Home Match Day Thread 11/04/2026 - MDT: Oxford United v Watford

[SteMerritt]

 

[yellowbow]

Relieved to get the three points here, as the game could have gone anyway before kick-off and in the first half. But after a dominant second half, our cohesion, fight and clinical finishing saw us get the crucial win today.

When I look at Watford, they're exactly the sort of Championship club I hope we never become. Going through two-to-three managers every season and having a bunch of mercenaries for a squad, playing for themselves rather than playing as a unit or playing for the badge. There were 10 different nationalities in their starting XI, with the most being the two Georgians.

Scouring the world market for talent is something you should be doing in the Championship, but when you don't have a British core to the side, you're missing the standard drivers, the players who 'get it' and that connection with the fans. I thought Louza was a complete loser too and had such a poor attitude - was shocked to find out he's the club captain. Sums them up really.

But for us this result builds our confidence, and whilst the Pompey winner was a bit of a gut punch, we just need to control what we can control, and go into the Derby game with no fear. They've been in good form, but with key players missing and their play-off hopes fading, we can get something out of the game.

Great post

 

[PottersRightBoot]

Bloomfield (and Dodds) deserve a lot of credit. We’re a handy side now with tons of doggedness and a welcome sprinkling of the dark arts.

Mark Harris has definitely improved in 2026, nowhere near as much as Stan Mills, but he actually is now being played as a second striker - where he contributes.

Konak was superb. He mops up trouble without fouling much. The talented yet flaky oppo midfielders were getting so frustrated. Great to see.

So critical that we have left and right footed dead ball specialists now. Watford were freaked out by the end. Terrible error for second goal.

We can do this. Wrexham is the key game in my opinion. The players owe us after a weak performance in Wales.

As for Pompey late winner , nothing we can do about it. Just keep the form up.

COYY .

 

[38yearsofpain]

Personally, I just think this is superstitious bollox. What happened in April 5 years ago had no bearing on today's game, and Watford looked very much up for this but were just out battled and out performed.

It takes nothing from a very good Oxford United performance.

It reflects on the fact that they never have anything to play for, they have owners that fire managers if they have had a bad lunch. The fans, players and club is in disarray, they hired Ed Still who is still manager but may not be on Monday.
I think their fans will completely disagree with your assessment they were up for the fight, I remarked at half time they were already in Ibiza.
Personally I dont give a s**t, we won, we move on, and we have hope.
We are doing what is required, we are fighting like dogs but equally as important we are a united pack.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Relieved to get the three points here, as the game could have gone any way before kick-off and in the first half. But after a dominant second half, our cohesion, fight and clinical finishing saw us get the crucial win today.

When I look at Watford, they're exactly the sort of Championship club I hope we never become. Going through two-to-three managers every season and having a bunch of mercenaries for a squad, playing for themselves rather than playing as a unit or playing for the badge. There were 10 different nationalities in their starting XI, with the most being the two Georgians.

Scouring the world market for talent is something you should be doing in the Championship, but when you don't have a British core to the side, you're missing the standard drivers, the players who 'get it' and that connection with the fans. I thought Louza was a complete loser too and had such a poor attitude - was shocked to find out he's the club captain. Sums them up really.

But for us this result builds our confidence, and whilst the Pompey winner was a bit of a gut punch, we just need to control what we can control, and go into the Derby game with no fear. They've been in good form, but with key players missing and their play-off hopes fading, we can get something out of the game.

I don’t think their issue is foreign players as such - plenty of foreign players in the league ‘get it’ and after all we have a Manc who has adopted Oxfordshire. It’s more the constant turnover and lack of collective spirit and ethos. They do have some excellent players, no one could get the ball off their number 66.

 

[Chris on a Bike]

Bless him. Dry your eyes mate.

 

[Basham Wonderland]

Stunning result today, no idea how Portsmouth managed to pull off a win at Boro. What a great platform. We always seem to surprise these "better" teams and there's nothing to suggest we can't get maximum points against Millwall.

 

[uptheus]

Great result. Felt we should have scored in the earlier phases of dominance in the 2nd half, so nice to get the 2nd goal in the end.

Konak was my MOTM today, played well both defensively and offensively today.

Thought MPH was better today and obviously got a goal, but felt he faded. Also thought Donley was quiet(ish) again today. Shame Prelec wasn’t available and Placheta didn’t get on again, but nice to see Harris get a goal.

Thought Watford players looked disinterested.

Onto Derby next week! Get yourself there, we need everyone to get behind the team.

 

[uptheus]

Imagine if…. We had beaten Charlton…

Imagine if we had beaten Hull and Pompey, we’d be on 48 points now with Pompey 44!!

Let’s just win our last 4 games and stay up comfortably! We know it won’t be like this, but wouldn’t that be lovely.

 

[battman]

I don’t think their issue is foreign players as such - plenty of foreign players in the league ‘get it’ and after all we have a Manc who has adopted Oxfordshire. It’s more the constant turnover and lack of collective spirit and ethos. They do have some excellent players, no one could get the ball off their number 66.

