Away Match Day Thread 4/3/2023 L1: Lincoln City v OUFC

[Symp59]

Long makes mistakes every game and Karl left us with present of a 3 year extension he would be one of the first players out of the door. Lucky next manager inheriting this squad.

 

[uptheus]

Nicely put - and TW if you are reading this; the failure to act at least a few weeks ago, although I’d suggest in November, was simply incompetence on your part. Like Robinson, you’ve lost the confidence of your ‘customers’ and any decent CEO would know it’s time to go.

Or if it wasn’t his decision, then whoever it was, then they need to ask themselves a big question. Hopefully not Tiger!

 

[Jster]

One point in nine games is now the joint worst I can recall while supporting Oxford - we had the same sequence (but no worse) in the Kemp season. (We had one point in 8 games in the 1994-95 season, which was another where we suffered a sudden severe drop off - that sequence started when we were top of the table on Boxing Day!)

 

[Scrongo]

Bloody hell talk about glass half empty. I am sure the team dont think like that,keep performing like that and the luck will turn and we will get the required points. COYY

The glass is neither half empty ,or half full..
The glass is nearly finished & downed...
The glass needs a top up ,& refreshed ..
The glass won't , fill up it self ..
The glass is close to being , shattered & broken..
The glass needs a spirit..
The glass needs a fizz..
The glass needs a sparkle..

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

The glass is neither half empty ,or half full..
The glass is nearly finished & downed...
The glass needs a top up ,& refreshed ..
The glass won't , fill up it self ..
The glass is close to being , shattered & broken..
The glass needs a spirit..
The glass needs a fizz..
The glass needs a sparkle..

Biffy for me.

"The glass is not half full, it's not half empty
Instead it lays half fucked up on the floor
Reason has gone, purpose has gone
All that's guaranteed is the f**king state we're in"

 

[DannyW]

Tbf I think Nick Harris has been very honest in the last few weeks over Robbo being relieved of his duties

Yes it's one thing Jerome being a little complacent when we were ten points ahead of the drop and ignoring the games in hand, the more critical and important thing is the bloody decision makers fell into the same trap, and didn't sack him when they should have.

 

[Yellow River]

Overall I was encouraged by what I saw today. I understand that right now we just need cold, hard points, but that was the best we have played in months. We should’ve won comfortably in terms of the balance of play and general control of the game, but unfortunately we’ve been totally stitched up in the attacking areas. We are woefully short up top, and even though we put a lot more balls into the box and tried to actually create chances, we had nothing in terms of end product. We’re just toothless, and that is going to be a problem.

We badly missed Taylor today, whether people want to admit it or not. We were absolutely crying out for someone who simply knows where to be in and around the six yard box. A bit of movement, a bit of guile, a bit of composure. Their keeper’s save from O’Donkor’s header was very good, although if I’m being critical… you’ve got to stick that away. It’s a free header from six yards, off an inch perfect cross loaded with pace. It was golden. It isn’t fair on the kid that we’re looking to him to get us out of this mess. He shouldn’t even be here. He should be on loan in the Conference, learning the game.

I think the atmosphere seemed to be very good. The players looked way more up for it than they have done in a long time. They seemed committed and very much together. They seemed to be engaged, and Chris Short keeping the subs together at half time for a rondo looked to be well received. Everybody was markedly up a gear or two today in terms of their energy. I think it’s abundantly clear that the players couldn’t play for Karl Robinson anymore, and that a lot of them had no desire to.

Interesting to see Moore straight back on the captaincy, and to hear him say it was taken out of his control last week. He did not resign the armband, and I think that shows what a mess we’ve been in. I don’t like that it was taken off him and that it was claimed to be because he’s had personal issues. Any personal issues are his to speak about or not, not for somebody else to use as an excuse to hide behind, because they don’t have the courage of their own convictions. To take the captaincy off him and say he’s resigned it due to off-field issues when he hasn’t stinks, especially when some insane “co-captaincy” scheme replaces him. Couldn’t pick a captain; couldn’t even be honest about making the decision to change it himself. Gutless and cowardly.

No wonder the players so obviously stopped playing for him, while all the senior pros started contradicting him and failing to support him publicly by the end. Mind you, Williams and Ferguson are just as much to blame. Arrogant and clueless, refusing to see what so many mere ‘plebs’ could see months ago, because clearly they are superior. I know that you both read this forum - hang your heads in shame. You did this. You had better hope that we get out of the mess you’ve led us into, because I don’t fancy your chances of ever redeeming your reputations if we go down.

