Home Match Day Thread 21/10/2023 L1: OUFC v Blackpool

[duckyellow]

I would love to watch the last 10 minutes again. When you replace your forward with fresh legs (O'Donkor) why was he jogging around? (At best jogging) Why was he not sprinting to close anyone down? Very strange performance that. Thought we were superb first half. Rodrigues was different class. Disappointing but a point and we move onto Wigan.

 

[Followtheox1]

I would love to watch the last 10 minutes again. When you replace your forward with fresh legs (O'Donkor) why was he jogging around? (At best jogging) Why was he not sprinting to close anyone down? Very strange performance that. Thought we were superb first half. Rodrigues was different class. Disappointing but a point and we move onto Wigan.

I actually wondered if Manning had told him to play like that for some reason. Otherwise I have no idea why he was just jogging around.

 

[Scrongo]

We dropped 2 points at home today.
A loss at Wigan is 1point from 6.
So that is not promotion form I'm afraid,.
Don't want to start slipping away from Pompey,& teams below catching up.
It's alright saying we've got a game in hand, We've got to win it though.

 

[Joey]

Absolute game of two halves today. First half we played some really good stuff without really getting through, the quality of chance we create is very good on average but we don't create all that many despite our impressive goal tally. Second half as everyone has said we sat far too deep far too soon, although you also have to credit to the opposition sometimes and Blackpool woke up after being pretty crap in the first half, there were a lot of uncontested bad touches and simple misplaced passes from them.

Cam was a miss, McEachran showed some good passing first half although his first touch was ropey a few times but he's historically struggled with playing a full game and was essentially useless for the last 25 minutes or so, we were always going to have issues there. Moore was my man of the match, thought he was brilliant and again showed better passing than he gets credit for with some forward passes through some pretty narrow gaps.

Some other thoughts.

Rodrigues is certainly getting better each week but he still has the tendancy to over complicate things sometimes. In the first half there was a really simple ball on to Mills' feet in the box but he tried to play it on the inside. It was an incredibly hard pass that Mills had shown no interest in going for and could have been a presentable chance if the simple ball had been played. He also misplaced a pretty easy ball to Leigh early in the second half when we could have been through. Some great touches and turns but I can't quite have him as man of the match today.

Leigh is, unsurprisingly, a revelation. I took some stick when I said he would be an upgrade on Brown at left back but I think it's obvious to most now that Brown was a centre back doing a job at left back. Unsurprisingly Brown is now our best left sided centre back and the extra athleticism he has over Thorniley is important as Leigh is so attacking there is often space there that needs covering.

Did Mills pick up an injury immediately after we made our first sub? I assume he did otherwise it was a poor decision to make two subs within about a minute, meaning we only had one more chance to make the rest. Obviously if he did then it's just a bit of bad luck.

Subs were poor but also on a bit of a hiding to nothing. It's not easy coming on when you're under the cosh and can't keep hold of the ball,the fullbacks and midfielders weren't getting forward to support so anytime one of the forward players had the ball they were swarmed with no options. They also can't go too mad pressing because if those behind them don't then it's worthless, they'll be played round and then miles out of position. That being said GOD has seemed disinterested the last few times he's come on and just slowly ambles between defenders and loses the ball when he has it.

As above re: Leigh being an upgrade that a lot of people couldn't see we needed, I hope we sign another right back of similar quality and then we'll see a big improvement on that side as Long isn't good enough for what we're aiming for.

Harris was ineffective again and I'd like us to go for a striker in January. Harris does plenty of good work in the press but I don't think he's a goalscorer and his hold up play isn't particularly good either. Still more than happy with him as an option but he has plenty of limitations. O'Donkor clearly isn't ready to make an impact at this level either and Perkins doesn't seem to be working out so we badly need more numbers and quality there in January, unless Cooper is ready but that's asking a hell of a lot.

We have a tendancy to try and sit on leads too much for my liking and I'd like to see Manning be a bit more aggressive sometimes. He seems to favour control over all else which is well and good but I think it does us a disservice sometimes as we're good enough to cause teams more problems than we do. When you get into the collective mindset of sitting deep then it's hard to get out of and that was pretty much the last 30 minutes today. We don't have much pace in the team so looking to play on the counter when Mills was off was never going to happen, Edwards and Browne will help with this when they're back.

