Home Match Day Thread 25/9/2021 L1: OUFC v Gillingham

[Eaststanding]

I know a lad who is employed by a 'league' club to do the stats and videoing for them. Me and my son met him a couple of weeks ago and had a long chat. He said that after the most recent game he took the video and stats to the manager and coaching staff. The manager told him ' we won't bother with the stats but we'll watch the video later.
This club is doing VERY well in the league they are in!!

Understandable, some people put more emphasis on the use of stats than others.
They are as @Essexyellows would surely lovingly acknowledge, a ‘tool in the toolbox’.

 

[Oldman159]

Some good football, an entertaining game with a well taken route 1 goal but other than that, it would seem we couldn’t score in a brothel yesterday.

Anyone else notice (cos the Jim Smith end Lino didn’t) how every kick from the box made by the Gills goalie had at least one (often two) of his feet were clearly out of the box. Is that legal these days?


. IMHO RAF Sgt Drysdale was not a credit to his service and the minimum eyesight requirements for RAF service must have been lowered to ease the refereeing shortages but perhaps Sykesy should try and stay upright in such a situation?

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Ah, so that's ok then...

No it’s not ‘ok’ but it has been an improvement on last season. Yes there is a lot to work on when it comes to scoring goals but we have tightened up at the back which was an issue last season. We have even tightened up in defence without having a settled back 4 which again shows there is greater depth in that area.
I personally don’t think Robinson knows his best midfield 3 at the moment and he has been too slow when it comes to making subs to change a game.
Overall though I wouldn’t say we are in such a bad place as some people make us out to be.
I say it every year but give me a slow start and exciting end to a season over a fast start and then a rubbish end to the season any day of the week.

 

[The mighty Aldo]

No because last year after 9 games we had 9 points rather than 12 and had conceded 7 more goals than we have done at the same stage this season. The only thing better last year was that after 9 games we had scored 11 goals rather than the 10 we have scored so far.

We are slow starters under Robinson, always have been but then have also always been strong at the back end of a season. After 3 and half years you would of thought that fans would of got used to this.

Ah but what if this is the year when we don’t “come good”
We had 9 wins on the bounce and then 5 out of 6 ?at the end of the season, that is not likely to happen again
I think we are a top 10 team and hopefully top 6 but we need to be more consistent especially away from home
We will always have the odd hiccup but we can’t expect to go on winning runs every season

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I was about the post those same stats.

However I think we *are* used to KR having poor starts to every season - but that isn't a reason not to be disappointed and irritated by it. The fact that he doesn't seem to learn from his past mistakes probably makes it worse!

Groundhog Day Robinson.

 

[Mellowyellow]

Rather beat the dross 1-0 each week than the old chestnut 'we are going to give someone a stuffing soon' remark.

A kr side couldn't stuff a turkey at the moment, let alone a football team. Too much clotet style of football, tippy tappy, sideways and lose the ball or hit a barn door.

 

[werthersoriginal]

A kr side couldn't stuff a turkey at the moment, let alone a football team. Too much clotet style of football, tippy tappy, sideways and lose the ball or hit a barn door.

Mate you’ll moan whatever happens!

 

[Oufcrealist]

No it’s not ‘ok’ but it has been an improvement on last season. Yes there is a lot to work on when it comes to scoring goals but we have tightened up at the back which was an issue last season. We have even tightened up in defence without having a settled back 4 which again shows there is greater depth in that area.
I personally don’t think Robinson knows his best midfield 3 at the moment and he has been too slow when it comes to making subs to change a game.
Overall though I wouldn’t say we are in such a bad place as some people make us out to be.
I say it every year but give me a slow start and exciting end to a season over a fast start and then a rubbish end to the season any day of the week.

How about we have some consistency throughout the season instead of a slow start or ending. That would be a much better way to approach a season.
Yes we will lose games along the way but we could be picking up points regularly to keep in touch.
We seem to be either beatable by nearly every team for a dozen or so games then look unbeatable for the next dozen or so.
Let's not forget that we haven't played any team of note yet!!
Of the top 12 we have only played 4 of them and lost 2 and drawn 2.
The teams we have beaten are all in the bottom 8.
The next 4 games are against teams that are above us, if we don't pick up at least 4-6 points the pressure will be on.

 

[Oxfordpete]

Understandable, some people put more emphasis on the use of stats than others.
They are as @Essexyellows would surely lovingly acknowledge, a ‘tool in the toolbox’.

I remember a minor game a few years ago
Chelsea v Barce
Barce had about 90% possession
Good stats but they lost Chelsea scored the goals during the little time they had the ball
Scoring goals and defending goals are both more important than stats …
Alex Mc had acres of space it was like Moses parting the sea

 

[Steve Gilbert]

How about we have some consistency throughout the season instead of a slow start or ending. That would be a much better way to approach a season.
Yes we will lose games along the way but we could be picking up points regularly to keep in touch.
We seem to be either beatable by nearly every team for a dozen or so games then look unbeatable for the next dozen or so.
Let's not forget that we haven't played any team of note yet!!
Of the top 12 we have only played 4 of them and lost 2 and drawn 2.
The teams we have beaten are all in the bottom 8.
The next 4 games are against teams that are above us, if we don't pick up at least 4-6 points the pressure will be on.

