Home Match Day Thread 7/4/2023 L1: OUFC v Sheffield Wednesday

[uptheus]

I am sure that we all hoped that JS would develop further. He was a teriffic prospect.
He definitely dropped his standards though.
It looked like a very poor performance today against Accrington.
I really hope that he regains his MOJO, but he needs to really up his game

Poorly managed previously and had a serious illness!

 

[LowerSouth]

Not much different to the performances under Short.

Can’t agree.
The starts under Short were an improvement,but the 2 games under Manning are chalk & cheese and much more positive.
I’m looking forward to Mondays game at Vale.

 

[Joey]

And gave away the ball again cheaply on the left side (2nd half). I’d like to see him deliver those kind of balls into the danger area he did today in open play.

Like I said, my MOTM was with Brown or Eastwood.

To be fair to him he was playing centrally today so wasn't often in position to stick balls in the box. I'd prefer to see him out wide, especially as it would mean we can drop one of Murphy and Wildschut who were both useless today. We looked much better without either of them on the pitch, Wildschut is occasionally capable of something I pressive but is too often clumsy and takes too many touches and Murphy offers nothing. I only remember him beating a man once today and then he held it for too long rather than releasing Long in space, and he didn't create much in the way of crossing. A better ball to Joseph and we get a goal but he completely overhit it, he might as well have knocked it 40 foot in the air and out for a throw in, Joseph would have had the same chance of getting on the end of it.

Brown is a fair shout for man of the match, Eastwood was excellent second half but very poor for much of the first so I wouldn't have him in the conversation.

 

[Oxford84]

The word bint was used

and the words w****r and c**t are used for male refs but no one says thats a problem.

 

[Oxford84]

A disjointed squad, but now playing with some purpose and clarity that was distinctly missing before. What a difference that makes. Scoring goals is going to be our biggest issue, but most the players are at least putting a real shift in. Going to go to the wire one thinks, but at least we have some hope which we didn’t before.

can we ban the word clarity? it brings back memories of a certain t**t.

 

[RgYellows]

O’Donkor wasn’t a game changer. Actually thought he was quite lazy at first

Goodness me.

 

[West Oxon U’s]

 

[West Oxon U’s]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1644312591886348289

https://twitter.com/x/status/1644417509427224604

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

Did I dream Eastwood spilling both an easy shot and a cross early on in the first half? Because no-one seems to be mentioning it

 

[Jason N]

Stevens was exceptional whilst playing in empty stadiums during covid and it may also be an issue with him adapting to playing in front of crowds. Complete guess work of course, but his form has dropped off considerably over the last two seasons and could be a factor alongside the illnesses he suffered.

There's definitely potential there, we've all seen it. But Stevens needs a good season to reestablish his career and rebuild his confidence. Hopefully he puts this year behind him and works his nuts off in preseason to regain the no.1 spot here but I think it's more likely that his future will be elsewhere.

The same could be said for Sam Long.

 

[Grumpy Git]

My god Sheffield Wednesday fans are a balanced bunch… not.

Oxford - Wednesday - OMDT

Has he been captured by pasty bothering bumpkins? He wouldn't abandon us at this most crucial time, would he? Did Magna Carta die in vain? Give the hounds his scent and unleash them. I'm starting to panic. 4-1 win UTO

www.owlstalk.co.uk

The ref‘s awful, the penalty wasn’t a penalty, Moore out.
She was poor, but SW should have been down to 10 men, so the fact that she gave a disputable penalty should be discounted, especially as she didn’t give us a bang on pen earlier. I hope we play them next season.

 

[Joey]

Did I dream Eastwood spilling both an easy shot and a cross early on in the first half? Because no-one seems to be mentioning it

No, he was very ropey in the first half. Excellent in the second though which is what sticks in the mind.

 

[ChamonixOx]

Nice to listen to Manning’s post match interviews, calm and precise, unlike the emotional wreck we had before. But why can’t Chris Williams just ask an open question? Every time he virtually answers the question as he is asking it!

 

[OxfordNondie]

J

Nice to listen to Manning’s post match interviews, calm and precise, unlike the emotional wreck we had before. But why can’t Chris Williams just ask an open question? Every time he virtually answers the question as he is asking it!

