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

[ttg17]

In the cold light of day I think it’s also worth flagging that other results largely went our way yesterday. The late goals for Blackpool and Pompey obviously leave a sour taste, but Barnsley dropping points is a welcome surprise and Wycombe and Posh drawing is probably the best result for us there. It’s only really the Bolton win that is something of a setback.

I think also, from an external perspective and having not watched any of their games (so potentially completely wrong), Pompey will be pulled back into the chasing pack. Having a look at their results, the only really impressive one for me is the win over Posh in September. They’ve otherwise had a fairly kind run of fixtures or have gotten inferior results to us in the tricky ones (draws at Pride Park and Stevenage; a win at Oakwell that saw them very nearly throw away a three goal lead). Their late winners are annoying, but you do wonder how many get out of jail cards they’re going to be dealt over the course of the season.

 

[The mighty Aldo]

Manning channelling his inner Gareth Southgate today. For gods sake go for it man ! At one nil, kicking towards our fans, let the handbrake off and let’s risk getting pegged back in that first 15 minutes of the second half by trying to get a second and kill the game off. If we did concede we’d still have 35 minutes to rectify it. They were there for the taking and our caution cost us massively.

Is this the Manning way?

Remember when we played MK Dons when KR was manager two seasons ago , they totally played us off the park first half home and away and yet they ran out of steam and we won both games.

Also would add that is it me but Harris is certainly not the player we need up front. Yesterday we were crying out for a forward who could hold the ball up and bring others into the game.
Anyone else notice he never watches the ball he is always looking at the defender marking him.
Not impressed with him at all and if we are serious promotion contenders we need a new striker in January

 

[dickwalton1964]

In the cold light of day I think it’s also worth flagging that other results largely went our way yesterday. The late goals for Blackpool and Pompey obviously leave a sour taste, but Barnsley dropping points is a welcome surprise and Wycombe and Posh drawing is probably the best result for us there. It’s only really the Bolton win that is something of a setback.

I think also, from an external perspective and having not watched any of their games (so potentially completely wrong), Pompey will be pulled back into the chasing pack. Having a look at their results, the only really impressive one for me is the win over Posh in September. They’ve otherwise had a fairly kind run of fixtures or have gotten inferior results to us in the tricky ones (draws at Pride Park and Stevenage; a win at Oakwell that saw them very nearly throw away a three goal lead). Their late winners are annoying, but you do wonder how many get out of jail cards they’re going to be dealt over the course of the season.

They won at Barnsley, point at Derby, beat Posh. They have that annoying habit that all successful teams have - tight defence and lots of late, late winners.

 

[ttg17]

After having slept on the result, it could be worse. Feels like a loss but it's a point and with no Cam I'd have taken that before kick off. Win on Tuesday and things feel good again.

Are things perfect? No. We are maybe a little light in depth in central midfield when Cam is out and we have a couple or times suffered with 'mentality' (?) Problems late it games.

But this squad has our best winger and Browne to come back.

Not sure what has happened to Negru?

Big game Tuesday.

Not much was made of it at the time, but the correlation of him not being in match day squads and appearing on that stream is pretty convenient. His last appearance was Port Vale on 2 September, and he was on the bench for the three subsequent games, up until Stevenage on 30 September. He hasn’t been in the squad since. The streaming ‘incident’ looks from a Google like it was on 25 September.

Probably reading too much into it, but the video, though harmless, was pretty unedifying and I can see Manning being the type of manager to view that sort of thing very dimly. Also feels like it would have been mentioned somewhere if he was injured.

 

[OX18]

“

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

Think you will find Exeter had thirty shots to Wigan’s five And also over 70% of possession. not what I would call outplaying their opponent

 

[Sheik djibouti]

Rhodes stole half a yard Brown inside the 6yd box for his goal at the death. It made all the difference and a striker in red hot form will always be favourite to capitalise in those situations. That said, they squandered numerous gilt-edged chances before that and the goal was coming for the last 40 or so minutes.

A few looked off the pace.today. I thought Mills faded badly and looked like he was under the weather just before he was subbed. How many other felt similar I wonder. And we really missed CamBran in the middle, who at least covers the ground and presses when out of possession, forcing the opposition into errors...a pretty fundamental requirement if you are to sit back at 1-0 and try to hit them on the break. I don't think that is really part of either McGuane or McEachran's game and part of the reason we got deeper and deeper as the half went on. Would ARod have made a difference? Hard to say but get the distinct impression he was only ever an "in case of emergency" option if one of those two got a an injury and couldn't continue.

