Ex-Player Thread Ex-Player Thread

[Northernyellow]

Better than Sykes? That would make him championship level which means he has turned away serious money.

Different type of player obviously, but yes. Cooper was really rated in NI football, and was considered a far better prospect than Sykes. We'll never know, but Cooper definitely had Championship ability. It was his reluctance to move outside NI that put so many EFL clubs off before we signed him.

 

[MJB]

He actually made, imo, one of the most important saves by an Oxford keeper in my lifetime supporting us. It was away at Barnet in 2016 and he made an unbelievable save from a John Akinde header late in the first half that kept it at 0-0 going into the break, when going behind could have seen us crumble.

 

[tonyw]

Agree. I thought Büchel was a fraction better than Slocombe but they were both pretty weak links. If we'd had a better keeper we'd have 100+ points that season. I think (?) 6-7 of that team went on to play Championship or higher.

Baldock, Jonjoe Kenny, Dunkley, Lundstram, O'Dowda & Roofe certainly all did. I guess you can add Josh Ruffels as well, although I think Huddersfield fans are divided on whether he was really a Championship player. Was certainly a solid League One LB though.......

 

[Northernyellow]

Büchel was definitely the better of the two. I seem to remember him actually being a decent shot stopper - it was the fact he had no physical presence and couldn't command his box that let him down.

He actually made, imo, one of the most important saves by an Oxford keeper in my lifetime supporting us. It was away at Barnet in 2016 and he made an unbelievable save from a John Akinde header late in the first half that kept it at 0-0 going into the break, when going behind could have seen us crumble. We'd already lost at home to them earlier in the season because we couldn't cope with their physicality, and if that header had gone in I definitely couldn't see us winning the game. For me it was a real sliding doors moment as we eventually won 3-0, and it was coming out of that game with a win that convinced me we'd get over the line. Chey Dunkley was also incredible that game, managed to beat Akinde to pretty much everything in the air and kept us from succumbing to the barrage.

So whilst Büchel will never go down in the history books as our finest keeper, he did make one huge contribution to our promotion season that often gets forgotten. (I'm also aware he probably cost us, but I can't actually recall a specific mistake that resulted in us dropping points - happy to be educated.)

Yes, he was a really good shot stopper and great reflexes. Like you, I can't remember any particular mistakes. Just came away after every game he played thinking he wasn't quite good enough.

 

[Northernyellow]

Baldock, Jonjoe Kenny, Dunkley, Lundstram, O'Dowda & Roofe certainly all did. I guess you can add Josh Ruffels as well, although I think Huddersfield fans are divided on whether he was really a Championship player. Was certainly a solid League One LB though.......

And I think Jake Wright played a couple of seasons of Championship for Sheffield United...

 

[holdsteady]

Different type of player obviously, but yes. Cooper was really rated in NI football, and was considered a far better prospect than Sykes. We'll never know, but Cooper definitely had Championship ability.

I think you are right with we will never know, he has never been tested to know the level of ability he has by playing nearly all of his football at a very low level, so guess work. Whereas Sykes has proven he can cut it on the championship.

 

[unification]

Büchel was definitely the better of the two. I seem to remember him actually being a decent shot stopper - it was the fact he had no physical presence and couldn't command his box that let him down.

He actually made, imo, one of the most important saves by an Oxford keeper in my lifetime supporting us. It was away at Barnet in 2016 and he made an unbelievable save from a John Akinde header late in the first half that kept it at 0-0 going into the break, when going behind could have seen us crumble. We'd already lost at home to them earlier in the season because we couldn't cope with their physicality, and if that header had gone in I definitely couldn't see us winning the game. For me it was a real sliding doors moment as we eventually won 3-0, and it was coming out of that game with a win that convinced me we'd get over the line. Chey Dunkley was also incredible that game, managed to beat Akinde to pretty much everything in the air and kept us from succumbing to the barrage.

So whilst Büchel will never go down in the history books as our finest keeper, he did make one huge contribution to our promotion season that often gets forgotten. (I'm also aware he probably cost us, but I can't actually recall a specific mistake that resulted in us dropping points - happy to be educated.)

First highlight here.



It’s a really good stop. Not from John Akinde though - just someone attempting to score a John Akinde-style goal.

Agree. I thought Büchel was a fraction better than Slocombe but they were both pretty weak links. If we'd had a better keeper we'd have 100+ points that season. I think (?) 6-7 of that team went on to play Championship or higher.

