Player News Best Team of the Kassam Era

[WRox]

GK: Eastwood 2016/2017 version.
RB: Baldock by miles.
LB: Johnson. I know he played further up as well, but his performance in that 2-1 at Swindon from full back was so good.
CB: Dickie.
CB: Brown.
CM: Lundstram easy.
CM: Brannagan easy.
LW: Murphy.
10: Maguire.
RW: Henry.
ST: Roofe.

The one I’d be very tempted to include but haven’t quite found space for is Jamie Brooks. He had more potential and talent than anyone in this team.

 

[Mintyshoe]

Who'd be the manager of that era? Des? Despite Rowett's amazing achievements

Good question.

You could make a case for a few:

- Chris Wilder: The one who turned the club around all those years ago and the best manager we’d had for a long time. Has gone on to achieve great things although his legacy here is somewhat tarnished by a few mediocre seasons in League Two.

- Michael Appleton: Probably my favourite team of the Kassam era, and the level those players have reached is impressive. Played some great stuff but his record since suggests it may have been more a case of exceptional recruitment.

- Karl Robinson: Never my favourite and it ended acrimoniously, but you can’t argue that he got us playing with a great style and set us up as one of the better clubs in League One.

- Liam Manning: Lacking charisma but thoroughly organised and professional. Will not be remembered fondly here for obvious reasons but from an unbiased perspective, he was the one who set us up for promotion from a season battling relegation.

- Des Buckingham: Hometown hero and took us up to the Championship, albeit on wobbly form. Deserves consideration for the tactics of the Bolton play off final victory alone - a masterclass!

- Gary Rowett: A steady, professional influence who managed to achieve the ‘impossible’.

This one is going to be controversial as people have strong views on managers. Based on achievement here and managerial ability/success since, it has to be Chris Wilder for me (even though he’s not my favourite personally).

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Good question.

You could make a case for a few:

- Chris Wilder: The one who turned the club around all those years ago and the best manager we’d had for a long time. Has gone on to achieve great things although his legacy here is somewhat tarnished by a few mediocre seasons in League Two.

- Michael Appleton: Probably my favourite team of the Kassam era, and the level those players have reached is impressive. Played some great stuff but his record since suggests it may have been more a case of exceptional recruitment.

- Karl Robinson: Never my favourite and it ended acrimoniously, but you can’t argue that he got us playing with a great style and set us up as one of the better clubs in League One.

- Liam Manning: Lacking charisma but thoroughly organised and professional. Will not be remembered fondly here for obvious reasons but from an unbiased perspective, he was the one who set us up for promotion from a season battling relegation.

- Des Buckingham: Hometown hero and took us up to the Championship, albeit on wobbly form. Deserves consideration for the tactics of the Bolton play off final victory alone - a masterclass!

- Gary Rowett: A steady, professional influence who managed to achieve the ‘impossible’.

This one is going to be controversial as people have strong views on managers. Based on achievement here and managerial ability/success since, it has to be Chris Wilder for me (even though he’s not my favourite personally).

No Ian Atkins on that list?

 

[WRox]

Good question.

You could make a case for a few:

- Chris Wilder: The one who turned the club around all those years ago and the best manager we’d had for a long time. Has gone on to achieve great things although his legacy here is somewhat tarnished by a few mediocre seasons in League Two.

- Michael Appleton: Probably my favourite team of the Kassam era, and the level those players have reached is impressive. Played some great stuff but his record since suggests it may have been more a case of exceptional recruitment.

- Karl Robinson: Never my favourite and it ended acrimoniously, but you can’t argue that he got us playing with a great style and set us up as one of the better clubs in League One.

- Liam Manning: Lacking charisma but thoroughly organised and professional. Will not be remembered fondly here for obvious reasons but from an unbiased perspective, he was the one who set us up for promotion from a season battling relegation.

- Des Buckingham: Hometown hero and took us up to the Championship, albeit on wobbly form. Deserves consideration for the tactics of the Bolton play off final victory alone - a masterclass!

- Gary Rowett: A steady, professional influence who managed to achieve the ‘impossible’.

This one is going to be controversial as people have strong views on managers. Based on achievement here and managerial ability/success since, it has to be Chris Wilder for me (even though he’s not my favourite personally).

It’s Appleton for me for 2016.

I don’t want to talk down some huge achievements, but Wilder got Oxford promoted from the conference when we were a massive club for the level and had the budget to go and sign key players from competitors, and Buckingham and Manning had such short tenures.

 

[Mintyshoe]

It’s Appleton for me for 2016.

I don’t want to talk down some huge achievements, but Wilder got Oxford promoted from the conference when we were a massive club for the level and had the budget to go and sign key players from competitors, and Buckingham and Manning had such short tenures.

