Home Match Day Thread 29/12/2025 - MDT: Oxford United v Swansea City

[Northstandboy]

 

[Londox]

Got to be honest lads and lasses. My morale has taken a hit after last night. I usually see the positives but not after that. Anyone got anything positive that might cheer us all up?

We will win more games in league one.

Probably

 

[billyturleyscurlywurly]

Luke Harris shouldn’t play for us again. What a terrible signing.

Helik not a leader. Not sure why he’s captain.

Spencer’s & Currie’s worst games in an Oxford shirts.

Decent cameo by Dembele.

BDK & Goodrham the two players who gave it their all & tried making things happen.

 

[FalmouthOx]

We will win more games in league one.

Probably

My moral went from dented to crushed this morning when I saw links to Steve Bruce. FFS we are better than a journeyman manager who has achieved nothing but multiple sackings

 

[The Mighty Aldo]

Here’s the rub though,not saying Bruce, but do we get a manager with a decent record of turning things around in the short term.Then say thank you and get another manager in.
Or do we go for someone who gives it their best shot but in all likelihood will have to rebuild next season in League 1.

 

[Oldman159]

L1 next season? We would struggle in the National League with a performance like that last night….

It keeps flooding back…the conference nightmare!

Remember the joys of Farsley Celtic and cans of beer sold off trestle tables in the local school gym?..

 

[bazzer9461]

I thought Swansea looked decent . I’d love to have their centre forward up front for us, real handful and has scored 12 goals in a struggling side. The Swedish lad in midfield didn’t stop running all night and showed real desire unlike our powder puff midfield.

Word has it we’re looking at Adam Idah from the swans

 

[uptheus]

Luke Harris shouldn’t play for us again. What a terrible signing.

Helik not a leader. Not sure why he’s captain.

Spencer’s & Currie’s worst games in an Oxford shirts.

Decent cameo by Dembele.

BDK & Goodrham the two players who gave it their all & tried making things happen.

I thought BDK and Goodrham were poor, especially the former!

 

[uptheus]

Here’s the rub though,not saying Bruce, but do we get a manager with a decent record of turning things around in the short term.Then say thank you and get another manager in.
Or do we go for someone who gives it their best shot but in all likelihood will have to rebuild next season in League 1.

The former, we’ve got to do everything we possibly can to stay in the Championship.

Michael Skabula could possibly cover both scenarios!

 

[NorthWestOx]

I thought BDK and Goodrham were poor, especially the former!

BDK is running on empty though, he's had to play every minute.

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

BDK is running on empty though, he's had to play every minute.

Too tired to hit a set piece (in his own time, having paused for breath), with any quality?

 

[90syeIlow]

Too tired to hit a set piece (in his own time, having paused for breath), with any quality?

To be fair, physical and mental fatigue will affect spot kick ability.

 

[Essexyellows]

A crumb of comfort................

There isn`t a vast difference between teams in this league and, on their day, anyone can beat anyone else.

Swansea got gifted a soft goal and didn`t need to do much after that.

Articulate interview post match from CS about what could have been done differently and, if we had, it might have been a different result.

The margins are miniscule..

 

[BrockBuster]

A crumb of comfort................

There isn`t a vast difference between teams in this league and, on their day, anyone can beat anyone else.

Swansea got gifted a soft goal and didn`t need to do much after that.

Articulate interview post match from CS about what could have been done differently and, if we had, it might have been a different result.

The margins are miniscule..

Hate to break it to you, but Swansea didn't do much after that as they didn't have to. We never laid a glove on them, so why would they need to push on? Had the game in complete control.

 

[werthersoriginal]

My moral went from dented to crushed this morning when I saw links to Steve Bruce. FFS we are better than a journeyman manager who has achieved nothing but multiple sackings

Steve Bruce has achieved more than Gary Rowett, off the top of my head. He’s an ‘experienced championship manager’ which I thought people wanted.

 

[Essexyellows]

Hate to break it to you, but Swansea didn't do much after that as they didn't have to. We never laid a glove on them, so why would they need to push on? Had the game in complete control.

The only statistic that matters is the score but..........

