Away Match Day Thread +++ 19/02/2019 Accrington v OUFC Match Day Thread +++

Well that's 2 out of the 4 I'm planning to miss. For the next 2 I'll be far, far away. Hope that helps a bit.

Very depressing!
 
I cannot believe radio Oxford and even many of our fans cannot see what has been so blatantly obvious from the first kick of the season. Especially awful is that seemingly KR and our coaching staff and recruitment team cannot see it. Damn! our defence is absolutely shocking!

Yeah strikers were needed in August and January. Sadly we didn’t sign one by the looks of it. But whilst KR was searching around for his Striker he left our defence in tatters and even let one defender go.

We don’t stop the ball into the box from wide areas enough. We give players too much space, we’re not alive to danger! Weak in the challenge. Disorganised and out of position. How many soft goals can a team concede in a season?

Great to hear Shots actually pointing out our defensive frailties last night tho. He sounded stunned at how bad we were.

Dickie looks like a broken man totally out of his depth. He constantly looses his man or doesn’t have one. He’s weak in the challenge, especially challenging for balls in the air. His body language says it all.

We paid good money for Hanson! What an absolute waste of it. An alleged championship level midfielder reduced to full back because KR doesn’t have anyone else good enough. He looked just as bad in midfield tho.

Likewise Ruffles on the other side, shocking. To be fair he’s actually not as bad as Dickie or Hanson which isn’t saying a lot.

But it’s okay we can play those players we have covering those positions. Because our recruitment was so organised and thorough. The players that have been pushing for the first team and keeping our defenders focused and on their toes, in fear of losing the shirt... er no wait!

Two absolutely shocking transfer windows. The club, the team the manager is a shambles.

Worst of all for me is that I’ve become numb to defeat. I don’t expect us to get anything out of games and I’m actually happy when we just get a point.

Robinson out!
When we went through an undefeated run a while ago, I made comment about our defence and felt we had been very very lucky
I still maintain we went unbeaten thro luck and bad finishing, however as we hadn’t been beaten or conceded too any a few on here ridiculed me when I suggested we needed a decent defender in jan, luckily I have broad shoulders and unfortunately I have been proved right, to a certain degree
 
When we went through an undefeated run a while ago, I made comment about our defence and felt we had been very very lucky
I still maintain we went unbeaten thro luck and bad finishing, however as we hadn’t been beaten or conceded too any a few on here ridiculed me when I suggested we needed a decent defender in jan, luckily I have broad shoulders and unfortunately I have been proved right, to a certain degree

Can't sniff at a chance to say "I told you so."!
 
No, nice and dry here just relaxing laughing at comments been there done it years ago up and downs so no change on Oxford fortunes.


Laughing at peoples comments that were there and saw another capitulation?
Jesus weeps....again?
 
Can't sniff at a chance to say "I told you so."!
[/QUOTi
I would prefer to have been proved wrong tho
Regardless of KR let’s hope the players can pull together and get a vital 3 points Saturday
 
Our defence being utter s**t has been the case all season. John Limousinho at CDM momentarily stopped the bleed and provided a bit of a distraction from the real problem.

Good sidebacks/wingbacks in this formation are so, so essential. Not two central midfielders. Who, even for central midfielders, are slow. They need to be part of a fluid system and dynamic enough to be really effective in both attack/defence phases.

That's where it has all gone wrong for me.

Graham/Browne/Henry/Whyte are really good at this level. In (my) theory this shouldn't be as bad as it is.
 
Our defence being utter s**t has been the case all season. John Limousinho at CDM momentarily stopped the bleed and provided a bit of a distraction from the real problem.

Good sidebacks/wingbacks in this formation are so, so essential. Not two central midfielders. Who, even for central midfielders, are slow. They need to be part of a fluid system and dynamic enough to be really effective in both attack/defence phases.

That's where it has all gone wrong for me.

Graham/Browne/Henry/Whyte are really good at this level. In (my) theory this shouldn't be as bad as it is.
Agreed.

Hanson, Dickie and Mousinho, regardless of position, guarantee at least one serious error per game regardless of where they play. In the latters case, it's mitigated in DM a bit, because he's got Nelse Dickie behind him or he's further up the field. In CB he's a f*****g liability.

Hanson, I've noted, is extremely balanced. He seems to match one great pass/cross with a guaranteed two hoofers either into touch or, worse, to an opponent. Of late, his simple game has improved....but christ...for the money we paid, woeful.

