The Squad (Scary Viewing)

[The Hawk]

Some days I think about this lot as a Championship team.

Eastwood
Baldock Dunkley Nelson johnson
Ledson Lundstram
O’Dowda Roofe Maguire

So good we don’t even need 11 players.

In a parralell universe de won the euro millions, map never jumped ship and we were play-offchallengers in the champ

And we even managed to find someone good enough to play as the ‘1’

 

[Common Villager]

Some days I think about this lot as a Championship team.

Eastwood
Baldock Dunkley Nelson johnson
Ledson Lundstram
O’Dowda Roofe Maguire

So good we don’t even need 11 players.

In a parralell universe de won the euro millions, map never jumped ship and we were play-offchallengers in the champ

And we even managed to find someone good enough to play as the ‘1’

Jordan Graham on the right, Maguire in the middle, O'Dowda on the left, Roofe up top.

 

[Deleted member 291]

I’m not so sure I agree. I know it’s the modern way for lower league teams but I remember how pig sick I feel when the good ones get recalled.

I'm not a massive fan either, just trying to give a bit of balance.

 

[MC Yellow]

Up s**t Creek.

 

[Mystery Yellow]

Please don’t tell me Wes Thomas was worth keeping as soon as Jack Payne went he only managed to score 2 league goals in 16 appearances in 2018, all our strikers last season scored 19 league goals between the 4 off them that dreadful at any level, we needed a proven goal scorer whether that came from a league below like Peterborough investing in Godden from Stevenage or a decent u23 premiership/championship player on loan who’s capable of scoring goals at this level like a Adam Armstrong for example (I know he signed for Blackburn for £3M but a example) instead KR goes all out to get unproven Smith then says he’s struggling to adapt as it’s his first time he’s been out on loan & also signs a unfit injury prone never been a goal scorer ever Jamie Mackie along with keeping useless Okiba from 19 goals from 46 games so far it’s 1 goal from 11 games at this rate we’ll be lucky to reach double figures with theses 3

It’s down to both poor investment & sh:tte recruitment

 

[Paul Cannell]

Well first of all it's not just a case of we sold players for x amount so we now spend x amount.

Indeed not. £4.2m went straight into the trousers of one Darryl Eales as Tiger's payment for OUFC.

 

[mooro]

I’m not so sure I agree. I know it’s the modern way for lower league teams but I remember how pig sick I feel when the good ones get recalled.

Better to have loved and lost than to ... erm ... get stuck with the minger you grabbed at last orders

 

[Shaun Rice]

I've just had that sinking feeling looking at our squad - as in players actually contracted to OUFC.

When you see whats been cobbled together here over the summer, and now with an element of hindsight, it's plain to see we're in real trouble here:

Loaned Players...likely to all be returning to parent clubs eventually; disinterested on the whole.
3 DF Luke Garbutt (on loan from Everton)
9 FW Sam Smith (on loan from Reading)
10 MF Marcus Browne (on loan from West Ham United)
11 MF Samir Carruthers (on loan from Sheffield United)
12 MF Ricky Holmes (on loan from Sheffield United)
41 GK Jonathan Mitchell (on loan from Derby County)

Youth Players...some may come good and hold their own.
23 DF Sam Long (despite his age is still not considered a 1st team regular)
25 MF Tsun Dai
26 MF Shandon Baptiste
27 GK Jack Stevens
42 FW Owen James
43 FW Fabio Lopes
44 MF Slavi Spasov

Crocked...to the extent it's unlikely we'll see them play again.
7 FW Robert Hall
13 GK Scott Shearer

From the remaining squad they can be sorted into the following groups (with pushing for a play-off spot in mind):

Unproven/Not good enough
2 DF Cameron Norman
4 DF Rob Dickie (still unproven imo)
19 FW Jamie Mackie (semi-crocked)
20 FW Jon Obika
22 DF Charlie Raglan
14 MF Josh Ruffels (useful squad player among better players)
8 MF Cameron Brannagan (still relatively unproven at this level and hasn't been standout)
15 DF John Mousinho (Makes too many mistakes on a consistent basis)
29 DF Tony McMahon

Play-off Quality
1 GK Simon Eastwood (Injured)
5 DF Curtis Nelson (Highly likely to be leaving on a free)
6 MF Jamie Hanson (Poor so far but has played at a higher level)
16 FW Gavin Whyte (Unproven, but of all looks like the one who could perform at this level)
17 FW James Henry

This is why if we don't strengthen significantly during Jan, we could be in trouble...I can now picture looking back at this squad and thinking "no wonder we went down", which is a big concern.

I hope we will be safe, but even if we are there's a massive rebuild here.

Good post.
My thoughts as I see it today. Players can improve and can get worse. Maybe utilising a player to his best attributes makes him very useful and actually much better than currently rated.

