Manager/Coach Karl Robinson - Will he walk

[Neville60]

Has anyone seen KR on iPlayer today very good insight on his position on everything OUFC

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I get sick of people saying the same things over and over! Yes it was probably a mistake to sell them then. Now move on. I do think some people have developed an entitled view due to us having a good run at the end of last year. We're still little Oxford, not Portsmouth, Sunderland, or Man City - we can't expect to be top of League One, though we can hope for it.

Strange mentality.

People will mention something with such a crucial effect on the season often, it's only natural. We pay our hard earned money to go, so it's natural to be opinionated on it.

"Little Oxford" are bigger than plenty of teams that have had a crack at the Championship in recent years. If the club had a decent-located and nice stadium and played in the Championship we would get 12-18,000 every week. It's the only professional team in Oxfordshire. The club has been hideously mismanaged for so-long.

 

[Foley]

Has anyone seen KR on iPlayer today very good insight on his position on everything OUFC

No.
Could you give a very brief summary?

 

[Oxymoron]

What stumps me is why this season has to be the be all and end all. We could fall just short of the playoffs and in fact I think we will. There seems to be a certainty that Brannagan, Dickie and Eastwood will leave.
Maybe they will but there is little concrete evidence to say that any one, let all all of them, will. Robinson walking is so unlikely that I will start watching Swindon if he does and the idea that the board are going to recoup their spend and cash in for a quick profit is right up there with Lord Lucan riding Shergar to the celebration of Kassam donating the stadium to OUFC.

And even if the possible things come to pass, who is to say that we can't do it all again next year? We are skilled in getting talent through from the U23 squad, we have history in finding good players from outside the FL, our ability to garner loan players from the Premiership is second to none and it's not like we have never paid money for a player we want.

The Championship isn't going to disappear. This season will not be our last and only chance. We can have ambition to play in the Championship without having a finite deadline. Disappointment has been a large part of supporting OUFC (or indeed most football clubs) and a good whinge is a part of that but I don't think that a failure to go up this year will be a catastrophe and could be viewed as a platform for greater things to come.

 

[chuckbert]

It sounds like a cop out, but it’s hard to summarise. It’s a bit of freeform discussion that touches on everything. I like what I hear from KR and I stick with my earlier comment that he’s very capable and surprisingly wise for his age. The fact that he can hold that position between players, board and fans with obvious honesty and integrity is fantastic.
I was pleased that he says he feels at home in the club, and that he knows we need success for good players (and by implication, him) to stay here.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Strange mentality.

People will mention something with such a crucial effect on the season often, it's only natural. We pay our hard earned money to go, so it's natural to be opinionated on it.

"Little Oxford" are bigger than plenty of teams that have had a crack at the Championship in recent years. If the club had a decent-located and nice stadium and played in the Championship we would get 12-18,000 every week. It's the only professional team in Oxfordshire. The club has been hideously mismanaged for so-long.

If!!!!

 

[RyanioBirdio]

There seems to be a certainty that Brannagan, Dickie and Eastwood will leave.
Maybe they will but there is little concrete evidence to say that any one, let all all of them, will.

Do you think the board will let them walk for free in a year’s time?

If your answer is no, they’re being sold this summer.

 

[McXal]

What stumps me is why this season has to be the be all and end all. We could fall just short of the playoffs and in fact I think we will. There seems to be a certainty that Brannagan, Dickie and Eastwood will leave.
Maybe they will but there is little concrete evidence to say that any one, let all all of them, will. Robinson walking is so unlikely that I will start watching Swindon if he does and the idea that the board are going to recoup their spend and cash in for a quick profit is right up there with Lord Lucan riding Shergar to the celebration of Kassam donating the stadium to OUFC.

And even if the possible things come to pass, who is to say that we can't do it all again next year? We are skilled in getting talent through from the U23 squad, we have history in finding good players from outside the FL, our ability to garner loan players from the Premiership is second to none and it's not like we have never paid money for a player we want.

