General General Feeling

Easty should know better,after all he did once see a list of our targets that convinced him to stay on :)
 
Interesting how a whole season of positivity seems to be consumed in such a short space of time.
After all the high drama of Newcastle
We had a director saying we are not financially equipped for the Championship, followed by the teams humbling at Peterborough.

Easty tells the Oxford Mail this morning that the automatic places are likely out of reach and with that, the whole dynamic of our season seems to have shifted to hovering precariously over the porcelain. Funnily enough, it didn’t feel like anything had changed On the terraces either Tuesday night or for that matter at Peterborough,
On the whole, I felt it was just a bad day at the office.
But that may not be the case at all.
Perhaps I am reading too much negative stuff on here but it does feel like the show is coming to a grisly and untimely end.
I really hope that the team can find something within themselves to keep fighting. Keep believing in this season.
Losing a couple of games should not be a wall we cannot climb over.

Our season should not be defined in this way. We have been far too good to let it just slide away.
I believe that This team have it in them to drag themselves back to the top, but only if that is truly what they all want.
How far they are willing to go will soon be answered.

I think this hits at the crux of good feelings. When something positive happens, it's always nearly offset by something negative. Usually it's been a winding up order, but this season, after our good late-2019 run (positive), we lost Cadden (negative). Then we signed Browne, Holland and Kelly in a couple of days (positive), but failed to win in January (negative). We forced Newcastle into a replay (positive), but then sold Fosu and Baptiste (negative). We took Newcastle all the way in the replay (positive), but then got hammered by Peterborough (negative).

It seems like we're just not getting a sustained period of positives be it to do with players leaving, bad results on the pitch or poor boardroom communication (just because Zaki does an interview, it doesn't mean that it's automatically good communication). In our League Two season, we had a string of positives to shout about. Or if we didn't, the thing that was causing us grief was specifically rectified. If we lost a player (Baldock), we signed a replacement (Kenny). If we lost a game, we wouldn't lose the next. But now it feels like if we lose a player (Fosu/Baptiste) we have to win a game (Blackpool) for the good feeling to make a bit of a comeback, so inevitably when points are dropped (Peterborough), the blame comes back to the loss of players we didn't replace.
 
There's a big difference between being unable to match the finances of Championship clubs, and not wanting promotion. We've seen the last few seasons how the step up from league 1 is so big with many teams bouncing between the two. Rotherham, this season, are an example how you can build a very good league 1 squad off the back of the extra revenue promotion offers.

The last week of the transfer window was frustrating, Robinson would share that frustration too. But it wasn't for lack of trying. O'Donnell had spoken with the club, Kilmarnock was pushing for a little more, but it looked like the deal would go through until O'Donnell changed his mind. Grigg was happy to come and a loan deal was put together, but Sunderland said it needs to be a permanent deal, so we made a very competitive offer, but Sunderland backed out. That is what pissed Robinson off with the comments about other clubs professionalism. Other players were looked at, but no one offered more than we had at a value that reflected the players true worth. But that doesn't mean that we had no money to spend and we're contributing a lot towards the wages and loan fees for Browne, Holland and Kelly.

We have what we have as a squad, and that should be plenty good enough to finish in the top 8. Where we finish will depend on getting players back fit and at their best, hardwork, togetherness and a bit of luck. Rotherham, Peterborough and Coventry are looking the strongest, and top 2 may be a big ask, but the playoffs remain a very real possibility.

Saturday was always going to be difficult, especially after everything that happened with the Newcastle game, and what made things worse was that we didn't have the fight in us to shut up shop or battle through when we went behind.

But the idea that this one game will define our season is absolutely crazy. Fortunately, the negativity on here is not replicated around the club, and equally not reflective in general of the feeling on the terraces. As mentioned before, it was a bad day at the office, an awful day after an average month or so. But that has gone and it's how we pick ourselves up that matters.

It took the Fleetwood game to give us a kick up the a**e earlier in the season, or the Accrington game in January last year. Look at how the club responded after those two defeats? Mirror the kind of runs that followed and promotion is a very real possibility.

