Home Match Day Thread 23/01/2024 L1: OUFC vs Barnsley

[Carpy]

Should be our toughest test of recent times this evening if the form table is to be believed

 

[Nadi-]

We’ll need to be at it for the whole 90 minutes tonight, otherwise can only see a repeat of the Derby result.

 

[Scrongo]

Yes you don't want ,Barnsley pulling away & Blackpool catching up...

 

[dickwalton1964]

Looking forward to it, a game under the floodlights against promotion rivals in winter in s**t weather with only the hardcore home and away fans there, bit of a throwback. As Scrongo says you have to play football in different conditions, this could be a good one to bring the team together and tough out a win, can't wait.

Totally agree. Wind, rain, sleet, anything, is all part of the game and the test is adapting to the conditions better than the opposition. Any outdoor sport has to accept the weather, that should be part of the challenge and variation that a football season across 9 months throws up.

 

[LeftSideLarry]

We’ll need to be at it for the whole 90 minutes tonight, otherwise can only see a repeat of the Derby result.

Did you see their game against Carlisle?

They were toilet.

 

[kingoftheroad]

Totally agree. Wind, rain, sleet, anything, is all part of the game and the test is adapting to the conditions better than the opposition. Any outdoor sport has to accept the weather, that should be part of the challenge and variation that a football season across 9 months throws up.

apart from frost

 

[Older Shotts]

I remember the strong winds when we played Eastbourne away on an evening game in the conference.. Adam Murray corner blew into their goal.

 

[Barbadosyellow]

There will only ever likely be a couple of ‘must wins’ in an entire season - they will only ever come in the last throws of the season, quite possibly the last game, when you might need a win to go up, secure a play off place or avoid relegation. Any other game, including tonight, can never be described as ‘must win’.

100% correct. Still doesn't stop me thinking it about 10 times a season though.

 

[SteMerritt]

A point will do if our aspirations are the play offs. If we truly believe the automatics are on then I think we need to win these - or at least most of these - sort of head to heads at home to teams around us. ‘Must win’ is a stupid, over used phrase. There will only ever likely be a couple of ‘must wins’ in an entire season - they will only ever come in the last throws of the season, quite possibly the last game, when you might need a win to go up, secure a play off place or avoid relegation. Any other game, including tonight, can never be described as ‘must win’.

Unless it's against Swindon.

 

[MustardYellow]

A point will do if our aspirations are the play offs. If we truly believe the automatics are on then I think we need to win these - or at least most of these - sort of head to heads at home to teams around us. ‘Must win’ is a stupid, over used phrase. There will only ever likely be a couple of ‘must wins’ in an entire season - they will only ever come in the last throws of the season, quite possibly the last game, when you might need a win to go up, secure a play off place or avoid relegation. Any other game, including tonight, can never be described as ‘must win’.

Isn't the point of describing them as 'must win' now is so you don't have to be relying on those games you mention at the end of the season?

The aim of every game regardless of who you're playing should be to win. I've never understood the concept of settling for a draw - being happy not winning doesn't seem like the right mentality to have when you're trying to achieve things. Anything other than a win should be a disappointment.

 

[Scrongo]

To win promotion , your looking to win all home games & at least a draw away

 

[Essexyellows]

Nail the flat capped whippet fiddling pigeon racing Northerners.

3-1 home win.

I`m taking BBC advice and staying at home watching on iFollow in safety.

 

[sideshowrob]

Won't it be nice when we are snugly tucked into that new stadium with stands on four sides and the corners filled in? With under soil heating weather related postponements might be a thing of the past.

 

[RgYellows]

To win promotion , your looking to win all home games & at least a draw away

This is true, no team has ever been promoted at this level without an unbeaten season and 50% win rate.

Isn't the point of describing them as 'must win' now is so you don't have to be relying on those games you mention at the end of the season?

But our aim is promotion. Not winning tonight doesn’t mean we fail to get promoted.

 

[Foley]

That's why I think/hope it'll be 0-0, will be though with the conditions. The toss may have cricket style importance tonight.

View attachment 17557

Hope for a 0 0?
Surely aby Oxford supporter wouod hope for a win?
Conditions could be awful, but poor Conditions or not, there us no reason why on a good day we can't beat Barnsley.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Hope for a 0 0?
Surely aby Oxford supporter wouod hope for a win?
Conditions could be awful, but poor Conditions or not, there us no reason why on a good day we can't beat Barnsley.

It's reasonable to hope for a draw if you know you're playing a team who are better than you. I'm not quite sure where we and Barnsley stand at the moment; I'd have been happy with a draw against Derby as they were much better than us.

 

[SteMerritt]

It's reasonable to hope for a draw if you know you're playing a team who are better than you. I'm not quite sure where we and Barnsley stand at the moment; I'd have been happy with a draw against Derby as they were much better than us.

"Been happy with" and "Hope for" are different things. We could play Man City at the weekend and I'd hope for a win. I would be happy with a draw. These don't work for a league game against Barnsley however.

 

[Scrongo]

When we played them at Wembley, it was hilarious, seeing thousands of Barnsley fans with flat caps on..

 

[werthersoriginal]

"Been happy with" and "Hope for" are different things. We could play Man City at the weekend and I'd hope for a win. I would be happy with a draw. These don't work for a league game against Barnsley however.

Yeah yeah it's just words ... you wouldn't *realistically hope* for a win against Man City. I have bad feelings about Barnsley as they always seem to beat us here, but we'll see.

 

[MJB]

Yeah yeah it's just words ... you wouldn't *realistically hope* for a win against Man City. I have bad feelings about Barnsley as they always seem to beat us here, but we'll see.

Beating them at the Manor on the last day of 96/97 season (when they were playing like Brazil in getting to the Premier League, but were clearly already on a beach in Brazil...) is always the game I think of when I think of Barnsley for some reason.

Joey with a very wind-assisted goal straight from a corner is surely a good omen!

 

[dickwalton1964]

Isn't the point of describing them as 'must win' now is so you don't have to be relying on those games you mention at the end of the season?

The aim of every game regardless of who you're playing should be to win. I've never understood the concept of settling for a draw - being happy not winning doesn't seem like the right mentality to have when you're trying to achieve things. Anything other than a win should be a disappointment.

Yes, of course you aim to win every game, but there can be no such thing as a 'must win' game until it becomes mathematically a 'must win'. That is the only time a game becomes 'must win'. We can lose tonight and still go up as champions - yes, it becomes slightly more difficult and some where down the line there might be a game where we must win that looms a bit sooner than we hoped. That's the only time that daft phrase is churned out with any proper meaning.