I thought it was good to see so many people stay to clap the players at the end. I think they can sense that we’re with them and that the issue was with the manager and those who refused to do what needed to be done ages ago, and I think it’s fair to say that a good few of them are clearly as relieved as most of the fans, albeit obviously frustrated that things were allowed to drift so painfully and for so long.

Everybody needs to stick with it until the end. The players will give it their all, and that’s all we have right now. Whether it ends up being good enough or not, they can’t do any more. This is what we’ve got. Get behind them, even if you don’t always feel like it. Save your anger for the summer.

We need someone at least waving at us before the game against Derby, IMO. Ideally in the dugout, but let’s see how realistic that is.

Huge month ahead now. Morecambe and Cheltenham are just enormous.

The whole captaincy saga is shockingly bad man-management.
I say shockingly, but the truth is it doesn’t shock or surprise me at all.

Just typical Robinson, a complete lack of honesty and integrity.

 

[Scrongo]

We need to bring back the glass return deposit scheme, & get some money back

 

[Shosho]

And how was Long given a three year contract? His crosses were once again appalling and his defending was at best League 2 standard (now I get it)!

This said, whilst I’m not advocating Short for manager, nevertheless, with the poor squad we have, I thought he did a pretty good job with the way he set the team up. Consequently, I thought we dominated the game, in contrast to the totally inept performance of late (half the season). Tough run in but there was some positives I thought from today, although goals are going to be a problem (at least we have Smith and Konate)!!

Unfortunately our defence is woefully inadequate. At LB Brown is nowhere near good enough, the CB pairing is lower half League One, Long is limited at RB. At best they’re combative, if we saw any of them playing for Accrington (for example) would we want any of them with us any more than a squad option? Just doesn’t feel like a defence a 6m budget (or whatever it is) should get you.

Any manager incoming will just have to cobble something together, it’s just poor coaching, recruiting the wrong ‘type’ and relying on individuals to fancy it.

The fact Kounate wasn’t in the squad but Goodrham was a starter probably tells us everything we need to know about our season.

To add, if the club, management and players had woken up to the reality when the fans did at the turn of the year and as a result put in yesterdays performance consistently then we wouldn’t be in this situation. I think it will be the blue print going forward, but at least everyone is pulling in the same direction.

 

[Nadi-]

A good interview from Elliot Moore post match, there seemed more determination in the team yesterday.
The fact we haven’t a couple of fully fit experienced central strikers, is the only reason we didn’t come away with something.
The sooner we can wash Robinson out of the club the better

 

[Grumpy Git]

Looking on the Lincoln forum, they thought they were lucky, praised us and said their keeper kept them in the game.

Match Thread: Lincoln City v Oxford United

POLL: Will The Imps Win, Lose or Draw? https://lincoln.vitalfootball.co.uk/snack-poll/oxford-united-h-04-03-23-will-the-imps-win-lose-or-draw/ NEW QUIZ: Last Time At Sincil Bank: https://lincoln.vitalfootball.co.uk/snack-quiz/quiz-oxford-united-h-last-time-at-sincil-bank/ Three Things The Imps...

forums.vitalfootball.co.uk

 

[Jster]

When I saw the squad yesterday, I didn't even notice Konate was missing = had entirely forgotten about him, which kind of sums up the impression he's given here so far - forgettable.

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

When I saw the squad yesterday, I didn't even notice Konate was missing = had entirely forgotten about him, which kind of sums up the impression he's given here so far - forgettable.

Fleming, Konate, Smith.
Combined minutes yesterday = 0.

Matty Taylor, Jodi Jones.
Combined minutes yesterday = 167.

Another stunning January window.

 

[DannyW]

Overall I was encouraged by what I saw today. I understand that right now we just need cold, hard points, but that was the best we have played in months. We should’ve won comfortably in terms of the balance of play and general control of the game, but unfortunately we’ve been totally stitched up in the attacking areas. We are woefully short up top, and even though we put a lot more balls into the box and tried to actually create chances, we had nothing in terms of end product. We’re just toothless, and that is going to be a problem.

We badly missed Taylor today, whether people want to admit it or not. We were absolutely crying out for someone who simply knows where to be in and around the six yard box. A bit of movement, a bit of guile, a bit of composure. Their keeper’s save from O’Donkor’s header was very good, although if I’m being critical… you’ve got to stick that away. It’s a free header from six yards, off an inch perfect cross loaded with pace. It was golden. It isn’t fair on the kid that we’re looking to him to get us out of this mess. He shouldn’t even be here. He should be on loan in the Conference, learning the game.

