Home Match Day Thread 13/02/2024 L1: OUFC v Wigan Athletic

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I joked with someone last night in the immediate aftermath to Murphy scoring that there would be some on the forum who would be frantically typing "why didn't you pass you selfish c***!"

And although, in fairness, Murphy has generally been praised on here, there are those who seem to search for any possible sign of weakness to moan about rather than look at the very many positives. Criticism is fine, but why can some not show any balance at all by also recognising when the same players do well?

The first half was poor, and everyone was at fault for misplaced passes. I don't know if it was the ball skipping off the wet surface at times or not, but we seemed to both under hit and over hit passes in equal measures. But despite this, and the fact that Wigan were pressing hard and playing with a lot of energy, they only had the one chance which they scored from, whereas we had the equaliser and Cams shot that almost broke the post.

A poor first half by both teams, but a draw was very much a fair result at the time.

The second half was completely different. We began to make our possession count with our passing and people looking to want the ball. Looking back on the highlights, there was a two minute spell before our second goal where we had total possession following a freekick that was cleared from the Wigan box. We played backwards and sideways a lot ("fooooorrrwwaaarrddd!") but there were a total of 35 passes before the goal was scores (2 phases due to the foul in the centre on Matete). That was more passes than we put together in the entire first half!

We then began to grow in confidence and everyone looked better. Murphy was far too good and could have had a dozen shirts ripped off him due to the holding and pulling that took place immediately in front of the seemingly blind assistant referee! It's one thing going past your full back at pace, but it takes some skill to walk past your fullback and thats something Murphy managed to do on a couple of occasions. If he repeats that over the next 3 months then we're in for an exciting finish to this season.

Tyler was also everything you want from him. He has boundless energy, drive and is always looking at getting on the front foot. But he does look a much better player off the bench than when he starts. That might just be a mindset thing with looking to be more reserved from the start, but if he can delivery 90 minute performances in the same way that he does for 45 minutes then he can play at the very top of the game.

I thought Ruben also looked much sharper coming off the bench and maybe just needs a little breather to get him back on form. And Harris was everywhere again. It's been great to see him getting the goals that his work rate deserves, but almost as good to see his contributions in a game where we score 4 and he doesn't get on the scoresheet. His hold up play was excellent and it took an incredible tackle to stop him scoring late on after dome fantastic footwork in the box to give him the scoring chance, although Tyler still smashed in the rebound!

Moore has some criticism but he has been phenomenon in recent months and can be excused an average game for once. He was still immense at times yesterday and is far from the donkey that one idiot described him as! And, I know it's a little controversial to say it, but I'm not sure Greg Leigh is anywhere near back to his best yet. He lost his man for their second goal, and did the same at the weekend for the header that Cummings brilliantly saved. He was also all over the place for Portsmouths second goal. For a player that used to win every ball in the box, he's just a little off at the moment. We all know that if this was Long rather than Leigh then there would be hundreds of posts about it!

All in all, a much needed win and lots to take forward for the final 15 or so games, many of which are very winnable.
 
Followtheox1 said:
Long was only better in the second half because Murphy swapped sides and his pace tracking back helped Long out big time. Buckingham deserves credit if that was one of the reasons he moved Murphy over. He could could have just done it because Goodrham is more effective from the left. When Murphy was replaced by Bodin our right side became a place where Wigan were able to pick us off again. It was no surprise their second goal came from that side. Sides have been targeting our right side all season. Last night Wigan in the first half were just bombing ball after ball to our right side, they had clearly been told to do that in my view.
Click to expand...

I’m not so sure it was Murphy tracking back that helped out Long, but more that Wigans’s wingback (Jones) was very wary of Murphy’s pace and giving him too much space and room and this pushed him back a few yards and therefore couldn’t get a run on Long as easily as in the first half.

To my mind Murphy was more of an attacking threat in the first half on the left, he looks more comfortable there and his crossing/final ball is better. Second half he did well but several times his cross/final ball was blocked.
 
Scotchegg said:
I joked with someone last night in the immediate aftermath to Murphy scoring that there would be some on the forum who would be frantically typing "why didn't you pass you selfish c***!"

And although, in fairness, Murphy has generally been praised on here, there are those who seem to search for any possible sign of weakness to moan about rather than look at the very many positives. Criticism is fine, but why can some not show any balance at all by also recognising when the same players do well?

The first half was poor, and everyone was at fault for misplaced passes. I don't know if it was the ball skipping off the wet surface at times or not, but we seemed to both under hit and over hit passes in equal measures. But despite this, and the fact that Wigan were pressing hard and playing with a lot of energy, they only had the one chance which they scored from, whereas we had the equaliser and Cams shot that almost broke the post.