This season is far from over, we have some tough games to come, but every game is winnable if we are at our best. The atmosphere at Burton, then again at Sunderland, Wimbledon, Ipswich, Accrington, Southend and so on, needs to be as good as it's been when we've been making other teams look pretty ordinary. We can't choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond and we need to come out fighting.

"Without struggle there is no success"
 
Wonder if the board learnt anything, anything at all, about the value of good communication to the fanbase from last seasons catalogue of WIP's etc? - to me it really seems not!

- if, a big if, well informed, supporters are generally accepting and philosophical of situations, conversely, the much (seemingly) 'prefered' mushroom treatment ( meted out too often by many club owners/boards to their supporters, not just OUFC), causes unrest, wild speculation and annoyance to many supporters.

IMO OUFC board members could benefit from collectively going on a crash course in communicating

the timing of selling Fosu and Baptiste was not good

the boards failure to acquire players to improve the squad, bearing in mind actions speak louder than words, demonstrate,
that despite their public proclamations that promotion was the target this season, that Tiger, Zaki and co it appears, have been grossly misleading the fanbase.

Remember that this is a fanbase that has turned up and delivered a number of 10k+ home crowds this season, travel in big numbers to away games, in expectation and anticipation of exciting times ahead, ( because the chairman, vice chairman etc have claimed promotion is the target this season), who, frankly deserve far, far better than the communication/ lack of communication than has been forthcoming from the board, especially in the last couple of weeks (IMO)
 
There's a big difference between being unable to match the finances of Championship clubs, and not wanting promotion. We've seen the last few seasons how the step up from league 1 is so big with many teams bouncing between the two. Rotherham, this season, are an example how you can build a very good league 1 squad off the back of the extra revenue promotion offers.

The last week of the transfer window was frustrating, Robinson would share that frustration too. But it wasn't for lack of trying. O'Donnell had spoken with the club, Kilmarnock was pushing for a little more, but it looked like the deal would go through until O'Donnell changed his mind. Grigg was happy to come and a loan deal was put together, but Sunderland said it needs to be a permanent deal, so we made a very competitive offer, but Sunderland backed out. That is what pissed Robinson off with the comments about other clubs professionalism. Other players were looked at, but no one offered more than we had at a value that reflected the players true worth. But that doesn't mean that we had no money to spend and we're contributing a lot towards the wages and loan fees for Browne, Holland and Kelly.

We have what we have as a squad, and that should be plenty good enough to finish in the top 8. Where we finish will depend on getting players back fit and at their best, hardwork, togetherness and a bit of luck. Rotherham, Peterborough and Coventry are looking the strongest, and top 2 may be a big ask, but the playoffs remain a very real possibility.

Saturday was always going to be difficult, especially after everything that happened with the Newcastle game, and what made things worse was that we didn't have the fight in us to shut up shop or battle through when we went behind.

But the idea that this one game will define our season is absolutely crazy. Fortunately, the negativity on here is not replicated around the club, and equally not reflective in general of the feeling on the terraces. As mentioned before, it was a bad day at the office, an awful day after an average month or so. But that has gone and it's how we pick ourselves up that matters.

It took the Fleetwood game to give us a kick up the a**e earlier in the season, or the Accrington game in January last year. Look at how the club responded after those two defeats? Mirror the kind of runs that followed and promotion is a very real possibility.

This season is far from over, we have some tough games to come, but every game is winnable if we are at our best. The atmosphere at Burton, then again at Sunderland, Wimbledon, Ipswich, Accrington, Southend and so on, needs to be as good as it's been when we've been making other teams look pretty ordinary. We can't choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond and we need to come out fighting.

"Without struggle there is no success"

The problem is bud that you often ask us to believe what the club tells us, Robbo informed that Grigg was a non runner as Sunderland would not let him go to a promotion rival no more than we would let ours go to posh pompey etc but here you are now telling us that a deal was agreed but then Sunderland wanted a permanent which does contradict what Karl has said.
At no time during the long debate on here on failing to get a striker did you once mention this yet here you are asking us to believe that a deal was agreed,then sunderland wanted a permanent and all this happened in the final 24hours of the transfer window? if that was the case why was Grigg at Tranmere having talks along with 2 other strikers?

