Away Match Day Thread 25/10/2025 - MDT: Sheffield Wednesday v OUFC

[Northstandboy]

 

[Stranger]

I think the second half performance was a direct result of Brannagan's departure. It was after he went off that we lost our shape and no one seemed to know what they were supposed to be doing.

To be fair to Rowett, when we were under the cosh he made three positive substitutions, two of whom should have scored (don't think you can blame him for Shemmy and sparky missing open goals)

 

[Yellow Dog]

Seems a lot of work for something so irrelevant!

If you don't want to know what our projected points finish is after every game, then yes, it's totally irrelevant to you. Don't look at the next one.

 

[Mike_H]

That's better

We had this nonsense last season with people suggesting unrealistic low targets for the number of points needed to stay up.

Last year Luton and Hull finished on 49 points with Hull staying up on goal difference. So bringing out a chart labelled "Expected Relegation (42)" for this season might as well be be labelled "Certain Relegation".

Last season John Mousinho said he was aiming for Portsmouth to get 50 points to stay up - and 51 points is often quoted as a target.

So don't get me wrong, 6 points from the last 3 games is very welcome, but let's not get complacent and think our current 12 points from 12 games puts us on target for survival as more than one point a game will almost certainly be needed.

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

If you don't want to know what our projected points finish is after every game, then yes, it's totally irrelevant to you. Don't look at the next one.

There is literally a League Table.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

We had this nonsense last season with people suggesting unrealistic low targets for the number of points needed to stay up.

Last year Luton and Hull finished on 49 points with Hull staying up on goal difference. So bringing out a chart labelled "Expected Relegation (42)" for this season might as well be be labelled "Certain Relegation".

Last season John Mousinho said he was aiming for Portsmouth to get 50 points to stay up - and 51 points is often quoted as a target.

So don't get me wrong, 6 points from the last 3 games is very welcome, but let's not get complacent and think our current 12 points from 12 games puts us on target for survival as more than one point a game will almost certainly be needed.

You need to average 1.2 points per game to survive. We have done that over the last 9 games. The first 3 games of the season let us down.

 

[38yearsofpain]

We had this nonsense last season with people suggesting unrealistic low targets for the number of points needed to stay up.

Last year Luton and Hull finished on 49 points with Hull staying up on goal difference. So bringing out a chart labelled "Expected Relegation (42)" for this season might as well be be labelled "Certain Relegation".

Last season John Mousinho said he was aiming for Portsmouth to get 50 points to stay up - and 51 points is often quoted as a target.

So don't get me wrong, 6 points from the last 3 games is very welcome, but let's not get complacent and think our current 12 points from 12 games puts us on target for survival as more than one point a game will almost certainly be needed.

I remember talking to Martin Allen about relegation. He said that once you get into the new year those at the bottom fight like dogs and those at the
top start to freeze. Results become even more difficult to predict and invariably the bottom teams get more points and those near the top get less. Hence the run rate early doors is not a predictor of total points.

 

[Yellow Dog]

There is literally a League Table.

Show me a league table that shows we're projected to finish with 47 points, as of today's form?

 

[West Oxon U’s]

 

[JoeUFC]

Show me a league table that shows we're projected to finish with 47 points, as of today's form?

I can only show you one that shows us 10th on recent form.

Everything is going to be fiiiine...

 

[Mad Dog]

Don't you just love a smart a**e.oh is smart a**e one word or two?

It's two separate words, but often written using a hyphen. And in your attempt to be a "smart-a**e" yourself, you've neglected to use a capital "O" for the word "Oh" and failed to use a space between the "O" and the previous full stop.

You've also failed to use a question mark after your first use of the word a**e, as although it's rhetorical, it's still a question.

Good effort though.

 

[MarkG]

Thoughts on today.
Second half should have taken off Brannagan once it was clear he couldn’t play on. Instead we watched him limp around for the five minutes leading up to the Wednesday goal. Then subbed him.

Apart from Jamie Cumming who had one good save and a few easy catches. Nobody stood out. the usual suspects on here like to pile on to Harris. But we had several other players who should have done better. One on ones with the gk. open goal with the gk running back from the corner flag. Wildly hit shots hitting row Z. Passing rather than shoooting.

But anyway it’s six points from nine against relegation rivals of Derby, Wrexham and Sheffield Wednesday.

