Manager/Coach KREXIT: The 'Robbo Out' thread.

[Carpy]

who should he have got who was willing to come here and instead of whom?

Pretty silly to suggest I know who should have come in instead, but it’s pretty clear the team lacks balance with several players played out of position and positions also lacking strength in depth

As for who should not have come in, take your pick from

• Hall should have been released, guy isn’t used regardless of getting an extra year
• Kelly
• McGuane
• Osei Yaw
• Clare (at least as a RB)

And seemingly he doesn’t believe the following are up to it yet none were moved on

• Agyei
• Hanson
• Sykes​

 

[battman]

I remember calling for KR's dismissal at the start of season 2018-19 when we'd won 5 points out of the first 33. That would have been a mistake as it turned out, so I'll hold a view on getting rid off him for now, but our expectations are, quite reasonably, higher than what he's actually achieving for us at the moment.

Would it? Even when we were 33 games in we only had 33 points and were in the relegation zone, if it wasn't for the good spurt in the last 13 games there still would've been question marks hanging over Karl's head that season. But because we finished in a decent position that season, the awfulness of the majority of that season gets forgotten about. I can see how it wouldn't be a mistake if you take reaching the play-off final into account, but we were blowing hot or cold that season. We were fortunate that, as the league campaign was concerned, we blew hot just at the right time (and then we were the coldest of cold in the most important match of the last decade).

But we're not talking about a poor start to the season as something new, it's happened three times in the last three seasons. We're a confidence side that can put either a great run together or just f**k it up completely, and I'm getting so tired of that. Probably more so than being inconsistent game-to-game, because it's an easier thing to fix. Analyse where your preseason goes wrong so you don't start off poorly again (late signings, over-reliance on fitness than tactics, the 3 games in 3 days bullshit), and get in experienced and vocal players to try to banish losing streaks.

If we stick with KR then we may get promoted, who knows? But we could also just as easily get relegated. There's so much unpredictability with a manager that, in modern footballing terms, has been here a while. We have a manager who's not learning, who's not improving and who's not building a squad to a satisfactory level. Which other managers in the PL and EFL have been in their job for three years and yet have question marks over almost every position on the pitch bar defensive midfield and striker?

I'm all for giving managers time and letting them build, and when we let Wilder and Appleton do that it worked out, but I just don't see progress here in terms of the squad's quality or the manager's ability, and I think it's time we brought in someone new, with a clear direction forward, to let them build something.

 

[UTM]

Would it? Even when we were 33 games in we only had 33 points and were in the relegation zone, if it wasn't for the good spurt in the last 13 games there still would've been question marks hanging over Karl's head that season. But because we finished in a decent position that season, the awfulness of the majority of that season gets forgotten about. I can see how it wouldn't be a mistake if you take the play-off final into account, but we were blowing hot or cold this season and were fortunate that as the league campaign was concerned we blew hot just at the right time (and then we were the coldest of cold in the most important match of the last decade).

But we're not talking about a poor start to the season as something new, it's happened three times in the last three seasons. We're a confidence side that can put either a great run together or just f**k it up completely, and I'm getting so tired of that. Probably more so than being inconsistent game-to-game, because it's an easier thing to fix. Analyse where your preseason goes wrong so you don't start off poorly again (late signings, over-reliance on fitness than tactics, the 3 games in 3 days bullshit), and get in experienced and vocal players to try to banish losing streaks.

If we stick with KR then we may get promoted, who knows? But we could also just as easily get relegated. There's so much unpredictability with a manager that, in modern footballing terms, has been here a while. We have a manager who's not learning, who's not improving and who's not building a squad to a satisfactory level. Which other managers in the PL and EFL have been in their job for three years and yet have question marks over almost every position on the pitch bar defensive midfield and striker?

I'm all for giving managers time and letting them build, and when we let Wilder and Appleton do that it worked out, but I just don't see progress here in terms of the squad's quality or the manager's ability, and I think it's time we brought in someone new, with a clear direction forward, to let them build something.