The only potential incoming you ever mentioned on here was for RB and one in particular, you even tried to suggest we were stronger without the 2 that left and now you come on here with all this spin once more trying to defend yet again...

Sorry but i and i suspect many others decided to believe Karl when he said 24 hours before the window closed nobody would be coming.
Oh and if we're so pissed off with Sunderland why are we rubbing their tummy again with this alleged summer move for Grigg?
 
The problem is bud that you often ask us to believe what the club tells us, Robbo informed that Grigg was a non runner as Sunderland would not let him go to a promotion rival no more than we would let ours go to posh pompey etc but here you are now telling us that a deal was agreed but then Sunderland wanted a permanent which does contradict what Karl has said.
At no time during the long debate on here on failing to get a striker did you once mention this yet here you are asking us to believe that a deal was agreed,then sunderland wanted a permanent and all this happened in the final 24hours of the transfer window? if that was the case why was Grigg at Tranmere having talks along with 2 other strikers?

The only potential incoming you ever mentioned on here was for RB and one in particular, you even tried to suggest we were stronger without the 2 that left and now you come on here with all this spin once more trying to defend yet again...

Sorry but i and i suspect many others decided to believe Karl when he said 24 hours before the window closed nobody would be coming.
Oh and if we're so pissed off with Sunderland why are we rubbing their tummy again with this alleged summer move for Grigg?

The initial discussion was around a loan deal. Sunderland did not want to do a loan to a promotion rival (Tranmere are not a promotion rival!), but said pay x amount and he's yours. A deal was put together for a permanent deal which was very competitive and Grigg wanted to move, but then Sunderland said no at the last minute.

Robinson said the day before the deadline that he wanted Grigg. This was now the permanent deal and despite saying that SD wouldn't sell, discussions were still ongoing.

By the Friday, it was clear that Sunderland wouldn't do a deal and rather than discuss this in a professional way they basically just blanked KR. That's why he then came out with the 'unprofessional' comment about other clubs.

As for the players leaving and us being stronger, yes, I do think that Kelly, Browne and Holland are better than Hall, Fosu and Baptiste. I also think that Long and Sykes offer a real alternative to Cadden and Henry on the right. Different players, different style, but not significantly weaker.

As for "spin", it's there alongside "fake news" and "snowflake" as words thrown out to undermine opinion without any substance. Nothing I've said has been contradicted by KR or anyone.
 
The facts of the matter are, the cold, hard, unvarnished truth, if we boil it down in the crucible of common sense until nothing is left but pure truth - on pitch action is all that really matters. If we had the best transfer window ever, not sold any players and in fact bought in Grigg and Cadden, but then lost 4-0 against Peterborough, 5-0 against Burton and 6-0 against Sunderland, would we all be positive and happy? Of course not! (Scotchegg apart)... and on the other hand, had we also sold Brannigan and Dickie but then won every game until the end of the season I’m pretty sure the atmosphere on here would be generally positive. The real reason we spend hours on here debating every last point of off-field activity, apart from it being slightly important (it is relevant, of course) is that we have so much time to kill until the next game...

So with that being said, my prediction is if we beat Burton and then Sunderland everyone will be much happier and this thread can start to be retired... until the next loss. And so the cycle continues!
 
I guess the point I’m trying to make is, no matter how positive Scotchegg tries to tell me to be, or how negative greatuncklekip’s arguments are, personally I’m going to watch the game on Tuesday on iFollow, and if I see a positive, energetic Oxford United performance and win then I’ll be generally feeling positive, whereas if there’s another abject, poor performance I’ll be worried. Simple as that
 
There's a big difference between being unable to match the finances of Championship clubs, and not wanting promotion. We've seen the last few seasons how the step up from league 1 is so big with many teams bouncing between the two. Rotherham, this season, are an example how you can build a very good league 1 squad off the back of the extra revenue promotion offers.

The last week of the transfer window was frustrating, Robinson would share that frustration too. But it wasn't for lack of trying. O'Donnell had spoken with the club, Kilmarnock was pushing for a little more, but it looked like the deal would go through until O'Donnell changed his mind. Grigg was happy to come and a loan deal was put together, but Sunderland said it needs to be a permanent deal, so we made a very competitive offer, but Sunderland backed out. That is what pissed Robinson off with the comments about other clubs professionalism. Other players were looked at, but no one offered more than we had at a value that reflected the players true worth. But that doesn't mean that we had no money to spend and we're contributing a lot towards the wages and loan fees for Browne, Holland and Kelly.

