Home Match Day Thread 10/02/2026 - MDT: Oxford United v Norwich City

[Carpy]

 

[PottersRightBoot]

Tonight is all on the manager. Woeful team selection and set up.

Please tell me why our mightily impressive giant of a centre back was parked out at right back while our right footed right back was told to play at left centre back. When we have two other left footed centre backs ready to play.

We’re toast.

Bloomfield may give a good interview. Woopy doo, But 5 home games without a goal is the real story. He’s made things worse.

And what’s even worse is there some reasonable talent in our squad. Best players were the 2 attacking subs. JJ Woo looked useful.

We’ll probably beat Sunderland now. But won’t forget tonight in a hurry.

 

[Happyfan]

No cover from Helik though, if Long gets beaten to the ball Helik has to cover that.

Cumming was not committed from the start he had enough time to clear that ball but he dithered . He basically pulled out in case the Norwich player caught him after he cleared the ball. Totally down to Cumming .Time to give Ingram a chance .

 

[holdsteady]

Well at least that answered the question of what league we will play in next season.

We are just not very good, you can come up with this or that, personally never want to see a centre back partnership of Long and Helik again, but, big picture and looking from outside the OUFC fan bubble, we just have a poor team/squad for this level that isn’t competitive.

Our crowds/support is just reflective of what/where we are, a bad team who are relegation bound and that this isn’t fun anymore.

I travelled a 100 mile round journey out of loyalty more than hope I would enjoy tonight, will do the same Sunday, but I have written this season off now and in truth I am looking forward to league one and hopefully actually seeing us be competitive, playing a bit of football and seeing wins/us score some goals.

 

[uptheus]

At least we know what's required for next time we're in the champ.

But we don’t seem to learn from our mistakes!!

 

[90syeIlow]

So far this is our worst performance for several years, I'm afraid. I know Rowett wasn't everyone's favourite, but he was a very good organiser of average players. This is a complete shambles. And Bloomfield has a better squad than Rowett had. It was a Board failure imo to sack a proven Championship manager- and then appoint a manager who took a very well backed Luton down and then lost momentum in L1. I didn't understand why Rowett was sacked for asking for better players. And then we appoint Bloomfield and give him the players Rowett had been asking for. We're obviously going down this season, and I'm very concerned for next season.

I'm sorry but Rowett was not a 'very good organiser of average players'. He was here for over a year and still couldn't work out his best team, was poor with bringing on subs and changing tactics when things weren't working. He even preferred Leigh over Currie at one stage.

I don't care if he didn't like the preseason or lack of recruitment during his tenure - he could have done much more with our squad but deicded to throw his toys out of the pram and get himself sacked so he could sit on a sky sports panel.

 

[uptheus]

And before people say the lack of home fans was down to the weather, school night etc, well
Norwich fans managed it from Norwich! so what’s your excuse?

 

[WE Yellow]

Well at least that answered the question of what league we will play in next season.

We are just not very good, you can come up with this or that, personally never want to see a centre back partnership of Long and Helik again, but, big picture and looking from outside the OUFC fan bubble, we just have a poor team/squad for this level that isn’t competitive.

Our crowds/support is just reflective of what/where we are, a bad team who are relegation bound and that this isn’t fun anymore.

I travelled a 100 mile round journey out of loyalty more than hope I would enjoy tonight, will do the same Sunday, but I have written this season off now and in truth I am looking forward to league one and hopefully actually seeing us be competitive, playing a bit of football and seeing wins/us score some goals.

What an utterly bizarre and quite frankly pathetic opinion to have

 

[Some U's fan]

do we play a strong-ish side and use the opportunity to drill a formation, but also put miles in more legs? Or do we ring the changes and get some rest in to layers who have been playing week in, week out?

I’m pretty sure every fit senior player was in the squad today, so the squad will probably be the same, if not the same starting eleven

 

[TailsWeWin]

Positive!
……. we are now well past the ‘Hope that kills You’ stage.
Season is over.

 

[uptheus]

Well that was a numbing experience.
Where do you start?
Large gaps in the home ends before a ball was kicked and very shortly after it was, we were 0-1 down. Poor all round.
I wish I could say that we raised ourselves but we looked totally out of ideas going forward as Norwich toyed with us down each wing.
Time and again they passed the ball through us and it was no surprise that they got another. We seemed to be confused over who was supposed to be where.
Sorry to say that we looked totally flat.
Half-time came with a Chorus of boos. About as loud as anything that we sang all half.
Second-half, two subs came on but within two minutes of the restart, we were three down.
TBF, the midfield were working hard enough but we were anonymous in the final third.
Really angered to hear boos ring out when Brannagan came off. He worked his bollocjs off. Some of our so called fans eh?
With Mills on, at least we had someone prepared to try and run it forward although the final ball left something to be desired .
We are so very short of anyone half decent up front. While I feel for Mharris, he doesn’t even try to win the ball anymore, just shove the defenders.
Towards the end, we got our first look at Jin Woo, who I must say did okay.
Quite honestly though, we don’t score enough goals to stay up. Chances are so few and far between despite our best efforts and if you are going to give the ball away and concede soft goals like tonight. We’re done.
Perhaps that’s why so many didn’t bother to come tonight?