Yep , good post.

 

[Oufcluke34]

Questions need to be asked now, as for his comments and completely throwing sykes under the bus absolutely disgraceful comments hope tiger pulls him line and tells him!!!!!!!!

 

[Oxford1996]

Paul Cook would be a massive upgrade on Karl Robinson if things carry on this way.

Lee Johnson. Another good manager out of work.

Cowley brothers.

3 good options there if things go badly the next few games.

 

[Christchurch Yellows]

Pretty silly to suggest I know who should have come in instead, but it’s pretty clear the team lacks balance with several players played out of position and positions also lacking strength in depth

As for who should not have come in, take your pick from

• Hall should have been released, guy isn’t used regardless of getting an extra year
• Kelly
• McGuane
• Osei Yaw
• Clare (at least as a RB)

And seemingly he doesn’t believe the following are up to it yet none were moved on

• Agyei
• Hanson
• Sykes​

Cooper's also missing from the list

 

[outsidethebox]

Added bonus of the Cowley brothers is that you save a fortune on pitch maintenance as the ball spends most of the time in the air.

On a different note, Sykes certainly doesn't look the same player who did so well at times last season. However, wrong to throw him under the bus publicly like that ........ unless Robinson knows it's the way to provoke a positive reaction from him ..... which I doubt it is.

Big problem for me is that there are no talismanic leaders on the pitch. Not necessarily great footballers but those who others will follow into battle. Likes of Shotton, Briggs, Elliott, Ford, Moody, Crighton, Wright, Constable, Mullins, Skarz, Hylton etc. Incidentally, all players who would have no hesitation in telling team mates if they are letting the side down.

Brannagan is big miss but others should be stepping up. It all seems a bit nicey nicey at times.

 

[Upthecowboys]

Robinson has seriously underperformed from the play offs onwards. He deserves a lot of credit for getting us to the play-off final, but there have been some catastrophic mistakes since and a couple of his old old mannerisms (trying to reinvent the wheel / throwing players under the bus) have come back to the fore.

He has tried to be too clever with his recruitment this year. A lot of sides find it tough to recover after a playoff defeat, couple that with a non existent pre-season and the potential of a Covid interrupted season then he needed to play it safe. This season wasn't the time to try and convert a right midfielder into right back, there was limited time to work on it and Clare was coming in to an inexperienced back line. If we'd signed an out & out right back, and an experienced centre back we'd be a few points better off.

If we'd signed an experienced centre back (150 games at League 1 etc) then Moore and Atkinson would have been better for it. A Duberry type signing was needed from them both to learn from. Both have the ability to become very good centre backs, but their development will not be as quick as it could be because they are part of a mix and match back 5. If we'd had an experienced centre back then Clare may have found it slightly easier, i.e. talked through the game.

Eastwood has been on a downward spiral for a while. Yes he has been great, but he is nowhere near a top Div 1 keeper. It is sad but we need to move on. If we couldn't move him on in the Summer, and if KR wasn't quite sure about Stevens then we needed a short term experienced keeper in with Stevens going out on loan to get proper experience. The time to give Stevens a chance is in a settled back 4, but he'll probably get a chance now when defensively we are at the weakest we have been for a while and that is poor management.

Hall, Mousinho are 2 wasted squad players and it seemed quite obvious that their playing time with us should have been up. Why give Hall a new deal? Again in different ways both have been great but we need to move on. I can understand the gamble on Winnall, Taylor has had his niggles and we needed an experienced option if he broke down. I reckon between then KR was hoping to get 46 league starts, I can understand that gamble and it may still come off.

Substitutions & formations. Tuesday's subs worked, yesterday's didn't and some will say that is the way it goes. But it was obvious yesterday we needed at least 1 experienced sub to come on, someone with legs who would tighten us up in the middle of the park. Had he made that substitution then we would have had a more solid base to counter attack from. With 5 substitutions it was maddening we didn't put Forde on to help give us that base.

