The Karl Robinson years at OUFC are difficult to analyse.

[Bigfella72]

Just Google 'List of Oxford United Managers' in Wiki if you want to look at them all. He's got a better record than the various caretaker managers (I guess you'd expect that, since they were stuck with a team who'd just got the last bloke fired!), marginally better than Horton, quite a lot better than Kemp (unsurprisingly). But then if you say that managers playing in lower divisions (L2, Conference) should have their records downgraded, you'd also have to say that those in charge when we were in the top two should have their records adjusted upwards?

More interested in the managers in our league tbh as most of us could guess what certain managers stats are and tbh not sure it’s really a good guide to whether a manager is any good or not as lots of variables to why a season panned our like it did.

 

[AbbeyOx]

comes back to relying on Loans, i keep saying it build a squad of our players with the odd tweak here or there for 2/3 seasons and have a good go at it.
Stop the nicey nicey of training and giving game time to other clubs players and all this give us a year and we'll help further your career.
i'm still convinced that breaking up the squad every summer has contributed to 2 struggling seasons.

Having a reputation for developing other clubs players is all well and good but where has it got us !

have we not done that this season - 3 year contracts to several players.
next season hopefully we’ll have the majority still here (and looking like good players) plus the quality youngsters coming through, so not needing the major rebuild again

 

[Millman]

have we not done that this season - 3 year contracts to several players.
next season hopefully we’ll have the majority still here (and looking like good players) plus the quality youngsters coming through, so not needing the major rebuild again

I agree this for me one one of the positives this year was the reduced reliance on loans. We do have to keep in mind though we are a selling club. The club just to survive has to sell one or two player each year (we should not complain about the selling of White because a look at the books means this is the least we needed to do). The thing is by the end of the season to be at a point where the replacments are almost ready to take over. I think we are going to be closer to this this year than last year.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

More interested in the managers in our league tbh as most of us could guess what certain managers stats are and tbh not sure it’s really a good guide to whether a manager is any good or not as lots of variables to why a season panned our like it did.

I agree to a certain extent (although certainly as useful as the possession percentage and pass completion stats that current day managers are so keen on!) - there will always be variables, even in the same division it *should* be easier to win as Sunderland manager than as the current Bolton manager! But in the absence of any other metric, I guess it's the best we've got if we want to compare the records of managers.

 

[tonyw]

Just Google 'List of Oxford United Managers' in Wiki if you want to look at them all. He's got a better record than the various caretaker managers (I guess you'd expect that, since they were stuck with a team who'd just got the last bloke fired!), marginally better than Horton, quite a lot better than Kemp (unsurprisingly). But then if you say that managers playing in lower divisions (L2, Conference) should have their records downgraded, you'd also have to say that those in charge when we were in the top two should have their records adjusted upwards?

I mean that has to be the case, doesn't it?

Maurice Evans had a win % of 29.3% in his main spell as manager. But that was spent exclusively in the first division playing against teams with vastly greater resources than us.

Darren Patterson had a win % of 40.7% in his main spell as manager. But that was spent exclusively in the conference playing against teams with vastly less resources than us.

Is there anyone who would like to claim that Patto was the more successful/better Oxford manager of the two??!?

 

[holdsteady]

According to Wikipedia (so probably wrong) it’s Robinson’s 500th game as a manager on Saturday, hell of an achievement for a 38 year old. Most of the league games in those 500 have been at league one level, so despite his young age he is very experienced at this level, so much so that you would expect the year and a half he has had here to be enough to build a team, but for whatever reason that doesn’t seem to have happened yet.

We went for a young but very experienced league one manager which you would think to be ideal, but it isn’t working out yet.

 

[uptheus]

I’m still not convinced we have the right playing personnel in terms of depth and shape. And our biggest loss is pace closely followed by width.

 

[Bigfella72]

Slow day so I’ve been looking at all managers in division 1 and their win percentages.
5 or 6 names are at the top for average career, highest career and current team percentage.

