30/07/2022 - L1: Derby County v OUFC

[RyanioBirdio]

4-1 away win. Positively Pompey-esque. After the fourth goes in I start swinging my jeans above my head as people run screaming for the exits.

Took ‘em off anyway.

 

[uptheus]

We are going to smash Cambridge nest week.. We had fight in us and that is a massive positive going forward. Been a week of upheaval so hopefully we will settle down now. We are going to be right in the mix. Do need sombody to bring on for Taylor. Have a good night all

Love your optimism

 

[southwarkox]

Just home. McGuane immense, Browne some moments of class but otherwise pretty uninspiring. Not bad, just not a lot to shout about.

Taylor was awful as he usually is when isolated upfront.

Pretty much normal performance against a bigger team. The game was there to be won but we disappeared after an hour.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Just home. McGuane immense, Browne some moments of class but otherwise pretty uninspiring. Not bad, just not a lot to shout about.

Taylor was awful as he usually is when isolated upfront.

Pretty much normal performance against a bigger team. The game was there to be won but we disappeared after an hour.

Do you that’s a lack of self belief? If we had someone like Todd Kane in the team he wouldn’t stand for that.

 

[dickwalton1964]

Eastwood, Findlay, Moore, McGuane were the best of the bunch. Taylor, Browne, Seddon the worst. The rest were average.

I know it was a loose pass from Findlay that led to the goal but I was impressed with him individually and as a partnership with Moore. Plenty of optimism at the centre of defence. He only had two or three touches but Murphy looks a player.

 

[Yello]

Karl over thought the game again. We tried slowing the game down/breaking it up and sitting back inviting Derby onto us. It was clear that we were planning on nicking a goal in the last few minutes or settling for a draw. Derby were there for the taking, but again we worried about them rather than them worrying about us.

Poor 2nd half and felt a bit of same old same old.

Thought we only needed to make the one substitution at the time, Murphy for Henry, so gods knows what the thought process was to put Gorrin on who’s hardly played any football when they were pushing forward was crazy. Also, Karl said they didn’t really hurt us defensively!! Really, they had 3 or 4 good chances before they scored and we all knew it was coming because of the way we set ourselves up 2nd half.

I hate it when we slow the game down, feign injuries etc (Taylor), so Karl can have his 2mins of fame, just get on with it. Yes, can understand this approach if we’re under the cosh, but we weren’t.

And how Karl thinks we don’t need to address the defence is worrying. Seddon was awful, especially that first 25mins or so and a liability most of the time, so for Karl to say we possibly need a RB agsin is beyond me.

We’re still 5 or 6 players shirt, that bench was very weak/inexperienced.

Disappointed that yet again we start the season off losing, we a half cocked team with lack of depth! Easy start, my a**e.

Spot on , exactly my sentiments.

 

[pidge]

New season same issues, no service up top for Taylor and defenders over complicating things cost us. Mcguane immense looked like the player we signed on loan 2 seasons ago, Browne showed moments of quality but I think moving him outwide allowed Derby to really over run the midfield and led to us sitting deeper. Only difference between us and Derby is the quality of the bench, for them to be able to bring on the likes of Sibley who ran the show for last 30 minutes is where we need to be by the end of the window.

 

[Oxford1996]

Also Findlay may of gave away a cheap pass for the goal but Gorrin went flying past McGuane instead of staying in his position which left the goal scorer free for a open strike.

 

[southwarkox]

Do you that’s a lack of self belief? If we had someone like Todd Kane in the team he wouldn’t stand for that.

I'm not sure. There was certainly a lack of urgency second half.

 

[pidge]

Also Findlay may of gave away a cheap pass for the goal but Gorrin went flying past McGuane instead of staying in his position which left the goal scorer free for a open strike.

100% Can’t really fault Findlay, his one mistake today. Won everything in the air and looked comfortable on the ball with a couple of decent full backs around him and Moore we’ll be hard to break down and will be at the top end again.

Gorrin made the error being too aggressive in the press, something we’d worked on all week to avoid doing.

 

[PottersRightBoot]

Ran out of gas with 20 to go; not like us. This squad lacks pace . Derby not bad but we should have walked off with a point.

Great ground, super atmosphere, but plenty of little Oxford supporters being encouraged to swear profusely by their proud fathers. Is not something I like to hear.

The heart sinks every time the ball is hoofed up to Taylor as he’s marked by three orcs.

Murphy totally anonymous.

McGuane and Findlay best of the bunch.

We knock it around well but we’re too slow and predictable.