The Championship isn't going to disappear. This season will not be our last and only chance. We can have ambition to play in the Championship without having a finite deadline. Disappointment has been a large part of supporting OUFC (or indeed most football clubs) and a good whinge is a part of that but I don't think that a failure to go up this year will be a catastrophe and could be viewed as a platform for greater things to come.

This is a great post and poses some really legitimate questions. My point is that, if we lose major names from our squad (Brannagan and Dickie are Championship quality (or higher) players who will want to play at that level sooner rather than later - so therefore would be possibly unlikely to sign new contracts and therefore have to be sold) the scale of the rebuild job required to make this a platform, and bounce back for another promotion charge next season is enormous.

Not saying it can’t happen. But with Baptiste, Fosu and Whyte gone, and if we cash in on Dickie and Cam Bran then the cupboard starts to look bare of resellable assets. Not totally bust (Gorrin, Sykes, Moore, Atkinson, maybe Nico? Agyei!?) but we will have flogged a lot of the silver.

Given that we’ve heard for the last few windows how hard getting deals done is, how complex it is and how you can’t get ‘everything done in one window’, the sheer scope of the work we’ll have to rebuild the squad again in the summer is stark. Not impossible. But vast...

EDIT - and will require significant investment outlay...

 

[Left Wing Cross]

Not saying it can’t happen. But with Baptiste, Fosu and Whyte gone, and if we cash in on Dickie and Cam Bran then the cupboard starts to look bare of resellable assets. Not totally bust (Gorrin, Sykes, Moore, Atkinson, maybe Nico? Agyei!?) but we will have flogged a lot of the silver.

True but before we bought the likes of Fosu, Whyte, Dickie and Cam Bran, we sold the likes of Johnson, Ledson and Lunny so it is possible to recover from sales of significant players with the right recruitment strategy. Depends how much faith you have in their abilities.

 

[McXal]

True but before we bought the likes of Fosu, Whyte, Dickie and Cam Bran, we sold the likes of Johnson, Ledson and Lunny so it is possible to recover from sales of significant players with the right recruitment strategy. Depends how much faith you have in their abilities.

Dead right - and therein is where fans are segregating into positive and negative camps. We have a paucity of genuine, factual guidance about the direction the club is headed. I like Zaki and his willingness to talk to the fans - but he is a master of using as many words as he can to say as little as possible.

It is very possible the club have a recruitment policy in place coiled and ready to do what is needed in the summer. But to go back to my earlier post - we could realistically be looking for a keeper, a centre back, fullbacks, a central midfielder, wide/attacking midfielders and a starting striker. That is a huge ask in a single window - and therefore I can see why fans are a) concerned and b) putting so much emphasis on the disappointment that failure to capitalise on our strong start this season would be...

 

[ZeroTheHero]

I think the problem is always one of continuity. Although it is possible to rebuild every summer (with a bit of luck and a following wind), whatever spine you have in the team is disrupted. And hence the slow starts.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

I think the problem is always one of continuity. Although it is possible to rebuild every summer (with a bit of luck and a following wind), whatever spine you have in the team is disrupted. And hence the slow starts.

It’s a sure fire way to tread water and have the same mid-table season year after year. At some point you have to go, “This is the one season where nobody leaves and we add to what we’ve got”. You need to have one season out of every few where you have a go. If you don’t quite make it and sell them off anyway, so be it. Given who is left and their contract lengths etc, I think this season was much, much better equipped to be that season than the next one appears to be.

 

[Junior_1]

This is a great post and poses some really legitimate questions. My point is that, if we lose major names from our squad (Brannagan and Dickie are Championship quality (or higher) players who will want to play at that level sooner rather than later - so therefore would be possibly unlikely to sign new contracts and therefore have to be sold) the scale of the rebuild job required to make this a platform, and bounce back for another promotion charge next season is enormous.

Not saying it can’t happen. But with Baptiste, Fosu and Whyte gone, and if we cash in on Dickie and Cam Bran then the cupboard starts to look bare of resellable assets. Not totally bust (Gorrin, Sykes, Moore, Atkinson, maybe Nico? Agyei!?) but we will have flogged a lot of the silver.

