Matches Oxford United’s Identity

[Lincoln.yellow1]

Every time we sign a player either on loan or on a permanent transfer, they are always asked the question by Chris Williams “Why Oxford United”...............?
The answers from the newly signed players always seem to be similar.........
* Oxford play the style of football that suits my game
* There is a clear identity here
* Oxford develop players and make them into better players
* The training set up is everything a player needs
* The management are focused and passionate about the club
* There is a clear vision of where the owners want the club to be

Ask that question 18 months ago and further back the answers were all of the above.
Apart from the answer regarding the training set up all the other answers have disappeared into history...

Our style of play, which was always possession football, GK, rolling to a CB, the CB passing it to the RB, the RB passing it back to the CB, the CB, passing it quickly to a midfielder, the midfielder probing looking for the forward pass, it it not there pass it back or sideways to either full back or CB and start again, this style of play had the opposition constantly shifting and moving out of their positions untill the gaps appeared and we were in the final 3rd of the pitch with numbers of players as our players moved together or the opposition players were isolated and chances appeared for us.

This style of play has been dismissed this season with our GK kicking it long in the hope of our forwards win the 2nd ball or our GK rolling it out to one of our CB’s or full backs who then in turn knock the ball long with our forward players chasing lost causes more often than not.
These new tactics almost certainly hand the possession to our opponents for them to launch their attacks within their style of play...

Although possession does not win you the games outright it does allow the team to be more patient, more compact, more together and harder to beat as we then create more chances as you are dragging the opposition out of position.

WE NEED OUR IDENTITY AND OUR STYLE OF PLAY BACK...

 

[Mojofilter]

I know this is true if any club, but in the last 5 years we've also lost some big characters around the club (on and off the pitch). Leaves us feeling a bit unmoored

 

[Paul Cannell]

Doesn't help that we're managed by a megalomaniac egotist.

 

[Swaby39]

This is the first season under Karl Robinson that I feel we have completely lost our footballing identity.

There was a time that putting the ball in the air was not an option - we’d rather concede by losing the ball by doing it our way. We frustrated but were at least competitive and scored a tonne of goals. We were a problem for anyone… Those were the days. We struggle for a shot on target now.

Our poor season is not a factor in this as there was a clear direction to play longer balls in to the channel right from the first game. I suspect this is a result of a short, poorly planned and half arsed pre season for which Karl was seemingly only focused for less than half and working with a squad that was not finished nor designed to play our way. So on the hop, we took on a new, less intricate style that was familiar to nobody.

Subsequently, we’ve melted. Not only are we completely ineffective in getting results, we don’t even resemble the Oxford United of the last few years that tried to play. We’ve made fewer signings for the future and seen less improvement in our players this year than in a long, long time. I worry we’ve quickly been knocked off our perch as one of the best ‘stepping stone’ clubs at this level. Who’d stick Oxford United in to google, look at the social media reaction and come here to progress? Were a rehab facility or a place for struggling players to get game time.

So I agree. Who are we now and next season? What is our USP to players in the window? Good questions for the board. We need something more to offer in the market or else we are just a big wage and that attracts vultures like agents and players like Josh Murphy to come and take the P**s.

 

[Coffin dodger]

Robbo has also removed our identity by hardly ever allowing us to play in yellow away from home.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

This is the biggest thing for me. Robinson said after the Rotherham game that the squad needed rebuilding to go again and then stupidly went away from what had made us so good to watch over the last few seasons.
He tried to almost reinvent the wheel and go down a whole different approach which clearly hasn’t worked.
He moved away from bringing in young players who had something to prove and young loans and get older players who in the past have been good players but are on their way down. These type of players are just after a final pay cheque.

The January window shows the club are slowly going back to the old model. Got in a young Irish CB, a couple of young loan players and a loan who we could get at the end of the season if he does well (Smith) and let Taylor go out so he can earn a contract else where because he won’t get one here.
It’s one of the reasons why i said a while back I’ll be happy to just get this season over with and then we can hopefully have a full reset in the summer.

 

[OUFCwaffle]

Agree with all the above. The previous 3 seasons, whenever I brought people along I always got "we're playing some good stuff" , even if we didn't win more often than not you'd go away thinking we had deserved more.

We have just completely capitulated, like there's an awful thick grey fog around the club sucking all the joy out of everything. It's just baffling how in seemingly such a short period of time we look like a completely different football team. It so reminiscent of the changes when MApp left and Pep Clotet's tragedy of a recruitment campaign.

It seems to have coincided with the off field stadium situation. The last 12 months have been just ghastly.

