Championship 11/03/2026 - MDT: Oxford United v Blackburn Rovers

[Carpy]

 

[uptheus]

Blackburns next 2 games Millwall and Middlesbrough.

They’ll probably go and get 6 points knowing how some results are going at the moment.

 

[OUFCwaffle]

Sky sports editors pulling a blinder there!

 

[dickwalton1964]

5 clean sheets now under Bloomfield. Bar that mad scramble at the end I thought we looked really comfortable last night.

 

[Mad Dog]

Well chuffed with last nights result!

Longy was epic, Helik had another great game, Cam looks like a man on a mission, and Lanks was again playing with the energy of someone who genuinely cares about the club’s fortunes.

Mills MOTM. Another amazing display from him, with and without the ball. Looking better and better with each passing game.

Konak looked very comfortable in the middle, and it’s really freed Cam up to show what he’s really capable of at this level.

Donley is a very good player, who I’d like to see us try to keep hold of, adds a touch of class through the middle.

MPH’s miss was one of the most pathetic things I’ve ever seen!

Dogged bodies on the line defending towards the end of the game, which was great to see, roared on by a superb loud crowd, for a great win under the lights!

Well done Matt and the lads!

It’s properly game on now!

Bring on Charlton

 

[PottersRightBoot]

We are a big, young, tough side now. Something the regulars have been asking for - for years.

Played in front of an awful backdrop - handled very sensitively by both clubs, Oxford look like they can dominate games all of a sudden.

Sam Long : Tells us that he finds coping strategies for direct opponents in game. You don’t say. The difference between first half Sam and second half Sam is remarkable.

Blackburn look shot to me. Couldn’t cope with the pressure. Why they have a part time manager is a head scratcher.

Crowd MOTM . Grampy shed immense

I was one of thousands who thought we’d gone. We haven’t. Well done Bloomfield.

 

[dickwalton1964]

Was it just me or was the atmosphere a bit strange, a bit flat, for long periods last night ? Considering what was at stake I felt the whole ground descended into periods of eerie silence for long periods. The crowd definitely came alive when the countdown was on with 10-15 minutes to go but that seemed about the only time to me. I don’t know if it was a reaction to the Amelia tragedy or the fact the away end was a thousand short and not the noisiest but at no point - bar that last push - did it feel like a six pointer at stake.

 

[The Mighty Aldo]

Think I have this right

So far Bloomfield has been in charge of 12 games
4 wins
4 draws
4 defeats

If we can keep that ratio going with 9 games left that will get us another 12 points

Will 50 points be enough this season?

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

Think I have this right

So far Bloomfield has been in charge of 12 games
4 wins
4 draws
4 defeats

If we can keep that ratio going with 9 games left that will get us another 12 points

Will 50 points be enough this season?

I think it'll be more than 50 required, probably 52/53 points.

 

[dickwalton1964]

Think I have this right

So far Bloomfield has been in charge of 12 games
4 wins
4 draws
4 defeats

If we can keep that ratio going with 9 games left that will get us another 12 points

Will 50 points be enough this season?

I think 52 will be needed - another 14 from 9 games.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

The view from the end, audio NSFW!

 

[Foley]

I think it'll be more than 50 required, probably 52/53 points.

I would be amazed if 50 points wont be enough.
Looking at the last 4 games Pompey and Blackburn have 1 point, WBA 3.
Blackburn and Pompeys run in are really difficult.

 

[Northstand Grandad]

I would be amazed if 50 points wont be enough.
Looking at the last 4 games Pompey and Blackburn have 1 point, WBA 3.
Blackburn and Pompeys run in are really difficult.

Yes,but who would have thunk that charlton would beat Middlesbrough ....their games may seem difficult, but its end of season and surprising things happen

 

[Foley]

Yes,but who would have thunk that charlton would beat Middlesbrough ....their games may seem difficult, but its end of season and surprising things happen

Oh totally agree that there will be strange results.
Last season people were suggesting that 52 points may be needed. Hull stayed up with 49 points.
The average to stay up is 44/45 points and I believe that only 3 times ever has 50 points not been enough.
The good news is that now there are 2 out of 5 teams to go down. A couple may have a good run, but it is quite possible that 2 to 3 will struggle and continue at a point a game

 

[Oxymoron]

Was it just me or was the atmosphere a bit strange, a bit flat, for long periods last night ?

