Home Match Day Thread 1/2/2023 L1: Oxford United V Barnsley

[Yellow River]

We played with a bit of energy for 30
minutes or so during the second half. Question is, why does it take us to be 2-0 before we start having some urgency in our play?

There is no doubt that Barnsley were distinctly average - like many of the teams we have seen this season! It’s a very very average league 1 this year.

For Robinson to come out and say the first half was ‘even’ is a complete joke. Is he now speaking for affect? Is he deliberately trying to get a reaction from the fan base?

Anderson, Long & Moore were truly horrendous in the first half. Barnsley got in on countless occasions and the fact it was 1-0 at half time was a mini success.

The support was unbelievably patient throughout, arguably bordering on soft! It was good to hear some discontent at the end and the there was audible displeasure VERY close to the Directors box.

Let’s prey that CB isn’t carrying a bad injury as If he is, I have very real concerns for the rest of the season. We simply have failed to get any cover in the CM position and that will expose us.

Attendance of 7,3…yeah, ok! 6,200 at best.

Edit: Where was Murphy (I actually know he watched the first half from the SSU) but wondered if KR elaborated on his ‘stiff legs’ from 4 games ago which have kept him out. Must be really quite stiff!

They were poor in the first half, Kane was slicing through at will, it minded me of the 0-7 match against Wigan.

But where was the CDM? It was so obvious that we needed a Gorrin type in there. Fundamental error from Robinson.

 

[uptheus]

We played with a bit of energy for 30
minutes or so during the second half. Question is, why does it take us to be 2-0 before we start having some urgency in our play?

There is no doubt that Barnsley were distinctly average - like many of the teams we have seen this season! It’s a very very average league 1 this year.

For Robinson to come out and say the first half was ‘even’ is a complete joke. Is he now speaking for affect? Is he deliberately trying to get a reaction from the fan base?

Anderson, Long & Moore were truly horrendous in the first half. Barnsley got in on countless occasions and the fact it was 1-0 at half time was a mini success.

The support was unbelievably patient throughout, arguably bordering on soft! It was good to hear some discontent at the end and the there was audible displeasure VERY close to the Directors box.

Let’s prey that CB isn’t carrying a bad injury as If he is, I have very real concerns for the rest of the season. We simply have failed to get any cover in the CM position and that will expose us.

Attendance of 7,3…yeah, ok! 6,200 at best.

Edit: Where was Murphy (I actually know he watched the first half from the SSU) but wondered if KR elaborated on his ‘stiff legs’ from 4 games ago which have kept him out. Must be really quite stiff!

Think it may have been more about Barnsley’s tempo reducing. They were never going to keep up the tempo they started off with, especially with big hefty lumps all across the pitch.

 

[McXal]

Anyone experience the farce of season ticket not being found when scanning through turnstiles last night? Had to go to the ticket office where they printed out tickets to scan.

I’ve had this happen to me a couple of times this season (East Stand). No real explanation other than ‘maybe it was your phone’ (the same phone that’s worked fine all other times) - and easily/quickly remedied by our terrific ticket office staff at only the minor inconvenience of walking round and having to queue.

It is irksome and an irritant I’d not considered before switching to plastic free I have to admit, however.

 

[Shosho]

Spot on. Barnsley were aggressive and well-drilled. Bit dodgy at the back but ultimately, whether you like it or not, every player knew what their job was and put the graft in. Just as Wycombe do.

Robinson doesn’t really build teams. He generally gathers a load of individuals and then throws them together in the hope that it clicks or someone produces a bit of magic. If he has to play all ten outfield players ever so slightly out of position to shoehorn them all in, that’s what he will do. As I said recently, he’s like a kid who throws all his favourite foods into a mixing bowl. He likes pizza and chips and chocolate, so that’s what he’s putting in the cake.

Whether it be a more robust and aggressive side like Barnsley or Wycombe, or a more slick and polished one like Ipswich, the best teams in this and any other division are exactly that - teams.

Unfortunately we recruit the same sort over again. KR using his contacts to bring in players that either have attitude or physicality issues. I think at one point he could get away with the players ultimately having the talent, but now with the size of clubs in the league, along with others becoming smart, we simply can't beat teams just because we have techy pretty players.

In the previous 3 games we have come up against teams that have physically outdone us. Even Burton muscled us out of it and cruised to a win, whilst we finished the match with Bate and Goodrham getting knocked about.