Dickie just strikes me as what he is....Naive and his decision making lets him down.


Ruffels, to be fair, seems to be growing into the LB role better, but, yes...ultimately, he's part of a porous defesive unit.

The one solid defender we have is Nelse.
 
agree Robinsons record has been poor and a new manager may do the job but we ain't relegated yet

One things for sure. Us fans have been very patient. The team have been backed and I think that’s because most of us can see they have great potential. I think they’re being managed by a complete donkey!
 
Our defence being utter s**t has been the case all season. John Limousinho at CDM momentarily stopped the bleed and provided a bit of a distraction from the real problem.

Good sidebacks/wingbacks in this formation are so, so essential. Not two central midfielders. Who, even for central midfielders, are slow. They need to be part of a fluid system and dynamic enough to be really effective in both attack/defence phases.

That's where it has all gone wrong for me.

Graham/Browne/Henry/Whyte are really good at this level. In (my) theory this shouldn't be as bad as it is.
I think you are stating the obvious. Central midfielders effective in attack/ defence are like gold dust. You have to go back to Trevor Hebberd and Jim Magilton to see that. They cost megabucks and we certainly have not got that. We just have to make the best of it. Another Beckenbauer would do nicely.
 
Apologies for the late post. Broke down at Keele services and didn’t get back to Bournemouth till 7AM!

A poor night, but at least in this match, we did have a spell of concerted pressure in the second half. The Mackie header or the JG chance at 3-1 just had to go in.

We were the second best team on the pitch last night. They are organised and a solid unit and our goals came from a misjudged header and poor positioning from their keeper. They didn’t really look like they were going to concede, so felt we did well to score twice because I didn’t think we would get two as they defend fairly well.

Don’t think the players have downed tools at all. I believe they are still trying for the shirt and want to win. The issue lies in the tactics/system and the personnel sent out every game. KR has not got a clue.

Both at half time and full time, I called for the manager to go. I know you shouldn’t really do it during the game (HT) but it’s very difficult in the current circumstances and the dire first half I had watched not to. At the end of the game, there were others calling for him to go and a banner that someone had prepared saying ‘Robinson Out’. As he heard these calls, he just walked past head down with his large smug smile on his face, which ofc riled up a few fans, myself included.

Didn’t see any abuse towards players at all. They were all clapped off, fans behind the goal said well done and were generally grateful for their efforts. There was the odd shout to players that the manager had to go. Those players stayed professional, clapped the fans and did not comment on the way back to the dressing room.

How can every single one of them say professional but the manager can’t? They will have heard every comment from the crowd.

He has to go. I honestly don’t care who actually takes the reigns for the remaining games. Anyone. But. Robinson.
 
Apologies for the late post. Broke down at Keele services and didn’t get back to Bournemouth till 7AM!

A poor night, but at least in this match, we did have a spell of concerted pressure in the second half. The Mackie header or the JG chance at 3-1 just had to go in.

We were the second best team on the pitch last night. They are organised and a solid unit and our goals came from a misjudged header and poor positioning from their keeper. They didn’t really look like they were going to concede, so felt we did well to score twice because I didn’t think we would get two as they defend fairly well.

Don’t think the players have downed tools at all. I believe they are still trying for the shirt and want to win. The issue lies in the tactics/system and the personnel sent out every game. KR has not got a clue.

Both at half time and full time, I called for the manager to go. I know you shouldn’t really do it during the game (HT) but it’s very difficult in the current circumstances and the dire first half I had watched not to. At the end of the game, there were others calling for him to go and a banner that someone had prepared saying ‘Robinson Out’. As he heard these calls, he just walked past head down with his large smug smile on his face, which ofc riled up a few fans, myself included.

Didn’t see any abuse towards players at all. They were all clapped off, fans behind the goal said well done and were generally grateful for their efforts. There was the odd shout to players that the manager had to go. Those players stayed professional, clapped the fans and did not comment on the way back to the dressing room.

How can every single one of them say professional but the manager can’t? They will have heard every comment from the crowd.

He has to go. I honestly don’t care who actually takes the reigns for the remaining games. Anyone. But. Robinson.

Robinson out!
 
I think you are stating the obvious. Central midfielders effective in attack/ defence are like gold dust. You have to go back to Trevor Hebberd and Jim Magilton to see that. They cost megabucks and we certainly have not got that. We just have to make the best of it. Another Beckenbauer would do nicely.