It's been pointed out before but we are so soft, and at times must be a dream to play against. How can this not be seen by KR, how can it not have been addressed properly? Earn the right to win and then play your snazzy football. Recent comparisons with the likes of Appleton's team are obvious, some of his players had top flight ability along with the right mental toughness. But how about an Andy Crosby type figure at the back? Nothing spectacular just someone who knows their job and is a leader.

His attitude when things go wrong is poor. His comments about Sykes were bang out of order, he may have thought that but do it in private. That is just poor man-management, such public 'hanging out to dry' is a long-standing ugly characteristic of his management. Tactically he has messed up big games when the pressure is on (free hits against the likes of Man City / West Ham are different kettles of fish) and his treatment of certain players publically (Agyei, now Sykes) is bang out of order.

I'm not yet calling for him to be sacked, but someone in the club has to hold him to account for his post Wembley performance. I can't believe his contract will be written in a way that we simply have to pay the remainder off if he is let go, surely there will be performance clauses in there etc (12 months notice??). Regardless, if in a couple of months we're still seeing similar muddled and gutless performances which are followed by more singling out of players then he'll need to be gone.

The January window is going to be huge, a couple of players need moving on / paying off and a couple of sensible & pragmatic signings are needed.

 

[windmill]

The only decent thing to happen this season is getting two free face masks.

 

[Wallop]

Robinson has seriously underperformed from the play offs onwards. He deserves a lot of credit for getting us to the play-off final, but there have been some catastrophic mistakes since and a couple of his old old mannerisms (trying to reinvent the wheel / throwing players under the bus) have come back to the fore.

He has tried to be too clever with his recruitment this year. A lot of sides find it tough to recover after a playoff defeat, couple that with a non existent pre-season and the potential of a Covid interrupted season then he needed to play it safe. This season wasn't the time to try and convert a right midfielder into right back, there was limited time to work on it and Clare was coming in to an inexperienced back line. If we'd signed an out & out right back, and an experienced centre back we'd be a few points better off.

If we'd signed an experienced centre back (150 games at League 1 etc) then Moore and Atkinson would have been better for it. A Duberry type signing was needed from them both to learn from. Both have the ability to become very good centre backs, but their development will not be as quick as it could be because they are part of a mix and match back 5. If we'd had an experienced centre back then Clare may have found it slightly easier, i.e. talked through the game.

Eastwood has been on a downward spiral for a while. Yes he has been great, but he is nowhere near a top Div 1 keeper. It is sad but we need to move on. If we couldn't move him on in the Summer, and if KR wasn't quite sure about Stevens then we needed a short term experienced keeper in with Stevens going out on loan to get proper experience. The time to give Stevens a chance is in a settled back 4, but he'll probably get a chance now when defensively we are at the weakest we have been for a while and that is poor management.

Hall, Mousinho are 2 wasted squad players and it seemed quite obvious that their playing time with us should have been up. Why give Hall a new deal? Again in different ways both have been great but we need to move on. I can understand the gamble on Winnall, Taylor has had his niggles and we needed an experienced option if he broke down. I reckon between then KR was hoping to get 46 league starts, I can understand that gamble and it may still come off.

Substitutions & formations. Tuesday's subs worked, yesterday's didn't and some will say that is the way it goes. But it was obvious yesterday we needed at least 1 experienced sub to come on, someone with legs who would tighten us up in the middle of the park. Had he made that substitution then we would have had a more solid base to counter attack from. With 5 substitutions it was maddening we didn't put Forde on to help give us that base.

It's been pointed out before but we are so soft, and at times must be a dream to play against. How can this not be seen by KR, how can it not have been addressed properly? Earn the right to win and then play your snazzy football. Recent comparisons with the likes of Appleton's team are obvious, some of his players had top flight ability along with the right mental toughness. But how about an Andy Crosby type figure at the back? Nothing spectacular just someone who knows their job and is a leader.