I think it was nerves. We knew what was at stake and a single goal lead was able to be erased by an error, a piece of individual brilliance (ok, unlikely), a fluke or a poor refereeing call.

Although we were comfortable and happy to let Blackburn have the ball, we never dominated them to the extent that we might have. If MPH puts his laces through that shot, we would have been happier and much more buoyant.

 

[tomoufc]

Oh totally agree that there will be strange results.
Last season people were suggesting that 52 points may be needed. Hull stayed up with 49 points.
The average to stay up is 44/45 points and I believe that only 3 times ever has 50 points not been enough.
The good news is that now there are 2 out of 5 teams to go down. A couple may have a good run, but it is quite possible that 2 to 3 will struggle and continue at a point a game

Think we need 4 more wins, or 3 and 3 draws

 

[East Stand Fan]

Another great performance last night! Shame we couldn't built on it second half but we did enough to hold on. Impeccable minutes silence before the game and full credit to the referee for stopping the game and observing a minutes applause from both sets of players and fans. Amelia would be proud of the shift we put in and let's hope we can do it again Saturday!

 

[Sarge]

Think we need 4 more wins, or 3 and 3 draws

lets win the remaining 9 games and not even think about what other teams are doing

 

[Yellowmania]

That Malachi chap from the Mail said we have a couple of injuries with one at least likely to be out Saturday.
I don’t think anyone came of injured so any ideas?

 

[Osei Yaw]

My only complaint last night is we didn't score more. At 1-0 there is always chance for a moment of madness and everything is undone. Cumming fumbling that catch could've been that moment but luckily there was some body on the line stuff and we saw it through. Other than that I felt comfortable and that we were in control of the game. For the first time in ages I have confidence we're going to create opportunities when we move the ball forward.

With that in mind I thought we were very good value for the win, much like we were against Preston. Last season we scrambled enough points together with a decent chunk of those coming from a wonder strike or a set piece. Our set pieces have improved (not so much last night, but definitely against West Brom and Preston) but last night we also created sustained periods of pressure from open play. We actually look like a team with goals in us and that is key from here on out.

Our three wins and 6 goals have coincided with Konak and Donley both starting and being on the pitch. Both have got quality on the ball and both get up the pitch and shift the team higher, and it's no surprise that's coincided with huge improvements in both Brannagan and Mills who are both finding space easier to come by.

Those 4 were the pick of the bunch for me last night. Peart-Harris has dropped off a bit since he first joined and the miss in the second half was a bad one (after a great win by Konak) but he is still offering a good outball. There was a moment in the first half where we were pinned back a little, before the ball came out to him on the left wing and he just got himself round it and relieved all the pressure. Not a vintage performance from him but no reason for him to be dropped. The team picks itself at the moment but we also have decent options off the bench if needed.

We've got a real chance of getting out of this. Roll on Charlton.

 

[BicesterU]

The league table looks so different now than it did before the West Brom game.

Since then we have:

• Won three on the spin
• Closed the gap between us and 19th position from 11 points to 2
• Won more games than the rest of the bottom 8 in the table *combined*
• Looked like a team who can control games, pose a genuine threat, and score goals
• Got ourselves on a real roll, with players starting to put in back to back 7/8/9 out of ten performances

There's an international break in two games, and those game are:

Portsmouth: Derby (H), QPR (A) ~ 2pts
Blackburn: Millwall (A), Middlesborough (H) ~ 0 pts
Leicester: QPR (H), Watford (A)
Us: Charlton (H), Southampton (A)
WBA: Hull (H), Bristol City (A)

An opportunity to make up some more gournd before the break

 

[werthersoriginal]

The league table looks so different now than it did before the West Brom game.

