Away Match Day Thread 12/03/24 - L1: Bolton Wanderers v OUFC

[Northstandboy]

Post Match Pack

Post Match Discussion

Interview - Des Buckingham

Interview - Owen Dale

Match Lowlights

Match Report

Ref Watch

Fans View

 

[Archieyellow]

My list would be for tonight’s players

Cumming unsure

• Stevens leave
• Moore keep
• Brown leave
• Leigh keep
• Brannagan keep
• McGuane leave
• Rodrigues needs to buck up or go
• Dale Keep
• Murphy keep
• Harris keep
• 
  
• SUB: Long leave
• SUB: Bodin leave
• SUB: Goodwin keep
• SUB: Henry leave
• SUB: Bennett keep

 

[Oxford84]

Much as I’ve wanted Des Buckingham to succeed at Oxford, it became crystal clear tonight that the directors made the wrong choice. An expensive choice. I don’t recall a single effort on goal. What is wrong with Goodwin that he can’t start, and dare I say it, Cumming looks the wrong choice..,Cheltenham look to have a better keeper than we do.
I’m normally Brannagan biggest fan and he was uninterested tonight.
I really believe the dressing room has been lost and I don’t envy the task the incoming manager will have sorting the shambles out.
As for a choice of a new manager. Andrew Crofts, maybe, but definitely not Appleton, Robinson or any journeymen wanting to enter the fray

Brannagan was furious with the team, shouting at them to work harder, hes never a problem.

 

[38yearsofpain]

The really sad part was many saw this result coming. Whilst Des was giving the we played well nonsense, everybody saw we were scraping lucky results and looking clueless. Des may well think there is a plan but he really ought to tell his players what it is because they don't understand it or believe in it. The comparisons with Clotet are scary.

 

[Upthecowboys]

I’d be quite happy for Des or any other manager to give Ruben a spell on the bench to find his sense of professionalism again.

Completely agree, such a bad call by Des to start him. We had a ready made replacement in Bodin. Marcus McGuane seems off the pace as well, and has been for a while.

I know Bolton played well but it felt like we didn’t have a centre midfield at times tonight.

 

[Matt W]

He can’t pass the ball ten yards and turns slower than the titanic & we all know what happened there!

I would hate to be an Oxford defender at the moment. They are all asked to start attacks as the midfield certainly don't

 

[Swaby39]

I’m so torn on the subject of players throwing the towel in.

The simplistic old fashioned part of me still feels it’s on a manager to put the camp together, build the cohesion and use that as a platform to build a belief in what they’re doing. This doesn’t just apply to football or sports but management anywhere. A team that’s pulling together will win games regardless of tactical inefficiencies. He arrived to a dressing room where that has been built and they probably bonded more when let down by Manning. So what exactly has he done that’s brought it down on its head? It smacks of fragmentation and I can’t quite understand how it’s come about, but they obviously don’t respect him.

I fully accept that players have a duty to play to their maximum effort regardless of the manager but these are players who only months ago were giving their all. They haven’t suddenly decided Oxford is a s**t place to be. They’ve disengaged and I’m afraid responsibility for that is on Des - it’s a hard, high pressure job, no other way to skin it. I think it’s the wrong time for him and pray he can rebuild and go again. But this needs ending.

 

[dickwalton1964]

Imagine if Karl Robinson had spent £400k on a player who, months later, isn’t fit enough to start games and is seemingly still carrying an injury. People would have an absolute meltdown.

Whatever you want to say about Robinson, Buckingham isn’t in his class as a manager.

 

[Older Shotts]

My list would be for tonight’s players

Cumming unsure

• Stevens leave
• Moore keep
• Brown leave
• Leigh keep
• Brannagan keep
• McGuane leave
• Rodrigues needs to buck up or go
• Dale Keep
• Murphy keep
• Harris keep
• 
  
• SUB: Long leave
• SUB: Bodin leave
• SUB: Goodwin keep
• SUB: Henry leave
• SUB: Bennett keep

Agree apart from Cumming. He needs to go. Error prone, can't kick

My list would be for tonight’s players

Cumming unsure

• Stevens leave
• Moore keep
• Brown leave
• Leigh keep
• Brannagan keep
• McGuane leave
• Rodrigues needs to buck up or go
• Dale Keep
• Murphy keep
• Harris keep
• 
  
• SUB: Long leave
• SUB: Bodin leave
• SUB: Goodwin keep
• SUB: Henry leave
• SUB: Bennett keep

Agree apart from Cumming. He should go. Error prone. Can't kick.