This is often said but I don’t think it was ever the GKs generally. They weren’t as flashy as the rest of the team that season but when the team was Roofe, O’Dowda, Lundstram, Baldock (later Kenny), Dunkley, Sercombe, Maguire, Hylton and co, no wonder they look a little left behind. Put simply, our home form was only ok and our away form was exceptional. Also, Northampton were freakishly consistent so there was little chance of anyone catching then unless they had a brilliant season.

I recall Slocombe being dropped for actual errors though. He was dropped once after a gifting a goal away at Stevenage (which we won 5-1 anyway and got Teddy Sheringham sacked) and once against Mansfield where we genuinely did lose points by drawing 2-2. IIRC, BB’s dad was ill back in Liechtenstein so Slocombe won his place, I think?

 

[MJB]

First highlight here.



It’s a really good stop. Not from John Akinde though - just someone attempting to score a John Akinde-style goal.



This is often said but I don’t think it was ever the GKs generally. They weren’t as flashy as the rest of the team that season but when the team was Roofe, O’Dowda, Lundstram, Baldock (later Kenny), Dunkley, Sercombe, Maguire, Hylton and co, no wonder they look a little left behind. Put simply, our home form was only ok and our away form was exceptional. Also, Northampton were freakishly consistent so there was little chance of anyone catching then unless they had a brilliant season.

I recall Slocombe being dropped to actual errors though. He wsd dropped once after a gifting a goal away at Stevenage (which we won 5-1 anyway and got Teddy Sheringham sacked) and once against Mansfield where we genuinely did lose points by drawing 2-2. IIRC, BB’s dad was ill back in Liechtenstein so Slocombe won his place, I think?

O’Dowda on fire that day.

 

[Wallop]

Jefferson Louis was just interviewed about his career on Radio 5 live.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Baldock, Jonjoe Kenny, Dunkley, Lundstram, O'Dowda & Roofe certainly all did. I guess you can add Josh Ruffels as well, although I think Huddersfield fans are divided on whether he was really a Championship player. Was certainly a solid League One LB though.......

And I think Jake Wright played a couple of seasons of Championship for Sheffield United...

Easy to forget that Danny Hylton was with Luton for three seasons in the Championship after he left us, still getting a few games in the process.

Appleton’s biggest mistake was replacing Wright and Hylton with Aaron Martin and Wes Thomas after we got promoted to L1. Keep those two alongside the rest of the business we did that season and I’m pretty sure we would’ve had the extra 3/4 points needed to get us into the top six that year.

 

[Londox]

O’Dowda on fire that day.

Brilliant game, atmosphere and day out that was at Barnet.

What a team, remember a similar game where we dismantled Crawley at their place that season.

We had 5/6 players (as has been mentioned) in that team who went on to play Championship. Special time!

 

[JayOx88]

First highlight here.



It’s a really good stop. Not from John Akinde though - just someone attempting to score a John Akinde-style goal.



This is often said but I don’t think it was ever the GKs generally. They weren’t as flashy as the rest of the team that season but when the team was Roofe, O’Dowda, Lundstram, Baldock (later Kenny), Dunkley, Sercombe, Maguire, Hylton and co, no wonder they look a little left behind. Put simply, our home form was only ok and our away form was exceptional. Also, Northampton were freakishly consistent so there was little chance of anyone catching then unless they had a brilliant season.

I recall Slocombe being dropped to actual errors though. He wsd dropped once after a gifting a goal away at Stevenage (which we won 5-1 anyway and got Teddy Sheringham sacked) and once against Mansfield where we genuinely did lose points by drawing 2-2. IIRC, BB’s dad was ill back in Liechtenstein so Slocombe won his place, I think?

That's the one! Funny how I had always remembered it as Akinde, probably a good job it wasn't him as I think he got over 20 league goals for them that season when they were down near the bottom and was always lethal in the air.

The save was even better live - I was along the side watching it and it was almost as if he had to stick his arm behind him slightly to get.

And you're right - the home form was bang average, which is what actually held us back more than individual keeper errors. I think it was only 10 league wins? With a fair few defeats and draws against some very average teams (Barnet being one of the worst).

 

[Oufcrealist]

Separately, I never thought Büchel was particularly good, but he had guts. I saw him play for us at AFCW. They spent 90 minutes kicking lumps out of him, but he just kept going. He's had a pretty good career tbf.

Yes, I bumped into him the very next day in M&S Cowley retail Park. Had a good chat, told him he played well. He said he'd been targeted and had never been in such a physical game. He had bruises to show for it on his arms and body.
Really nice lad to chat to.

 

[MarkG]

Yes, I bumped into him the very next day in M&S Cowley retail Park. Had a good chat, told him he played well. He said he'd been targeted and had never been in such a physical game. He had bruises to show for it on his arms and body.
Really nice lad to chat to.