Appleton was great for us.

You’re right re Wilder, but there’s a difference between the best Oxford United manager at the time, and the best to have managed Oxford United. I think Wilder has proven to be the latter.

 

[Jster]

Got to be Appleton, I think.

 

[werthersoriginal]

You've got to have Murphy and Henry, and ideally Matt Taylor. Could we put Roofe on the right wing and Henry as 10?

 

[WRox]

Appleton was great for us.

You’re right re Wilder, but there’s a difference between the best Oxford United manager at the time, and the best to have managed Oxford United. I think Wilder has proven to be the latter.

Yeah I agree - I’m going off their achievements at Oxford though. If it’s about what people have achieved at other clubs then Ramon Diaz is 100% the manager.

 

[Scotchegg]

 

[Didcotox]

Who'd be the manager of that era? Des? Despite Rowett's amazing achievements

MAPP for me.

 

[Mintyshoe]

View attachment 27054

Seems like there’s consensus on c. 75% of the team but I do feel, nostalgia aside, it’s hard to argue Constable could have (or ever did) hold his own at Championship level.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

View attachment 27054

Hard to argue with any of those expect for Baptiste, he only played 26 games for us. No team has seen him reach his full potential due to injuries.
Surely James Henry is before Baptiste on the pecking order?

Finally, no Sam Long, the family won't be happy with you

 

[tonyw]

I think the thing with Rothwell is that, although he may not have hit his prime with us, he’s gone on to have an exceptional career.

He was a key player for a Leeds United squad who were promoted with 100 points, has oozed class and has an exceptional dead ball delivery. He’s also played over 30 games in the Premier League.

Other options (and we’re choosing among the best of the best) such as Maguire arguably peaked before they signed here (at Sheffield Wednesday in the Champ) or haven’t quite hit the heights since (like Ledson who has had a steady career at Preston in comparison to Rothwell).

I think we need a clearer definition of the question!

Is it how good the player was when he was with us?
Or is it how good the player was when he hit the peak of his career?
And if it's the latter, then does it matter if that peak was before or after he played for us?
Or is it a blend of all of those?

If it's solely about peak ability then, for example, there's not much debate to be had in net as we've had a World Cup winning goalie play for us during the Kassam era. But if it should take into account whether they were any good for us, then Martinez wouldn't get very far with his one fairly mediocre appearance at Port Vale........

And if we don't care about when a player's peak was, then Matt Phillips was a key part of a team that finished 10th in the Premier League.
But if we need the player to have been good for us then, with the best will in the world because the guy still does put in a shift, he's not going to be a part of the conversation......

 

[RgYellows]

Find it absolutely mad that people think Eastwood was better than JC.

 

[Jason N]

Cumming
Baldock. Dickie. Nelson. Brown
Brannagan Lundstram
Maguire
Brooks Roofe Murphy​

Brooks came through the youth system at Oxford United, playing as a striker. He marked his first-team debut, as a 17-year-old, with a goal and an assist at the end of the 2001–02 season. In his first season at the Kassam Stadium he walked away with all four player of the year awards. He was due to go on trial with Arsenal with a view to a move to the Premiership club, but the day before the trial he was rushed to hospital, fighting for his life. The mystery illness was later diagnosed as Guillain–Barré syndrome. He was in intensive care for over four months.

 

[JOHN BOY]

Wouldn't have Helik over Moore even with his recent goalscoring exploits. One player missed from consideration was Chris Cadden, who looked like a Rolls Royce at RB in the 20 or so games he played a few seasons back.

Final ball awful.

 

[Scotchegg]

Find it absolutely mad that people think Eastwood was better than JC.

There were a couple of seasons where Easty was exceptional. Would he have done that for us in the Championship? Who knows. But that's not what I've looked at. I've looked at the players who made the biggest impact in the teams of their time.

That's why Easty gets in for me. It's also why I picked Constable and Baptiste, who despite only playing a handful of games, looked like a class apart.

But it's only opinions and there's no wrong or right answers for people to fall out over.

 

[werthersoriginal]

I think we need a clearer definition of the question!

Is it how good the player was when he was with us?
Or is it how good the player was when he hit the peak of his career?
And if it's the latter, then does it matter if that peak was before or after he played for us?
Or is it a blend of all of those?

If it's solely about peak ability then, for example, there's not much debate to be had in net as we've had a World Cup winning goalie play for us during the Kassam era. But if it should take into account whether they were any good for us, then Martinez wouldn't get very far with his one fairly mediocre appearance at Port Vale........

And if we don't care about when a player's peak was, then Matt Phillips was a key part of a team that finished 10th in the Premier League.
But if we need the player to have been good for us then, with the best will in the world because the guy still does put in a shift, he's not going to be a part of the conversation......