Yeah but that's not what I'm saying is it. I'm not talking about central midfielders.
 
Nelson is decent no doubt, but he was no better than the others last night. Timing was all over the place at one point. In general our centre halves don’t dominate their area anywhere near enough when it comes to defending high balls coming into the box. I don’t know whether it is poor positioning, a lack of understanding, who knows. And there doesn’t seem to be any one person, capable of organizing our defence (in-game). Add to that, when we concede everyone starts pointing the finger at each other. It’s a right shambles. Think back to the defences of old with the likes of Crosby. A player like that in our back four now and we would be no where near the relegation zone. They should make a compilation of the goals conceded this season and use it to teach future generations on how not to defend.
 
Apologies for the late post. Broke down at Keele services and didn’t get back to Bournemouth till 7AM!

A poor night, but at least in this match, we did have a spell of concerted pressure in the second half. The Mackie header or the JG chance at 3-1 just had to go in.

We were the second best team on the pitch last night. They are organised and a solid unit and our goals came from a misjudged header and poor positioning from their keeper. They didn’t really look like they were going to concede, so felt we did well to score twice because I didn’t think we would get two as they defend fairly well.

Don’t think the players have downed tools at all. I believe they are still trying for the shirt and want to win. The issue lies in the tactics/system and the personnel sent out every game. KR has not got a clue.

Both at half time and full time, I called for the manager to go. I know you shouldn’t really do it during the game (HT) but it’s very difficult in the current circumstances and the dire first half I had watched not to. At the end of the game, there were others calling for him to go and a banner that someone had prepared saying ‘Robinson Out’. As he heard these calls, he just walked past head down with his large smug smile on his face, which ofc riled up a few fans, myself included.

Didn’t see any abuse towards players at all. They were all clapped off, fans behind the goal said well done and were generally grateful for their efforts. There was the odd shout to players that the manager had to go. Those players stayed professional, clapped the fans and did not comment on the way back to the dressing room.

How can every single one of them say professional but the manager can’t? They will have heard every comment from the crowd.

He has to go. I honestly don’t care who actually takes the reigns for the remaining games. Anyone. But. Robinson.

The sad news Teacher is that the club cannot afford to sack KR - they cannot 'afford' to even pay a small painter & decorator who is still owed money for his work at the Practice Ground!! The true depth of the s**t that we are in has not been revealed yet in my opinion - Tiger calls them .."bumps in the road" - I reckon the wheels are just about to come off. I have been supporting United for over 50 years & I feel this is one its darkest periods.
 
Agreed.

Hanson, Dickie and Mousinho, regardless of position, guarantee at least one serious error per game regardless of where they play. In the latters case, it's mitigated in DM a bit, because he's got Nelse Dickie behind him or he's further up the field. In CB he's a f*g liability.

Hanson, I've noted, is extremely balanced. He seems to match one great pass/cross with a guaranteed two hoofers either into touch or, worse, to an opponent. Of late, his simple game has improved....but christ...for the money we paid, woeful.

Dickie just strikes me as what he is....Naive and his decision making lets him down.


Ruffels, to be fair, seems to be growing into the LB role better, but, yes...ultimately, he's part of a porous defesive unit.

The one solid defender we have is Nelse.

Since August, we’ve seen the following leave or binned from the defence - McMahon (RB), Norman (RB), Carroll (RB/DM), Ricardinho (LB) and Raglan (CB).

I’m not going to make a hero out of any of those and say we’d be 12th in the league if we had them – all had pluses and minuses – however, since then we’ve signed no other defensive options other than indifferent DMs (Hanson, Kashi, Dai Wai-tsun).

Good teams have players queuing up to take the place of the people whose form drops off. Sure, injuries have struck us this season, but our options all over the park have been limited all season. Nelson or Dickie drop out? In comes dubious-as-a-CB Mousinho. Out goes Garbutt? In comes part-timer Ruffels. McMahon leaves? Oh, hold on. We’ve moved on all of our RBs. Let’s play a DM there or continue to delude ourselves that Sam Long is good enough to play L1 football. We’ve looked limited because we’re relying on limited players.

The recruitment all season has been dreadful. Little wins like Whyte and Sykes are meaningless when the bigger picture isn’t addressed. As I’ve said before, we’re a jigsaw that’s missing a fair number of pieces.
 
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