I seem to remember we played him in an FA Trophy game and he did so well he took Slocombe’s place from then on.

 

[Berliner]

J Lo joins Slough Town as assistant coach and mentor. With Scott Davies

"Right lads, gather round. Now this session is dedicated to negotiating a signing-on fee..."

 

[MJB]

Nice interview with Alfie Potter on a pod which went up today:

 

[West Oxon U’s]

Rumour doing the rounds is that Daniel Agyei has rejected Orient’s contract offer and will be leaving Brisbane Road.


I reckon he’ll end up at Charlton.

 

[Londox]

Easy to forget that Danny Hylton was with Luton for three seasons in the Championship after he left us, still getting a few games in the process.

Appleton’s biggest mistake was replacing Wright and Hylton with Aaron Martin and Wes Thomas after we got promoted to L1. Keep those two alongside the rest of the business we did that season and I’m pretty sure we would’ve had the extra 3/4 points needed to get us into the top six that year.

Wes Thomas was OK but a downgrade on Hylts.

Aaron Martin was a huge downgrade on Jake Wright.

 

[westyorkshireexile]

And I think Jake Wright played a couple of seasons of Championship for Sheffield United...

Josh Ruffels released by Huddersfield.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Wes Thomas was OK but a downgrade on Hylts.

Aaron Martin was a huge downgrade on Jake Wright.

I thought Thomas was a lazy git and wasn’t remotely surprised when no other club at our level took him when he was released. If he’d pulled his finger out and actually tried he could’ve been a decent player.

My most memorable Wes Thomas moment was against Coventry at home, when he spent half-time pissing around with a military dog called Caesar rather than warming up properly, then came on in the second half and ripped his Achilles inside ten minutes.

 

[Stranger]

My most memorable Wes Thomas moment was on the way back from some northern away game and he was bombing back down the M1 without his rear lights on

Edit: it was in the winter so effectively nighttime

 

[Beech Road Bokelberg]

I thought Thomas was a lazy git and wasn’t remotely surprised when no other club at our level took him when he was released. If he’d pulled his finger out and actually tried he could’ve been a decent player.

My most memorable Wes Thomas moment was against Coventry at home, when he spent half-time pissing around with a military dog called Caesar rather than warming up properly, then came on in the second half and ripped his Achilles inside ten minutes.

No wonder Wes Thomas didn't winalot in his career.

 

[JOHN BOY]

The thing about wes Thomas is he always looked good against us.

 

[Londox]

Think it's been brought up already but if you haven't already Alfie Potter is a brilliant guest on the "you are my Oxford" podcast.

He says in this podcast he is essentially an Oxford United fan these days. Also a really interesting insight into the frustrating Wilder years in League 2 and the conference promotion season.

He was a top player for us. I hope he never has to buy a pint in Oxford!

 

[unification]

Think it's been brought up already but if you haven't already Alfie Potter is a brilliant guest on the "you are my Oxford" podcast.

He says in this podcast he is essentially an Oxford United fan these days. Also a really interesting insight into the frustrating Wilder years in League 2 and the conference promotion season.

He was a top player for us. I hope he never has to buy a pint in Oxford!

Definitely an enjoyable listen.

The only thing they missed was his departure from Oxford. Alfie mentioned that it didn’t end how he wanted it to (he was a victim of MApp’s brutal cull of a lot of players towards the end of 2014–15 including Ryan Clarke too) so some insight into that would have been good.

Great to hear his background to football too. Lovely chap.

 

[Coffin Dodger]

Bengi Buchel currently playing against Scotland on BBC 2, now 3 down.

 

[Coffin Dodger]

Bengi Buchel currently playing against Scotland on BBC 2, now 3 down.

Buchel now substituted

 

[DanC]

Definitely an enjoyable listen.

The only thing they missed was his departure from Oxford. Alfie mentioned that it didn’t end how he wanted it to (he was a victim of MApp’s brutal cull of a lot of players towards the end of 2014–15 including Ryan Clarke too) so some insight into that would have been good.

Great to hear his background to football too. Lovely chap.

Thanks for listening. Yes, we did ask ... but my crappy wifi cut out and I lost half the answer. The gist of it was - there were no hard feelings. In Alfie's words, he'd been playing crap for a while and they all agreed it was time for a move. Nothing sinister. He just wished he'd finished his career with us on a high rather than in bad form.

 

[West Oxon U’s]

Marvin Johnson is still waiting for his May wages.

 

[brinyhoof]

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