Loan Players...
Most are very unlikely to want to stay beyond Jan.
Michell will be gone when Eastwood comes back to fitness
Smith, Browne and Garrett will slip off back to their respective clubs. None of them are good enough to play for their home clubs but having said that Browne seems to have had the quality drained from him. So maybe we haven't seen the best of them.
Carruthers will be sold to the highest bidder, which will not be us.
Holmes might stay due to his seemingly undying man crush on Robinson. But I can't see him lasting beyond a couple more defeats. The loss at home to Plymouth will be his last game.

Youth Players...
Forget everyone except Baptiste (See play-off quality) he's nearly first name on the first team sheet. But not this weekend and he can't be expected to be on top form every week.

Crocked...
I can't see Hall being fit until next season. Even if he recovers from the op he'll take a long time to get back to fitness.

Not good enough...
Obika
McMahon
Mackie

Average Squad Players...
Norman
Dickie
Raglan
Ruffles
Brannagan
Mousinho
Henry
Hanson

Play-off Quality....
Nelson - Will be gone in Jan
Eastwood - Will be a target in Jan, but is settled in the area so might stay
Whyte - Our best asset and even though he's only been here a short time we'll be lucky to hang on to him in Jan.
Baptiste

We are in massive trouble! How we will strengthen in January is beyond me. Who will want to come to a club rock bottom of the league.
Robinson has failed massively with his signings in the summer. We're a really poor, unbalanced side with little threat going forward, weak in midfield and a leaky defence. When Tiger said exciting season I thought he meant promotion chasing not relegation battle.

 

[battman]

I think it's a squad that has been muddled together rather than built. Let's have a look at all the players that KR didn't sign.

Pre-MApp: Long, Ruffels.
MApp: Eastwood, Nelson, Hall, Raglan, Shearer (late on).
Between managers: Obika.
Pep: Mousinho, Henry.
Pep in January (Tiger Really): Dickie, Brannagan.

So that makes up about half the squad, which shows that KR is making his stamp on the squad despite being here for under a year. But also note the make-up of these players, there's more of a defensive build. And during KR's time last season, the defence was mostly solid. That meant that KR could go off into the summer and focus on the attack.

KR (Before Pre-Season): Norman, McMahon, Carruthers, Garbutt.

A quiet, but a decent start. The addition of the 3 full-backs meant our defensive transfers were done. Carruthers comes in as a central midfielder/winger.

KR (During Pre-Season): Whyte, Mackie, Browne.

We weren't making signings quick enough. Whyte is a natural winger if unproven, Mackie would be a great signing if he's fit, shame that he - on a free transfer - couldn't have signed months ago and joined up before pre-season. Browne arrived injured and he says he can play as a winger, but prefers playing through the centre.

KR (After Pre-Season, Before the First Game): Smith.

He finally arrived after KR tracked him for a while, but hadn't played a single game for us. Was thrown in after Carruthers's injury 20 minutes into the Barnsley game.

KR (After the First Game): Holmes, Mitchell, Hanson, Tsun Dai.

More loans, but Holmes is proven. Arrived injured but can play on the wing. Better through the centre. KR didn't trust any of our other keepers, which begs the question why they're here. Hanson was a deadline day signing thrown into a squad already sinking, and Tsun Dai is an U23 player that the club marketed as a first-team signing.

TLDR; A mess of a transfer window. Players either arrived too late, injured, or was a 'winger' who preferred playing centrally.

 

[North Wales Yellow]

Am I the only one who thinks we actually have any decent squad? Regardless of wether they’re our players or not. Purely from the perspective of staying in the division. You can’t tell me that, man for man teams like Blackpool, Walsall, Gillingham, Wimbledon, Rochdale and Shrewsbury have better squads than us.

The difference? Tactics, shape and organisation. Look at Shrewsbury last year. They massively overachieved because they were a unit where everyone knew there job and, they made themselves difficult to beat first and foremost.

I do think injuries have played a big part in KR’s defence. That being said he still should be doing much better with the squad we have.

 

[battman]

Am I the only one who thinks we actually have any decent squad? Regardless of wether they’re our players or not. Purely from the perspective of staying in the division. You can’t tell me that, man for man teams like Blackpool, Walsall, Gillingham, Wimbledon, Rochdale and Shrewsbury have better squads than us.

The difference? Tactics, shape and organisation. Look at Shrewsbury last year. They massively overachieved because they were a unit where everyone knew there job and, they made themselves difficult to beat first and foremost.

I do think injuries have played a big part in KR’s defence. That being said he still should be doing much better with the squad we have.

Man for man we have a good bunch of players. But put them together and gaps start to appear. For example, we have a wealth of attacking options, but trying to fit them into a coherent and fluid front four is tricky.

 

[Shropshire U]

Man for man we have a good bunch of players. But put them together and gaps start to appear. For example, we have a wealth of attacking options, but trying to fit them into a coherent and fluid front four is tricky.