1) 57.1% Darren Moore has got off to a very good start at Donny but also was harshly sacked by WBA.
2) 53.3% Danny Crowley who is now at Huddersfield is an obvious one as virtually all his games have been at a lower level in charge of a team fighting for promotion.
3) 52.6% Brian Barry-Murphy of Rochdale is the surprise package as he carries on as he left of last season but has only managed in 19 games so early days.
4) 50.72% Jack Ross again probably no surprise as Sunderland are a big fish in a small pond
5) 50.41% Kenny Jackett (see above) this is actually his best spell as a manager

Micky Mellon (tranmere)appears in top 5 best average and highest career when manager of Fleetwood but again his Tranmere stats are boosted by two promotions

On an average 39% is the middle ground for managers in Div 1 so yes KR falls short at present but he did hit 42.5% at MK so there is hope still.

 

[LondonRoader]

I know Robinson is a very self-confident fella but even when things are going wrong his persona oozes self-assured confidence as if he knows he’ll never be held to task for it. I think he will turn it round though - at least I hope he does. Behind all the chatter I do think there is a competent coach there ?

I'm not so sure on that opening line.

 

[Benox]

It is very disappointing that after some positive performances to start we seem to have started the season in the same manner as last year results wise. I don’t feel as worried as last season, probably for a number of reasons. The way we turned things around last year being one, the reduced threat of relegation after the Bury & Bolton situations and the greater feeling of positivity around the club.

On a positive side, at least we have players like Agyei, Moore, Gorrin & Fosu who will be here next year. So likely less squad disruption & rebuilding that we had last summer. If Taylor & Agyei prove to be successful I think we could have more options than we did last year with just Mackie & Sinclair.

The frustration is that many of them were signed too late (I appreciate deals can take a while but other teams do manage it) and are still not fit enough to make an impact, so it looks like another season of catch up until we finally find a formula that works. Can’t help but feel if we’re to actually have a truly successful season we need to have a squad in place by game 1, not 20% into the season. I don’t recall us having these problems in previous years (perhaps I’m just not recalling them), so I’m not sure why we struggle so much now. Perhaps just a case of us targeting players who have more options where a deal takes longer.

Definitely big games for us against Tranmere & Bolton where we could restore some good feeling with 2 wins. I feel we have a good squad, but we haven’t come across the key dependencies of the squad yet, like last year where Mous in front of the back 4, Garbutt on the wing etc seemed to turning points. Let’s hope it doesn’t take us that long to work out what this squad needs.

 

[Big Ronaldo]

It does seem as though we are flailing around searching for the right combination at the moment.
Taylor’s injury hasn’t helped and the gaps that have been exploited in our defence do need to be closed.
Continually shuffling the pack may not make everyone happy but you would like to think that at some point soon, we will hit on the right mix to enable us to be more resilient and more ruthless in front of goal. Then, and only then can we look forward to making a fist of this season.

 

[Paul Cannell]

Continually shuffling the pack may not make everyone happy but you would like to think that at some point soon, we will hit on the right mix to enable us to be more resilient and more ruthless in front of goal. Then, and only then can we look forward to making a fist of this season.

Mm, I think you've described why Robinson may be a splendid coach but is a poor manager; "shuffling the pack" is done to randomise the order in which cards appear, it's the opposite of taking a structured approach, selecting the cards you need and organising them in the pattern that wins whatever game you're playing.

Mr Robinson is an inveterate pack-shuffler because he's not organised. And he's got oddly fixed notions and a blinkered approach to building a squad, this season we don't have a proper centre-back pairing owing to mad recruitment (is that because he's doing it on his tod?), attempts to recruit a defensive midfielder to replace Kashi/Mousinhi have failed and he won't play Mousinho, the preferred right back is a liability unless he's got a winger / right midfield 'behind him' committed to defend.

I'm not saying he doesn't have a plan, I'm saying his plan is, like his team, massively unbalanced.

By the same token, it's easy to analyse his years at OUFC, it's just really hard to make a positive analysis (so far).

 

[horseman]

For years many football fans complain about their manager,we have a decent one for the league we are in and i've yet to see anyone suggest sensible options with sound reasoning as to why they would do better.
Fans of both Blackpool and Coventry have stated we are a good side and likely to be in and around the play offs yet we have some of our fans suggesting players are not trying..We have others saying we are shi*e yet then saying win our next 2 and we'll be fine without a thought seemingly that fans of our next opponents Tranmere are likely thinking the same thing about their team.
Some have questioned substitutions because we lost a game of football yet it's clear that substitutions kept us in the cup and can look forward to a full house against a decent premiershi*e side.