I reckon it’s a combo of how good they were, how much they contributed to us, and how much we liked them. Career elsewhere not relevant.

 

[RgYellows]

There were a couple of seasons where Easty was exceptional. Would he have done that for us in the Championship? Who knows. But that's not what I've looked at. I've looked at the players who made the biggest impact in the teams of their time.

That stats and the eye test both make reasonable cases for Cumming being a top three Championship keeper, in a year when the number one was frankly ridiculous.

I don’t think Eastwood was ever as important to the team as Cumming was, or as good overall as Cumming was, or playing at the level that Cumming was, or in a team that achieved anywhere near as much as Cumming’s did.

That's why Easty gets in for me. It's also why I picked Constable and Baptiste, who despite only playing a handful of games, looked like a class apart.

And I can see why you’d pick Constable or Baptiste, but it’s mad to me that anyone would pick Eastwood.

But it's only opinions and there's no wrong or right answers for people to fall out over.

No one is falling out. Discussing people’s answers is a lot more fun than just naming our XIs in a vacuum.

 

[Mintyshoe]

I’ve made it football ability based, and the level/consistency the players went on to achieve. Anything pre-Oxford is irrelevant, but post is fair game as they’re forever associated/developed by Oxford.

This excludes a few categories:

- ‘Swansong’ players who were past their best such as Duberry, Williamson and Kitson.
- Players who went on to have great careers, but didn’t have an impact here such as Rhodes, Martinez and Burns.
- Players who were great at a lower level, but wouldn’t have played at Championship level such as Constable, Potter etc.

Also why I wouldn’t consider Ramon Diaz as the hypothetical manager - although he’s the ‘best’ on paper, and most decorated, he didn’t have a successful spell here.

You could equally make “Best Kassam XIs” with those categories included. As someone said, no right or wrong answer or way to classify it.

 

[holdsteady]

There were a couple of seasons where Easty was exceptional. Would he have done that for us in the Championship? Who knows. But that's not what I've looked at. I've looked at the players who made the biggest impact in the teams of their time.

That's why Easty gets in for me. It's also why I picked Constable and Baptiste, who despite only playing a handful of games, looked like a class apart.

But it's only opinions and there's no wrong or right answers for people to fall out over.

Cummings impact is playing a promotion season (well half) and being runner up in the player of the year competition as a goalie in a season at our highest level for 25 years and where we were heavy favourites to go down as the bottom team, not certain anything from Eastwoods time has that impact? In fact by the time we got to Wembley with him in the team his best days were behind him.

 

[Eric Blair]

Just saying that this is an amazingly geeky but brilliant debate.

 

[holdsteady]

No one has put Mousinho in yet! Has the infatuation ended?

 

[Scotchegg]

No one has put Mousinho in yet! Has the infatuation ended?

Manager surely?!

 

[OxfordBoy]

Baldock
Dickie
Lundstram
Brannagan
Roofe

Are the ones who performed consistently at a high enough level im confident id pick every one of them in the best team since I’ve been watching us (2009)

Cumming/Eastwood is an interesting one, JC is obviously better but is he a better Championship goalie than Easty was a League 1 goalie? I’m not sure
Brown is 99% in for me but we’ve had some seriously good centre backs

I feel like Jordan Graham should be in there too but not sure he’s quite a definite like the ones above

My list is purely based off how good I felt they were for us, not factoring the level we were playing at

 

[holdsteady]

Manager surely?!

Player Manager.

 

[OxfordBoy]

Cummings impact is playing a promotion season (well half) and being runner up in the player of the year competition as a goalie in a season at our highest level for 25 years and where we were heavy favourites to go down as the bottom team, not certain anything from Eastwoods time has that impact? In fact by the time we got to Wembley with him in the team his best days were behind him.

Eastwood was players and fans plsyer of the year his first year (deserved it by a mile) and deserved it his second year too

We were newly promoted then and for 2 straight years he was (imo) clearly our best player over that stretch

I would probably lean towards Cumming, but not sure it’s fair to be so dismissive of Easty

 

[werthersoriginal]

I can’t decide between Ruffels and Leigh! Neither perfect but I like them both a lot. I’m leaning towards Eastwood as he was great when he joined and has been with us a long time . Brown has to get in, there are plenty of centre halves to accompany him but I’d probably vote for Moore as our Wembley captain.

 

[Common Villager]

Our most dominant performances at any point during the Kassam era were under Appleton, IMO. For some reason this game against Plymouth always sticks out in my memory. Although we only won 1-0, we were absolutely all over them and the quality of football was levels above League 2.

 

[Common Villager]

Ruffels is nowhere near the best 11, IMO.