A poor first half by both teams, but a draw was very much a fair result at the time.

The second half was completely different. We began to make our possession count with our passing and people looking to want the ball. Looking back on the highlights, there was a two minute spell before our second goal where we had total possession following a freekick that was cleared from the Wigan box. We played backwards and sideways a lot ("fooooorrrwwaaarrddd!") but there were a total of 35 passes before the goal was scores (2 phases due to the foul in the centre on Matete). That was more passes than we put together in the entire first half!

We then began to grow in confidence and everyone looked better. Murphy was far too good and could have had a dozen shirts ripped off him due to the holding and pulling that took place immediately in front of the seemingly blind assistant referee! It's one thing going past your full back at pace, but it takes some skill to walk past your fullback and thats something Murphy managed to do on a couple of occasions. If he repeats that over the next 3 months then we're in for an exciting finish to this season.

Tyler was also everything you want from him. He has boundless energy, drive and is always looking at getting on the front foot. But he does look a much better player off the bench than when he starts. That might just be a mindset thing with looking to be more reserved from the start, but if he can delivery 90 minute performances in the same way that he does for 45 minutes then he can play at the very top of the game.

I thought Ruben also looked much sharper coming off the bench and maybe just needs a little breather to get him back on form. And Harris was everywhere again. It's been great to see him getting the goals that his work rate deserves, but almost as good to see his contributions in a game where we score 4 and he doesn't get on the scoresheet. His hold up play was excellent and it took an incredible tackle to stop him scoring late on after dome fantastic footwork in the box to give him the scoring chance, although Tyler still smashed in the rebound!

Moore has some criticism but he has been phenomenon in recent months and can be excused an average game for once. He was still immense at times yesterday and is far from the donkey that one idiot described him as! And, I know it's a little controversial to say it, but I'm not sure Greg Leigh is anywhere near back to his best yet. He lost his man for their second goal, and did the same at the weekend for the header that Cummings brilliantly saved. He was also all over the place for Portsmouths second goal. For a player that used to win every ball in the box, he's just a little off at the moment. We all know that if this was Long rather than Leigh then there would be hundreds of posts about it!

All in all, a much needed win and lots to take forward for the final 15 or so games, many of which are very winnable.
Click to expand...

He was excellent against Portsmouth and Reading, but the last 2 games he seems off it, later on in the game he wouldn't engage with Godo at all. Wouldn't surprise me to see Bennett come back in for one of the home games next week.
 
Scotchegg said:
I joked with someone last night in the immediate aftermath to Murphy scoring that there would be some on the forum who would be frantically typing "why didn't you pass you selfish c***!"

And although, in fairness, Murphy has generally been praised on here, there are those who seem to search for any possible sign of weakness to moan about rather than look at the very many positives. Criticism is fine, but why can some not show any balance at all by also recognising when the same players do well?

The first half was poor, and everyone was at fault for misplaced passes. I don't know if it was the ball skipping off the wet surface at times or not, but we seemed to both under hit and over hit passes in equal measures. But despite this, and the fact that Wigan were pressing hard and playing with a lot of energy, they only had the one chance which they scored from, whereas we had the equaliser and Cams shot that almost broke the post.

A poor first half by both teams, but a draw was very much a fair result at the time.

The second half was completely different. We began to make our possession count with our passing and people looking to want the ball. Looking back on the highlights, there was a two minute spell before our second goal where we had total possession following a freekick that was cleared from the Wigan box. We played backwards and sideways a lot ("fooooorrrwwaaarrddd!") but there were a total of 35 passes before the goal was scores (2 phases due to the foul in the centre on Matete). That was more passes than we put together in the entire first half!

We then began to grow in confidence and everyone looked better. Murphy was far too good and could have had a dozen shirts ripped off him due to the holding and pulling that took place immediately in front of the seemingly blind assistant referee! It's one thing going past your full back at pace, but it takes some skill to walk past your fullback and thats something Murphy managed to do on a couple of occasions. If he repeats that over the next 3 months then we're in for an exciting finish to this season.

Tyler was also everything you want from him. He has boundless energy, drive and is always looking at getting on the front foot. But he does look a much better player off the bench than when he starts. That might just be a mindset thing with looking to be more reserved from the start, but if he can delivery 90 minute performances in the same way that he does for 45 minutes then he can play at the very top of the game.

