@BlueBoy said:
Found that incredibly frustrating. Oxford passed it around nicely on the halfway line but offered very little. We were off the pace, especially in the second half, and certainly did not deserve more than a point.
I fully expect to see the normal remarks about time wasting and gamesmanship from Oxford fans going by their reaction in the ground but I thought they were much more guilty of that than us today.
Less said about the referee the better. Both teams right to not be happy about his performance.
One geezer ahead of me was having a right rant at a Wycombe fan. Worst anti football team ever apparently. Against such heroic footballing from Oxford.
I vaguely recall that we always start slowly after international breaks, it ruins our momentum and the players seem to be a bit sluggish without a competitive fixture for a couple of weeks. Didn't see the match but listening to the commentary the formation did seem a bit over the place. Still hoping we pick up another wing back or two in the next few weeks but it will be good to have McCarthy back in the line up for Charlton.
Bit tough I think @Quarterman, but it was a frustrating afternoon.
The formation was the odd, 3-4-3/3-5-2 hybrid we’ve played all season. It either works or it doesn’t, there doesn’t seem to be a halfway house. I’m always worried that it’ll leave us overrun in the middle, as it did at times today.
I thought Oxford employed the dark arts with far more gusto than we did, to their detriment. Slowing the game down is part of our DNA now, but it wasn’t helped today by the strange lack of ball boys at Oxford.
Bayo is in far better shape than he last last season. Vokes got nothing out of their CBs but it felt like Bayo offered us a bit more. But if we’d been able to exert some control in the middle, and get the ball down and wide to Gareth, or Horgan or later on Wheels we’d have done much better.
Taff and Stewart looked good, and the ref was as good as anyone we had last season.
The formation was definitely a back 4 (different to every other game), in front of that was a mess. McCleary has been amazing as a number 10, why change that?! For me we have 2 strongest options.
Incidentally, tomorrow evening there’s a new series of Oxford based police drama, Endeavour . Episode 1 involves a story involving the local football club, the one and only Oxford Wanderers.
They were awful. Should’ve battered them. Vokes had a couple of chances in the first half, should’ve buried them. Second half, number it times we had a ball in a channel and the cross was awful…
Oh well! Onto next week, which is a must win really (and Franchise away is a must win too, albeit for different reasons)
I don't think they weren't as poor as some are saying - disjointed more than anything - but they certainly didn't look like the side of the last couple of seasons.
I thought it was a feisty, but fairly poor game, with sun standard performances from both teams. Agree that Oxford employed the ‘dark arts’ more than us! Ref was appalling bad, but equally so for both teams.
Re Thompson: agree that he had a really poor game. He is nowhere near Mach fitness yet - he looked knackered after 30 minutes and I think should haven been subbed around the 60 minute mark. Agree that Bayo should not be our ‘go to’ strike option. He definitely has his place, but I would like us to start making more use of Tjay.
Re the Oxford fans: awful home support. They hardly sang all game! I parked about half a mile from the ground along Grenoble Rd and lost count of the number of ‘I’d hate to watch that every week / you know what you’re going to get with them / yes, but it’s effective’ type conversations. Very amusing to hear.
Quality took a hit in the second half but it was more of a battle than a game, For me they went far beyond anything clever or crafty, blatant dives from them throughout and crunching fouls towards the end including what looked like a little ruck that the ref entirely missed. I'm sure they'll say it was all us. Glad I went though, good banter as the youth might say , has been a while. Soonderland doesn't count.
I think people are right to point to some stylistic issues btw for want of a better phrase. We've been set up to hang on and nick something for so much of the last few years we don't always seem to have the belief to take the game to people. Tyson Bayo and Mackail-Smith together seems a long time ago. GMac has so much class but faded towards the end. Good to see a little formation tinkling today even if it didn't quite work out.
@Last_Quarter said:
Lord give me the confidence of Karl Robinson. A man so arrogant, he has to be "announced" into the dugout before the match. Sad and embarrassing.
Wait, did they actually read his name out over the tannoy?