I'm not sure if anyone in the club has clocked the huge turnover that is required in the summer. Offloading contracts, refreshing the squad, signing players that have physicality and can play 80% of the minutes. Who leads this forward thinking I don't know, who then implements this in the summer, I also don't know, but the club requires a purge and restart.

 

[Oxymoron]

Perversely, I quite enjoyed last night. After 15 mins, I really thought we were on for an absolute tonking. Barnsley were playing fast, one touch football with precision passing and we couldn't get any ball, so it was pretty much one-way traffic and a bit of a siege mentality for defending. When we did have the ball, Barnsley were, shall we say say, quite robust in their challenges. I wouldn't like to say they deliberately targeted Brannagan, but the first challenge on him was worthy of a booking and we know the outcome of the next two incidents.

Whether the long breaks for his treatment tempered some of Barnsley's adrenalin, whether they didn't have the same focus with Cam going off or whether we just got a bit better, I wouldn't like to say, but I'd edge away from the later because of the wild backpass that conceded the corner that led to the first goal. We never got the ball back from that error and even allowed a guy laying on the floor to retain possession and get the ball to a team mate for the cross and ...... (deffo an OG btw).

After that, we seemed to play with a bit more resolve and fashioned a couple of chances - I thought we were coming into the ascendancy as we approached half time, and we started second half brightly but again lost control of the ball with too much intricate footwork. It falls to a Barnsley player who quickly set them off for their breakaway goal. After Eastwood keeps us in the game with his big toe it's us making the running and piling on the pressure. Tyler Smith fluffs his lines but his powder puff effort causes the Barnsley keeper to require treatment - where have we seen that before from teams that we are putting under the cosh? After that it wouldn't be unfair to say we pummelled them for 20 minutes. Joseph has a couple of good chances, one leading to the corner from which we scored and Ciaron Brown deserved better fortune for his effort.

The last five minutes was pure anti-football and a case for Kane getting a second yellow. From his time here, I don't recall him being quite the hard man that was on display last night and I thought the ref could have taken firmer action with some of his challenges.

From being totally outplayed to totally outplaying a team that is set up for promotion was a pretty good turnaround. Deserving of a point? - probably not on balance, but Barnsley couldn't have complained if we had got one. A bit of spirit and a bit of passion from the players and the fans - what's not to like......

 

[Frankie]

Total apathy. That was my overriding emotion last night. My heart rate normally goes through the roof prior to games starting but for the first time I attended a game without enthusiasm and as calm as the proverbial cucumber. No expectation just an overall feeling of sadness.

Honestly, I was surprised how poor Barnsley were. Poor defence and continual missed passes. Yet they beat us. It seemed we had no proper game plan and the players looked demotivated until our late goal and personnel changes. When Smith screwed up his early chance I didn't see anyone put a metaphorical arm around him. Players seem to be just going through the motions.

It is time for a change. This rudderless management cannot continue.

 

[Cass63]

Perversely, I quite enjoyed last night. After 15 mins, I really thought we were on for an absolute tonking. Barnsley were playing fast, one touch football with precision passing and we couldn't get any ball, so it was pretty much one-way traffic and a bit of a siege mentality for defending. When we did have the ball, Barnsley were, shall we say say, quite robust in their challenges. I wouldn't like to say they deliberately targeted Brannagan, but the first challenge on him was worthy of a booking and we know the outcome of the next two incidents.

Whether the long breaks for his treatment tempered some of Barnsley's adrenalin, whether they didn't have the same focus with Cam going off or whether we just got a bit better, I wouldn't like to say, but I'd edge away from the later because of the wild backpass that conceded the corner that led to the first goal. We never got the ball back from that error and even allowed a guy laying on the floor to retain possession and get the ball to a team mate for the cross and ...... (deffo an OG btw).

After that, we seemed to play with a bit more resolve and fashioned a couple of chances - I thought we were coming into the ascendancy as we approached half time, and we started second half brightly but again lost control of the ball with too much intricate footwork. It falls to a Barnsley player who quickly set them off for their breakaway goal. After Eastwood keeps us in the game with his big toe it's us making the running and piling on the pressure. Tyler Smith fluffs his lines but his powder puff effort causes the Barnsley keeper to require treatment - where have we seen that before from teams that we are putting under the cosh? After that it wouldn't be unfair to say we pummelled them for 20 minutes. Joseph has a couple of good chances, one leading to the corner from which we scored and Ciaron Brown deserved better fortune for his effort.