 

[Oufcrealist]

For years many football fans complain about their manager,we have a decent one for the league we are in and i've yet to see anyone suggest sensible options with sound reasoning as to why they would do better.
Fans of both Blackpool and Coventry have stated we are a good side and likely to be in and around the play offs yet we have some of our fans suggesting players are not trying..We have others saying we are shi*e yet then saying win our next 2 and we'll be fine without a thought seemingly that fans of our next opponents Tranmere are likely thinking the same thing about their team.
Some have questioned substitutions because we lost a game of football yet it's clear that substitutions kept us in the cup and can look forward to a full house against a decent premiershi*e side.

Hmmmmn. I haven't seen any Burton, Bristol or Fleetwood fans say we'll be up there, I may have missed some.
I think we look a decent side between both penalty areas. But we lack ideas, penetration and organisation in and around the penalty areas, mainly our own. We are leaking goals at an alarming rate. KR has to fix that NOW otherwise we'll be in this situation all season. If he keeps going with the same back four he has to shore it up in front of them, it's so obvious. There are ways of doing it he just has to be flexible with formations.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

For years many football fans complain about their manager,we have a decent one for the league we are in and i've yet to see anyone suggest sensible options with sound reasoning as to why they would do better.
Fans of both Blackpool and Coventry have stated we are a good side and likely to be in and around the play offs yet we have some of our fans suggesting players are not trying..We have others saying we are shi*e yet then saying win our next 2 and we'll be fine without a thought seemingly that fans of our next opponents Tranmere are likely thinking the same thing about their team.
Some have questioned substitutions because we lost a game of football yet it's clear that substitutions kept us in the cup and can look forward to a full house against a decent premiershi*e side.

I don't think any of that is surprising or even illogical!

Do we have a decent manager for the league we are in? I think the jury is out - at the very least he is alarmingly inconsistent (in the results we get and the quality with which we play) and alarmingly consistent at the same time (late and injured signings, insisting on sticking to a formation working or not, poor start to the season). If you'd asked me whether he was decent at Christmas I'd have laughed at you, by the end of the season I'd have mostly agreed with you - I thought he'd cracked it. And now I am hoping we are just going though a 'blip' - and we are already 10 points behind the leaders in this division! The inconsistency is actually evidenced by other clubs fans' views: Blackpool fans might say we were great (we still lost though) as might Coventry (we managed a draw eventually) - those from Burton or Fleetwood would probably look at us as relegation candidates. I'm not convinced about people saying the players aren't trying - I haven't heard anyone say that. I have heard people say that they are at times trying to play in a system on in a position they don't fully understand (Baptiste out wide?)

Never mind what Tranmere fans say - I am sure they want to win their next game every time - if we get six points from the next two games then that might be the start of at least some sort of recovery, and whether you think Robinson is great, mediocre or awful that is what we all want. I'm not sure that six points would BE a recovery, but it would be the start of one.

Robinson has already admitted himself that his substitutions were wrong in one game this season, costing us the points. And yes he did make some decent ones that at least helped us get through in the league cup. Although of course we could just as easily be playing a lower league team, that is just the luck of the draw.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

And here is an example of why people have problems with Robinson. From the OWS, published today in the Tranmere preview.

The first sentence reads
-----------------
"I probably sound like a broken record but we have been playing well and we haven’t conceded many goals” Karl Robinson told iFollow earlier today.
-----------------

Haven't conceded many goals? Haven't conceded many bloody goals? In the league we have conceded (working backwards) 2, 3, 3, 4, 2 in the last five games! In all competitions we have managed two clean sheets (the Peterborough games) all season.

Unless the OWS have misquoted their own manager, there's being optimistic and then there's talking rubbish.

 

[greatunclekip]

He just talks utter, utter guff! Theres always a new low when it comes to Robinson spouting bullshit but hes excelled himself here. Wow.

 

[Scotchegg]

And here is an example of why people have problems with Robinson. From the OWS, published today in the Tranmere preview.

The first sentence reads
-----------------
"I probably sound like a broken record but we have been playing well and we haven’t conceded many goals” Karl Robinson told iFollow earlier today.
-----------------

Haven't conceded many goals? Haven't conceded many bloody goals? In the league we have conceded (working backwards) 2, 3, 3, 4, 2 in the last five games! In all competitions we have managed two clean sheets (the Peterborough games) all season.