We generally even out over a season. Every team at this level will have good spells and bad spells and a mix in between. We are no different. Players are inconsistent at league 1 level, if they weren’t then they would be playing higher up the pyramid.

 

[Eaststanding]

I remember a minor game a few years ago
Chelsea v Barce
Barce had about 90% possession
Good stats but they lost Chelsea scored the goals during the little time they had the ball
Scoring goals and defending goals are both more important than stats …
Alex Mc had acres of space it was like Moses parting the sea

Goals scored and conceded are the only stats that really matter. Everyone knows that.

 

[BristolOx]

Thought Stevens was very slow getting down to their goal.

Pretty sure he was unsighted until quite late, plus it couldn’t have been hit much better. Wouldn’t bash him on that one myself.

 

[BristolOx]

Yesterday was very frustrating. Weirdly, given experience of previous seasons, I’d say that we’re more likely to ‘come good’ now, than get worse or stagnate.
I’m still angry about the points dropped but not sure it’s as doom and gloom as some are making out.

 

[bazzer9461]

Pretty sure he was unsighted until quite late, plus it couldn’t have been hit much better. Wouldn’t bash him on that one myself.

Didn’t think it was hit that hard but not saying Stevens wasn’t unsighted but do believe Jack could have got that, but I won’t tarnajd feather him because I believe he’s been a great servant since he started playing regularly.

 

[Eaststanding]

I agree, stats are absolute nonsense, and I'm sick of hearing about stats after every game these days.

The fans at the game could all see where we were falling short, and what needs to improve, and it doesn't take a genius or a team of statisticians to see where we did well and where we didn't.

All this statistical analysis is getting in the way of simply recognising the issues that need addressing, and making the relevant adjustments.

We had 72% possession.
25 shots, but only 7 on target.
42 crosses, all of which came to nothing.
12 corners, all of which came to nothing.
And only 3 clear cut chances.

Those are not good "stats" all it shows is our possession and our attacking play was either pedestrian, ineffective and tokenistic, or poorly executed, with too many hit and hope shots and crosses.

We don't need "stats" to tell us we were much better in the 2nd half, and deserved to win the game, but we need to be more aggressive, ruthless and clinical, with more urgency and intensity, all over the pitch, but especially in the final third, accept we're a league one side and stop trying to score nice, pretty little Man City type goals!

That said, we do have the players in the squad to be successful this season, but KR needs to take a long hard look at himself first, accept where he's getting things wrong, such as playing players out of position, and not giving players a fair crack of the whip, and then show some tactical flexibility, and find a lineup and system that gets the best out of the team.

If he can find a lineup and system that works, and gets them to click, then someone will get an absolute spanking.

I’m assuming you’ve never used any form of statistical analysis. They are just one method of analysing performance and should never be used in isolation, there will always be context around them. There are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ stats unless you spin them as such, they are simply factual recording of performance and anyone that ignored them risks missing a vital piece of the jigsaw. They’re widely used so that tells you they don’t ‘get in the way’ of performance review such as understanding why we didn’t win yesterday.

 

[ECYellow]

Goals scored and conceded are the only stats that really matter. Everyone knows that.

You said it…

 

[uptheus]

It would a huge waste of Kane, Brannagan or McGuane to play them there. Gorrin, however, is the weak link. We need a more able version of him, one who doesn’t refuse to play a progressive ball at almost every opportunity.

He’s a destroyer of play. Unfortunately, he’s as effective on the destruction of our momentum as he is the opposition’s.

He (Gorrin) needs to be more composed after winning the ball e.g. sometimes it pays to hold the ball for a second or two drawing the opposing player(s) rather than just passing it off quickly putting the receiving player in difficulty or having to rush their pass etc.

 

[Mad Dog]

They’re widely used so that tells you they don’t ‘get in the way’ of performance review such as understanding why we didn’t win yesterday.

Well in his post match interviews, KR is always spouting rubbish about our possession, shots, crosses, and corners stats, and has recently starting waffling on about xG as well, and then the next game, absolutely nothing changes, and the same mistakes and shortcomings occur.

This suggest he's allowing the stats to influence his thinking too much, instead of seeing the bigger picture

 

[Mellowyellow]

Well in his post match interviews, KR is always spouting rubbish about our possession, shots, crosses, and corners stats, and has recently starting waffling on about xG as well, and then the next game, absolutely nothing changes, and the same mistakes and shortcomings occur.

This suggest he's allowing the stats to influence his thinking too much, instead of seeing the bigger picture

Statistics can prove anything and be manipulated. They are often used as excuses or to divert attention to what is really going on. Anything less than a win on Tuesday, and he can use any of his usual diatribe, but it wont detract from his mistakes made this season.

 

[Eaststanding]

You said it…

Stop it you tease, I almost bit then..
We’re still going to give someone a right stuffing soon though