Given that we’ve heard for the last few windows how hard getting deals done is, how complex it is and how you can’t get ‘everything done in one window’, the sheer scope of the work we’ll have to rebuild the squad again in the summer is stark. Not impossible. But vast...

EDIT - and will require significant investment outlay...

Slightly off topic.

But I’d love for Lofthouse to be given a go sooner rather than later.

For me, him and Nico will become regulars in the first team in the next year or two. Lofthouse also has that special ability of playing average but always popping up with goals. His time at Ox City is proving very worthwhile for all concerned.

He, along with Nico are defo very valuable players for us moving forward.

 

[Oxymoron]

Do you think the board will let them walk for free in a year’s time?
If your answer is no, they’re being sold this summer.

I wasn't really concerned about the board; I have little input to their machinations, am not privy to their plans and as such I have little chance of influencing their decisions, so I can't really see the point in stressing over them.

I was more thinking about the players and their attitudes. If they want to stay, they will sign on the dotted line. If they don't or don't like the terms or "the vision", then we can do little to keep them.

 

[Left Wing Cross]

Dead right - and therein is where fans are segregating into positive and negative camps. We have a paucity of genuine, factual guidance about the direction the club is headed. I like Zaki and his willingness to talk to the fans - but he is a master of using as many words as he can to say as little as possible.

It is very possible the club have a recruitment policy in place coiled and ready to do what is needed in the summer. But to go back to my earlier post - we could realistically be looking for a keeper, a centre back, fullbacks, a central midfielder, wide/attacking midfielders and a starting striker. That is a huge ask in a single window - and therefore I can see why fans are a) concerned and b) putting so much emphasis on the disappointment that failure to capitalise on our strong start this season would be...

There are concerns, especially as the approaches for right backs and centre forwards in the last window yielded no signings in those positions.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

I wasn't really concerned about the board; I have little input to their machinations, am not privy to their plans and as such I have little chance of influencing their decisions, so I can't really see the point in stressing over them.

I was more thinking about the players and their attitudes. If they want to stay, they will sign on the dotted line. If they don't or don't like the terms or "the vision", then we can do little to keep them.

Fair enough, but you said you didn’t see any evidence that any of them will be sold, so I asked the question as to whether you believe they’d all be allowed to walk for nothing. I think in that regard you should be ‘concerned’ about the board’s decisions, in as much as it does play a huge part in that outcome. And with that in mind there is certainly some degree of ‘evidence’ that all of those players can’t stay, given that those same people so readily admit that we have to sell, and have form for it.

 

[Oufcrealist]

I get sick of people saying the same things over and over! Yes it was probably a mistake to sell them then. Now move on. I do think some people have developed an entitled view due to us having a good run at the end of last year. We're still little Oxford, not Portsmouth, Sunderland, or Man City - we can't expect to be top of League One, though we can hope for it.

Strange mentality.

People will mention something with such a crucial effect on the season often, it's only natural. We pay our hard earned money to go, so it's natural to be opinionated on it.

"Little Oxford" are bigger than plenty of teams that have had a crack at the Championship in recent years. If the club had a decent-located and nice stadium and played in the Championship we would get 12-18,000 every week. It's the only professional team in Oxfordshire. The club has been hideously mismanaged for so-long.

Yes, little Wycombe aren't doing too badly!?

 

[werthersoriginal]

Little Wycombe are doing brilliantly, and respect to them. But if they don’t get promoted do you think their supporters will have a meltdown?

 

[Anthomic]

Take what money and run out of interest.
Tiger will almost certainly be down at the moment having lost money.
Not sure hiwvthat can be reconciled with taking the money and running?

T

The money from selling players the same way that DE did.

 

[greatunclekip]

Ok cup results.
Are you serious? Really?

Id certainly trade them in to be higher in the league given that none of the money generated has been reinvested in the team, and actually maybe had a negative effect with fatigue etc.