I think the atmosphere seemed to be very good. The players looked way more up for it than they have done in a long time. They seemed committed and very much together. They seemed to be engaged, and Chris Short keeping the subs together at half time for a rondo looked to be well received. Everybody was markedly up a gear or two today in terms of their energy. I think it’s abundantly clear that the players couldn’t play for Karl Robinson anymore, and that a lot of them had no desire to.

Interesting to see Moore straight back on the captaincy, and to hear him say it was taken out of his control last week. He did not resign the armband, and I think that shows what a mess we’ve been in. I don’t like that it was taken off him and that it was claimed to be because he’s had personal issues. Any personal issues are his to speak about or not, not for somebody else to use as an excuse to hide behind, because they don’t have the courage of their own convictions. To take the captaincy off him and say he’s resigned it due to off-field issues when he hasn’t stinks, especially when some insane “co-captaincy” scheme replaces him. Couldn’t pick a captain; couldn’t even be honest about making the decision to change it himself. Gutless and cowardly.

No wonder the players so obviously stopped playing for him, while all the senior pros started contradicting him and failing to support him publicly by the end. Mind you, Williams and Ferguson are just as much to blame. Arrogant and clueless, refusing to see what so many mere ‘plebs’ could see months ago, because clearly they are superior. I know that you both read this forum - hang your heads in shame. You did this. You had better hope that we get out of the mess you’ve led us into, because I don’t fancy your chances of ever redeeming your reputations if we go down.

I thought it was good to see so many people stay to clap the players at the end. I think they can sense that we’re with them and that the issue was with the manager and those who refused to do what needed to be done ages ago, and I think it’s fair to say that a good few of them are clearly as relieved as most of the fans, albeit obviously frustrated that things were allowed to drift so painfully and for so long.

Everybody needs to stick with it until the end. The players will give it their all, and that’s all we have right now. Whether it ends up being good enough or not, they can’t do any more. This is what we’ve got. Get behind them, even if you don’t always feel like it. Save your anger for the summer.

We need someone at least waving at us before the game against Derby, IMO. Ideally in the dugout, but let’s see how realistic that is.

Huge month ahead now. Morecambe and Cheltenham are just enormous.

Spot on, the captaincy situation over the last week just sums up what a mess the man had made of things. The board should be at church this morning praying for a miracle.

 

[DannyW]

Some verbals between

I know who I believe.

And me

 

[arthurturner]

But equally we don’t score from open play or create opportunities to score goals.
The lack of guile and quality is so striking.

Of the paltry total of three goals scored in the last nine games two were from set plays; a Moore header from a corner
against Barnsley, a Brannagan free-kick versus Plymouth added to a Bate strike from distance at MK.

I have no idea how and where the goals are going to come from to keep us up. Meanwhile 1 or 2 clean sheets in our last 50 games is
criminal.

So, who is scoring the goals in our highly successful Under 19’s?

 

[arthurturner]

It wasn't just me then. Towards the end of the game I found myself shouting at the radio "ffs stop waffling and tell us what's happening". It's something Jerome does from time to time unfortunately, once he is in 'waffle' mode he just goes on and on.

I agree. During the game what is needed is a commentary of what is happening on the pitch. Nothing more, nothing less. The commentator is the eyes of those who can only listen. It doesn’t help that there are four of them. Inevitably it becomes a chat room.
On 5Live you get one commentator and one summariser. During the match it should be just Jerome and Nathan. Nick and PRB add nothing to the listener’s ability to understand the ongoing action.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Biffy for me.

"The glass is not half full, it's not half empty
Instead it lays half fucked up on the floor
Reason has gone, purpose has gone
All that's guaranteed is the f**king state we're in"

I’ve met GO’D, and he had nothing to say to me.

 

[East Stand Fan]

The penalty incident is simply shambolic defensive play again from Long to say the least. The lack of awareness of who was next to him is huge failure of concentration

We've conceded probably over 10 goals this season where Long has been at fault in some way - either out of position or just a complete lack of concentration and awareness. It could've been a whole lot more if other teams buried their chances. Can't fault his efforts and he definitely players better in the centre but it's just not good enough.

Giving him a 3 year contract was an utterly insane move really.

 

[Manorlounger]

I’ve met GO’D, and he had nothing to say to me.

Speechless?