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Some of these have now obviously been played
Forgetting that a lot of the teams below us also have to play Wigan.
actually of the others only Wimbledon have Wigan to play
If Nelson is fit, I would play Dickie up front.
is this likely in your opinion?
Walsall 7 more points =54
Wimbledon 7 more points = 53
Oldham 9 more points = 53
Rochdale 10 more points = 52
Mk Dons 5 more points 47
Got to be better than what we have up front at the momentyou want Napa whose ball control is not good up front? so keep conceding possession increases the chances of keeping the score down does it?
Maybe but a lot is not all the teams below us.Forgetting that a lot of the teams below us also have to play Wigan.
I'm very proud of our fans after last night. Atmosphere could have been fairly dull on a damp Tuesday night with no away attendance to speak of. To have kept the noise going all match, and then, despite the result, to applaud the lads off who had clearly given everything..... Makes me proud to be an Oxford fan.
I love Ledson's attitude, his work rate, his energy. He slides the ball sideways nicely, long passes to switch play, but he has very little ability to pick out and play a forward pass which can hurt the opposition, and I've been moaning about it for so long it must be true. He over hits them constantly. I'm not blaming him for last night's result, I just wish he could improve in that area.
I'm not sure that it makes sense to try and get Nelson match fit. Mous is doing just fine alongside Dickie. Our problem is clearly scoring goals now that Dickie has steadied the ship and has a partnership with Mous.
Ricky is such a class player. Would have liked to have seen those around him pick him out a bit more last night. A few times he took up great positions but couldn't get the ball.
The touch of our forward line went missing last night. Numerous times the ball went into Jon or Wes or Agon and just pinged out again. Thought GvK looked up for it when he came on. I wonder if KR could get a bit more out of him? Maybe he is fast enough to get to Ledson's over hit passes? ?
We were mugged last night, no question. But we played really well and I think we will get points somewhere, and those below are not all going to be picking up points.
Wonder if the trialist is out of contract?Nelson played 80 minutes in a friendly this morning. 6-0 win in which GVK got 2 goals and a trialist got a hatrick.
Please Nelson fit for Wigan.
In and around the ground, our support has been superb. I have no doubt that our players, management and staff are acutely aware that, as fans, we've decided to ignore how we've got to this position and are providing our unwavering support from the stands. In return, they are giving us everything.
The atmosphere at the last two home games has been hugely impressive. It seems to me, as fans, we are literally prepared to drag this side out of trouble and I think we will contribute to making that happen. Likewise, I think the players and management are equally prepared to drag the supporters to safety. Together, that points to us all doing what we should, helping each other for the betterment of the club.
We all know come the Summer, KR will re-build. We must make sure that we help him get to a position where he can recruit in League One.
There have been a number of huge positives.
Effectively two clean sheets for 180 minutes. Performances of pure determination and commitment - that midfield last night worked as hard as they could. We are seeing Rob Dickie put in some remarkable performances for a young centre-back, Eastwood is returning to form, Todd Kane impressive. We've also had our share of luck (Henry's handball on the line vs Scunthorpe and Penalty Decisions going in our favour vs Oldham).
Work hard and support hard and we will get luck, with luck we will see some results.
I have never heard the stadium fall silence like it did last night, yet the players got deservedly applauded off. No shouting, no abuse and no booing.
For those on social media who 'GAVE UP' weeks ago, we have got so much to play for. We all need to stick together during games.
My only criticism of last night, AND DID I BEG for Gino to come on late on to use his pace, was his apparent refusal, having the side lost the ball just inside their half, to run and cover his shattered midfield and defence - rather stood still looking at McAleny front up our defence. That was criminal and is right up there with Issac on Saturday - completely unacceptable for a player who had been on for less than six minutes.
That said, we will get results over the next two games and coupled with a tough run-in for those beneath us, I believe we will have enough.
Couldn’t agree more re Van Kessel, either he’s lazy or a not very intelligent footballer. I suspect it’s a bit of both. If he had been on from the start you could understand, compare to Thomas who was tracking back to help out at left back.
The frustrating thing is, you don’t require talent to run. Even if you can barely kick a ball, running and making an effort is not reliant on ability.
If he was 1 name springs to mind.Tony Watt. Played for Robinson at Charlton before being sold to Belgium side...Wonder if the trialist is out of contract?
Scored against Barcelona once...If he was 1 name springs to mind.Tony Watt. Played for Robinson at Charlton before being sold to Belgium side...
If he was 1 name springs to mind.Tony Watt. Played for Robinson at Charlton before being sold to Belgium side...
Saturday v Southend. I reckon we have a good chance to win if we play like we did yesterday.Can you honestly see where our next point(s) are coming from?
Hope so but like Fleetwood bit of a bogey sideSaturday v Southend. I reckon we have a good chance to win if we play like we did yesterday.
I was at the game last night and Saturday, I haven’t read previous comments on this thread, but Obika is he the worst forward to have played for us, and yes there are some woeful contenders, I am not a fan of Thomas, but he did ok, generally, however he should have scored one or two, we have 2 very very poor finishers, Ledson, particularly in the last 2 games has been poor, his shooting has been diobolical, passing some very good some very poor,
We were the best team last night, but we can’t score. I dispare at our shots on goal. We tried to win and got caught out with 2 many people going forward, and too slow at getting back, for the goal it was 3 v 3 our midfield don’t get back quickly enough. After last nights performance we look too good to go down, but if we don’t score we will
The great Johnny Aldridge was the best finisher I’ve seen in an Oxford shirt. His speed of thought in the penalty box was unbelievable. He had so much composure, he could wrong foot the opposition defence and keeper in an instant and just made goal scoring look so easy. Also not afraid to go in where it hurts if it meant he’d notch another one. His namesake Martin was also a good finisher, an expert at attacking the near post area with perfect timing. This obviously relied upon good service into the box which he got from the likes of Joey Beauchamp and Mark Angel. Players who could put wicked crosses into the right areas. Something, to be fair to our current strikers, that’s lacking somewhat now.You’re obviously too young to have watched a legend (in the wrong way) a mr Steve anthrobus. However I agree Obika is a close 2nd.
The ability to finish is an odd skill in football because you’d think, as it’s basically kicking the ball in the right place, every player can do it. However it’s actually more like dribbling with the ball and going passed players. In that some players can but many can’t. It doesn’t make them bad players it’s just that a natural ability to finish is rare, a bit like players who seem to ghost round / through players.
I’m afraid you only have to watch the warm up to realise we have very few players that are good at finishing.
Poor finishers make keepers look good. Either the shot doesn’t have enough pace or it’s within the keepers range.
Ironically one of the best finishers we’ve had in recent years was Conor :-(
I dont think he is not very intelligent footballer. I think he works hard and is very quick.Couldn’t agree more re Van Kessel, either he’s lazy or a not very intelligent footballer. I suspect it’s a bit of both. If he had been on from the start you could understand, compare to Thomas who was tracking back to help out at left back.