I don’t want to gloat on Wednesday’s points deduction but they would be bottom on six points without the deduction. Ok we’re just ahead on twelve. But that’s 18 points they have to catch up. And maybe more if they don’t exit administration paying the required 25% of creditors or whatever the rule is. So assuming we aren’t crap and swfc aren’t brilliant I think that’s one team to finish below us.

 

[Whingit]

I do wonder sometimes if fans of every other team are as miserable and entitled as ours. For someone who's generally happy to see us competing in the second division, I do take comfort in the fact that the people whinging about an away victory would still be at it if we were top 4 in the Premier League and that OUFC is just an excuse for them to moan and nothing would ever please them.

 

[tonyw]

Our xG so far this season is 11th in the league. Last season it was 23rd. I don’t know how you can watch our first dozen games this year and not think we’re massively improved. We’re creating far far more opportunities than we did.

We are also wildly inconsistent - often within the same game - so there’s still a ton of work for Rowett to do to get us to play a good 90 minutes every week (so far, we’ve only done it twice - Derby & Bristol). But it is progress, even if it doesn’t feel like it when we play a clunker like we did at Wrexham (and much of the 2nd half today)

 

[Londox]

I'm not saying people shouldn't be criticising Rowett. Performances haven't been up to scratch and as Colin B has shown the David v Goliath story of Oxford in the championship doesn't quite stack up given our wage bill.

But... Don't the players have to take some responsibility for the poor performances this season? Rowett has managed to show numerous times he is a good tactical manager at many different clubs. It can't be all on him. We have a lot of experienced pros out there who seem to often play without intelligence and intensity. The players have shown they can put in good performances (ie Bristol city away) so why don't we see it enough? We have some good talent who are capable of showing more than they currently are.

 

[pommy80]

Just watched the highlights. Krastev needs to just hit them first time. Way too many touches, especially at this level in the box.

 

[chuckbert]

Our xG so far this season is 11th in the league. Last season it was 23rd. I don’t know how you can watch our first dozen games this year and not think we’re massively improved. We’re creating far far more opportunities than we did.

We are also wildly inconsistent - often within the same game - so there’s still a ton of work for Rowett to do to get us to play a good 90 minutes every week (so far, we’ve only done it twice - Derby & Bristol). But it is progress, even if it doesn’t feel like it when we play a clunker like we did at Wrexham (and much of the 2nd half today)

It’s the xG->G conversion rate that is giving me caniptions.

 

[West Oxon U’s]

A different angle of Brannagan’s ferocious ‘thunder strike’.

 

[West Oxon U’s]

What a goal - another angle of Brannagan’s worldy.

 

[Isle of Wight Yellow]

I do wonder sometimes if fans of every other team are as miserable and entitled as ours. For someone who's generally happy to see us competing in the second division, I do take comfort in the fact that the people whinging about an away victory would still be at it if we were top 4 in the Premier League and that OUFC is just an excuse for them to moan and nothing would ever please them.

I see posts like this quite a lot on here, so I have a truly genuine question - are you being slightly tongue in cheek, or do you honestly and seriously think that if we had played the second half pretty much like the first, won comfortably 4-0 and could have had more, that the debate and discourse on here would be exactly the same - the same people who are saying we were poor and disorganised and chaotic etc in the second half would still be posting criticism, being negative etc?

Not having a go at all just wondering if the view of people who post like this really is ‘That was a great away win and any criticism is just people who’ll literally never be happy’ or if it’s more of a jokey attempt at pointing out that we won.

 

[Emilio]

Seems a lot of work for something so irrelevant!

This is exactly the sort of stuff I keep track of myself, and enjoy reading from other people. On a forum, this is far from irrelevant.

Keep it up, @Yellow Dog !

 

[Essexyellows]

Our xG so far this season is 11th in the league. Last season it was 23rd. I don’t know how you can watch our first dozen games this year and not think we’re massively improved. We’re creating far far more opportunities than we did.

We are also wildly inconsistent - often within the same game - so there’s still a ton of work for Rowett to do to get us to play a good 90 minutes every week (so far, we’ve only done it twice - Derby & Bristol). But it is progress, even if it doesn’t feel like it when we play a clunker like we did at Wrexham (and much of the 2nd half today)

Root cause analysis right there.

We are consistently inconsistent.

 

[Jon-ioualways]

I think the second half performance was a direct result of Brannagan's departure. It was after he went off that we lost our shape and no one seemed to know what they were supposed to be doing.

