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

[Eaststanding]

Think this was largely down to a bout of the shits in our squad to be honest. We had completely ran out of steam.

Unless I’ve missed it, that’s all I wanted to hear from the manager, and if that is the case, take the bloody point against a team that we made look good second half, dose our boys up with Imodium and Red Bull and win on Tuesday. I want to know that we didn’t decide to sit back and let them come at us as because that was seen as the preferred way to win the game, because that was suicidal.

 

[Osei Yaw]

Unless I’ve missed it, that’s all I wanted to hear from the manager, and if that is the case, take the bloody point against a team that we made look good second half, dose our boys up with Imodium and Red Bull and win on Tuesday. I want to know that we didn’t decide to sit back and let them come at us as because that was seen as the preferred way to win the game, because that was suicidal.

Ok I'll get on the blower to Liam first thing tomorrow.

Expect a press conference by noon.

 

[Yellowecky]

We can keep arguing the toss until the cows come home about the last half an hour. “Our subs didn’t perform, the squad was sick, they had Rhodes.” What about Radio Oxford? Unless I missed it they only asked Manning about Cam Bran being sick not anyone else in the squad. If they had we could have analysed the second half performance much more easily.

 

[uptheus]

Are you suggesting that the subs made things worse in those games, or are you just looking for a negative that doesn't exist?

Against Carlisle, Tyler immediately set up the goal, Mills looked a constant threat and GO'D closed the game out brilliantly.

Port Vale had nothing to do with the substitutes and everything to do with 5 minutes of losing composure from those who started the game.

Mills and Murphy were a real handful after coming on against Rovers and contributed to us putting the game to bed before a few crazy minutes.

But why let facts get in the way of a cheap dig?!

Nothing about the substitutions, just that we seem to drop off/sit back to hold on which is really frustrating/disappointing, especially when we look very good beforehand. Like I said earlier, it seems/feels we have a good/potentially very good team for 45-60mins (best 45mins for the season yesterday for me as an all round team performance), so just frustrating/annoying that we played so poorly yesterday in the 2nd half. Yes, I can understand that illness may have been a cause, but I’ve seen it a number of times this season which seems either a plan or players are not capable for 90mins etc. I know all players are not going to be at it for the whole game, but I’d expect that most (7-8 players) should be okay, not just a handful.

I’ve not seen Pompey this season, but they keep scoring late goals which seems they can go the full game, whereas, in a number of games we’re hanging on, and at homes games at that which is disappointing, and against relatively poor teams in my eyes.

I’m not sure if this is Manning’s tactics e.g. don’t over exert ourselves and hang on to what we have (I think it is this though), rather than continue in the same vein and really kill off the game which I feel we’re capable of. Yesterday seemed to reconfirm this for me. I just think when you set yourselves up like this e.g. sit back and hold on, but then when you then need to re-engage/get back on the front foot it’s then hard to change that mindset, especially when the opposition has been on the ascendancy which we’ve allowed/orchestrated.

 

[dickwalton1964]

I’m sat not too far from Manning and he’s continually bellowing ‘pass it’ and ‘keep the ball’ - especially to the defenders. I can’t help wondering if this sometimes compromises our attacking threat, it’s like we are playing a containing game whereby we get ahead and sit on it. In fairness we aren’t bad at it and it just comes down to whether the points we will inevitably drop adopting this approach will end up costing us. Bar Rovers where we rode our luck and got the win, I think we’ve been well in control of games and shouldn’t be relying as heavily as we are on conceding possession in the latter stage, it’s three home games in a row now where the opposition have dominated the ball in the last 15 minutes.

 

[Scotchegg]

Nothing about the substitutions, just that we seem to drop off/sit back to hold on which is really frustrating/disappointing, especially when we look very good beforehand. Like I said earlier, it seems/feels we have a good/potentially very good team for 45-60mins (best 45mins for the season yesterday for me as an all round team performance), so just frustrating/annoying that we played so poorly yesterday in the 2nd half. Yes, I can understand that illness may have been a cause, but I’ve seen it a number of times this season which seems either a plan or players are not capable for 90mins etc. I know all players are not going to be at it for the whole game, but I’d expect that most (7-8 players) should be okay, not just a handful.

I’ve not seen Pompey this season, but they keep scoring late goals which seems they can go the full game, whereas, in a number of games we’re hanging on, and at homes games at that which is disappointing, and against relatively poor teams in my eyes.

I’m not sure if this is Manning’s tactics e.g. don’t over exert ourselves and hang on to what we have (I think it is this though), rather than continue in the same vein and really kill off the game which I feel we’re capable of. Yesterday seemed to reconfirm this for me. I just think when you set yourselves up like this e.g. sit back and hold on, but then when you then need to re-engage/get back on the front foot it’s then hard to change that mindset, especially when the opposition has been on the ascendancy which we’ve allowed/orchestrated.

