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

 

[uptheus]

How thick were our players last night in the second half by playing right into Barnsley’s hands and giving away cheap free kicks?

Also, trying to knock balls forward with a 50mph winds behind them, by smashing it hard on a very wet slippery surface, instead of a cushioned pass.

We looked desperate last night, and so did Des. Concerned.

 

[MustardYellow]

Wet, windy, at least it won't be too cold I guess...

Uneventful and scrappy, 1-0 either way.

Anyone know what the attendance is looking like? May decide if I choose to venture out or not.

Told ya.

 

[uptheus]

Told ya.

Did you venture out?

 

[MustardYellow]

Did you venture out?

No... think I made the right decision!!

 

[holdsteady]

Touch philosophical about last night. Fine margins etc.

It feels a bit done to death to say what the problems are but we are lacking pace and our paciest players are made of glass. First half Barnsley had levels they could go to, whilst we were chasing shadows.
Second half, we figured out how to make more of what we have, but ultimately got the result we deserved.

Defensively I don't think we're too bad, the frustration is how we build attacks. Ciaron Brown is a solid CB, he is not an Andrea Pirlo quarterback. Asking him to start every attack and mix it up creatively seems desperate. There is a lack of options in front of him, and unfortunately we're not in a position to allow many/any players an off day (Ruben, McGuane, Stevens)

In terms of personnel, we could turn to very little on the bench to make a difference. Barnsley could replace two attackers with another two attackers and we'd have been happy to sign any of the 4.

Could we do something about it and bring in something different in the Transfer window - yes

Will we - no.

Our business model isn't to buy players who have had notable success at L1, it's to buy players who have achieved either at a lower level or haven't made the grade at Champs, and in both cases, need development. Big reward if it works, but also big risk and its not working out at the moment so you have to accept your fate a bit.

This is an excellent summary for me.

Over a whole season the depth the bigger clubs at the top have seems to tell, we beat both Barnsley and Derby earlier on in the season but as the season goes on the superior numbers those sort of clubs have pays off, once we went behind last night you knew it was going to be a struggle. Everyone loses, Derby did as well last night but you just feel that there will be six clubs whose squads allow them to cope with a 46 game season better.

Had we had an extra centre forward to go two up top then I reckon we get something from the second half last night though. Even with our recruitment policy we can still improve on our squad composition, we will go into February waiting for our new second centre forward to get fit, I think this winter has shown that you can't overload your squad with injury prone wingers at the expense of forwards, they go missing (literally in most of our cases) over the winter months and there are days you need to go more direct.

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

Weather is the same for both teams, isn’t it?

Step back and have a look at the all important chances created , McGuane,Harris should have scored Stevens,Cam , Tyler either were a bit unlucky or just didn't catch it .
If we were Barnsley we would be coming away thinking that was a fortunate 3 points as they had one shot and no other chances .
Complete over reaction as always on here

 

[uptheus]

Brannagan failed to spot Leigh on a number of occasions when in so much space. Choosing to turn inside. Leigh was visably frustrated. I thought Leigh was the best player in yellow followed by Smith.

The conditions made it hard for the CBs to judge balls in the air, it was exactly the same for the Barnsley CBs who made some howlers too so I think it is harsh to judge Moore and Browne on that. I agree about Brown's passing though!!

I thought Leigh was shite, sorry. Rose tinted glasses me thinks.

 

[holdsteady]

Step back and have a look at the all important chances created , McGuane,Harris should have scored Stevens,Cam , Tyler either were a bit unlucky or just didn't catch it .
If we were Barnsley we would be coming away thinking that was a fortunate 3 points as they had one shot and no other chances .
Complete over reaction as always on here

They did hit the bar and they were dominant for a period of the first half. Whoever had the wind was going to be in the ascendancy, they just made a bit better use of it unfortunately.

 

[dickwalton1964]

Step back and have a look at the all important chances created , McGuane,Harris should have scored Stevens,Cam , Tyler either were a bit unlucky or just didn't catch it .
If we were Barnsley we would be coming away thinking that was a fortunate 3 points as they had one shot and no other chances .
Complete over reaction as always on here

Whether it’s dark arts or physicality we’ve been made to look pretty ordinary by the teams around us. Yes, we are quite good on the eye but when does unlucky become coincidental ? There was a men against boys look to our performance at Peterborough, a men against girls look to our home performance v Derby and we were bossed a bit at times last night - lots of periods when Barnsley just looked stronger physically and much more savvy in their game management.