Oh and fair play to Brannagan for Oxford. Mouthy little shite but absolutely ran the show for them in midfield. Can't believe he's not playing at a higher level.
@Last_Quarter said:
Lord give me the confidence of Karl Robinson. A man so arrogant, he has to be "announced" into the dugout before the match. Sad and embarrassing.
Wait, did they actually read his name out over the tannoy?
"Please welcome the gaffer" I think were the exact words. Wish we could see that in a few months when they all want him sacked again!
@Last_Quarter said:
Lord give me the confidence of Karl Robinson. A man so arrogant, he has to be "announced" into the dugout before the match. Sad and embarrassing.
Wait, did they actually read his name out over the tannoy?
"Please welcome the gaffer" I think were the exact words. Wish we could see that in a few months when they all want him sacked again!
@ReturnToSenda - Robinson was indeed ‘announced’ over the tannoy ‘…and here’s the gaffer!!!’ before he sat his fat arse in the dug out. Absolute CRINGE. I’ve never heard the like before. Ego central. Embarrassing for their fans.
According to the 3CR commentary, the ref had a good game but listening to it the players didn't make it easy for him. Stats show 15 fouls for the Wanderers and 12 for Oxford.
The ref totally missed a little scuffle with Thompson and one of theirs, yet still went over and booked both.
It looked to be one of those games where he'd left his cards in the changing room, until he then started dishing them out late doors.
They had a couple of surely borderline reds from my viewpoint, just to the sheer pace they'd stormed into the challenges. Would have to see them again, but inevitable yellow as the easier decision.
Yeah, ref was excellent for the most part - better than a lot of the crap we had to put up with last season, never mind at this level. He did largely let the game flow.
@wingnut said:
According to the 3CR commentary, the ref had a good game but listening to it the players didn't make it easy for him. Stats show 15 fouls for the Wanderers and 12 for Oxford.
So either the ref missed a lot and had an awful game, or he had such a good game he could see several incidents in different places and knew they were all fine and didn't need investigation. It looked very much like the former.
Oxford will wonder how they didn't win that in the second half. As for us we looked goodish in the first and disjointed in the second. We will be a lot happier coming away with a point than them.
@ReturnToSenda said:
Yeah, ref was excellent for the most part - better than a lot of the crap we had to put up with last season, never mind at this level. He did largely let the game flow.
The view in the ground was the absolute opposite. Although clearly the views were less than impartial of course.
There was one bit he let play go when Thompson was being grabbled to oblivion, and then once he'd actually emerged with the ball ready to play on, the ref then stopped it.
@ReturnToSenda said:
Yeah, ref was excellent for the most part - better than a lot of the crap we had to put up with last season, never mind at this level. He did largely let the game flow.
The view in the ground was the absolute opposite. Although clearly the views were less than impartial of course.
There was one bit he let play go when Thompson was being grabbled to oblivion, and then once he'd actually emerged with the ball ready to play on, the ref then stopped it.
I just go by how much/little I shout in exasperation (although I admittedly I tend to do that much less when I'm not in the ground anyway ?).
Fair result today, we were the better side in the first half, they were better in the second half.
Stewart was immense, Scowen disappointing. But a decent point I reckon.
One little observation is that I'm glad Curtis Thompson got booked for that scuffle at the end because I think that means he can't receive further punishment (please correct me if I'm wrong). He clearly stood on the Oxford player's hand which could quite easily have resulted in a three match ban upon video review
I actually thought Oxford looked pretty dangerous, I was certainly uncomfortable for most of the second half, and still feel Brannagan could comfortably play in the championship and should leave soon if he wants to test himself there.
I felt Bayo was the right substitution at that point in the game, I think GA wanted the ball to stick to him and give us some breathing space, as although they are both aerial players, Bayo has a knack of dragging us up field a bit more whereas Vokes was starting to fade out of the game a bit.
Was impressed with Taf considering how little football he’s played, and Stewart’s return was much welcomed. I wonder what our fate might have been at Sunderland with a fit Stewart.