We need need need the clown to move on. Bring someone in who can inspire the players, inject some colour back into it and get the place buzzing again like it should be right now.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Agree with all the above. The previous 3 seasons, whenever I brought people along I always got "we're playing some good stuff" , even if we didn't win more often than not you'd go away thinking we had deserved more.

We have just completely capitulated, like there's an awful thick grey fog around the club sucking all the joy out of everything. It's just baffling how in seemingly such a short period of time we look like a completely different football team. It so reminiscent of the changes when MApp left and Pep Clotet's tragedy of a recruitment campaign.

It seems to have coincided with the off field stadium situation. The last 12 months have been just ghastly.

We need need need the clown to move on. Bring someone in who can inspire the players, inject some colour back into it and get the place buzzing again like it should be right now.

The club is crying out for someone like Critchley, a manager who needs to get his career back on track and would do well with a club that needs to rebuild.
It is almost a blank canvas for a manager to come in and stamp their authority on it. Most of the squad are out of contract either this summer or next so it gives someone chance to rebuild a squad.
We also have some good players here who are assets such as Brannagan and McGuane.
What ever happens it isn’t going to be an overnight fix. I certainly wouldn’t start dreaming of making the play offs next season but with the right appointments and recruitment there is no reason why we shouldn’t be far away from it.

This is the problem with football, it takes a lot longer to be a successful team than it is for things to turn sour.

 

[Oxford84]

That style of play was much easier to play when we had pace in the team, it forces the other team back giving players more room to operate in.At the moment opposition know they can fully push on and close us down as we are so slow.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

He moved away from bringing in young players who had something to prove and young loans and get older players who in the past have been good players but are on their way down. These type of players are just after a final pay cheque.

Which is why nobody at the club, be it the manager or the Chairman or the CEO, should be allowed to get away with claiming this season wasn’t about a full throttle promotion tilt or acting as though it’s not a big deal that what’s happened has happened. The players brought in with little to zero resale value on massive wages were brought in to do a job here and now. Right now. It was the ultimate short term play and it has backfired horrendously, quite probably reducing next season to a write off already. Which is why inaction or a rewriting of history, which I fear is currently beginning to play out, is utterly unacceptable.

As for talk of the likes of Brannagan and McGuane being assets, one is past his peak in terms of sale price (at 27 in May he’s got little profitable resale value for any buyer, which will affect his price tag) and the other is a free agent in just over a year.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Which is why nobody at the club, be it the manager or the Chairman or the CEO, should be allowed to get away with claiming this season wasn’t about a full throttle promotion tilt or acting as though it’s not a big deal that what’s happened has happened. The players brought in with little to zero resale value on massive wages were brought in to do a job here and now. Right now. It was the ultimate short term play and it has backfired horrendously, quite probably reducing next season to a write off already. Which is why inaction or a rewriting of history, which I fear is currently beginning to play out, is utterly unacceptable.

As for talk of the likes of Brannagan and McGuane being assets, one is past his peak in terms of sale price (at 27 in May he’s got little profitable resale value for any buyer, which will affect his price tag) and the other is a free agent in just over a year.

I agree with what you say and on the point of Branners and McGuane, assets was probably the wrong word. What I meant is we have players we can build a team around still rather than just sell them off.
With Brannagan I think he has probably missed his big move now and after this season, by his standards he hasn’t lived up to previous seasons which won’t help his case although a good thing for Oxford plus he loves living in the area and loves the club.

 

[Swaby39]

I agree with what you say and on the point of Branners and McGuane, assets was probably the wrong word. What I meant is we have players we can build a team around still rather than just sell them off.
With Brannagan I think he has probably missed his big move now and after this season, by his standards he hasn’t lived up to previous seasons which won’t help his case although a good thing for Oxford plus he loves living in the area and loves the club.

Blackpool are heading for L1 so unless he'd set the championship alight, his stay there would've been short and back where he started anyway. I can't see him being too disappointed that it didn't work out and I also think he's got 6 or 7 years left to offer so I'd expect more offers this summer. Probably offensively low ones, but when you consider we are now shackled to ridiculous contracts with other undeserving players, it may be that Cam's sale is the only way for us to move in the market. Who knows. But it doesn't half make it important that we find solutions with players who are not even afforded the chance to play and justify their wage, and those who cannot play as their legs are broken. It's going to be costly to fix this whichever way we go, which is why it is truly baffling a money man such as Tim Williams can look the culprit in the eye every day and say he's done a good job. He's left him in a right mess to navigate.