We have what we have as a squad, and that should be plenty good enough to finish in the top 8. Where we finish will depend on getting players back fit and at their best, hardwork, togetherness and a bit of luck. Rotherham, Peterborough and Coventry are looking the strongest, and top 2 may be a big ask, but the playoffs remain a very real possibility.

Saturday was always going to be difficult, especially after everything that happened with the Newcastle game, and what made things worse was that we didn't have the fight in us to shut up shop or battle through when we went behind.

But the idea that this one game will define our season is absolutely crazy. Fortunately, the negativity on here is not replicated around the club, and equally not reflective in general of the feeling on the terraces. As mentioned before, it was a bad day at the office, an awful day after an average month or so. But that has gone and it's how we pick ourselves up that matters.

It took the Fleetwood game to give us a kick up the a**e earlier in the season, or the Accrington game in January last year. Look at how the club responded after those two defeats? Mirror the kind of runs that followed and promotion is a very real possibility.

This season is far from over, we have some tough games to come, but every game is winnable if we are at our best. The atmosphere at Burton, then again at Sunderland, Wimbledon, Ipswich, Accrington, Southend and so on, needs to be as good as it's been when we've been making other teams look pretty ordinary. We can't choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond and we need to come out fighting.

"Without struggle there is no success"
So tell me what the “general feeling on the terraces” is then, please. It doesn’t reflect the “negativity” on this forum? Where do you sit at the Kassam? Where will you be at Burton? Genuinely interested.
 
guess the point I’m trying to make is, no matter how positive Scotchegg tries to tell me to be, or how negative greatuncklekip’s arguments are, personally I’m going to watch the game on Tuesday on iFollow, and if I see a positive, energetic Oxford United performance and win then I’ll be generally feeling positive, whereas if there’s another abject, poor performance I’ll be worried. Simple as that
Yes, this. But also, given our stadium issues I reckon that most fans are desperately eager for some signs of progress on that front as well.
 
There's a big difference between being unable to match the finances of Championship clubs, and not wanting promotion. We've seen the last few seasons how the step up from league 1 is so big with many teams bouncing between the two. Rotherham, this season, are an example how you can build a very good league 1 squad off the back of the extra revenue promotion offers.

The last week of the transfer window was frustrating, Robinson would share that frustration too. But it wasn't for lack of trying. O'Donnell had spoken with the club, Kilmarnock was pushing for a little more, but it looked like the deal would go through until O'Donnell changed his mind. Grigg was happy to come and a loan deal was put together, but Sunderland said it needs to be a permanent deal, so we made a very competitive offer, but Sunderland backed out. That is what pissed Robinson off with the comments about other clubs professionalism. Other players were looked at, but no one offered more than we had at a value that reflected the players true worth. But that doesn't mean that we had no money to spend and we're contributing a lot towards the wages and loan fees for Browne, Holland and Kelly.

We have what we have as a squad, and that should be plenty good enough to finish in the top 8. Where we finish will depend on getting players back fit and at their best, hardwork, togetherness and a bit of luck. Rotherham, Peterborough and Coventry are looking the strongest, and top 2 may be a big ask, but the playoffs remain a very real possibility.

Saturday was always going to be difficult, especially after everything that happened with the Newcastle game, and what made things worse was that we didn't have the fight in us to shut up shop or battle through when we went behind.

But the idea that this one game will define our season is absolutely crazy. Fortunately, the negativity on here is not replicated around the club, and equally not reflective in general of the feeling on the terraces. As mentioned before, it was a bad day at the office, an awful day after an average month or so. But that has gone and it's how we pick ourselves up that matters.

It took the Fleetwood game to give us a kick up the a**e earlier in the season, or the Accrington game in January last year. Look at how the club responded after those two defeats? Mirror the kind of runs that followed and promotion is a very real possibility.