Finally - I felt that Oxford’s attitude was poor. A number of times Robinson tried to encourage them to press and get up for the fight (in a similar way that GA does). The difference is that rather than fighting for their manager, they just seemed to mope around almost as if they were too good for it. I think that attitude problem is the main reason that they’re not a championship club at the moment.
Comments
One geezer ahead of me was having a right rant at a Wycombe fan. Worst anti football team ever apparently. Against such heroic footballing from Oxford.
I vaguely recall that we always start slowly after international breaks, it ruins our momentum and the players seem to be a bit sluggish without a competitive fixture for a couple of weeks. Didn't see the match but listening to the commentary the formation did seem a bit over the place. Still hoping we pick up another wing back or two in the next few weeks but it will be good to have McCarthy back in the line up for Charlton.
Bit tough I think @Quarterman, but it was a frustrating afternoon.
The formation was the odd, 3-4-3/3-5-2 hybrid we’ve played all season. It either works or it doesn’t, there doesn’t seem to be a halfway house. I’m always worried that it’ll leave us overrun in the middle, as it did at times today.
I thought Oxford employed the dark arts with far more gusto than we did, to their detriment. Slowing the game down is part of our DNA now, but it wasn’t helped today by the strange lack of ball boys at Oxford.
Bayo is in far better shape than he last last season. Vokes got nothing out of their CBs but it felt like Bayo offered us a bit more. But if we’d been able to exert some control in the middle, and get the ball down and wide to Gareth, or Horgan or later on Wheels we’d have done much better.
Taff and Stewart looked good, and the ref was as good as anyone we had last season.
Gareth described the formation as a “type of 4-1-1-1-3”. Glad to see he was as confused as most of we were.
The formation was definitely a back 4 (different to every other game), in front of that was a mess. McCleary has been amazing as a number 10, why change that?! For me we have 2 strongest options.
3-4-2-1 (Stockdale, Stewart, Taf, JJ, McCarty RWB, Obita LWB, Scowen, Thompson, Horgan and McCleary behind Vokes/Hanlan
Or
3-4-1-2 (Stockdale, Stewart, Taf, JJ, McCarthy RWB, Horgan LWB, Scowen, Thompson, McCleary behind Vokes and Hanlan
With Wheeler, Mehmeti, Pendlebury, Gape, Grimmer, Kaikai and Bayo other options.
On a different note, today confirmed what we have all long suspected: Oxford don't have a pair of balls.
Oxford fans arguing about time wasting but don't use any ball boys, go figure
Oxford were really poor weren't they?
Incidentally, tomorrow evening there’s a new series of Oxford based police drama, Endeavour . Episode 1 involves a story involving the local football club, the one and only Oxford Wanderers.
They were awful. Should’ve battered them. Vokes had a couple of chances in the first half, should’ve buried them. Second half, number it times we had a ball in a channel and the cross was awful…
Oh well! Onto next week, which is a must win really (and Franchise away is a must win too, albeit for different reasons)
I don't think they weren't as poor as some are saying - disjointed more than anything - but they certainly didn't look like the side of the last couple of seasons.
I thought it was a feisty, but fairly poor game, with sun standard performances from both teams. Agree that Oxford employed the ‘dark arts’ more than us! Ref was appalling bad, but equally so for both teams.
Re Thompson: agree that he had a really poor game. He is nowhere near Mach fitness yet - he looked knackered after 30 minutes and I think should haven been subbed around the 60 minute mark. Agree that Bayo should not be our ‘go to’ strike option. He definitely has his place, but I would like us to start making more use of Tjay.
Re the Oxford fans: awful home support. They hardly sang all game! I parked about half a mile from the ground along Grenoble Rd and lost count of the number of ‘I’d hate to watch that every week / you know what you’re going to get with them / yes, but it’s effective’ type conversations. Very amusing to hear.
Lord give me the confidence of Karl Robinson. A man so arrogant, he has to be "announced" into the dugout before the match. Sad and embarrassing.