Unless the OWS have misquoted their own manager, there's being optimistic and then there's talking rubbish.

The exact quote was "we're not conceding many opportunities fot the opposition".

Against Coventry, they had 4 or 5 chances and scored 3. Bristol Rovers, 3 shots on target, 3 goals. Blackpool 3 chance, 2 goals.

So generally we're not getting overrun (Fleetwood aside) and therefore the point is that we're not fundamentally bad. The problem is that we're making poor mistakes and giving teams goals. Irradiation those problems and we've got a chance. Winning headers in the box, clearing our lines, not committing too early to tackle and leaving massive gaps behind etc. These are all areas that we can and must improve, and that was the point being made.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

So the OWS HAVE completely misquoted the manager! Because what I posted is cut and pasted from the actual website. Bloody hilarious.



And TBH trying to excuse the goals against because the opposition took their chances is pretty weak. 'If we could only cut out giving the opposition any chances, that would stop them scoring' - no sh!t Sherlock.

 

[Scotchegg]

If you allow the opposition 20 shots on goal a game then there are fundamental issues throughout the team. Conceding 3 or 4 is not so much of a problem, but the issue is where we concede these chances. Free headers, not clearing our lines etc are costing us dearly and I'd rather we work on those areas rather than making a big overhaul of the team.

 

[tonyw]

The exact quote was "we're not conceding many opportunities fot the opposition".

Against Coventry, they had 4 or 5 chances and scored 3. Bristol Rovers, 3 shots on target, 3 goals. Blackpool 3 chance, 2 goals.

So generally we're not getting overrun (Fleetwood aside) and therefore the point is that we're not fundamentally bad. The problem is that we're making poor mistakes and giving teams goals. Irradiation those problems and we've got a chance. Winning headers in the box, clearing our lines, not committing too early to tackle and leaving massive gaps behind etc. These are all areas that we can and must improve, and that was the point being made.

Surely when a team that is not giving up many scoring opportunities, but is giving up a lot of goals (and we are - more than two per game, worse than anyone other than Southend and the Bolton kids) - that's indicative of a team that has a good midfield and a bad defense? That would seem to summarise the first seven league games pretty reasonably for me.

Everything you're talking about - winning headers, clearing lines, tackling - is basic defending and yet we've been getting it wrong over and over.
And that's despite, I would suggest, Rob Dickie having played pretty damn well.

Because of KR's lopsided recruitment, we only have six senior defenders. I mentioned at the time that it was the one question mark over our summer shopping, but it's looking really worrying right now.
Because amongst them Mousinho has shown himself in the last year or so to be a bit of a liability at CB; Moore is 22 and has never played in the English leagues before; Cadden is exciting and effective going forwards but a real question mark as a defender at right back and Ruffels is a converted midfielder (albeit one who did play well at left back at the end of last season).

It's been said already.....but I think Long is our second best pure defender and therefore should be playing at RB and Mousinho would be best employed at DCM to provide more protection for the back four. Then we can provide a more solid platform for our talented forwards to do some damage.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

If you allow the opposition 20 shots on goal a game then there are fundamental issues throughout the team. Conceding 3 or 4 is not so much of a problem, but the issue is where we concede these chances. Free headers, not clearing our lines etc are costing us dearly and I'd rather we work on those areas rather than making a big overhaul of the team.

Well we can't make *that* big an overhaul of the team anyway - we only have the players we have. But let's protect the defence by putting a proper DM in front of them and putting a right back in who will actually be in position more times than he is in the opposition half.

 

[holdsteady]

If you allow the opposition 20 shots on goal a game then there are fundamental issues throughout the team. Conceding 3 or 4 is not so much of a problem, but the issue is where we concede these chances. Free headers, not clearing our lines etc are costing us dearly and I'd rather we work on those areas rather than making a big overhaul of the team.

I agree, it’s how easy the chances that we are giving up that is the problem, no other professional team can have given up as many free headers right in front of goal this season, it’s especially annoying when you have a 6 ft 4 and a 6 ft 5 centre half playing.

It’s the shape of our team when we get hit on the counter that costs us these, we are very open, can’t help thinking that dropping Long for Cadden has cost us shape and balance.

Cadden is a decent player but he isn’t a right back, push him further forward and put Long behind him.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Cadden is a decent player but he isn’t a right back, push him further forward and put Long behind him.