To be fair to Rowett, when we were under the cosh he made three positive substitutions, two of whom should have scored (don't think you can blame him for Shemmy and sparky missing open goals)

Don't be silly, Stranger, of course you can blame him. If we're doing OK at half-time, and winning, don't you know that he tells the team to be defensive, not score any more goals, and just invite the opposition on, just so that we can (at best) hang on to the victory? And then, to make things worse, we actually blame Sparky and Shemmy for missing, when they're just following GR's orders.

 

[The Mighty Aldo]

I'm not saying people shouldn't be criticising Rowett. Performances haven't been up to scratch and as Colin B has shown the David v Goliath story of Oxford in the championship doesn't quite stack up given our wage bill.

But... Don't the players have to take some responsibility for the poor performances this season? Rowett has managed to show numerous times he is a good tactical manager at many different clubs. It can't be all on him. We have a lot of experienced pros out there who seem to often play without intelligence and intensity. The players have shown they can put in good performances (ie Bristol city away) so why don't we see it enough? We have some good talent who are capable of showing more than they currently are.

Is he a good tactical manager?

1. When Bannon had the freedom of Yorkshire second half after Cam went off nobody was told to man mark him
2. Second half our 2 strikers played wider to try and nullify their defenders coming out with the ball. This was working until they scored after that we had no outlet ball and they weren’t able to play off each other. That should have been changed
3. Lack of decision making cost us the goal when Cam was off the pitch

 

[WRox]

I remember talking to Martin Allen about relegation. He said that once you get into the new year those at the bottom fight like dogs and those at the
top start to freeze. Results become even more difficult to predict and invariably the bottom teams get more points and those near the top get less. Hence the run rate early doors is not a predictor of total points.

Might be something in this… last year on Boxing Day, Hull were third bottom with 19 from 23 and finished fourth bottom on 49.

The year before QPR were on 20 from 23 and it took 51 points to stay up.

It’s probably a combination of league table pressure and opportunity to improve in January, but the league has closed in after Christmas the last couple of seasons.

 

[londonyellow]

It’s the xG->G conversion rate that is giving me caniptions.

xG – 13.8
Goals – 13

Doesn't always feel like it though!

 

[Oxford84]

Yes we did… a welcome 3 points and a real relief after that 2nd half, which was a tough watch.

But, you have to ask yourself if that was a performance to take into the next game and build on.

We scraped through in the end and look hugely vulnerable.

It is not unreasonable to be really concerned about how that game panned out regardless of getting the 3 points.

Anyway, onto the next game…. See if we can manage two in a row.

Im off to enjoy a celebratory beer.

Just seems to be a massive problem with away games where we look so terrible.

 

[Coffin Dodger]

It would appear that lots of struggling teams perform differently in 2 halves of a game, it's not just us dropping off, it's oppositions improving their performance.
Yesterday was typical, Wednesday just didn't improve enough.

 

[Barbadosyellow]

And then, to make things worse, we actually blame Sparky and Shemmy for missing, when they're just following GR's orders.

It certainly looked like Sparky was deliberately trying not to score!

 

[OtteryYellow]

I see posts like this quite a lot on here, so I have a truly genuine question - are you being slightly tongue in cheek, or do you honestly and seriously think that if we had played the second half pretty much like the first, won comfortably 4-0 and could have had more, that the debate and discourse on here would be exactly the same - the same people who are saying we were poor and disorganised and chaotic etc in the second half would still be posting criticism, being negative etc?

Not having a go at all just wondering if the view of people who post like this really is ‘That was a great away win and any criticism is just people who’ll literally never be happy’ or if it’s more of a jokey attempt at pointing out that we won.

I think we all recognise that the second half was poor but the annoyance isn't about people pointing that out, it's with extrapolating that into we are crap, boring, negative, no better than last year etc etc. etc. This totally ignores all the other positive evidence that suggests we are a club that is improving. You just have to listen to rowett and the players to know that they are totally aware of where they're at and have a clear plan to get better, I don't really understand why fans would chose to be so negative and focus on the second half of a game that we won. Glass a tenth full comes to mind.

 

[Horse]

The fans yesterday could see Bannan absolutely running the game with no one near him to cut off the supply. Why don’t managers see that? Also we were getting so deep their defence was in midfield and attack and we had 11 players in our own box. What’s the harm in putting one of ours on the half way line to ease that pressure by making their defenders retreat back?