I think the boos for Brannagan was because fans were booing the decision to take him off rather than at Brannagan himself. Well, that’s how I interpreted it!

 

[carefreeoufc]

Wouldnt Rowett have bought a load of old pros in though?

Like BDK and Spencer?

We’ll never know. He may have tried that. I genuinely don’t think the Head Coach has too much sway in the players we sign.

Just as I don’t believe MPH, McDonnell, Donley or Konak were necessarily Bloomfield signings. I suspect maybe Makosso was (who’s been perfectly fine when played in his correct position).

Rowett wouldn’t have started Brown at LB and Long at LCB tonight. Regardless of how p!ssed he was.

 

[uptheus]

Putting square pegs in round holes?

I think we were putting spaghetti hoops in the DVD player whilst eating Lego.

We were as organised as a tossed salad!!

 

[carefreeoufc]

I think the boos for Brannagan was because fans were booing the decision to take him off rather than at Brannagan himself. Well, that’s how I interpreted it!

Agree.

 

[90syeIlow]

And before people say the lack of home fans was down to the weather, school night etc, well
Norwich fans managed it from Norwich! so what’s your excuse?

Norwich had won 4 out of 5 of their previous games before tonight while playing good football, including a 5-0 away win at West Brom, so can we stop with this braindead rhetoric about the comparison between fans tonight. It wouldn't have changed anything.

 

[holdsteady]

What an utterly bizarre and quite frankly pathetic opinion to have

Are you enjoying this season? It’s whats getting me through 2 and a half hours in the car to watch some dire games, apart from the odd exception a lot of the games have been a hard watch. If you enjoy this then fair enough. I don’t want us to be relegated but I just don’t see anyway out of it.

I also had to do something today that puts a relegation for the football team in perspective, so I am happy to look to the future and hopefully brighter days.

 

[uptheus]

Norwich had won 4 out of 5 of their previous games before tonight, including a 5-0 away win at West Brom, so can we stop with this braindead rhetoric about the comparison between fans tonight.

It wouldn't have changed anything.

We’re in a relegation battle against a team that was beatable tonight or that’s what the thought process should have been before the game, so for so many fans not to make it/turn up was really poor in my eyes.

Supporters are needed for both scenarios e.g. going well or fighting at the bottom. I could understand if it was a dead rubber/nothing really riding on it, but that wasn’t the case for tonight’s game.

 

[90syeIlow]

We’re in a relegation battle against a team that was beatable tonight or that’s what the thought process woukd have been before the game, so for so many fans not to make it/turn up was really poor in my eyes.

Supported are needed for both scenarios e.g. going well or fighting at the bottom. I could understand if it was a dead rubber, but not tonight’s game.

Your argument about us needing the support while fighting at the bottom is valid, however you were making a comparison between us and Norwich fans, who have seen their team win 4 out of 5 prior to tonight so naturally their fans are going to be more motivated to turn up.

 

[headingtonoldboy]

Embarrassing tonight. Why was Long at centre back and Miissoko right back? Absolutely bizarre. Put players in their correct position. It's not rocket science.
I'm never normally pessimistic but I can't see anything but League 1 next season.

 

[billyturleyscurlywurly]

Are you enjoying this season? It’s whats getting me through 2 and a half hours in the car to watch some dire games, apart from the odd exception a lot of the games have been a hard watch. If you enjoy this then fair enough. I don’t want us to be relegated but I just don’t see anyway out of it.

I also had to do something today that puts a relegation for the football team in perspective, so I am happy to look to the future and hopefully brighter days.

There’s no given we will be alright in league one.

 

[JOHN BOY]

It's all very well Bloomfield taking responsibility but yes I for one do want to hear from him and yes I want him to admit exactly what he got wrong! And if he wont listen to other team fans or can't see about playing players in their best positions then I seriously doubt his judgement.

People want to yell at him and are quite entitled too after that rubbish....we had a chance to press the teams above us and we failed miserably. We deserve to go down on this evidence.