As many have mentioned the three subs were disappointing anddid very little of effect. I would at least have hoped that they would've pressed a bit more to at least get Blackpool playing further back. As it was, we have them time on the ball and allowed them to pretty much pick their passes. As it was GO'D seemed to mostly occupy a small patch of pitch just inside our half for large parts, rather than the normal press/hold up expected of him.

I hope Rodriguez is OK... definitely clutching his hamstring at one point and went down with cramp too. We will miss him a lot, given his recent performances.

Finally, Greg Leigh has been a revelation. He took one square in the nuts yesterday and it obviously affected him for the next 10 minutes or so, coinciding with Blackpool's best patch of the game.

Let's hope we're fighting fit for Tuesday and that Wigan get the full force of the rebound from yesterday.

 

[ttg17]

They won at Barnsley, point at Derby, beat Posh. They have that annoying habit that all successful teams have - tight defence and lots of late, late winners.

Maybe. I wonder how patient Fratton Park would be now though if they hadn’t snuck those last minute winners against Wycombe and Carlisle. Let’s see how they fare when they hit a blip and the locals start putting on the pressure.

 

[Yellowmania]

Rhodes stole half a yard Brown inside the 6yd box for his goal at the death. It made all the difference and a striker in red hot form will always be favourite to capitalise in those situations. That said, they squandered numerous gilt-edged chances before that and the goal was coming for the last 40 or so minutes.

A few looked off the pace.today. I thought Mills faded badly and looked like he was under the weather just before he was subbed. How many other felt similar I wonder. And we really missed CamBran in the middle, who at least covers the ground and presses when out of possession, forcing the opposition into errors...a pretty fundamental requirement if you are to sit back at 1-0 and try to hit them on the break. I don't think that is really part of either McGuane or McEachran's game and part of the reason we got deeper and deeper as the half went on. Would ARod have made a difference? Hard to say but get the distinct impression he was only ever an "in case of emergency" option if one of those two got a an injury and couldn't continue.

As many have mentioned the three subs were disappointing anddid very little of effect. I would at least have hoped that they would've pressed a bit more to at least get Blackpool playing further back. As it was, we have them time on the ball and allowed them to pretty much pick their passes. As it was GO'D seemed to mostly occupy a small patch of pitch just inside our half for large parts, rather than the normal press/hold up expected of him.

I hope Rodriguez is OK... definitely clutching his hamstring at one point and went down with cramp too. We will miss him a lot, given his recent performances.

Finally, Greg Leigh has been a revelation. He took one square in the nuts yesterday and it obviously affected him for the next 10 minutes or so, coinciding with Blackpool's best patch of the game.

Let's hope we're fighting fit for Tuesday and that Wigan get the full force of the rebound from yesterday.

As to the Mills point he pointed at his hamstring a few minutes before coming off and went to the bench to get a gel so assume (and hope) it was just cramp.

 

[Mitcham Exile]

Anyone else reckon that Karl made a secret deal with Blackpool and put a clause in Brannagan's new contract saying he couldn't play vs Blackpool for the duration?

First half was good yesterday. Blackpool had no clear chances and we patiently awaited for the right opening then capitalised via Leigh at the back post. Second half, we faded.

Would say probably due to whatever illness has gone around the club. Tuesday night possibly coming too soon, and would take another point. Hope I'm wrong and we go up there and get all three.

Pleased to have kept the 5 point gap over third. The longer we keep that (and the game in hand), the more scope we will have for annoying results like yesterday's - there will be a few more of them. We will look back at Barnsley and Derby away games and be glad we played them early!

 

[Scrongo]

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

yes & a long way to go , so who knows which way it will go..

 

[holdsteady]

Anyone else reckon that Karl made a secret deal with Blackpool and put a clause in Brannagan's new contract saying he couldn't play vs Blackpool for the duration?

First half was good yesterday. Blackpool had no clear chances and we patiently awaited for the right opening then capitalised via Leigh at the back post. Second half, we faded.

Would say probably due to whatever illness has gone around the club. Tuesday night possibly coming too soon, and would take another point. Hope I'm wrong and we go up there and get all three.