Could not agree more.
The question always has the answer and LM ends up just saying definitely

Williams needs to more challenging and less up the managers backside.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

My god Sheffield Wednesday fans are a balanced bunch… not.

Oxford - Wednesday - OMDT

Has he been captured by pasty bothering bumpkins? He wouldn't abandon us at this most crucial time, would he? Did Magna Carta die in vain? Give the hounds his scent and unleash them. I'm starting to panic. 4-1 win UTO

www.owlstalk.co.uk

The ref‘s awful, the penalty wasn’t a penalty, Moore out.
She was poor, but SW should have been down to 10 men, so the fact that she gave a disputable penalty should be discounted, especially as she didn’t give us a bang on pen earlier. I hope we play them next season.

To be fair I’m sure many other fans say the same about us if they come on here after a defeat!

I thought we edged it 2nd half and think SW were lucky to hold on for a point. It looks like they might be bottling it this season so can understand their fans wanting Moore out. The budget they have, they should be long way clear.

 

[Jster]

My god Sheffield Wednesday fans are a balanced bunch… not.

Oxford - Wednesday - OMDT

Has he been captured by pasty bothering bumpkins? He wouldn't abandon us at this most crucial time, would he? Did Magna Carta die in vain? Give the hounds his scent and unleash them. I'm starting to panic. 4-1 win UTO

www.owlstalk.co.uk

The ref‘s awful, the penalty wasn’t a penalty, Moore out.
She was poor, but SW should have been down to 10 men, so the fact that she gave a disputable penalty should be discounted, especially as she didn’t give us a bang on pen earlier. I hope we play them next season.

To be fair, they did tend to agree the one that wasn't given should have been a penalty, and thought Vaulks was lucky to be on the pitch after this fouls in the first half.

 

[Osei Yaw]

J

Could not agree more.
The question always has the answer and LM ends up just saying definitely

Williams needs to more challenging and less up the managers backside.

Williams is employed by the club as Communications Manager. His job is to produce content (like post match interviews) for the club, not to rip into his own colleagues like Paxman taking on a politician on Newsnight.

 

[MJB]

Williams is employed by the club as Communications Manager. His job is to produce content (like post match interviews) for the club, not to rip into his own colleagues like Paxman taking on a politician on Newsnight.

“Did you threaten to overrule Chris Hogg?” x12

 

[Northernyellow]

Very early days, but I think LM is doing a really good job so far. He’s brought structure and organisation. In complete contrast to the shambles that unravelled over the last six months of KR’s reign. There are two very obvious weak links in that starting eleven. Murphy is putting the effort in now, but there’s nothing to show for it. I’d replace him with Fleming. Sam Long is not a L1 standard player imo- one paced, poor distribution and suspect positioning. Smyth has been great in his few appearances and has played right back, so put him there. Wildschut has lost his pace but he’s a unit and his physical presence is useful. LM has been left with a very patchy squad, but we’ve probably got just about enough to keep us up.

 

[Swaby39]

Did I dream Eastwood spilling both an easy shot and a cross early on in the first half? Because no-one seems to be mentioning it

You didn’t. It happened.

Saying that, I’ve had time to reflect and without his second half performance we’d have been out of the game so in the interest of fairness I think it’s right to recognise what he contributed to getting the point. I think he could’ve done much better for the goal. Whilst it wasn’t a howler, it really put his limitations under the spotlight again. Then again, not many keepers save the header from Wilks so much like the two penalty incidents for us, one has offset the other.

The lad is terrible with his feet. Say what we like about the back passes but that’s the modern game and he’s not a modern goalkeeper - not his fault, just the truth. Both on the ball and getting across his goal, he’s as stiff as a post. That’s his biggest problem and sadly I don’t think there’s a lot that can be done about it at his age.

On the flip side, there’s clearly not much wrong with his reactions and with his hands he’s pretty solid so anything at close proximity or in the air (crosses, diagonals) look pretty routine for him and as somebody else said he did a great job relieving pressure yesterday taking crosses.

He is still a L1 goalkeeper so not everything will be textbook. But I honestly think our fans have forgotten what a truly well-rounded, consistent and reliable goalkeeper looks like and what it does for the team. It’s been years since we had one. It spreads a confidence you cannot put a value on. They do exist at this level and it should be top of the shopping list. Easty or Stevens no.2 and send McGinty out to play some games. All of a sudden that’s a healthy GK department.