We could all see he got it wrong but why didn't he change it after ten minutes or so.

 

[uptheus]

Your argument about us needing the support while fighting at the bottom is valid, however you were making a comparison between us and Norwich fans, who have seen their team win 4 out of 5 prior to tonight so naturally their fans are going to be more motivated to turn up.

I was giving the Norwich comparison based upon the distance they’ve had to travel compared to our fans e.g. weather bring one if the reasons our fans didn’t turn up.

I’m sure their expectancy was to be up and around the play offs, where I think most of ours would have been happy to finish 4th from bottom on goal difference if you’d have given them the option, so the fact that’s our last hope, you’d like to think that they’d be there to help achieve that!!

 

[WE Yellow]

Are you enjoying this season? It’s whats getting me through 2 and a half hours in the car to watch some dire games, apart from the odd exception a lot of the games have been a hard watch. If you enjoy this then fair enough. I don’t want us to be relegated but I just don’t see anyway out of it.

I also had to do something today that puts a relegation for the football team in perspective, so I am happy to look to the future and hopefully brighter days.

I’m enjoying the away trips to full houses, the enjoyment of gaining points at bigger clubs than us and ticking off grounds that I’d never been able to with Oxford before. I love the Championship, it’s the purest and best league in world football. It’s a shame it’s been taken for granted by our chairman, CEO and a large number of fans.

Careful what you wish for, there is no guarantee you’ll be enjoying it next season with the clown show in charge.

 

[Mateo Corbo's Tackle]

Are you enjoying this season? It’s whats getting me through 2 and a half hours in the car to watch some dire games, apart from the odd exception a lot of the games have been a hard watch. If you enjoy this then fair enough. I don’t want us to be relegated but I just don’t see anyway out of it.

I also had to do something today that puts a relegation for the football team in perspective, so I am happy to look to the future and hopefully brighter days.

Hope you’re ok.

 

[JOHN BOY]

I've thought this often and don't know why it isn't discussed more.

Neither head coach has had the balls this season to drop Helik and Brown for some bizarre reason, yet we have a solid ex Rangers CB left on the bench. Baffling.

Yes they both need to come out of the tram.

 

[londonyellow]

I thought some of Rowett's decision making was pretty dubious towards the end, but what Bloomfield did tonight was in another league. Even after he explained it I still don't get what he was trying to do. Players playing in positions that he should know they're not comfortable in. And all, by the sounds of it, on a whim with basically no time to practice or prepare.

He says he's 'learnt a lot' – perhaps he could have learnt some of that in training and not in one of our most important games of the season

 

[Osei Yaw]

We shot ourselves in the foot in the summer 2024 window. We got away with it, only to shoot ourselves in the other foot in the summer 2025 window.

 

[Chippy]

So we’ve signed 37 players since we got promoted to the Championship. That’s almost 3 1/2 teams we’ve recruited, yet astonishingly tonight we still fielded 5 players out of 11 who started the play off final, and if Tyler was fit it may have been 6.

In terms of massively upgrading the squad to compete in the Champ those responsible have done a diabolical job to improve the team and squad sufficiently. So much money has been wasted, literally thrown away with mediocrity and yet Ed ironically keeps getting promoted and Tim and Grant never face up about wtf has been going on. I am surprised Erik still keeps the faith in any of them.

 

[Swinny]

Either this is Bloomfield’s Bolton and he rips it all up and starts again, or we’re heading down with barely a confused whimper.

Maybe Greg Leigh isn’t the answer here, but in having no fit/available LB we’ve setup defensively in the stupidest way imaginable and been rightly slaughtered because of it.

Norwich have improved, but they aren’t world beaters and yet they looked as comfortable as any team we’ve had here in years.

Dire and pretty desperate really.

Jin-Woo looked useful…I suppose.

 

[Oxford84]

They are not being managed properly - bizarre formations etc - this is what you get when you don't back a manager who has been there and done it (dull maybe but done it) then replace him with a bloke who got relegated from here last season and give him the money the previous incumbent had begged for - truly clueless from top to bottom

Rowett was s**t as well.

 

[90syeIlow]

Either this is Bloomfield’s Bolton and he rips it all up and starts again, or we’re heading down with barely a confused whimper.

Maybe Greg Leigh isn’t the answer here, but in having no fit/available LB we’ve setup defensively in the stupidest way imaginable and been rightly slaughtered because of it.

Norwich have improved, but they aren’t world beaters and yet they looked as comfortable as any team we’ve had here in years.

Dire and pretty desperate really.

Jin-Woo looked useful…I suppose.

Roosken is a fit and available LB.