His attitude when things go wrong is poor. His comments about Sykes were bang out of order, he may have thought that but do it in private. That is just poor man-management, such public 'hanging out to dry' is a long-standing ugly characteristic of his management. Tactically he has messed up big games when the pressure is on (free hits against the likes of Man City / West Ham are different kettles of fish) and his treatment of certain players publically (Agyei, now Sykes) is bang out of order.

I'm not yet calling for him to be sacked, but someone in the club has to hold him to account for his post Wembley performance. I can't believe his contract will be written in a way that we simply have to pay the remainder off if he is let go, surely there will be performance clauses in there etc (12 months notice??). Regardless, if in a couple of months we're still seeing similar muddled and gutless performances which are followed by more singling out of players then he'll need to be gone.

The January window is going to be huge, a couple of players need moving on / paying off and a couple of sensible & pragmatic signings are needed.

Doubt there’s any notice period in the contract, football Ts and Cs don’t work like that - show me one credible example of this.

 

[dickwalton1964]

Now is not the time to call for Robinson to go and I‘m backing him. In his interview he looks close to tears and this has undoubtedly hurt him to the core. He’s not a bad man and he’s not an inept manager, he’s brought into Oxford United more than any other manger I can remember and the bloke deserves a bit more backing than cheap ’Robinson out’ jibes.

He got his substitutions wrong, horribly wrong, and it’s just unfortunate that the opposition were Swindon. He’s maybe called out one or two players purely on frustration and I guess a couple of quick five minute meetings in the morning will smooth that over and he’ll have us refocused for what is ahead.

Proper characters come out fighting in times of adversity and proper fans see the bigger picture and that bigger picture ten or so games ago was a L1 play of final against the odds. This season is a write off for so many and in so many ways and we just need to safely see it through and there aren’t many I’d prefer to see guiding us into another season at this level than Robinson.

Ok, he won yesterday with a massive helping hand but a journeyman like Sheridan or Robinson ? The likes of Cook are appealing for a L1 club searching for a new man but is he really a massive upgrade on Robbo ? We’ve got a terrific manager but he’s not infallible, just like Sir Alex Ferguson got things massively wrong when he lost a derby 6-1 at home but re-grouped and won the title the next year.

 

[Daviddidcotexile]

I understand the frustration at losing a game we had under control at half time. When the tide was turning we needed a stability sub not a set of subs that we all know do not retain the ball . KR made naive substitutions but does that mean he needs to go. Next few weeks are the proper litmus test. January transfer window can save us but KR may not get the chance to be here to use it if this debacle is not resolved by the end of December

 

[Upthecowboys]

Doubt there’s any notice period in the contract, football Ts and Cs don’t work like that - show me one credible example of this.

Haven’t got a specific example to hand, but am sure I’ve heard of examples where it is cheaper to get rid of managers when there are clauses in re league position etc.

Of course you may be right.

 

[Oxford84]

His comments in his interview today means he should be out the door, but we all know Tiger doesn't have the balls nor the money to get rid.

Anyone who missed his interview, I was astounded when I heard this from his mouth.

“I don’t understand why we played 20 or 30 yards deeper.

“When they go with the big guy up front the only way you can defend that is by keeping your line high”


Wait a minute what does the manager do again?

How many times over the years with various teams have we seen teams drop deeper and give the opposition the game back.?its not as simple as telling players to play 30 yards forward as wed never ever see teams get pushed back.

 

[Oxford84]

Sorry, the manager picks the team from players he has recruited. Buck stops with KR.

so did you expect the 3 subs to be that s**t then?even if they played average wed have won the game.

 

[dickwalton1964]

I understand the frustration at losing a game we had under control at half time. When the tide was turning we needed a stability sub not a set of subs that we all know do not retain the ball . KR made naive substitutions but does that mean he needs to go. Next few weeks are the proper litmus test. January transfer window can save us but KR may not get the chance to be here to use it if this debacle is not resolved by the end of December

Hindsight is great isn’t it ? The subs admittedly did not work but I don’t think that was ever a game that we should have tried to close out with substitutions. Swindon were there for the taking and I think attacking substitutions, at that time, were probably correct to try and get that second that would have finished the game. There looked more chance of us getting another than there did conceding one, never mind two.

