and Henry had decent games - I’d be happy to see all of them club next year. Liking Robinson’s energy - perhaps what stoked Thomas up? That said it did fuckall for Obika and Buckley Ricketts - at least Robinson calls a turd a turd. Good of him to remind us in his interview what a s**t Ground we’ve got ?