 

[38yearsofpain]

Every time we sign a player either on loan or on a permanent transfer, they are always asked the question by Chris Williams “Why Oxford United”...............?
The answers from the newly signed players always seem to be similar.........
* Oxford play the style of football that suits my game
* There is a clear identity here
* Oxford develop players and make them into better players
* The training set up is everything a player needs
* The management are focused and passionate about the club
* There is a clear vision of where the owners want the club to be

Ask that question 18 months ago and further back the answers were all of the above.
Apart from the answer regarding the training set up all the other answers have disappeared into history...

Our style of play, which was always possession football, GK, rolling to a CB, the CB passing it to the RB, the RB passing it back to the CB, the CB, passing it quickly to a midfielder, the midfielder probing looking for the forward pass, it it not there pass it back or sideways to either full back or CB and start again, this style of play had the opposition constantly shifting and moving out of their positions untill the gaps appeared and we were in the final 3rd of the pitch with numbers of players as our players moved together or the opposition players were isolated and chances appeared for us.

This style of play has been dismissed this season with our GK kicking it long in the hope of our forwards win the 2nd ball or our GK rolling it out to one of our CB’s or full backs who then in turn knock the ball long with our forward players chasing lost causes more often than not.
These new tactics almost certainly hand the possession to our opponents for them to launch their attacks within their style of play...

Although possession does not win you the games outright it does allow the team to be more patient, more compact, more together and harder to beat as we then create more chances as you are dragging the opposition out of position.

WE NEED OUR IDENTITY AND OUR STYLE OF PLAY BACK...

I still have nightmares of Kemp shouting second ball

 

[Oslernorth]

Every time we sign a player either on loan or on a permanent transfer, they are always asked the question by Chris Williams “Why Oxford United”...............?
The answers from the newly signed players always seem to be similar.........
* Oxford play the style of football that suits my game
* There is a clear identity here
* Oxford develop players and make them into better players
* The training set up is everything a player needs
* The management are focused and passionate about the club
* There is a clear vision of where the owners want the club to be

Ask that question 18 months ago and further back the answers were all of the above.
Apart from the answer regarding the training set up all the other answers have disappeared into history...

Our style of play, which was always possession football, GK, rolling to a CB, the CB passing it to the RB, the RB passing it back to the CB, the CB, passing it quickly to a midfielder, the midfielder probing looking for the forward pass, it it not there pass it back or sideways to either full back or CB and start again, this style of play had the opposition constantly shifting and moving out of their positions untill the gaps appeared and we were in the final 3rd of the pitch with numbers of players as our players moved together or the opposition players were isolated and chances appeared for us.

This style of play has been dismissed this season with our GK kicking it long in the hope of our forwards win the 2nd ball or our GK rolling it out to one of our CB’s or full backs who then in turn knock the ball long with our forward players chasing lost causes more often than not.
These new tactics almost certainly hand the possession to our opponents for them to launch their attacks within their style of play...

Although possession does not win you the games outright it does allow the team to be more patient, more compact, more together and harder to beat as we then create more chances as you are dragging the opposition out of position.

WE NEED OUR IDENTITY AND OUR STYLE OF PLAY BACK...

Agreed. When I played football 20 years ago, our aim was to keep possession, stretch the front line and their midfield into a deep position, then hit them on the counter attack. - very successful!
I’m sure this was what Karl was originally trying to achieve, but I cant make head nor tail of decisions this season

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Agreed. When I played football 20 years ago, our aim was to keep possession, stretch the front line and their midfield into a deep position, then hit them on the counter attack. - very successful!
I’m sure this was what Karl was originally trying to achieve, but I cant make head nor tail of decisions this season

You were lucky, when I started playing, the manager told the groundsman to leave the grass longer in the top corners so the ball would hold up when we constantly hit the channels

 

[Yellow River]

As has been said we’re going to need a massive rebuild in the summer and going into the following January window too. Next season is going to be about stabilising and putting some new building blocks in place. Undoing the car crash of the last 12+ months wont be easy and will take time.

Does anyone really believe that Robinson is the right person and capable of doing that?

We need a new manager with fresh ideas, someone who can build a balanced squad, someone who can be objective about the existing squad and someone who is fair but prepared to be ruthless if necessary. Someone who can lift the gloom that hangs over the club right now. It‘s a big ask but at the same time a great opportunity for someone.

I suspect a new manager will want to bring in his own back room staff, which is probably no bad thing in my opinion.

But whoever it is we as fans need to afford them some patience because there’s a hell of a lot of work to be done.