Our three subs just didn’t produce and maybe if they’d even reached 50% of their capabilities we’d have seen it through but all three were poor on the ball, didn’t seem to want to track runners and just looked lethargic. My one gripe is that I felt the wrong players came off. McGuane was having a really strong game, Obita less so but he gave obvious balance and was doing ok. Taylor look shot and he should have come off with Agyei a straight swap up top. In that situation I wouldn’t have taken Henry off, he’s one of those players who's presence on the pitch just feels right when the game was going the way it was.

 

[greatunclekip]

Youve nailed it with the subs Dick. Common sense to everybody watching what needed to be done.

Robbo as always trys to be clever rather than doing the fundamentals. Thoughbin honesty i blame those players at least as much as Robbo. They should never play again guven their lack of effort and focus.

 

[OX14]

How many times over the years with various teams have we seen teams drop deeper and give the opposition the game back.?its not as simple as telling players to play 30 yards forward as wed never ever see teams get pushed back.

He is the manager/coach he is the one instructing the players, changing tactics and bringing on subs, I get the back line sometimes want to move back as they don't trust calamity Jane in goal. But the whole 10 outfield players dropped back and were not interested in venturing forwards. Question needs to be asked why this was? My guess is they was instructed to see out the game, drop deeper, time waste.

 

[Scotchegg]

People think that I only ever defend Robinson, which isn't true. But equally I do expect players to perform when they cross the white lines (even more so in a derby!)

The initial tactics yesterday were fine. High, energetic pressing, controlling the game through the midfield (Kelly and McGuane were superb), getting the ball into Taylor early and stretching their defence. We were all over them and had Taylor buried the chance from Longy's cross we probably win by a hat full.

Second half, we saw a reaction from Swindon but also things didn't run for us in the first 20 mins or do. McGuane and Obita started to over play and lose the ball, Atkinson came out from the back and lost possession, Taylor had less space to play in and instead chased the back four, which took it out of his legs. Our passing became wasteful and we gave the initiative to Swindon.

The game was crying out for a change. We had pace to burn on the bench, and Shodipo and Agyei have shown more than enough to be genuine options. The "inexperienced players" line is the sorted of blinkered crap that I'd get slaughtered for!!! As for Agyei not being a winger, that is no excuse for what we saw. Both looked like they weren't interested. It's a tough ask, but watch back the last 20 minutes and see how many times Agyei is stood with his hands on his hips watching the game go by. That is simply not acceptable. As for Sykes, I don't know what was going on. He played like we'd sent a fan on to run around a bit but looked awful. He's had some great games for us, but is beginning to look bog average in far too many.

I'm not sure how you can blame these performances on the manager, unless there are real issues going on behind the scenes. Something isn't right, and something has to change. But do we put our faith in Robinson to do that, or in the players who don't seem to care?

As for throwing people under the bus, I think Robinson has been very reserved in recent months. He's defended the undefendable at times to try to protect the players. But yesterday he had had enough. I'm not sure I blame him, even if I think that should have been a conversation for the changing room.

How we react to this will tell whether we are to fight our way out of this mess, or struggle for the rest of the season. We have a better team than when we were in a similar position 2 years ago, but the performances are maybe even worse. I'll back Robinson to get us out of this, but suspect that we will see a very different squad come January as a result.

 

[Oxymoron]

It seems to be common knowledge that we mentally profile players, not only before we sign them but also while they are at the club. I would hope that the management team know exactly what bus and how far under it any given player needs to be thrown (or not thrown) to provoke a reaction.

Personally, I'd have taken all three subs down to the station and put them in front of the entire fleet - and then had them reverse back a few times, just to make sure, which I think was much the same stage that Robbo was at post-match, but I guess he understands his squad better than I do......