 

[Chippy]

How thick were our players last night in the second half by playing right into Barnsley’s hands and giving away cheap free kicks?

Also, trying to knock balls forward with a 50mph winds behind them, by smashing it hard on a very wet slippery surface, instead of a cushioned pass.

We looked desperate last night, and so did Des. Concerned.

What really disappointed me was when Herbie Kane went down injured, the Barnsley manager and a number of the coaching staff got most of the players round immediately, all dishing out individual and team instructions and pumping the players up. Our players just stood around getting cold and wet, Des was nowhere to be seen, almost like he was hiding and didn’t know what to say or do, and same with the other senior coaching staff. Eventually they came forward just as play was about to restart almost as a token gesture.

I’ve noticed this before in other games too, maybe he doesn’t feel he needs to dish out more instructions, but every other team seems to do it and it sends out a message to the players and the opposition. This really concerns me that we don’t have the right set up or the ability and know how to change things.

We are still playing exactly the same way we did under Manning but not so effectively, and in 2 months under Des I haven’t noticed anything about our style or systems or players performances to suggest that he has as of yet put his own stamp on the team and the way we play, and coaching wise it’s like everyone has been told to just carry on as you were doing previously and we’ll just hope for the best! It’s definitely concerning!

 

[MustardYellow]

One thing that sticks out to me and has done for a while is how soft we are compared to other teams. We don't seem to have the same 'bite' other teams do.

 

[uptheus]

This is an excellent summary for me.

Over a whole season the depth the bigger clubs at the top have seems to tell, we beat both Barnsley and Derby earlier on in the season but as the season goes on the superior numbers those sort of clubs have pays off, once we went behind last night you knew it was going to be a struggle. Everyone loses, Derby did as well last night but you just feel that there will be six clubs whose squads allow them to cope with a 46 game season better.

Had we had an extra centre forward to go two up top then I reckon we get something from the second half last night though. Even with our recruitment policy we can still improve on our squad composition, we will go into February waiting for our new second centre forward to get fit, I think this winter has shown that you can't overload your squad with injury prone wingers at the expense of forwards, they go missing (literally in most of our cases) over the winter months and there are days you need to go more direct.

I just think we don’t have players who can play in the wintery conditions. We have too many lightweight/weak players who can be good when the pitch and weather (warmer/not wet and windy) is nice, but not when the going gets tough.

Last night when our defence had the ball, both McGuane and Rodrigues were missing, so add to the fact that Harris rarely wants the ball to feet with his back to play, then they only have the options of either going out wide or back to the keeper or hitting hopeful balls forward, but once it goes wide then those players have the same issue e.g. no options inside. Also felt Brannagan played too far forward in the second half, so again another option missing.

 

[MustardYellow]

I just think we don’t have players who can play in the wintery conditions. We have too many lightweight/weak players who can be good when the pitch and weather (warmer/not wet and windy) is nice, but not when the going gets tough.

Last night when our defence had the ball, both McGuane and Rodrigues were missing, so add to the fact that Harris rarely wants the ball to feet with his back to play, then they only have the options of either going out wide or back to the keeper or hitting hopeful balls forward, but once it goes wide then those players have the same issue e.g. no options inside. Also felt Brannagan played too far forward in the second half, so again another option missing.

If anyone was going to score for us last night, it would've been Brannagan. Our couple of decent spells came when he was getting involved higher up the pitch.

Where the hell would we be without him??

 

[Older Shotts]

If anyone was going to score for us last night, it would've been Brannagan. Our couple of decent spells came when he was getting involved higher up the pitch.

Where the hell would we be without him??

Totally agree, until Brannagan went up top we had NOTHING up front. Harris might run around a lot but a striker he is not. Point was proved when clean through only keeper to beat and he tried to toe it tamely past him. He should've taken a touch wide, and either had a tap in or been brought down for a pen like Derby. The sooner he's pushed out wide and we have a decent striker up top the better.
I'm not blaming Harris for our lack of creativity or anything, as the midfield and wide players did chuff all first half and only came alive later on in the 2nd half.

We are a poor side, well above where we should be - with our current available players. Once all the injuries are back (and the 2 new attacking players), then perhaps we can challenge for a play off place, but until then, with no plan b, we are miles off it.

 

[uptheus]

What really disappointed me was when Herbie Kane went down injured, the Barnsley manager and a number of the coaching staff got most of the players round immediately, all dishing out individual and team instructions and pumping the players up. Our players just stood around getting cold and wet, Des was nowhere to be seen, almost like he was hiding and didn’t know what to say or do, and same with the other senior coaching staff. Eventually they came forward just as play was about to restart almost as a token gesture.