That's why I qualified that with the British core - I think you get more out of foreign players when you have the players like Long, Cam and Tyler in the squad, and Watford don't have that. Watford are relying on individual brilliance from the likes of Irankunda or Chakvetadze, which is why they can win enough games to say up, but tail off at the business end of the season when the hard work and cohesion is required.

 

[holdsteady]

I don’t think their issue is foreign players as such - plenty of foreign players in the league ‘get it’ and after all we have a Manc who has adopted Oxfordshire. It’s more the constant turnover and lack of collective spirit and ethos. They do have some excellent players, no one could get the ball off their number 66.

It might have changed but don’t there owners have a few clubs around the continent and the foreign players move around those clubs, the play for the ownership group rather any particular club. So it might be hard for them to buy in as they not far off just being a very good academy style set up.

 

[uptheus]

After the defeat against Stoke, half of this forum had given up and talking about next season in League One.

Since then we've gained 8 points on Leicester, 9 points on Portsmouth, 3 points on West Brom, 5 points on Blackburn and 7 points on Charlton, beating 3 and being unlucky to draw the other two.

If we're the bottlers, then what would @greatunclekip call these others?

I'm tired of those who want to find negatives at a time when the club are showing fight on the pitch to give us a real chance of survival.

Watford are no mugs, and today we won battles all over the pitch. Konak and Cam were great in the middle, and Peart-Harris put himself about on the pitch (and in the tunnel!) to get under the skin of Watford's players. Defensively we were strong, and in thd swirling wind it felt like Long, Helik and Brown won every header.

Lankshear and Donley battled for everything, and you can see how much these means to them, despite some people accuse loanees of not caring. And credit to Mark Harris who was unlucky not to intercept a previous loose ball, but waa quickly on to the next to go clear and win us the game. It was a great finish for a player who must have been struggling for confidence and just goes to prove that we should support everyone between now and the final whistle at Millwall.

Still plenty to do, but still convinced that we'll do it.

I hope you’re right SE!

By the way, that wasn’t you on BGT tonight singing about scotcheggs

 

[Marked Ox]

Stunning result today, no idea how Portsmouth managed to pull off a win at Boro. What a great platform. We always seem to surprise these "better" teams and there's nothing to suggest we can't get maximum points against Millwall.

Middlesbrough are on a bad run at the moment so I wasn't really surprised. In the last 6 games Boro are 2nd bottom in the form table.

 

[chuckbert]

You’re the only one who thinks this, apart from a brief spell first half the support was excellent today, in all three stands. Find something else to call ‘embarrassing’.
Proud of our fanbase today.

He posted that at the 15 min mark in the first half!

 

[Yemi-God]

Always felt like we would win this game. Feel a draw coming next week and then two wins against Wrexham and Wednesday to keep us up on the penultimate day. Annoying as the Pompey winner was, their next 3 games are honking and they were up against a Boro side who have fully bottled it.

 

[SEACOLE]

Hats off to Harris today. Brought plenty of energy when he came on when we were starting to lose a bit of momentum then a cracking finish too.

Really enjoyed that performance.

Hello fellow United fans on the Forum!

What a great result on Saturday against Watford! It gives us a real chance of avoiding relegation! Quick question; why does Mark Harris have the nickname "Sparky"?

The last time that I had the opportunity to watch Oxford United play Watford was way back in 1978 at the Manor Ground in the old Division 3. Watford were top of the league table at the time, powering their way towards Division One under manager Graham Taylor and with players such as Ross Jenkins and Luther Blissett in the squad! My wife and I got held up in traffic and arrived late, about 20 minutes after ko. The chap on the gate saw my scarf and let us in for free! Watched a great game from the enclosure in front of the Main Stand, a 1- 1 draw !

UP THE YELLOWS!!

Ken,

Toronto, Canada

 

[West Oxon U’s]

The beautiful game?

 

[Billyox]

The beautiful game?

Its quite impressive how many away supporters think there players are not fit to wear there clubs shirts after playing us

 

[holdsteady]

Watford should get a new manager, doesn’t make any difference it’s just been a few weeks since they did that.

Mid table championship is pretty much Watfords level really, not exactly underachieved this season.

 

[Rach]

If I ever suggest starting with Konak on the bench again, please feel free to tell me I'm an idiot. MoTM for me, and everyone else

 

[Morris Oxford]

One thing that struck me when we were camped on Watford’s half for 20/25 minutes and how agitated our opponents were getting at corners and long throws was how much bigger in general we were then them as a team.

So often in the Championship in particular it’s felt like we’ve been playing the land of giants at times. Yesterday it was different, we bullied Watford in that second half and they had no answer, and quite frankly didnt fancy the physicality of our team and the game in general.

In fact it seemed to me that Watford’s triple substitution was a deliberate tactic to get 3 of their smaller players off the park who simply couldn’t cope and replace them with more robust players.

Players like Gooodrham, Dembele, LHarris, Krastev not in the squad or no longer at the club, replaced by Donley, MPH, Konak, Makosso, with Spencer getting more game time. Bigger, stronger players in general.