Pleased to have kept the 5 point gap over third. The longer we keep that (and the game in hand), the more scope we will have for annoying results like yesterday's - there will be a few more of them. We will look back at Barnsley and Derby away games and be glad we played them early!

You think there is a clause In Brannagans contract saying he can’t play against Blackpool? Why?

 

[Mitcham Exile]

You think there is a clause In Brannagans contract saying he can’t play against Blackpool? Why?

It was a joke...

Sort of thing Robinson would have done.

 

[Scrongo]

Well well well , the curious chap in the Docs was me and here is what we spoke about … the burger van queue , the burger van at the other end of the stadium , your missing stand , our support numbers , my journey re : bad weather , your visit to Bloomfield Road in the 70s and lets not forget my boots . What we didn’t discuss was the FA Cup and 1953 . You say lm a curious chap ? You are an out and out liar and look very foolish .

Oh Deary Me !!

 

[Osei Yaw]

It’s the CamBran derby, come on!!

Just quietly enjoy how much our club seems to live in their minds.

I agree with this but in a slightly different way. It’s quite normal for your midfield to get leggy in later stages, although I think McGuane should be left out of this discussion as his and Brannagan’s energy levels over 90 minutes have been critical this year. But it’s a much greater issue than it should be when you have little else to put on the field. Yesterday we ended the game with youngsters and the mercurial Murphy trying to see it through. It wasn’t a great situation.

Ironically, McEachran is exactly what we needed in the closing stages of the game yesterday but because he had to start, his legs were shot. Gorrin should’ve come on for the last 5 and injury time.

I think Rodrigues is becoming increasingly pivotal without many realising. His role defensively seems to be irreplaceable from the bench and he’s the one player we have who can turn and find the ball through when we’re under pressure. Once he goes off, an awful lot of our strengths go off with him.

It’s just that age-old issue of what’s really beneath the surface of our first XI. On yesterday’s evidence, not enough yet and we have 13 games to go until January.

All this said I think we’ll win on Tuesday, (we’re very good away from home) and battle on. We’re a good side, just need to be careful we don’t become predictable.

I agree with all of this.

Priorities for January for me are a right sided centre back/right back, a central midfielder who can get round the pitch (more McGuane/Brannagan than a McEachran) plus a centre forward or two. One who will sniff goals and the other who we could bang the ball into if needed.

I really like Harris, but he doesn't seem to have the instincts of a goalscorer. He does all his best work when we're in possession in our own half. His movement and pressing is very good and there were several moments in the first half yesterday where he just stopped Blackpool from clearing the ball and we won a throw in in their half, rather than a booted ball through to Beadle or one of the centre backs. If we could bring in that goalscorer who can run the channels then Harris would be an excellent player to bring on for the last 30 minutes or so. All the things he is good at would've been key towards the end of the game yesterday, but we just didn't really have an out ball at all.

 

[bashamwonderland]

Blackpool fans waking up with sore heads this morning after a famous point at Oxford

 

[East Stand Fan]

Eff me, how many more Blackpool fans are gong to come on here? No other team's supporters do this, not in such numbers. Weird.

Probably because there is literally nothing to do in Blackpool and most have a sub-70 IQ.

 

[Scotchegg]

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

Interesting that despite this post yesterday about the mighty Wigan, you last posted on matchday threads after the Port Vale defeat with a couple of posts between them to dismiss the chances of us getting planning approval for the stadium.

Hopefully we will go on another winning run and we won't have to hear from you for several more weeks.

 

[Scrongo]

It must be the donkey spice ??

 

[Wallop]

Time for some perspective, bottom eight in the League One table with two games to go last season:


Where we are now:



I'll take that.

I do think we need to sign a striker in January though. If we can strengthen there, get another attacking centre mid (the impact of Brannagan's absence was clear yesterday) and perhaps a specialist right back, I'm confident we'll go up. A minor investment for the board given what else they are planning to fund.

 

[Wallop]

Interesting that despite this post yesterday about the mighty Wigan, you last posted on matchday threads after the Port Vale defeat with a couple of posts between them to dismiss the chances of us getting planning approval for the stadium.

Hopefully we will go on another winning run and we won't have to hear from you for several more weeks.

Well @Scotchegg, it was within the last year that Victor was still suggesting we would be staying at The Kassam. Now we won't get planning - let's hope the accuracy of his predictions is maintained!