Not too encouraging.

 

[Yellow There!]

Sometimes Karl makes idiotic substitutions, these were in theory sensible ones that just didn’t work. We move on to Cambridge, though they shouldn’t be scoffed at, beating and keeping a clean sheet against MK

 

[Common Villager]

Just saw this on Derby's forum, think it sums things up well:

"Oxford essentially ‘showed their a**e’ second half, probably through tiredness or whatever. A few frustration challenges, surrounding the ref asking for cards, trying to come across as physical rather than playing their game. They left a lot of open space and lost control of what they were attempting to do. Derby kept their head down, kept playing their way and opened Oxford up, took the chance and went away with 3 points."

I'm so fed up of KR trying to 'be clever'. If we focussed on playing our game rather than slowing the game down, diving around (Taylor in particular) and just partaking in general shithousery I'm certain we'd have got at least a point from today's match.

 

[Greenstar]

Should have started with 3 centre backs against a strong team like Derby. Ciaron Brown on the left would have been more joined up with Findlay than Seddon

 

[Mellowyellow]

Just back and if kr truly believes his own rhetoric then its going to be a long season. Eastwood and Mcguane were good, the fans were fantastic. kr alluded that he was happy with the back 4 but might bring in a right back. All this when we are crying out for quality in these areas, again exposed today. Seddon was a real disappointment.

It mirrors last season after the Cheltenham game I think, where the world and his dog knew we needed to bring in another striker, yet karl knew better.
We had a decent 20 mins in the first half, in the second Derby more or less ran the show.

The really disappointing thing was that they weren't that special. Taylor was lost up front with little support, and the defence showed that it needs an injection of quality.
Derby hadn't played a competitive game together, but they were drilled, passed well and played as a team. But I believe when they come up an Ipswich, Sheff.Wed, Portsmouth, Peterborough, they will see how tough this league is.

Today should have been a bit of an eye opener for kr, and he should have cemented in his head where we are short, and the issues bringing potential crocs into the squad brings, with two signings already out for weeks.

Hopefully the 5/6 players we need will arrive, because we are currently well below where other challengers are, what ever kr believes.

We are now playing catch up and until kr assembles his squad, something he should have done a while back, we are in a kind of pre-season scenario where new players will have to be accommodated into an unfamiliar squad and playing system.

 

[tonyw]

As for the hamstring, he definitely said Grade 4. Karl's words, not mine. I am no medic, and haven't a clue what any of that means.

Not going to get worked up about it, because spouting gibberish in press conferences is the failing of KR's that I couldn't care less about. But I think he is making up new medical diagnoses there!

Should have started with 3 centre backs against a strong team like Derby. Ciaron Brown on the left would have been more joined up with Findlay than Seddon

Right now, we don't have a natural RWB though.
Last year, we had three players who could do a job in that position - Sykes, Williams & Forde - but now? Probably Long, but he's a pretty defensive option for a wingback.

 

[Mellowyellow]

Nothing to worry about there, strong showing at a very tough away game. 1 chance taken made the difference. McGuane was excellent, Findlay looked excellent, sort the full backs out and we are playoffs minimum

It was as tough as we made it for ourselves, in terms of Derby weren't that good and will want against promotion chasing teams of which we are currently not one, until the correct squad is assembled.

 

[uptheus]

I don’t think that’s a fair assessment by any stretch.

Funny how others have said the same about the 2nd half

 

[oufc1991]

Nobody has lost the season on the first day same as nobody has been promoted on the first day roll.on next Saturday I for one can't wait I hope someone give Smith a good kicking after his antics last season

 

[Swaby39]

Should have started with 3 centre backs against a strong team like Derby. Ciaron Brown on the left would have been more joined up with Findlay than Seddon

Thought we were set up perfectly for 70 mins and then the Gorrin sub just upset the balance too much. I think we gave a decent account of ourselves in what was a game full of unknowns and I think there’s a lot of overreaction going on. We finished the game poorly that is obvious but we did very little wrong for 3 quarters of that game and really we gave the game to them - they didn’t make us look silly at any point.

I also don’t think the squad depth had anything to do with us losing the game but it definitely prevented us from having a go at winning it when it was in the balance.

Taylor was my biggest disappointment. He and Seddon are the two problem areas for me following end of last season. He’s great around the box but he did us no favours today. It was like playing with 10 men with the ball arriving at half way and coming straight back. We need someone who reads those situations better regardless of their ability to score goals; we’ll be a better team overall with that option.