This season is far from over, we have some tough games to come, but every game is winnable if we are at our best. The atmosphere at Burton, then again at Sunderland, Wimbledon, Ipswich, Accrington, Southend and so on, needs to be as good as it's been when we've been making other teams look pretty ordinary. We can't choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond and we need to come out fighting.

"Without struggle there is no success"

umm sorry but Karl is on record as saying the Grigg situation was not Stews fault and yet you say they were fine to sell him to a rival but not loan him, again not what Karl said
 
The initial discussion was around a loan deal. Sunderland did not want to do a loan to a promotion rival (Tranmere are not a promotion rival!), but said pay x amount and he's yours. A deal was put together for a permanent deal which was very competitive and Grigg wanted to move, but then Sunderland said no at the last minute.

Robinson said the day before the deadline that he wanted Grigg. This was now the permanent deal and despite saying that SD wouldn't sell, discussions were still ongoing.

By the Friday, it was clear that Sunderland wouldn't do a deal and rather than discuss this in a professional way they basically just blanked KR. That's why he then came out with the 'unprofessional' comment about other clubs.

As for the players leaving and us being stronger, yes, I do think that Kelly, Browne and Holland are better than Hall, Fosu and Baptiste. I also think that Long and Sykes offer a real alternative to Cadden and Henry on the right. Different players, different style, but not significantly weaker.

As for "spin", it's there alongside "fake news" and "snowflake" as words thrown out to undermine opinion without any substance. Nothing I've said has been contradicted by KR or anyone.
Holland is not better than Baptiste and we haven’t seen enough of Kelly
But agree about Browne
 
umm sorry but Karl is on record as saying the Grigg situation was not Stews fault and yet you say they were fine to sell him to a rival but not loan him, again not what Karl said

So stupidly naive.
 
So stupidly naive.
If what you say is what actually happened, why dont Karl or Zaki come out and explain that rather than taking flack for being tight?

Zaki hasnt mentioned anything about bids, rather the opposite. And the fact that we had given up.the ghost by about 4pm on signing anyone suggests we werent really trying that hard.....
 
didn't take you long did it

what's the matter not capable of a decent exchange of views, the problem is you defend defend and defend more and ask us to believe the club then come out with all this having said nothing at the time and expect us to suddenly ignore the manager.
Even EC Yellow who has been pretty much spot on confirmed no more incoming and if the Grigg deal was imminent surely there would have been rumors and given your history and the s**t hitting the fan when we let 2 go you would have been allover it at the time.

You also still have not answered why if Grigg was happy to come to us what he was doing holding talks with Tranmere!
 
There's a big difference between being unable to match the finances of Championship clubs, and not wanting promotion. We've seen the last few seasons how the step up from league 1 is so big with many teams bouncing between the two. Rotherham, this season, are an example how you can build a very good league 1 squad off the back of the extra revenue promotion offers.

The last week of the transfer window was frustrating, Robinson would share that frustration too. But it wasn't for lack of trying. O'Donnell had spoken with the club, Kilmarnock was pushing for a little more, but it looked like the deal would go through until O'Donnell changed his mind. Grigg was happy to come and a loan deal was put together, but Sunderland said it needs to be a permanent deal, so we made a very competitive offer, but Sunderland backed out. That is what pissed Robinson off with the comments about other clubs professionalism. Other players were looked at, but no one offered more than we had at a value that reflected the players true worth. But that doesn't mean that we had no money to spend and we're contributing a lot towards the wages and loan fees for Browne, Holland and Kelly.

We have what we have as a squad, and that should be plenty good enough to finish in the top 8. Where we finish will depend on getting players back fit and at their best, hardwork, togetherness and a bit of luck. Rotherham, Peterborough and Coventry are looking the strongest, and top 2 may be a big ask, but the playoffs remain a very real possibility.

Saturday was always going to be difficult, especially after everything that happened with the Newcastle game, and what made things worse was that we didn't have the fight in us to shut up shop or battle through when we went behind.

But the idea that this one game will define our season is absolutely crazy. Fortunately, the negativity on here is not replicated around the club, and equally not reflective in general of the feeling on the terraces. As mentioned before, it was a bad day at the office, an awful day after an average month or so. But that has gone and it's how we pick ourselves up that matters.