Oxford United 0-1 Swansea City: Zan Vipotnik header seals Matos' first away win

Swansea City win away from home for the first time under Vitor Matos as Zan Vipotnik's header secures victory over fellow Championship strugglers Oxford United.

www.bbc.co.uk

11 shots to their 10
8 attempts outside of the box to their 2

The biggest difference, aside from the score, was touches inside the opposition box 10 for us, 26 for them.

Its very much fine margins, a bit of luck and things just clicking that make the difference and we are not miles away from that.

 

[bazzer9461]

Steve Bruce has achieved more than Gary Rowett, off the top of my head. He’s an ‘experienced championship manager’ which I thought people wanted.

From what I can remember when we were paying Newcastle in the cup and we lost 3-2 in added time, when he was interview he was complaining about his players not having any time off because of the fa cup replay whist other premier league did over Christmas,’so would he he the right man for the job?

 

[headingtonoldboy]

I couldn't understand why Mills was on the left when he is a right winger and same with Shemmy on the right. Play them in their correct positions or swap them around a few times during the game.

 

[werthersoriginal]

From what I can remember when we were paying Newcastle in the cup and we lost 3-2 in added time, when he was interview he was complaining about his players not having any time off because of the fa cup replay whist other premier league did over Christmas,’so would he he the right man for the job?

He’s not the right man now as he’s quite old but he’s been a decent manager in the past. Not sure what this obscure anecdote adds?

 

[Yellowecky]

The biggest disappointment/annoyance for me was the general standard of passing. We consistently passed to the opposition or out of play. It doesn’t matter who the new manager will be, if that doesn’t improve we’re relegated!

 

[eraser]

BDK is no better than the rest on that performance. He's certainly no leader.

He is one of the very few Championship quality players in the team. Not his fault if he's surrounded by inferior teammates. He's been flogged to death since Cam's injury - that's why another real Championship quality, ball playing, battling midfielder is the minimum requirement in January.

 

[Eric Blair]

The margins are miniscule..

Spot on. Terrifying small.

 

[Oxford84]

Doesn’t help when you have 2 of the worst Centre halves in the league.

I think this is something we need to look at, both are just solid defenders but both lack leadership and they dont want to play the ball out of defence, which always puts pressure on the midfield to control the game. Id imagine if we still had Dickie and McNally wed be in a lot better position.

 

[Oxford84]

Whats it like to play football through the midfield, we are outplayed every game.

That starts from having at least one central defender able to bring the ball out, ours dont.

 

[Morris Oxford]

It’s not too late, bring back Elliott Moore before he ends up on Homes Under the Hammer.

 

[TheDukeOfBanburyshire]

He is one of the very few Championship quality players in the team. Not his fault if he's surrounded by inferior teammates. He's been flogged to death since Cam's injury - that's why another real Championship quality, ball playing, battling midfielder is the minimum requirement in January.

Don't hold your breath.

 

[uptheus]

BDK is running on empty though, he's had to play every minute.

He’s 25!!

 

[uptheus]

I couldn't understand why Mills was on the left when he is a right winger and same with Shemmy on the right. Play them in their correct positions or swap them around a few times during the game.

Because he’s be practicing with his left foot!!

 

[Oxford84]

Yeah has been my biggest bugbear this season, our distribution from the back. Had hoped it'd stop with Rowett gone, but far too often Cumming goes long, or one of Brown, Helik or on last night's example Spencer just hits an aimless ball into space.

Was clear early on Swansea were winning every second ball, so what did we do second half? Double down on passes aimed nowhere in particular in the hope we'd win the second ball. Some of this is down to clever pressing and lack of options, but players need to take some responsibility.

Do worry the Rowett mentality of worrying about the opposition and above all else not making a mistake has bred a club with players wary of taking risks on the ball, and static players hiding off the ball. Needs someone with fresh ideas to breathe confidence back into these players to sort that.

I think they are caught between short passing to each other, when they keep showing they arent good enough to do that and not wanting to hit the more direct ball, so we get this in between play where we stay under pressure and give the ball away lots. If you are going direct just go direct down the channels for the wide faster players to get on it.

 

[TheDukeOfBanburyshire]

He’s 25!!

FFS.

 

[Cass63]

Don’t know if it’s been mentioned but I thought the Swansea kit was cool as f**k, very 60s ford gt40.