Again, the facts don't support your comments. We've scored 9 of our 24 league goals in the last 15 minutes of the games so we can go to the end, its just that we've frequently closed games out easier and haven't needed last minute winners as much as Portsmouth.

Against Exeter we went in to the break one up and sat back and soaked up pressure without ever really giving many chances. We were then able to break with pace before scoring 2 late goals.

Unfortunately yesterday we didn't have the energy to repeat this type of performance, which meant that we couldn't release the pressure. This may have been down to personnel, the sickness bug, or Blackpool may just be a better side than Exeter were.

 

[Scotchegg]

I’m sat not too far from Manning and he’s continually bellowing ‘pass it’ and ‘keep the ball’ - especially to the defenders. I can’t help wondering if this sometimes compromises our attacking threat, it’s like we are playing a containing game whereby we get ahead and sit on it. In fairness we aren’t bad at it and it just comes down to whether the points we will inevitably drop adopting this approach will end up costing us. Bar Rovers where we rode our luck and got the win, I think we’ve been well in control of games and shouldn’t be relying as heavily as we are on conceding possession in the latter stage, it’s three home games in a row now where the opposition have dominated the ball in the last 15 minutes.

If they're bring told to pass it AND keep the ball no wonder they're confused!

 

[uptheus]

Again, the facts don't support your comments. We've scored 9 of our 24 league goals in the last 15 minutes of the games so we can go to the end, its just that we've frequently closed games out easier and haven't needed last minute winners as much as Portsmouth.

Against Exeter we went in to the break one up and sat back and soaked up pressure without ever really giving many chances. We were then able to break with pace before scoring 2 late goals.

Unfortunately yesterday we didn't have the energy to repeat this type of performance, which meant that we couldn't release the pressure. This may have been down to personnel, the sickness bug, or Blackpool may just be a better side than Exeter were.

I’m not going to get into a comparison/justification engagement with you, so I’m saying it how it is.

I said to my Son at half-time I hope we turn up in the 2nd half this time rather than sit back and hold on which I’ve seen a number of games this season. I also did say very early on in the 2nd half that we’re sitting back which was disappointing, and that it was only a matter of time that we’d be on the back foot with the potential of conceding.

Like I also said earlier in the thread, it seems a plan to sit on a lead rather than it purely being down to a sickness bug which I understand/accept may have been the case yesterday, but it’s happened too often for this to be the reason previously, hence why I think it’s the plan. This might be down to a number of players not being able to produce for 90mins at the moment which is frustrating/a shame as they’re very good/talented for the majority of the time e.g. 60-75mins.

Not commenting to you more on this as it’s just my thoughts/feelings.

 

[Mellowyellow]

I agree the Fylde coast is lovely (some of it) but you support Blackpool not AfC Fylde. Blackpool and Fleetwood are a complete dive compared to the rest of the area.

Oxford on the other hand is a picturesque city and the county has some great beauty spots.

I live 5 miles south of Oxford in the oldest town in England which not only has medieval buildings it has the river Thames flowing through it. Yes there is traffic but you get that with historic towns and cities because of narrow streets dating back to the Romans. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Sorry, but for the most part, the Fylde coast is a dive. It's also freezing cold, with the giant blackhead that is blackpool. I genuinly could not live in such a cold grey place.
Only watching the weather in recent weeks, makes you realise how wet the North is, with temperature ranges up to 9 degree difference, compared to the South.
There was one day a couple of weeks back, when it was 13 degrees in the northwest with rain, the same day we were on the beach.

 

[Oxford84]

Manning mentioned that we look comfortable and like being in a low block.

Maybe the subs that came on arent as good as closing down as the starters.

Plenty of times we couldve actually passed it forwards we went backwards got closed down and then had to kick long and lost the ball.

I think this is tactical and i dont like this way of defending but having players that were ill probably didnt help either.

 

[dickwalton1964]

If they're bring told to pass it AND keep the ball no wonder they're confused!

Well that’s exactly what he keeps saying so make your own mind up on that one.

 

[dickwalton1964]

I think another perplexing substitution was bringing on Murphy if it was our intention to just see the game out. I like Murphy but he‘s no defender, nor is he an attacker who likes to pitch in defensively. He doesn’t get close enough to close down and just sort of floats around five yards away from the action. O’Donkor, although awful on Saturday, has at least proved he can be a very useful outlet in closing games out.

I‘d start Murphy tomorrow, Mills was ineffective and Goodrham offered nothing.

 

[Foley]

I’m not going to get into a comparison/justification engagement with you, so I’m saying it how it is.