The January window has put right some of the recruitment mistakes of the summer, sadly the shambolic preseason we may yet come to regret come the end of the season. Hopefully not.

 

[lodeyellow]

Hello fellow United fans on the Forum!

What a great result on Saturday against Watford! It gives us a real chance of avoiding relegation! Quick question: why does Mark Harris have the nickname “Sparky”?

Because it was the nickname given to the famous Wales striker and manager Mark Hughes.

 

[Northstand Grandad]

The Sheffield game will be a lot harder than some think.

 

[holdsteady]

The Sheffield game will be a lot harder than some think.

Well considering they have only won one game all season and they are rock bottom and have been relegated for a while, the other three sides we play are going for autos/play offs then I don’t think it’s being disrespectful to consider it the easier game, but no game at this level is easy for us.

 

[Morris Oxford]

Hello fellow United fans on the Forum!

What a great result on Saturday against Watford! It gives us a real chance of avoiding relegation! Quick question; why does Mark Harris have the nickname "Sparky"?

The last time that I had the opportunity to watch Oxford United play Watford was way back in 1978 at the Manor Ground in the old Division 3. Watford were top of the league table at the time, powering their way towards Division One under manager Graham Taylor and with players such as Ross Jenkins and Luther Blissett in the squad! My wife and I got held up in traffic and arrived late, about 20 minutes after ko. The chap on the gate saw my scarf and let us in for free! Watched a great game from the enclosure in front of the Main Stand, a 1- 1 draw !

UP THE YELLOWS!!

Ken,

Toronto, Canada

Welcome to the forum.

I may be wrong but I always assumed it was because he brought ‘spark’ to games with his energy, commitment and general character.

 

[SEACOLE]

Welcome to the forum.

I may be wrong but I always assumed it was because he brought ‘spark’ to games with his energy, commitment and general character.

Hey thanks for the welcome message!

I hear that Sparky's goal yesterday was pretty special! Here's hoping for more in the last few matches!

COME ON YOU YELLOWS!!!

Ken

Toronto, Canada

 

[Made-in-Jericho]

Very very enjoyable return after missing some recent games. I even managed to bring my son’s friend along who’s father abandoned supporting Oxford for Everton when Aldridge was sold and he was left heartbroken! Hopefully he’ll get into his dad’s head a bit.
Bearing in mind we all live in Essex it wasn’t the easiest sales pitch from my son to his mate but slowly slowly….

 

[SEACOLE]

Well considering they have only won one game all season and they are rock bottom and have been relegated for a while, the other three sides we play are going for autos/play offs then I don’t think it’s being disrespectful to consider it the easier game, but no game at this level is easy for us.

Sheffield Wednesday fought Watford to two very unexpected draws! And Coventry on Saturday! Playing for pride as they go down!

COME ON YOU YELLOWS!!

Ken

Toronto, Canada

 

[Osei Yaw]

One thing that struck me when we were camped on Watford’s half for 20/25 minutes and how agitated our opponents were getting at corners and long throws was how much bigger in general we were then them as a team.

So often in the Championship in particular it’s felt like we’ve been playing the land of giants at times. Yesterday it was different, we bullied Watford in that second half and they had no answer, and quite frankly didnt fancy the physicality of our team and the game in general.

In fact it seemed to me that Watford’s triple substitution was a deliberate tactic to get 3 of their smaller players off the park who simply couldn’t cope and replace them with more robust players.

Players like Gooodrham, Dembele, LHarris, Krastev not in the squad or no longer at the club, replaced by Donley, MPH, Konak, Makosso, with Spencer getting more game time. Bigger, stronger players in general.

The January window has put right some of the recruitment mistakes of the summer, sadly the shambolic preseason we may yet come to regret come the end of the season. Hopefully not.

MPH was on a mission to wind up their right back and a couple of others. Seemingly every dead ball saw him making contact with an opposition player, be it an entirely avoidable shoulder bump as he walked past them or a shove as someone was walking to get in position. I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed Helik pushing most of their squad around at corners with the swagger of a giant amongst men.

In that sense yesterday reminded me of the win against Sunderland at home last season. We were well up for it and ground down the opposition. The match started off as more of a contest but their priority progressively shifted to just being able to get back on the bus without any bad injuries.

Could really do with Birmingham beating Wrexham this afternoon in the hope of Wrexham's play off push fading by the time they visit on the 21st so we can repeat the trick then.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

Imagine if…. We had beaten Charlton…

That stupid pull on the arm...

 

[Village-Yellow]

Great result and performance, but Portsmouths winner after our bottling last week gives us too much to do unfortunately.

You have really taken me by surprise with this comment. I mean, you are usually so supportive and positive.

With they way the final fixtures are panning out and the fact that there is just a few points between 5 teams, of course it is all over .

You really are a piece of work.

But then you know that and you clearly enjoy the responses.

The obvious thing is to not feed the troll, but I actually quite enjoy calling you out as a bit of a simpleton.