I thought Ruben also looked much sharper coming off the bench and maybe just needs a little breather to get him back on form. And Harris was everywhere again. It's been great to see him getting the goals that his work rate deserves, but almost as good to see his contributions in a game where we score 4 and he doesn't get on the scoresheet. His hold up play was excellent and it took an incredible tackle to stop him scoring late on after dome fantastic footwork in the box to give him the scoring chance, although Tyler still smashed in the rebound!

Moore has some criticism but he has been phenomenon in recent months and can be excused an average game for once. He was still immense at times yesterday and is far from the donkey that one idiot described him as! And, I know it's a little controversial to say it, but I'm not sure Greg Leigh is anywhere near back to his best yet. He lost his man for their second goal, and did the same at the weekend for the header that Cummings brilliantly saved. He was also all over the place for Portsmouths second goal. For a player that used to win every ball in the box, he's just a little off at the moment. We all know that if this was Long rather than Leigh then there would be hundreds of posts about it!

All in all, a much needed win and lots to take forward for the final 15 or so games, many of which are very winnable.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Leigh is the problem full back.
 
holdsteady said:
Yeah, Leigh is the problem full back.
Click to expand...

Typical post that misrepresents what was said.

Edited - and I didn't include Sam Long in my post because there have been dozens of posts about him already. He was awful in the first half. But he also had no support and no outlet from Dale ahead of him, and the rest of the team were all pretty poor too. He was however much better in the second half and was getting forward and contributing in the final third too. He also made a number of big tackles or interventions that stopped chances in and around our own box. He was one of the standout players of the second half.

However, Greg Leigh hadn't been mentioned elsewhere and was generally being scored much higher in player ratings. Yet I thought that he was questionable in defence at times and lost his man for the second goal, and without a fantastic save from Cummings and a last minute goal from Henry, could have cost us the games against Blackpool and Portsmouth.
 
Last edited:
Need a right back. Long was very poor last night, ther winger was having a field day, same on Saturday, along with Eastwood and Henry time to say thanks very much, goodby
 
Scotchegg said:
Typical post that misrepresents what was said.

Edited - and I didn't include Sam Long in my post because there have been dozens of posts about him already. He was awful in the first half. But he also had no support and no outlet from Dale ahead of him, and the rest of the team were all pretty poor too. He was however much better in the second half and was getting forward and contributing in the final third too. He also made a number of big tackles or interventions that stopped chances in and around our own box. He was one of the standout players of the second half.

However, Greg Leigh hadn't been mentioned elsewhere and was generally being scored much higher in player ratings. Yet I thought that he was questionable in defence at times and lost his man for the second goal, and without a fantastic save from Cummings and a last minute goal from Henry, could have cost us the games against Blackpool and Portsmouth.
Click to expand...

While there was improvement in the second half, I don't think many would describe Long as a stand out performer. I agree Dale was poor too but you must see how the opposition were clearly told to target him. He clearly has a good mentality, I think he is a squad player but I definitely think that side of defence is an area we need to make improvements in, in the transfer window.
 
Followtheox1 said:
While there was improvement in the second half, I don't think many would describe Long as a stand out performer. I agree Dale was poor too but you must see how the opposition were clearly told to target him. He clearly has a good mentality, I think he is a squad player but I definitely think that side of defence is an area we need to make improvements in, in the transfer window.
Click to expand...

I haven't said that we don't need to improve.

My point was that when Greg Leigh was mentioned the only response is "yeah, but Long was s**t too!"
 
Scotchegg said:
I joked with someone last night in the immediate aftermath to Murphy scoring that there would be some on the forum who would be frantically typing "why didn't you pass you selfish c***!"

And although, in fairness, Murphy has generally been praised on here, there are those who seem to search for any possible sign of weakness to moan about rather than look at the very many positives. Criticism is fine, but why can some not show any balance at all by also recognising when the same players do well?

The first half was poor, and everyone was at fault for misplaced passes. I don't know if it was the ball skipping off the wet surface at times or not, but we seemed to both under hit and over hit passes in equal measures. But despite this, and the fact that Wigan were pressing hard and playing with a lot of energy, they only had the one chance which they scored from, whereas we had the equaliser and Cams shot that almost broke the post.

A poor first half by both teams, but a draw was very much a fair result at the time.

The second half was completely different. We began to make our possession count with our passing and people looking to want the ball. Looking back on the highlights, there was a two minute spell before our second goal where we had total possession following a freekick that was cleared from the Wigan box. We played backwards and sideways a lot ("fooooorrrwwaaarrddd!") but there were a total of 35 passes before the goal was scores (2 phases due to the foul in the centre on Matete). That was more passes than we put together in the entire first half!