I said to my Son at half-time I hope we turn up in the 2nd half this time rather than sit back and hold on which I’ve seen a number of games this season. I also did say very early on in the 2nd half that we’re sitting back which was disappointing, and that it was only a matter of time that we’d be on the back foot with the potential of conceding.

Like I also said earlier in the thread, it seems a plan to sit on a lead rather than it purely being down to a sickness bug which I understand/accept may have been the case yesterday, but it’s happened too often for this to be the reason previously, hence why I think it’s the plan. This might be down to a number of players not being able to produce for 90mins at the moment which is frustrating/a shame as they’re very good/talented for the majority of the time e.g. 60-75mins.

Not commenting to you more on this as it’s just my thoughts/feelings.

I do think that we have got away with it this season on more than 1 occasion ( and we lost late in the day v Port Vale)
We don't concede many chances from the low block, and can probably get away with it against the lower teams in the Division, but maybe not against the better teams.
Like somebody else suggested, we were outplayed by Manning's MK twice to win both games late on.
Maybe we have the players to try this up until the 75th minute but the substitutions are not suited to play this way ( in which case January will be interesting)

 

[captainox]

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.

Mentioned on the post match Radio Oxford show that in relation to his availability for this game he was carrying an injury/knock.

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

If they're bring told to pass it AND keep the ball no wonder they're confused!

Well that’s exactly what he keeps saying so make your own mind up on that one.

I would imagine by ‘keep the ball’ he means mean make a safe pass to a teammate rather than a risky/hopeful ball or dribble which might lose possession…

 

[Eaststanding]

Ok I'll get on the blower to Liam first thing tomorrow.

Expect a press conference by noon.

Well if he’s going to allude to it before the game as being, or potentially being a problem for us against Blackpool then he should have mentioned post match whether it was or not, or at least Radio Oxford should have asked him about it.
Instead you’re left with supporters questioning his tactics in how to see out a game.

 

[bashamwonderland]

Bristol Rovers was a masterclass in how not to finish a match, to be honest. Wasn't helped by the ref but still, we were trying our best to get them an equaliser.

 

[Bitter]

I’m not going to get into a comparison/justification engagement with you, so I’m saying it how it is.

I said to my Son at half-time I hope we turn up in the 2nd half this time rather than sit back and hold on which I’ve seen a number of games this season. I also did say very early on in the 2nd half that we’re sitting back which was disappointing, and that it was only a matter of time that we’d be on the back foot with the potential of conceding.

Like I also said earlier in the thread, it seems a plan to sit on a lead rather than it purely being down to a sickness bug which I understand/accept may have been the case yesterday, but it’s happened too often for this to be the reason previously, hence why I think it’s the plan. This might be down to a number of players not being able to produce for 90mins at the moment which is frustrating/a shame as they’re very good/talented for the majority of the time e.g. 60-75mins.

Not commenting to you more on this as it’s just my thoughts/feelings.

A game lasts for 90+ minutes, if we think we can win a game in 75 minutes then sit back for 15+ minutes when 1 up, we aren't getting promotion. It's too much time to get an equaliser, once teams get that, they will want a winner. Especially the better teams in this division.

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

Again, the facts don't support your comments. We've scored 9 of our 24 league goals in the last 15 minutes of the games

For balance, all 5 of the goals we've conceded at home this season have come in the last half hour - with an average goal time of 83 minutes and 24 seconds.

It's definitely fair to say that we've had less control of games late on.

Sometimes games become dangerously scrappy and open (Vale, Rovers) and sometimes we seem to give the initiative to the opposition having been dominant previously (Charlton, Exeter, Blackpool). Of course, it's not always worked out badly (Charlton were naive and we exposed them on the break, Exeter still needed an equaliser and we punished them too).

The point still stands. We're an excellent team - but there is a potential chink in the armor, at home, late on.

For the record, we've secured (a fantastic) 16 points at home this season so far.
However, at 60 minutes across those games we were on course for 17 points.

So for all the late drama (and our late goals) there's been no 'net gain' points-wise in the last half hour (and 3x sending-offs, to boot).

You can spin it anyway you want, but we're simply not finishing games with anywhere near the control and quality that we show earlier on - and if I were an opposition manager I would see that as an opportunity.

 

[Matt W]

Are you suggesting that the subs made things worse in those games, or are you just looking for a negative that doesn't exist?

Against Carlisle, Tyler immediately set up the goal, Mills looked a constant threat and GO'D closed the game out brilliantly.

Port Vale had nothing to do with the substitutes and everything to do with 5 minutes of losing composure from those who started the game.

Mills and Murphy were a real handful after coming on against Rovers and contributed to us putting the game to bed before a few crazy minutes.

But why let facts get in the way of a cheap dig?!

I think O'Donkor was uperb against Carlisle. they couldn't get the ball from him no matter what. He did look slow and cumbersome on Saturday for some reason