Away Match Day Thread 12/12/2023 L1: Reading v OUFC

[Bath Yellow]

84. First game.
Headington United v Chelmsford City,
Southern League ( Now Conference ) Won 2-0.
Boxing Day 1949. 75yrs ago

The last 6 games v Reading:

W: 1
L: 6

07 Nov 1999	Reading v Oxford United	W	1-2	League Division 2
07 Mar 2000	Oxford United v Reading	L	1-3	League Division 2
28 Oct 2000	Reading v Oxford United	L	4-3	League Division 2
17 Apr 2001	Oxford United v Reading	L	0-2	League Division 2
24 Sep 2003	Oxford United v Reading	L	1-3	League Cup
25 Aug 2004	Oxford United v Reading	L	0-2	League Cup

 

[Big Ronaldo]

What caught my eye last night is that whenever McEachran got the ball to feet, he rarely got his head up to pick a pass forward.
If he received it side on he nearly always laid it straight off back to where it had come from or just surrendered the ball with a passive pass back ten yards to a defender.
At the base of our midfield, this was really noticeable.
A couple of times we took a short goal kick out just past the six yard box. Four crab passes across our 18 yard box and it comes back to Beadle who leathers it up the pitch. What the actual f**k?
Some of our more incisive play last night was good and Brannagan was bang up for it.
However, we get it around their box and we still don’t take a shot, we elect to pass far too often.
If you don’t shoot, you don’t score. Facking shoot!! Please!!

 

[BrockBuster]

What caught my eye last night is that whenever McEachran got the ball to feet, he rarely got his head up to pick a pass forward.
If he received it side on he nearly always laid it straight off back to where it had come from or just surrendered the ball with a passive pass back ten yards to a defender.
At the base of our midfield, this was really noticeable.
A couple of times we took a short goal kick out just past the six yard box. Four crab passes across our 18 yard box and it comes back to Beadle who leathers it up the pitch. What the actual f**k?
Some of our more incisive play last night was good and Brannagan was bang up for it.
However, we get it around their box and we still don’t take a shot, we elect to pass far too often.
If you don’t shoot, you don’t score. Facking shoot!! Please!!

McGuane has often been guilty of this since he's been at the club, but seemed to find himself under Manning at the start of this season (plus his decent start in KR's last season). Feel he's gone into his shell a little bit now. Not sure if it's just a confidence thing with them both.

In fairness the last few games the weather/pitch quality has been much worse than we saw earlier in the season, so maybe there's an element of that. The Peterborough and Reading pitches were both cut up pretty badly.

 

[unification]

There is only Slowdive of note to come out of Reading isn't there? Can't think of any others, whereas Oxford has had a vibrant music scene for decades...

There’s a few landfill indie bands. Does It Offend You, Yeah? and Morning Runner. Not much at all.

Is a Ride-Slowdive doubleheader the Shoegaze Thames Valley Derby? At least the stage performance would be comparable to the pace the game was played with last night.

 

[MiddleBartonYellow]

I work with a Reading season ticket holder and he reckoned for a top 6 team we are really poor.

 

[Older Shotts]

I work with a Reading season ticket holder and he reckoned for a top 6 team we are really poor.

I'm on Oxford season ticket holder and I think we are really poor too

 

[Jster]

There is only Slowdive of note to come out of Reading isn't there? Can't think of any others, whereas Oxford has had a vibrant music scene for decades...

Chapterhouse, another shoegazing lot - "Pearl" was a decent track.

Also Stuart Price, who was in Zoot Woman, and did all sorts of other stuff besides

 

[ZeroTheHero]

I work with a Reading season ticket holder and he reckoned for a top 6 team we are really poor.

As the team stands at present with the injuries ( oh, and I reckon we need a striker! ) he isn't far wrong. They are no better, of course.

 

[Made-in-Jericho]

I work with a Reading season ticket holder and he reckoned for a top 6 team we are really poor.

God it's like Pat Nevin, Jean-Paul Sartre, Chris Sutton and Albert Camus combined - the depth and insight is profound!

 

[Brahma]

I work with a Reading season ticket holder and he reckoned for a top 6 team we are really poor.

If I were him, I'd be more worried about his team. Dogshit is being nice.

 

[pistonbroke]

OK, who's gonna phone Karl and tell him we're sorry?

No one , he should have gone 6 months earlier and got John Mousinho in charge .