The last five minutes was pure anti-football and a case for Kane getting a second yellow. From his time here, I don't recall him being quite the hard man that was on display last night and I thought the ref could have taken firmer action with some of his challenges.

From being totally outplayed to totally outplaying a team that is set up for promotion was a pretty good turnaround. Deserving of a point? - probably not on balance, but Barnsley couldn't have complained if we had got one. A bit of spirit and a bit of passion from the players and the fans - what's not to like......

Agree with all of that, the only bit you missed out was the bate substitution, if he stayed on we could have drawn that game, I know we all love GOD but it was the wrong substitution.

 

[Oxymoron]

When Smith screwed up his early chance I didn't see anyone put a metaphorical arm around him. Players seem to be just going through the motions.

Moore did. A big physical one. Whether he said "Don't worry, it happens" or "Miss another sitter like that and you're dog food" I wouldn't like to say....

 

[Marked Ox]

Agree with all of that, the only bit you missed out was the bate substitution, if he stayed on we could have drawn that game, I know we all love GOD but it was the wrong substitution.

Bate went off with a knock I think.

 

[Bigfella72]

Have a good look at the league table - only one other team has played 29 games and we are mathematically in a very dodgy position. As an earlier post has said the cost of sacking KR is small compared to the disaster of L2 next season.

Rather have the points tho! (Bolton played 29 too but you are obvs only looking down)
Cambridge & FGR will struggle to survive and I’m pretty confident there are at least 2 more below us that won’t pick up as many points as us in the run in.
Too many drama queens in here

 

[Yellow River]

Perversely, I quite enjoyed last night. After 15 mins, I really thought we were on for an absolute tonking. Barnsley were playing fast, one touch football with precision passing and we couldn't get any ball, so it was pretty much one-way traffic and a bit of a siege mentality for defending. When we did have the ball, Barnsley were, shall we say say, quite robust in their challenges. I wouldn't like to say they deliberately targeted Brannagan, but the first challenge on him was worthy of a booking and we know the outcome of the next two incidents.

Whether the long breaks for his treatment tempered some of Barnsley's adrenalin, whether they didn't have the same focus with Cam going off or whether we just got a bit better, I wouldn't like to say, but I'd edge away from the later because of the wild backpass that conceded the corner that led to the first goal. We never got the ball back from that error and even allowed a guy laying on the floor to retain possession and get the ball to a team mate for the cross and ...... (deffo an OG btw).

After that, we seemed to play with a bit more resolve and fashioned a couple of chances - I thought we were coming into the ascendancy as we approached half time, and we started second half brightly but again lost control of the ball with too much intricate footwork. It falls to a Barnsley player who quickly set them off for their breakaway goal. After Eastwood keeps us in the game with his big toe it's us making the running and piling on the pressure. Tyler Smith fluffs his lines but his powder puff effort causes the Barnsley keeper to require treatment - where have we seen that before from teams that we are putting under the cosh? After that it wouldn't be unfair to say we pummelled them for 20 minutes. Joseph has a couple of good chances, one leading to the corner from which we scored and Ciaron Brown deserved better fortune for his effort.

The last five minutes was pure anti-football and a case for Kane getting a second yellow. From his time here, I don't recall him being quite the hard man that was on display last night and I thought the ref could have taken firmer action with some of his challenges.

From being totally outplayed to totally outplaying a team that is set up for promotion was a pretty good turnaround. Deserving of a point? - probably not on balance, but Barnsley couldn't have complained if we had got one. A bit of spirit and a bit of passion from the players and the fans - what's not to like......

We improved after we went to 3 at the back, suddenly we were competing in midfield.

Our last win was playing 3-5-2 against Ipswich and that’s how we should’ve started last night’s game.

 

[werthersoriginal]

We improved after we went to 3 at the back, suddenly we were competing in midfield.

Our last win was playing 3-5-2 against Ipswich and that’s how we should’ve started last night’s game.

I've been wary of 5-3-2 but last night it did work, we looked a lot more fluent and also solider

 

[holdsteady]

It's strange how we have just stopped with 3-5-2 after one successful (if slightly flukey) win against one of the better teams in the division.