Just can't agree that we have a good bunch of players, sad to say. Other L1 clubs might be interested in only Eastwood, Nelson, Whyte, Baptiste and Henry for definites. Holmes will be in that group if he stays fit for a longer run of games (but he's likely to be off in January anyway). Carruthers could be ok but is a certified sick note. Browne likewise. Many of the others would struggle in L2.
And do we really have "a wealth of attacking options"? That can only be true if we have at least a couple of proper strikers and we haven't even got a single one.

 

[Shaun Rice]

Am I the only one who thinks we actually have any decent squad? Regardless of wether they’re our players or not. Purely from the perspective of staying in the division. You can’t tell me that, man for man teams like Blackpool, Walsall, Gillingham, Wimbledon, Rochdale and Shrewsbury have better squads than us.

The difference? Tactics, shape and organisation. Look at Shrewsbury last year. They massively overachieved because they were a unit where everyone knew there job and, they made themselves difficult to beat first and foremost.

I do think injuries have played a big part in KR’s defence. That being said he still should be doing much better with the squad we have.

Rochdale have Henderson 6 goals so far
Gillingham have Eaves on 5.
Wimbledon have a style of play that will see them do okay and survive but aint going to set the league alight.
Blackpool 10 goals against 7
Walsall for 14 against 12

Oxford for 11 against 23!!!!!

 

[North Wales Yellow]

Rochdale have Henderson 6 goals so far
Gillingham have Eaves on 5.
Wimbledon have a style of play that will see them do okay and survive but aint going to set the league alight.
Blackpool 10 goals against 7
Walsall for 14 against 12

Oxford for 11 against 23!!!!!

Surely that’s to do with our system and organisations though. Eastwood, Garbutt, Nelson, Mousinho and Norman looks a decent enough league One back five to me. Other teams are better drilled than us, simple.

Armand Gnanduillet leads the line for Blackpool. You can’t honestly say you would like home back!

 

[Berliner]

Am I the only one who thinks we actually have any decent squad? Regardless of wether they’re our players or not. Purely from the perspective of staying in the division. You can’t tell me that, man for man teams like Blackpool, Walsall, Gillingham, Wimbledon, Rochdale and Shrewsbury have better squads than us.

The difference? Tactics, shape and organisation. Look at Shrewsbury last year. They massively overachieved because they were a unit where everyone knew there job and, they made themselves difficult to beat first and foremost.

I do think injuries have played a big part in KR’s defence. That being said he still should be doing much better with the squad we have.

I broadly agree...to my mind the squad, fully functioning to their potential and injury free, with a system that suits them could easily be a playoff squad. Sadly there are always teams that overperform and others that underperform, seems we are squarely in the last bracket. Whether this is solely down to the manager or something behind the scenes is another issue...

 

[Shaun Rice]

Surely that’s to do with our system and organisations though. Eastwood, Garbutt, Nelson, Mousinho and Norman looks a decent enough league One back five to me. Other teams are better drilled than us, simple.

Armand Gnanduillet leads the line for Blackpool. You can’t honestly say you would like home back!

Regarding Armand I don’t believe I mention anything about him. Just that Blackpool have only conceded 7 goals to our 23! They’re not exactly banging them in at the other end.

I was merely pointing out that some teams actually have good, consistent strikers who already have more goals this season than ours will muster in 40 odd games. Coupled with defences that are not leaking goals.

That’s the thing that’s puzzling commentators, fans and probably the players too. On paper we have a good enough squad to be at least mid table. As you rightly say it doesn’t look like a bad back line. But it’s not working. The table doesn’t lie, especially after 11 games.

 

[Shaun Rice]

Look at this photo just before we concede late on against Luton.
8 players to their 5 in the box. But one big player is completely free in the middle. One of our players at the back post has two men. Disorganised! No surprise It’s one of the two at the back post that gets the goal.

 

[monsieurgrumpy]

Look at this photo just before we concede late on against Luton.
8 players to their 5 in the box. But one big player is completely free in the middle. One of our players at the back post has two men. Disorganised! No surprise It’s one of the two at the back post that gets the goal.

Four Oxford players marking one another/getting in each other's way. Not unlike the goal we conceded at Wimbledon last season. Pity we don't have an experienced defensive coach who could put it right. Actually, hang on a minute.....

 

[monsieurgrumpy]

It's not even a year and a half ago since we stuffed an in form Millwall heading for promotion at The Den. Only a couple of players short of at least being a play off team. Yet few of the players seemed to want to stay. Nor the manager. Nor the chairman. Two moronic managers later and a new chairman who has yet to show his worth and we are where we are. Has any club fallen so quick?

 

[Navegante]

Some days I think about this lot as a Championship team.

Eastwood
Baldock Dunkley Nelson johnson
Ledson Lundstram
O’Dowda Roofe Maguire

So good we don’t even need 11 players.

In a parralell universe de won the euro millions, map never jumped ship and we were play-offchallengers in the champ

And we even managed to find someone good enough to play as the ‘1’

Rather than MAppy as gaffer maybe the Chippy Yorkie whose team sits top of the league..?