 

[Eaststanding]

We were quiet tonight but so were the Reading fans. They chanted blue army a little and that was it. Why do they chant that anyway? Their kit is more white.

Quiet?! Ridiculous, turn the volume up on your tv.

 

[Sarge]

What caught my eye last night is that whenever McEachran got the ball to feet, he rarely got his head up to pick a pass forward.
If he received it side on he nearly always laid it straight off back to where it had come from or just surrendered the ball with a passive pass back ten yards to a defender.
At the base of our midfield, this was really noticeable.
A couple of times we took a short goal kick out just past the six yard box. Four crab passes across our 18 yard box and it comes back to Beadle who leathers it up the pitch. What the actual f**k?
Some of our more incisive play last night was good and Brannagan was bang up for it.
However, we get it around their box and we still don’t take a shot, we elect to pass far too often.
If you don’t shoot, you don’t score. Facking shoot!! Please!!

seconded

 

[CCYellow]

I'm just confused as to what Des is trying to do. Going to give him the benefit of the doubt due to injuries. But I genuinely can't tell what the game plan is or what style he is trying to implement.

Passing it sideways around the back?

This is exactly what was being said on this forum about Manning’s team until Derby away. Some were even saying it after a 3-0 win against Shrewsbury.

For years we played boring tippy tappy at the back whilst 1-0 down under Robinson. Few seemed to complain then.

I really hope it improves, and I'm sure it will once the injured players come back. Let's have a bit of patience, and stop pretending that Des B is the first Oxford manager to play tippy tappy at the back. He's the third one in less than a year to do so!

 

[Eric Blair]

January window is clear:

A new forward and loan o donks out with a recall clause
Sign Edwards on a perm deal.
A new right back and send stevens home
Another attacking center mid and move henry on
Time to drop mills too for a bit. He refuses to take on his full back and is playing way too safe, he’s had the positivity drilled out of him somehow

Agree with a lot of this:

The sort of striker we need is a fox in the box Matty Taylor in his pomp type player. There was a lot of service from Murphy into the six yard box but no one there.
Is Edwards on a permanent deal a possibility? If so, yes please.
Agree on Mills and Henry.
I say keep Stevens.

 

[Eric Blair]

There’s a few landfill indie bands. Does It Offend You, Yeah? and Morning Runner. Not much at all.

Is a Ride-Slowdive doubleheader the Shoegaze Thames Valley Derby? At least the stage performance would be comparable to the pace the game was played with last night.

I always thought Slowdive were from Oxford. Shows you how much I know.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

I work with a Reading season ticket holder and he reckoned for a top 6 team we are really poor.

Yet Bolton fans said we are the best team they have played this season.

Football fans do tend to make a final opinion after just seeing a team/player once or twice.

 

[Osei Yaw]

I think there is a case for saying that it's pretty tough for Buckingham at the moment - we are definitely missing those that are sidelined, as well as those we never signed in the first place. There weren't many options off the bench last night.

But with that in mind, we still could've been more adventurous. To me, it looked like the best opportunity was getting the ball out to either wing. Both Murphy and Mills managed to get past their opposite number a couple of times and get the ball across. I think we needed to try and turn Reading around a bit more, there was too much going sideways within our half when we actually did have some success in moving it sideways and then launching a diagonal over the opposition full backs head. My concern with the City Group graduates is that they fixate a bit too much on just keeping the ball and trying to score perfect goals, when sometimes you just need to start taking risks, even if it means you lose the ball on most occasions.

 

[Followtheox1]

Quiet?! Ridiculous, turn the volume up on your tv.

I was there, thank you, and we have been much louder than that.

 

[Nadi-]

January window is clear:

A new forward and loan o donks out with a recall clause
Sign Edwards on a perm deal.
A new right back and send stevens home
Another attacking center mid and move henry on
Time to drop mills too for a bit. He refuses to take on his full back and is playing way too safe, he’s had the positivity drilled out of him somehow

Agree with a lot of this:

The sort of striker we need is a fox in the box Matty Taylor in his pomp type player. There was a lot of service from Murphy into the six yard box but no one there.
Is Edwards on a permanent deal a possibility? If so, yes please.
Agree on Mills and Henry.
I say keep Stevens.

Shayne Lavery would be the closest one to Matt Taylor

 

[oufc1991]

I've written my letter to Santa today all I've asked for is a couple of strikers in January.... I just hope I don't end up with two people who work on the railways


Please Santa make the right choice