 

[Joey]

Completely agree, such a bad call by Des to start him. We had a ready made replacement in Bodin. Marcus McGuane seems off the pace as well, and has been for a while.

I know Bolton played well but it felt like we didn’t have a centre midfield at times tonight.

You know your tactics are a bit off when the other team seem to have more players than you, regardless of whether they're attacking or defending. Brannagan and an uninterested McGuane trying to hold off their three midfielders was asking for trouble and it's hardly as if their formation was a surprise.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Telling that whenever the camera panned on to one of our players they look utterly pissed off and are usually arguing with their team mates. It looks a camp divided, the way we were set up lent itself to getting completely overrun and that's what happened. It must be incredibly frustrating getting picked off constantly by a team who know what they're doing, not to mention embarrassing. Not helped by some of your team mates completely phoning it in either.

I’d be concerned if players weren’t having a go at each other when you are 5-0 down and get out played in every way.

 

[dickwalton1964]

Cumming is crap. I’d bring back Eastwood for rest of season.

 

[Theox07]

I would hate to be an Oxford defender at the moment. They are all asked to start attacks as the midfield certainly don't

Brown will pass to mcguane or brannagan then will get it back 2 seconds later then has to kick it up the pitch cause he gets closed down and then people say he’s bad at passing because he has to kick it up the pitch there are some dumb fans on here who you can tell have never played football before

 

[Older Shotts]

Where was Matete tonight? Not on the bench?

 

[Victor1986]

Were Grant and Tim there? I think not. That's what's wrong with our club.

 

[Bicester Yellow]

I would hate to be an Oxford defender at the moment. They are all asked to start attacks as the midfield certainly don't

Don’t disagree but when they can’t pass 5 yards and have the composure of me on ice skates, then they aren’t very good.

 

[AbsoluteZero]

We tried to match Bolton but we did nothing to change the game or take it to them. I cannot for the life of me understand why he won't play Goodwin and Harris up top together?

Look, I'm not saying the players are blameless for tonight. Pretty much to a man they were poor. I think the likes of Brown, Leigh, McGuane and Rodrigues need to have a long, hard look at themselves as their performances since Des came in have been nowhere near the standards they set in the early part of the season.

But Des too is at fault. He's been too tactically rigid and doesn't seem to be able to motivate the players. He's had enough time to get some messages across, but there just doesn't seem to be any sustained improvement.

I'm not saying I want him out (I'm probably one of very few that won't call for his head just yet), but he needs to get his act together very, very quickly.

He is actually just tactically wrong.

Greg Leigh's interview after the Cheltenham game gave a snippet of what Buckingham's tactics are and what they always will be. Leigh admitted that his role is now more defensive because he has a 'flying' winger in front of him. Before that Leigh was our star performer, scoring goals for fun and being a constant attacking threat which pushed the team to 2nd in the table. Bring in Buckingham and he stunts the progress of our most effective player that had been having the most influence on a game more often than not resulting in us winning a game of football. He's now been told to stop getting forward so much, concentrate on being solid in defence and let the attacking players do the attacking. And the result is...very clearly a massive mistake in tactics and if that is Buckingham's philosophy then it is a big no thanks from me.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

Whatever you want to say about Robinson, Buckingham isn’t in his class as a manager.

Thankfully.

If ever there was a person with zero class, let alone morals, Robinson was it.

 

[Brahma]

Frauds on the pitch. The biggest one is never called out

 

[Sheik djibouti]

Frauds on the pitch. The biggest one is never called out

And in your opinion, that is.....?

 

[Bicester Yellow]

Brown will pass to mcguane or brannagan then will get it back 2 seconds later then has to kick it up the pitch cause he gets closed down and then people say he’s bad at passing because he has to kick it up the pitch there are some dumb fans on here who you can tell have never played football before

Every time brown does pass it more than 5 yards he spoons it out of play. He gets the nickname of 50p foot off me for a reason.