Disappointing to drop points at the death but it was coming. It's not the end of the world and we're still well positioned but we need to go to Wigan now and be positive and get the ball rolling again. The second half today we looked like a team full of players who had had the shits this week, we looked dead on our feet. If a few of them were ill then that would go a long way to explaining the lethargy of the second half, although Blackpool were decent. Our goal was absolutely fantastic as well, I'll look forward to watching the full replay of that. On to Wigan and I'm confident of getting a result there.

 

[Scrongo]

Perhaps you’re right. Certainly a section of our fan base, which unfortunately has a big online profile on our forum's, have an expectation that doesn’t meet reality.

Doesn’t hurt to be ambitious mind!

No your right , we could be European champions in a few seasons

 

[East Stand Fan]

I would love to watch the last 10 minutes again. When you replace your forward with fresh legs (O'Donkor) why was he jogging around? (At best jogging) Why was he not sprinting to close anyone down? Very strange performance that. Thought we were superb first half. Rodrigues was different class. Disappointing but a point and we move onto Wigan.

Earlier in the season O'Donkor came on in a home game and held the ball up superbly, outmuscled the defenders and helped us manage the closing stages incredibly well. I was hoping for a repeat today to enable us to see out the win but none of the subs seemed to even get close to the ball apart from Stevens who had one run. The amount of space Blackpool had to get out their half was just insane - we neither pressed nor did we drop back so they just played around our attacking players. Murphy as well was jogging around aimlessly and actually did a total disservice to Leigh and got in McGuane's way a couple of times.

 

[JOHN BOY]

We've done more than you both historically and in the present. We are a bigger club and every neutral football fan would agre

Fascinating stat. Greg Leigh, left back, has a goal every 96 minutes. That is staggering, and you can't expect that to continue from your, to repeat, left back.

Harris has a goal every 242 minutes. With two of those coming in one game. The decision not to sign an experienced goal scorer is going to cost us.

It was nuts then. It's nuts now.

Agree January is massive for us striker and right back needed.

 

[JOHN BOY]

I would love to watch the last 10 minutes again. When you replace your forward with fresh legs (O'Donkor) why was he jogging around? (At best jogging) Why was he not sprinting to close anyone down? Very strange performance that. Thought we were superb first half. Rodrigues was different class. Disappointing but a point and we move onto Wigan.

Yes I was very disappointed with ODonkor.

 

[Oufccraig45]

Tuesday is must win?

Yes it is I think there are a lot of people happy that we are quite happy in league 1 sorry but I want championship football not just for me but as a club if people are happy with league 1 football so be it and quite happy drinking old speckled hen tonight

 

[Steve Gilbert]

We dropped 2 points at home today.
A loss at Wigan is 1point from 6.
So that is not promotion form I'm afraid,.
Don't want to start slipping away from Pompey,& teams below catching up.
It's alright saying we've got a game in hand, We've got to win it though.

You’re right, 1 out of 6 isn’t but 16 out of 21 is…

 

[38yearsofpain]

We've done more than you both historically and in the present. We are a bigger club and every neutral football fan would agree.

Not quite correct, present means now, and we are second and your not. I understand your historical perspective of the Matthews and Mortensen days but we have played you in tier 4 so you have been as shite as we have. I remember playing you at Bloomfield Road before the ground improvements and your away end was like the Cuckoo Lane end at the Manor. Not fit for fans.
I think delusions of grandeur and you suffer from it, create unnecessary pressure on your team.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Yes it is I think there are a lot of people happy that we are quite happy in league 1 sorry but I want championship football not just for me but as a club if people are happy with league 1 football so be it and quite happy drinking old speckled hen tonight

Fans can want/expect championship football without thinking Wigan away on a Tuesday night after 12 games is a must win game

 

[Matt W]

I was sceptical of Harris at the beginning of the season, then he scored a few, got sent off and now doesn't look at all confident.

 

[ljs]

I actually wondered if Manning had told him to play like that for some reason. Otherwise I have no idea why he was just jogging around.

When we are winning and it's in the last 20-30 minutes of a match Manning obviously likes the team to stand off the opposition back line when they have the ball and go to his so called block.
As a caller on RadOx Post match mentioned we have done it in previous matches and just about got away with it. I dislike it as it just allows the opposition time to settle, maintain possession and pick their passes, and take the initiative.