We then began to grow in confidence and everyone looked better. Murphy was far too good and could have had a dozen shirts ripped off him due to the holding and pulling that took place immediately in front of the seemingly blind assistant referee! It's one thing going past your full back at pace, but it takes some skill to walk past your fullback and thats something Murphy managed to do on a couple of occasions. If he repeats that over the next 3 months then we're in for an exciting finish to this season.

Tyler was also everything you want from him. He has boundless energy, drive and is always looking at getting on the front foot. But he does look a much better player off the bench than when he starts. That might just be a mindset thing with looking to be more reserved from the start, but if he can delivery 90 minute performances in the same way that he does for 45 minutes then he can play at the very top of the game.

I thought Ruben also looked much sharper coming off the bench and maybe just needs a little breather to get him back on form. And Harris was everywhere again. It's been great to see him getting the goals that his work rate deserves, but almost as good to see his contributions in a game where we score 4 and he doesn't get on the scoresheet. His hold up play was excellent and it took an incredible tackle to stop him scoring late on after dome fantastic footwork in the box to give him the scoring chance, although Tyler still smashed in the rebound!

Moore has some criticism but he has been phenomenon in recent months and can be excused an average game for once. He was still immense at times yesterday and is far from the donkey that one idiot described him as! And, I know it's a little controversial to say it, but I'm not sure Greg Leigh is anywhere near back to his best yet. He lost his man for their second goal, and did the same at the weekend for the header that Cummings brilliantly saved. He was also all over the place for Portsmouths second goal. For a player that used to win every ball in the box, he's just a little off at the moment. We all know that if this was Long rather than Leigh then there would be hundreds of posts about it!

All in all, a much needed win and lots to take forward for the final 15 or so games, many of which are very winnable.
Click to expand...
And add on to that - I think we're just going to get stronger. As Matete settles, if Murphy gets a decent run, when players are rested (McGuane must be in bits by now) and the healthy competition (as you say Ruben and in particular Tyler off the bench), I can only see us putting a very strong challenge in the play offs. Then it's a lottery and who knows.....
 
Eric Blair said:
And add on to that - I think we're just going to get stronger. As Matete settles, if Murphy gets a decent run, when players are rested (McGuane must be in bits by now) and the healthy competition (as you say Ruben and in particular Tyler off the bench), I can only see us putting a very strong challenge in the play offs. Then it's a lottery and who knows.....
Click to expand...

We've got Portsmouth and Bolton away, and Peterborough at home. Every other game is very much winnable and absolutely no reason why we can put a string of results together than gets us right in the mix.

I was expecting Pompey to have continued their dip, but they're now getting results so the autos are probably between them, Derby and Bolton.

That then leave one of them, Peterborough, Barnsley, us and Stevenage to battle for the playoffs. Leyton Orient and Blackpool are not completely out of contention, but 7/8 points and worse GD makes that gap too much in my view.

The playoffs are a lottery, but if we're there then we'll also be bang in form so no reason to fear anyone.
 
Scotchegg said:
We've got Portsmouth and Bolton away, and Peterborough at home. Every other game is very much winnable and absolutely no reason why we can put a string of results together than gets us right in the mix.

I was expecting Pompey to have continued their dip, but they're now getting results so the autos are probably between them, Derby and Bolton.

That then leave one of them, Peterborough, Barnsley, us and Stevenage to battle for the playoffs. Leyton Orient and Blackpool are not completely out of contention, but 7/8 points and worse GD makes that gap too much in my view.

The playoffs are a lottery, but if we're there then we'll also be bang in form so no reason to fear anyone.
Click to expand...
Our GD is probably one of the lowest amongst the genuine playoff ( & autos) contenders as things stand currently

hoping the final placings in the playoffs don't come down to GD
 
Sarge said:
Our GD is probably one of the lowest amongst the genuine playoff ( & autos) contenders as things stand currently

hoping the final placings in the playoffs don't come down to GD
Click to expand...
Agree, it’s telling that we’ve obviously struggled defensively when we’ve scored the same # of goals as Portsmouth
Clean sheets are a pipe dream at the moment!
 
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Sarge said:
Our GD is probably one of the lowest amongst the genuine playoff ( & autos) contenders as things stand currently

hoping the final placings in the playoffs don't come down to GD
Click to expand...

The point was that Leyton Orient and Blackpool have a big points difference and goal difference to us which effectively means that their gaps to us is 8 and 9 points respectfully.

Therefore we can say that we've probably got 7 teams fighting for 6 places. And if we can get back to the sort of form that we're capable of, we will remain very much in the mix for the playoffs (even if autos are looking less likely).
 
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