I think that is now the general opinion on here (it is mine as well).

I'd be interested if there is anyone who thinks we ought to persist with Cadden as RB?

 

[Scotchegg]

Surely when a team that is not giving up many scoring opportunities, but is giving up a lot of goals (and we are - more than two per game, worse than anyone other than Southend and the Bolton kids) - that's indicative of a team that has a good midfield and a bad defense? That would seem to summarise the first seven league games pretty reasonably for me.

Everything you're talking about - winning headers, clearing lines, tackling - is basic defending and yet we've been getting it wrong over and over.
And that's despite, I would suggest, Rob Dickie having played pretty damn well.

Because of KR's lopsided recruitment, we only have six senior defenders. I mentioned at the time that it was the one question mark over our summer shopping, but it's looking really worrying right now.
Because amongst them Mousinho has shown himself in the last year or so to be a bit of a liability at CB; Moore is 22 and has never played in the English leagues before; Cadden is exciting and effective going forwards but a real question mark as a defender at right back and Ruffels is a converted midfielder (albeit one who did play well at left back at the end of last season).

It's been said already.....but I think Long is our second best pure defender and therefore should be playing at RB and Mousinho would be best employed at DCM to provide more protection for the back four. Then we can provide a more solid platform for our talented forwards to do some damage.

I wouldn't disagree with much of that. The problem we have is that Cadden and Brannagan have arguably been our best two attacking outlets this year, but as a consequence we're looking weaker at the back and in the middle. At the end of last season Sam Long played really well and gave us a far more solid defence. Also Brannagan sat a little deeper alongside Kashi, hunting in packs and handling the opposition. I'm not sure that Gorrin is any worse than Kashi, and actually think he's a more rounded player, but he's doing it all by himself at times.

As for the centre backs, we just need to go back to basics. Dickie and Moore and both big units. They need to dominate the box and clear everything that comes in the air. We then need discipline from everyone to win the second ball. We need a wise head in there at times to make sure everyone knows who they're picking up, when to press, when to play it short and when to put it in row z. Mous gives that composure, but I also think Brannagan can also do that. I'd make him captain and give him more ownership. I think he'll step up and be the leader our team really needs.

 

[greatunclekip]

We need to try something different thats for certain, but in denying theres a problem, im not expecting Robbo to do so any time soon.

 

[guyellow]

In his interview in the Preview Show, Nico Jones was asked about being with the Ireland squad. He said how much harder they worked on set pieces which he wasn't used to. Set pieces have so far been an area of defensive weakness and attacking missed opportunity (50+ corners so far this season!!!). Sounds like much more could be done on the training pitch.

 

[Scotchegg]

In his interview in the Preview Show, Nico Jones was asked about being with the Ireland squad. He said how much harder they worked on set pieces which he wasn't used to. Set pieces have so far been an area of defensive weakness and attacking missed opportunity (50+ corners so far this season!!!). Sounds like much more could be done on the training pitch.

We saw with England in the last World Cup (and our promotion team in '96) how valuable it can be to get the set pieces right. I'm surprised more teams haven't looked at this as a way to significantly increase goal scoring opportunities. Plus if you start looking more dangerous at corners, then teams have to look at ways to restrict the number they give away. This is often done by looking to challenge higher up the pitch which forces the defenders to commit early, giving space in behind them. We've actually got a fairly tall team for once with Dickie, Moore, Cadden, Gorrin and Henry all being 6ft + and Ruffels and Taylor are both also good in the air. Give Woodburn or Brannagan delivering the ball and we should be far more effective then we are.

 

[Manorlounger]

It was always a standing joke for myself and Mrs Lounger, we'd turn to each other and say "oh good, a corner, we're good at corners" invariably we would get nothing from the set piece. That has improved a little with some free kick scenarios but it's still far too little.
Like wise, defending set pieces sees the team almost switch off. Example, free kick recently where the wall is set up, Easty moves away, the wall are not watching the kicker who moves the ball a foot to one side thus opening up a gap into which the ball flew - goal. Surely, that's on the basic side of football? - Be alert -

 

[Essexyellows]

The only way for a team to learn all the nuances is to work (play) together against opponents.
You can`t replicate that on the training ground, you can only do so much preparation.
If the players "switch off" in training nothing much lost, if it happens in a match we get punished.
KR can only do so much, once the players step over the line its down to them.