Quality took a hit in the second half but it was more of a battle than a game, For me they went far beyond anything clever or crafty, blatant dives from them throughout and crunching fouls towards the end including what looked like a little ruck that the ref entirely missed. I'm sure they'll say it was all us. Glad I went though, good banter as the youth might say , has been a while. Soonderland doesn't count.
I think people are right to point to some stylistic issues btw for want of a better phrase. We've been set up to hang on and nick something for so much of the last few years we don't always seem to have the belief to take the game to people. Tyson Bayo and Mackail-Smith together seems a long time ago. GMac has so much class but faded towards the end. Good to see a little formation tinkling today even if it didn't quite work out.
Wait, did they actually read his name out over the tannoy?
Oh and fair play to Brannagan for Oxford. Mouthy little shite but absolutely ran the show for them in midfield. Can't believe he's not playing at a higher level.
"Please welcome the gaffer" I think were the exact words. Wish we could see that in a few months when they all want him sacked again!
Cringe
@ReturnToSenda - Robinson was indeed ‘announced’ over the tannoy ‘…and here’s the gaffer!!!’ before he sat his fat arse in the dug out. Absolute CRINGE. I’ve never heard the like before. Ego central. Embarrassing for their fans.
According to the 3CR commentary, the ref had a good game but listening to it the players didn't make it easy for him. Stats show 15 fouls for the Wanderers and 12 for Oxford.
Yeah, ref was excellent - better than a lot of the crap we had to put up with last season, never mind at this level.
The ref totally missed a little scuffle with Thompson and one of theirs, yet still went over and booked both.
It looked to be one of those games where he'd left his cards in the changing room, until he then started dishing them out late doors.
They had a couple of surely borderline reds from my viewpoint, just to the sheer pace they'd stormed into the challenges. Would have to see them again, but inevitable yellow as the easier decision.
Yeah, ref was excellent for the most part - better than a lot of the crap we had to put up with last season, never mind at this level. He did largely let the game flow.
So either the ref missed a lot and had an awful game, or he had such a good game he could see several incidents in different places and knew they were all fine and didn't need investigation. It looked very much like the former.
Oxford will wonder how they didn't win that in the second half. As for us we looked goodish in the first and disjointed in the second. We will be a lot happier coming away with a point than them.
The view in the ground was the absolute opposite. Although clearly the views were less than impartial of course.
There was one bit he let play go when Thompson was being grabbled to oblivion, and then once he'd actually emerged with the ball ready to play on, the ref then stopped it.
Most people want the game to flow when they are attacking but want a free kick or a card when fouled. Funny that.
I just go by how much/little I shout in exasperation (although I admittedly I tend to do that much less when I'm not in the ground anyway ?).
Fair result today, we were the better side in the first half, they were better in the second half.
Stewart was immense, Scowen disappointing. But a decent point I reckon.
One little observation is that I'm glad Curtis Thompson got booked for that scuffle at the end because I think that means he can't receive further punishment (please correct me if I'm wrong). He clearly stood on the Oxford player's hand which could quite easily have resulted in a three match ban upon video review
I actually thought Oxford looked pretty dangerous, I was certainly uncomfortable for most of the second half, and still feel Brannagan could comfortably play in the championship and should leave soon if he wants to test himself there.
I felt Bayo was the right substitution at that point in the game, I think GA wanted the ball to stick to him and give us some breathing space, as although they are both aerial players, Bayo has a knack of dragging us up field a bit more whereas Vokes was starting to fade out of the game a bit.
Was impressed with Taf considering how little football he’s played, and Stewart’s return was much welcomed. I wonder what our fate might have been at Sunderland with a fit Stewart.
Finally - I felt that Oxford’s attitude was poor. A number of times Robinson tried to encourage them to press and get up for the fight (in a similar way that GA does). The difference is that rather than fighting for their manager, they just seemed to mope around almost as if they were too good for it. I think that attitude problem is the main reason that they’re not a championship club at the moment.