It took the Fleetwood game to give us a kick up the a**e earlier in the season, or the Accrington game in January last year. Look at how the club responded after those two defeats? Mirror the kind of runs that followed and promotion is a very real possibility.

This season is far from over, we have some tough games to come, but every game is winnable if we are at our best. The atmosphere at Burton, then again at Sunderland, Wimbledon, Ipswich, Accrington, Southend and so on, needs to be as good as it's been when we've been making other teams look pretty ordinary. We can't choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond and we need to come out fighting.

"Without struggle there is no success"
This isn't a dig... far from it, but I genuinely believe that you'd manage to put a positive spin on all out nuclear war :ROFLMAO: it's a skill
 
didn't take you long did it

what's the matter not capable of a decent exchange of views, the problem is you defend defend and defend more and ask us to believe the club then come out with all this having said nothing at the time and expect us to suddenly ignore the manager.
Even EC Yellow who has been pretty much spot on confirmed no more incoming and if the Grigg deal was imminent surely there would have been rumors and given your history and the s**t hitting the fan when we let 2 go you would have been allover it at the time.

You also still have not answered why if Grigg was happy to come to us what he was doing holding talks with Tranmere!

The Grigg deal wasn't imminent, but it definitely was being discussed at the highest level. We wanted a loan, Sunderland wanted a sale, but when we offered to buy him then Sunderland backed out. Grigg was linked to several clubs, but none of them were promotion rivals which is why he was allowed to talk. However, once he knew of our interest (and he's played for Robinson before) then that was his preferred option.

Why is any of this so hard to believe?

Clubs very rarely talk openly about transfer dealings but the fact that Robinson spoke about the lack of professionalism shows that our dealings weren't as amicable as otherwise suggested.

We didn't get our targets in January, and no one was happy about it. But that doesn't mean that we weren't working hard to make them happen, or that we didn't have the money to compete.
 
apart from the fact when i and later others stated Karl was pissed off in the Radox forum with him and Niall and at that time was when he said Grigg was a non runner, your response was he was not pissed off but joking...so he was pissed off after all then but not because we let 2 go and a 3rd would see him walk but due to the actions of sunderland just it slipped your mind, it happens !!.
 
apart from the fact when i and later others stated Karl was pissed off in the Radox forum with him and Niall and at that time was when he said Grigg was a non runner, your response was he was not pissed off but joking...so he was pissed off after all then but not because we let 2 go and a 3rd would see him walk but due to the actions of sunderland just it slipped your mind, it happens !!.
Jesus Christ!! Throw 2 things together and hope something works???!!!!

When asked if anyone else was going KR said no, and if anyone did then he would have to question his position. He then laughed and said something like "...but seriously no one else is going." It was clear from that exchange that the prospect of Robinson leaving would never happen, as no one else was going. Hence the joke!

The following day, Friday, Robinson then spoke about no deals being done and his disappointment at the professionalism of others. This was in reference to our dealings with Sunderland. This was his pissed off bit.

I'll leave you to it now because I'm about pick my boy up from school and reckon the conversation will be more intelligent!
 
I think this hits at the crux of good feelings. When something positive happens, it's always nearly offset by something negative. Usually it's been a winding up order, but this season, after our good late-2019 run (positive), we lost Cadden (negative). Then we signed Browne, Holland and Kelly in a couple of days (positive), but failed to win in January (negative). We forced Newcastle into a replay (positive), but then sold Fosu and Baptiste (negative). We took Newcastle all the way in the replay (positive), but then got hammered by Peterborough (negative).

It seems like we're just not getting a sustained period of positives be it to do with players leaving, bad results on the pitch or poor boardroom communication (just because Zaki does an interview, it doesn't mean that it's automatically good communication). In our League Two season, we had a string of positives to shout about. Or if we didn't, the thing that was causing us grief was specifically rectified. If we lost a player (Baldock), we signed a replacement (Kenny). If we lost a game, we wouldn't lose the next. But now it feels like if we lose a player (Fosu/Baptiste) we have to win a game (Blackpool) for the good feeling to make a bit of a comeback, so inevitably when points are dropped (Peterborough), the blame comes back to the loss of players we didn't replace.

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