I’ve noticed this before in other games too, maybe he doesn’t feel he needs to dish out more instructions, but every other team seems to do it and it sends out a message to the players and the opposition. This really concerns me that we don’t have the right set up or the ability and know how to change things.

We are still playing exactly the same way we did under Manning but not so effectively, and in 2 months under Des I haven’t noticed anything about our style or systems or players performances to suggest that he has as of yet put his own stamp on the team and the way we play, and coaching wise it’s like everyone has been told to just carry on as you were doing previously and we’ll just hope for the best! It’s definitely concerning!

Totally agree with your comment style & system, in that I’m not sure what it is anymore.

Also, Des was stood out there on the edge of the technical area on his own with no support from the other coaching staff/them having a discussion about addressing things on the pitch. Reminded me when Steve McClaren was England manager when he was stood on the sidelines in the soaking rain!! He seemed more hell bent on attempting to highlight to the fourth official about time wasting rather than sending out instructions to the players who had clearly lost their way. For example, Rodrigues had lost it well before he got booked for mouthy off, but instead of trying to calm him down and getting him to re-focus he did nothing, hence his booking. And he could have got booked after that as his Portuguese temperament got the better of him. He also shows lack of respect by Rodrigues towards Des as Des has already pulled him up on this previously. Small things I know, but these are the basics which are missing. It feels very disconnected which is why we win one, draw one, lose one etc e.g. don’t seem able to put a winning run together/one step forward, two back etc

 

[Osleroad]

It's all easy in ink on the page!

 

[uptheus]

If anyone was going to score for us last night, it would've been Brannagan. Our couple of decent spells came when he was getting involved higher up the pitch.

Where the hell would we be without him??

Not saying he cannot go higher up the pitch, but it didn’t help our cause when McGuane and Rodrigues were missing too.

In fact, Brannagan looks better to me when he gets the ball deeper as he tends to want to play the ball forward, is one of our better players at passing the ball/opening up the opposition, plus he can shoot from distance. By the way, he was our best player by far last night, but he’s the sort of player you want in your team when the conditions were like they were last night.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Disappointing that how the wind works seemed to cause our players so many issues.

In the first half, bally holdy uppy. In the second half, bally speedy uppy.

Lads?

 

[Upthecowboys]

This is an excellent summary for me.

Over a whole season the depth the bigger clubs at the top have seems to tell, we beat both Barnsley and Derby earlier on in the season but as the season goes on the superior numbers those sort of clubs have pays off, once we went behind last night you knew it was going to be a struggle. Everyone loses, Derby did as well last night but you just feel that there will be six clubs whose squads allow them to cope with a 46 game season better.

Had we had an extra centre forward to go two up top then I reckon we get something from the second half last night though. Even with our recruitment policy we can still improve on our squad composition, we will go into February waiting for our new second centre forward to get fit, I think this winter has shown that you can't overload your squad with injury prone wingers at the expense of forwards, they go missing (literally in most of our cases) over the winter months and there are days you need to go more direct.

Is it true that Derby / Barnsley have bigger first team squads though? It might be, but I haven't done the analysis. If their squads are bigger then it may simply be because we have 3 or 4 players who are injury prone / seen better days on really good money. Replace those 3 or 4 players at the end of the season, and you may be able to get 5 or 7 players in for their combined wages and that could give us a bigger and more competitive squad. To be fair to the board we are not scratching around with a mid table budget, I just think too much money is tied up on players who are not going to be able to support our campaign.

It was a tough watch last night and I think it was as simple as:-

1) They took their one chance - or more accurately we took it for them.
2) We had more chances and didn't take them.
3) Cam Bran was unlucky with his thunderbolt.
4) Their keeper showed good hands holding onto a free kick.
5) They game managed the 2nd half really well, and frustrated us superbly.


It was disappointing to lose last night but I'd have been more disappointed if we'd lost in a similar way in more normal conditions.

Unfortunately that result does ratchet the pressure up on the next 2 games.

 

[Essexyellows]

Watched the first half on iFollow, made the monumental decision not to watch the second because I couldn`t see anything changing.

Wasn`t surprised that things remained unchanged.

Disappointed? Yes.

Think the season is over? No.

Classic "Can they do it on wet Tuesday night in........?" No.

6,705 suggests a lot of people thought the same way.