Since then we have:

• Won three on the spin
• Closed the gap between us and 19th position from 11 points to 2
• Won more games than the rest of the bottom 8 in the table *combined*
• Looked like a team who can control games, pose a genuine threat, and score goals
• Got ourselves on a real roll, with players starting to put in back to back 7/8/9 out of ten performances

There's an international break in two games, and those game are:

Portsmouth: Derby (H), QPR (A) ~ 2pts
Blackburn: Millwall (A), Middlesborough (H) ~ 0 pts
Leicester: QPR (H), Watford (A)
Us: Charlton (H), Southampton (A)
WBA: Hull (H), Bristol City (A)

An opportunity to make up some more gournd before the break

TBH everyone has at least one winnable game there apart from Blackburn

 

[derek]

Oh totally agree that there will be strange results.
Last season people were suggesting that 52 points may be needed. Hull stayed up with 49 points.
The average to stay up is 44/45 points and I believe that only 3 times ever has 50 points not been enough.
The good news is that now there are 2 out of 5 teams to go down. A couple may have a good run, but it is quite possible that 2 to 3 will struggle and continue at a point a game

Agree with all of that except that in the past 10 seasons, the average has been 47 points. So a little bit trickier, still feel we can do it though.

 

[Yellow2K22]

At the exact point (gw37 last season) we only had 1 more point (39) than we do today. Even with 1 less point we would have been sat 3 points clear of relegation.

Shows that we are on track, albeit it going to be tighter this year!

Positive vibes

 

[Sheik Djibouti]

For me, what has really turned around in the last few performances is just how much better we are out of possession, how much better our movement is in attack and how effective the transition between attack and defence has become.

We have one of the lowest in possession % in the league and so it stands to reason that our shape in defence and the way we turn defence into attack HAS to be very good. For large parts of the season we weren't all that good at this and so we didn't create enough chances, or take the chances we did create. In defence, we've got far better protection on the flanks now, esepcially down the right with Mills working tirelessly to give Long some protection. Same with MPH when he's been on the left too . . they are all working so much harder out of possession. Last night didn't feel like only 32% possession, but that's all it was.

Along with a better defensive shape out of possession, our movement and options going forward in possession are so so much better of late. All of a sudden we're creating chances and getting players into good positions to make something happen. Lankshear, Mills, MPH, CamBran and Donnelly have all been instrumental to and benefitted from this in attack. We had 14 shots on goal with 78% on target, according to the official stats - that feels like a big improvement.

It's no concidence that Mills has been there our there abouts for MoM over the last few. He absolutely encapsulates everything good that we're doing at the moment. Special mention to the way Konak has stepped up too which allows us to see the best of Brannagan in particular, which is absolutely key.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

Sky sports editors pulling a blinder there!

Edited now!

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

The view from the end, audio NSFW!

I think that audio shows why we may get out of this, the fanbases of Blackburn, Leicester, West Brom and Pompey have all turned against their players, board and/or manager whereas we're united and bang up for the fight.

 

[Marked Ox]

As an aside why is a steward in the centre of the East Stand asking and then trying to direct people to their seat before the game?

People were telling the steward where their seat was after he'd start looking for it. It got really stupid and annoying when he asked a bloke in the middle of the minute silence for Amelia as they were going (quietly) to their seat.

 

[Swinny]

The view from the end, audio NSFW!

Not important in the grand scheme of things, but the way he boos there really bothers me...it's like he's shouting the word "Boooo" rather than making the noise? Dunno if that makes sense, but its really weird...anyway, as you were...

 

[Yellow2K22]

The view from the end, audio NSFW!

Lankshear cracks me up, he has no reason to give it large to the keeper, but he does just because he can. Top shithousery

 

[EastStandKieran]

As an aside why is a steward in the centre of the East Stand asking and then trying to direct people to their seat before the game?

People were telling the steward where their seat was after he'd start looking for it. It got really stupid and annoying when he asked a bloke in the middle of the minute silence for Amelia as they were going (quietly) to their seat.

They've been doing that for the last few home games I think it started against Norwich

Dunno why seems like pointless jobs worth to me