Away Match Day Thread 24/11/2020 L1 Portsmouth FC v OUFC

[Berliner]

"Raise some eyebrows" = Taylor not starting?
Anyway, let's stay positive, Pompey can have atrocious games at times...if they play well there's only one winner but there is nothing to fear tonight.
We will almost certainly concede, but can we score?
Head says a 2-0 standard loss, I'd love to get something out of tonight going into Saturday.

 

[mooro]

I'm reckoning that both teams will score at least twice and most probably won by the odd goal in five

 

[QR]

You can't choose your fixture list but I wish our next game was Sw*nd*n on Saturday. There were glimpses of the better play that comes with growing confidence against Wigan and I don't want tonight to be a case of one step forward two steps back. I'll try and stay positive.

 

[PottersRightBoot]

Convincing win, we’ve turned a corner.

Feel free to bookmark.

 

[PottersRightBoot]

Resting players for Swindon:

Eastwood
Long Moore Mousinho Ruffels
Forde
Sykes McGuane
Clare Agyei Shodipo​

Resting players for Swindon:

Eastwood
Long Moore Mousinho Ruffels
Forde
Sykes McGuane
Clare Agyei Shodipo​

Absolute marshmallow of a team. You cannot leave Gorrin out!

 

[Junior_1]

Keep an eye on the u21 team for any young lads not involved.

But I think, with Saturday in mind.


Eastwood
Forde RB
Ruffles LB
Moore CB
Long CB


Kelly
Gorrin
Mcguane


Hall
Ageyi
Sykes

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

Absolute marshmallow of a team. You cannot leave Gorrin out!

Swindon is more important!

 

[Junior_1]

Keep an eye on the u21 team for any young lads not involved.

But I think, with Saturday in mind.


Eastwood
Forde RB
Ruffles LB
Moore CB
Long CB


Kelly
Gorrin
Mcguane


Hall
Ageyi
Sykes

There’s 3 lads who won’t be involved, Elechi, Slavi & Asonganyi..

 

[Junior_1]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1331223690449727488

 

[psquared]

Eastwood
Long Moore Atkinson Ruffels
Gorrin Kelly Forde
Henry Taylor Shodipo

2 nil Oxford! Early goal from Ruffels set piece, nervy 60/70 mins before late second by Shodipo to put the game to bed.

If Mide starts he won't still be on the pitch to score late on. Perhaps give Obita the first 60 minutes.

 

[oufc1991]

If we play like we did against Crewe then 7-0 Pompey but if we play like we know we can then 2-1 to us

 

[Fourthstand]

Hoping for a good team display again tonight. An early Oxford goal for once would be appreciated. Not expecting much so COYY

 

[Lincoln.yellow1]

We do have a knack of getting positive results when our backs are against the wall, it’s not like we are 4, 5, 6 or 7 games without a win (it’s actually 3 wins from the last 5 games in all competitions) and realistically it was probably only the Crewe game where we we so underwhelming, the other defeat in this sequence was a narrow defeat at home to Peterborough in the FA Cup which could have gone either way.
To win tonight we will need 7 or 8 of our players to be solid, hardworking and defend with together (something lacking in the Crewe defeat) and then and only then will be able to walk out of Fratton Park with 3 points.
.
Its ironic really, if Pompey would have beaten us in the league 1 play off semi final they would have almost certainly have been in the championship now and we would have had a fairly easy trip to Wycombe this evening......

 

[Manorlounger]

At this moment in time, who knows what team will turn up. Hoping for a win (as always) expecting to concede at least one, probably two. It's whether we can manage a few shots on target and organise a couple of set pieces. Easty must, must take command of his area and, likewise, must play out from the back. Long hoofed balls forward will come back at him faster than he can blink.

No silly fouls tonight please.

 

[bazzer9461]

Eastwood
Forde Moore Atkinson Ruffels
Gorrin
Kelly Henry
Clare Taylor Obita

Think at the moment that’s as strong as we’ll get. You got about 4 different options on the right but I’d like to see Clare have a good chance there. You cannot drop Henry after a goal either, especially when it looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Kelly had his best game of the season aswell.

I’d drop Long simply for one reason Ronan Curtis, he gave him the absolute run around in the first game of the play offs. if we have someone a little more attacking at full back with quality in that final third, hopefully we can pin him back and stop him getting forward as much as he wants.

1-1

But in the 2nd leg Long coped with Curtiss so leave it at that

 

[bazzer9461]

Swindon is more important!

Rubbish every game is important, you start tonight’s game with a win in mind not a team leaving out players to beat your rivals.

 

[oufc1991]

Rubbish every game is important, you start tonight’s game with a win in mind not a team leaving out players to beat your rivals.

If we play a weakened team tonight and lose because KR thinks Swindon is more important and god forbid we lose on Saturday he’s going to look like a right plonker play your strongest teams for every match every match is important

 

[n1]

I'd snap your hand off for a 0-0 right now!

 

[Mellowyellow]

So we are away at one of the form teams and KR says the team 'might raise some eyebrows'? What could possibly go wrong!

....and Jesus wept. Please robinson play the strongest team.

 

[tonyw]

Let's be honest, our record against the current Top 8 this season is not great. OK, it's less than great. It is, however, extremely consistent!

Lincoln (A) L 0-2
Sunderland (H) L 0-2
Peterborough (A) L 0-2
Charlton (A) L 0-2
Fleetwood (A) L 0-2

So if you were a betting man, looking for trends.......I don't know, there seems to be a certain scoreline that you might favor tonight......

On the team issue - it rather depends.
If you believe that we're not good enough to recover from this start and make a run at the playoffs, then it makes sense to rest a few key players tonight to make sure we have our strongest XI available to batter the scum on Saturday. Both because it's them, and because it's the better chance to get three points and start to build a bit of a cushion to the bottom four.

But if you believe we can still go on a run and at least think about the playoffs, then it needs to be best available XI every game.

I'm an optimist, so I'd still go for it. Although if Taylor is a little gimpy, then give him a rest because we can't afford to lose him for an extended period.