Fan's View - Shrewsbury at home

[Paul B]

Fan's View - Shrewsbury at home

 

[dabigfella]

Nicely put as usual. Wish I could write like that.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Nice report as always Paul. One thing I noticed was that Dickie DID have a couple of slightly wobbly moments. He managed to take a free kick to an opponent just a few yards (probably not 10!) away, and did something similar a little later when attempting a pass. Both occasions put us right on the back foot. Not catastrophic, but certainly careless. The other thing I wondered about was our tendency to send defensive headers into the middle of the pitch rather than out wide - we didn't pick the ball up enough to make that a sensible strategy.

 

[Paul B]

Nice report as always Paul. One thing I noticed was that Dickie DID have a couple of slightly wobbly moments. He managed to take a free kick to an opponent just a few yards (probably not 10!) away, and did something similar a little later when attempting a pass. Both occasions put us right on the back foot. Not catastrophic, but certainly careless. The other thing I wondered about was our tendency to send defensive headers into the middle of the pitch rather than out wide - we didn't pick the ball up enough to make that a sensible strategy.

Now you come to mention it there was a small period of the game when a few of our defenders did make a (tiny) cock up but Shrewsbury were so inept it meant nothing in the greater scheme of the match.

 

[Manorlounger]

I suppose it says something about the season so far that the half time conversation in the lounge(sorry, 1893 club) was more worry about if we could hang on to the 2 goal lead!
Cue a second half of pressure from Shrewsbury with, thankfully, little end product.

As to the 125th birthday party, well, used to be what many would have named a damp squib. Poor sods of legends made to stand out in the cold and wet while the players waited in the tunnel. Happy to say that they were very approachable pre-match. Well done indeed though to the Ultras. Why did it take them to make the biggest impression of the day?

Anyway, we got a win, scored 3 goals and kept a clean sheet. The drive home was bearable!

 

[Jon-ioualways]

Thanks, as always, Paul--I'm so glad that you take the time to write your FV after every game (well, bar a few in a not-to-be-named competition). The official report is always a good read to send to those Americans and Brasilians I've converted into fans of the Mighty Yellows, but I more appreciate your thoughtful approach to both the game and related events. (I quite agree with you about people who don't bother to applaud musicians--even if the former aren't great fans of the music it would at least be courteous to thank the latter for their efforts to entertain.)

 

[Foley]

Thanks Paul. Spot on as usual.
We didn't really ever look troubled even when they had plenty of possession in the second half.
As you suggested we are now pretty solid and appear to have turned the corner somewhat.
Sonebody on this site put up a whole load of stats that suggested that Shrewsbury were probably the most dangerous of the next few opponents.
So... we need to keep this run going and the table could look a lot better in 3/4 games time although no counting of chickens.

 

[Oldman159]

Great to see you smile on Saturday! It was a most enjoyable afternoon.

Some thoughts from our end of row NN - we were all particularly impressed by Ricky Holmes' gritty performance (IMHO MotM) - the description "intelligent footballer" may not be an oxymoron after all. Everyone on the team did well.

The sound of silence?

Unfortunately for him, George (AKA Boris) did not attend on Saturday, so he missed the first display of 'decent' officiating this season and, of course, he missed the refs assists. It was quiet up our end for once! My only criticism of the ref is that he let theIr No 9 get away with continuous fouling, some of it quite aggressive. He should have been off much earlier.

Great report again TB, keep it up.

 

[Winchesterox]

Thanks Paul, a good read. Although I would say that Ricky Holmes is such a decent player I would let him off for the odd wayward shot. Perhaps though, even wayward shots have a psychological benefit that we are actually getting somewhere in the final third?

By the way, I heard mention that a number of parked cars suffered from vandalism (a smashed rear window?). Has anyone else heard about this?

 

[Oldman159]

Thanks Paul, a good read. Although I would say that Ricky Holmes is such a decent player I would let him off for the odd wayward shot. Perhaps though, even wayward shots have a psychological benefit that we are actually getting somewhere in the final third?

By the way, I heard mention that a number of parked cars suffered from vandalism (a smashed rear window?). Has anyone else heard about this?

I saw a couple of cars with their rear windows smashed in (one with hazards going) alongside the road on the way up to the Cowley roundabout. I expect that was the reason for the unusually slow exit from the eastern car park.

Sad.

I guess that there is little CCTV coverage up there?

 

[Paul B]

I saw a couple of cars with their rear windows smashed in (one with hazards going) alongside the road on the way up to the Cowley roundabout. I expect that was the reason for the unusually slow exit from the eastern car park.

Sad.

I guess that there is little CCTV coverage up there?

And not the first time that has happened this season apparently. I would like to think the police will now drive up and down a couple of times at least as a deterrent the next few home games.

 

[Oldman159]

I would like to think they would too.

However, they are probably more concerned with our more 'difficult' supporters closer to what passes for home. Perhaps the council would fund a police presence from all the parking fines imposed on people parking near the double Yellow line overkill?

Don't think I will hold my breath tho.....

 

[Deleted member 142]

Ricky Holmes is a scorer of spectacular goals.

His on-target and off-target ratio will reflect that.

 

[MJB]

Ricky Holmes is a scorer of spectacular goals.

His on-target and off-target ratio will reflect that.

Sounds like he hit a few car windscreens with wayward shots too.

 

[West Oxon U’s]

Thanks Paul, a good read. Although I would say that Ricky Holmes is such a decent player I would let him off for the odd wayward shot. Perhaps though, even wayward shots have a psychological benefit that we are actually getting somewhere in the final third?

By the way, I heard mention that a number of parked cars suffered from vandalism (a smashed rear window?). Has anyone else heard about this?

The same happened after the Plymouth game. A number of cars were vandalised.

 

[uptheus]

Great result, and not a great game/performance, but I would have taken that a few games ago.

Only at Oxford would they put the water sprinklers on whilst we had 70+ year old legends on the pitch, especially when it was very cold in windy conditions. Surprised you never mentioned the weather Paul as it was cold at the wind tunnel again which may have put a few people off.

Oh and that photo of the TV gantry, what’s that all about?

 

[sonofivan]

I also love your reports and I was confused by the pic at the end! Care to elaborate?

 

[Paul B]

I also love your reports and I was confused by the pic at the end! Care to elaborate?

Empty space where the Sports Science team have been every game up to now.

"Also going are Scott Daly and Mark Jarrett from the backroom team to work outside football. Daly is a sports scientist who came to the club just over three years ago filling the void when Alasdair Lane left." - From my Bristol Rovers FV. (Jarrett was the kit manager).

 

[uptheus]

Empty space where the Sports Science team have been every game up to now.

"Also going are Scott Daly and Mark Jarrett from the backroom team to work outside football. Daly is a sports scientist who came to the club just over three years ago filling the void when Alasdair Lane left." - From my Bristol Rovers FV. (Jarrett was the kit manager).

The TV cameras are normally there too, but they were in the directors section too so obviously another reason as to why this area was kept clear! More maintenance issues may be?

 

[captainox]

I noticed the empty space where the TV cameras/sports science chaps normally go. But then looked a bit forward and could definitely see Dan Bond and colleague with camera towards the back of the directors box.