It's the one formation we actually have players for, we don't have a holding midfielder so being able to play 3 centre backs helps with that, we have two wing backs but maybe only one full back for a flat back four. We played it last season and earlier on this, it probably suits the team we have more than when we tried it previously so it's baffling that Robinson has just stopped with it after one successful game.

 

[Canterbury exile]

I agree, 3-5-2 is the best solution and best utilises the personnel available. We have 4 defenders for the 3 places - Moore, Long, Findlay and Brown. We have wing backs in Anderson and strangely under-used Fleming with Long and even Goodhram possible back ups. The usual 3 in midfield though if Cam is out there in is a big problem ( Konate/Bodin/Browne when fit)) and 2 up top in Joseph and Smith with Wilschut or Browne( when fit) as alternatives.
In my opinion Goodhram is close to a starting place but GO’D is a year away. He is naive yet.
i am perplexed by the a ount of aimless long balls of late. We were pleasing on the eye when we played through midfield. I like Brown but he is more guilty of this than most, and please vary throw ins.

 

[Teddydee1980]

Agree about O'Donkor. Not ready. First two contributions last night were to cede possession (offside and free kick). I also don't think Pace is his main attribute, despite what others say.

Same old last night, out muscled, lots of huff and puff and nowt else.

With our wide players being either broken, ineffective or unwilling to play (wtf), i Agree we have to switch from 433. 352 please.

 

[Bigfella72]

Agree about O'Donkor. Not ready. First two contributions last night were to cede possession (offside and free kick). I also don't think Pace is his main attribute, despite what others say.

Same old last night, out muscled, lots of huff and puff and nowt else.

With our wide players being either broken, ineffective or unwilling to play (wtf), i Agree we have to switch from 433. 352 please.

Was that the offside that wasn’t actually offside! Officials were woeful last night! Not an excuse, just a fact btw.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Was that the offside that wasn’t actually offside! Officials were woeful last night! Not an excuse, just a fact btw.

Yes but Tyler Smith miss which they ruled onside was miles offside do but you don’t mention that.

Joseph interfered with play from an offside position!

 

[Bitter]

Perversely, I quite enjoyed last night. After 15 mins, I really thought we were on for an absolute tonking. Barnsley were playing fast, one touch football with precision passing and we couldn't get any ball, so it was pretty much one-way traffic and a bit of a siege mentality for defending. When we did have the ball, Barnsley were, shall we say say, quite robust in their challenges. I wouldn't like to say they deliberately targeted Brannagan, but the first challenge on him was worthy of a booking and we know the outcome of the next two incidents.

Whether the long breaks for his treatment tempered some of Barnsley's adrenalin, whether they didn't have the same focus with Cam going off or whether we just got a bit better, I wouldn't like to say, but I'd edge away from the later because of the wild backpass that conceded the corner that led to the first goal. We never got the ball back from that error and even allowed a guy laying on the floor to retain possession and get the ball to a team mate for the cross and ...... (deffo an OG btw).

After that, we seemed to play with a bit more resolve and fashioned a couple of chances - I thought we were coming into the ascendancy as we approached half time, and we started second half brightly but again lost control of the ball with too much intricate footwork. It falls to a Barnsley player who quickly set them off for their breakaway goal. After Eastwood keeps us in the game with his big toe it's us making the running and piling on the pressure. Tyler Smith fluffs his lines but his powder puff effort causes the Barnsley keeper to require treatment - where have we seen that before from teams that we are putting under the cosh? After that it wouldn't be unfair to say we pummelled them for 20 minutes. Joseph has a couple of good chances, one leading to the corner from which we scored and Ciaron Brown deserved better fortune for his effort.

The last five minutes was pure anti-football and a case for Kane getting a second yellow. From his time here, I don't recall him being quite the hard man that was on display last night and I thought the ref could have taken firmer action with some of his challenges.

From being totally outplayed to totally outplaying a team that is set up for promotion was a pretty good turnaround. Deserving of a point? - probably not on balance, but Barnsley couldn't have complained if we had got one. A bit of spirit and a bit of passion from the players and the fans - what's not to like......

The result..............

 

[Marked Ox]

Yes but Tyler Smith miss which they ruled onside was miles offside do but you don’t mention that.

Joseph interfered with play from an offside position!

Agreed but Joseph did no different to what had been going on throughout before that, whether offside or onside which likewise weren't picked up on.

 

[Oxymoron]

The result..............

You don't have to win every game to get some gratification out of watching your team.