Saying that GOD was still awful and lacked any intensity. Goodrham too was a bit of a headless chicken when he came on.
I was surprised that Murphy didn't come on first to replace Bodin, and when he eventually did we were stuck in the defend on our 18 yard line mode.

 

[holdsteady]

Yes it is I think there are a lot of people happy that we are quite happy in league 1 sorry but I want championship football not just for me but as a club if people are happy with league 1 football so be it and quite happy drinking old speckled hen tonight

None of that makes Tuesday night a must win though, say we draw we are still right in it unless you think Portsmouth are barely going to drop points for the rest of the season?

 

[windmill]

Earlier in the season O'Donkor came on in a home game and held the ball up superbly, outmuscled the defenders and helped us manage the closing stages incredibly well. I was hoping for a repeat today to enable us to see out the win but none of the subs seemed to even get close to the ball apart from Stevens who had one run. The amount of space Blackpool had to get out their half was just insane - we neither pressed nor did we drop back so they just played around our attacking players. Murphy as well was jogging around aimlessly and actually did a total disservice to Leigh and got in McGuane's way a couple of times.

A perfect summary.

 

[Followtheox1]

When we are winning and it's in the last 20-30 minutes of a match Manning obviously likes the team to stand off the opposition back line when they have the ball and go to his so called block.
As a caller on RadOx Post match mentioned we have done it in previous matches and just about got away with it. I dislike it as it just allows the opposition time to settle, maintain possession and pick their passes, and take the initiative.

Saying that GOD was still awful and lacked any intensity. Goodrham too was a bit of a headless chicken when he came on.
I was surprised that Murphy didn't come on first to replace Bodin, and when he eventually did we were stuck in the defend on our 18 yard line mode.

One of the reasons it's worked so far is because our pace out wide means we can still break and cause problems on the counter. I thought Murphy should have come on earlier, instead of Stevens, as we lacked pace and couldn't do anything on the break.

 

[Joey]

You won't win this argument.

There are too many who spent the summer mocking the idea of signing Alfie May (8 goals so far, in a bang average side).

Blackpool, themselves, scored just 2 in their first 4 League games - so they signed an out and out striker on loan from the League above and he's subsequently contributed 8 in 9 games.

It's not disrespectful to our current squad, or to our excellent summer recruitment, to point out that we could have done with a little more firepower up top.

You were right then, you're right now. And you'll be right when we do sign that striker in January and he goes on to have a massive contribution for us.

The good thing is that I trust the management and recruitment team are also aware, they know they've dropped a bollock on Perkins, and I suspect that we'll spend well in January for that bit of quality.

Agree with most of this. I said at the time I'd like another striker but thought it would be the cherry on top, in hindsight I think I may have had a bit too much faith in Harris and Perkins, GOD I've always felt isn't ready for this level yet and would benefit from a loan.

I'm sure plenty will point to the amount of goals we've scored but strangely in the bigger picture we don't look hugely dangerous, I'm not sure we can rely on Leigh continuing his scoring run. Football fans everywhere have a tendancy to be quite insular and think their own players are better than they are (pre season people were genuinely laughing at the idea that Beadle would immediately displace Eastwood) but put Bishop or May in our team and we'd be top of the league.

Harris barely looks like scoring and doesn't offer a fat lot in terms of hold up play either, his main strength is his pressing which is excellent but I'm not sure that's enough to justify being a regular striker for a top team at this level but he'd be a great squad member. Like you I'm confident we're already working on this and hopefully we're on our toes as soon as the window opens like Plymouth were last season rather than waiting until the last minute again.

The only bit I disagree with is Charlton being a bang average team, I'm glad we played them when we did before Appleton came in and got them sorted. I was well impressed with Dobson for them and Camara is also there in midfield, they're got a solid defence and keeper and Leaburn, May and Blackett-Taylor is as good as any front three in this league. I had them a week or so ago at 4/1 for a top 6 finish and would be surprised if they didn't get in and be a real threat when they get there. They're still longer odds than Stevenage which is mental.

 

[bashamwonderland]

We dropped 2 points at home today.
A loss at Wigan is 1point from 6.
So that is not promotion form I'm afraid,.
Don't want to start slipping away from Pompey,& teams below catching up.
It's alright saying we've got a game in hand, We've got to win it though.

Have we lost against Wigan then?

 

[Victor1986]

No, but Wigan outplayed Exeter today and are physically very strong - a point there will feel like 3!