OXFORD v Plymouth Argyle

[OUFC4eva]

The U's welcome the league leaders Plymouth to Grenoble Road
where a good crowd is expected. Upwards of 1,000 Greens are expected
to make the trip to Oxfordshire.

Argyle top the league by three points from second placed Portsmouth
and are the league's form team.

FORM GUIDE:

The U's - DWWWWd
Argyle - WWWWWd

LAST TIME OUT:

Argyle 1-0 Accrington

Argyle toiled for long periods but got the crucial goal in the 64th minute
in a game that saw 'Stanley' have 60% of the possession.

Luke McCormick, Kelvin Mellor, Curtis Nelson, Peter Hartley, Gary Sawyer, Hiram Boateng, Josh Simpson,
Gregg Wylde, Jake Jervis, Reuben Reid, Craig Tanner.

Att: 7,865.




DANGERMAN:

Former U's triallist and striker Reuben Reid, 27 has scored six goals so far this season
and will be looking for his 50th Argyle goal tomorrow night.

TEAM NEWS:

United will be without loanee Jordan Graham after his red card at Orient
and former Green Alex MacDonald could come into the side or Kemar Roofe
could move wide with Hylton returning to partner Ryan Taylor. Danny Rose
is fully fit again and could also feature.
Plymouth have two big central defenders which may play a part
in Michael Appleton's thinking as well as big striker Reid.

Reid picked up a second half injury after volleying the winner against "Stanley",
his fourth goal in as many games.
Argyle Manager Derek Adams is remaining tight lipped as to the extent of the injury
although Reid was smiling in the players bar post match on Saturday, apparently.

TOMORROW'S REF:

Was supposed to be Hampshire based Keith Stroud but he got injured on Saturday at Hillsborough
after being clattered by a Hull player.

http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/videos/2 ... video.html


PLAYED FOR BOTH:



Amongst those donning the yellow and green include Chris Hargreaves (pictured), Darren Purse, Colin Clarke, Paul Wotton,
Jake Cole, Andy Thomas, Lee Cox, Luke McCormick, Alex MacDonald, Nick Banger and Steve MacLean.


MEMORABLE GAME:



24th March 1984 - Oxford 5 Plymouth 0 Att; 7,777

Goals from Bobby McDonald (2) and a Steve Biggins hat-trick
saw United romp to an impressive victory.

FULL RECORD:

The U's have the upper hand overall with 18 wins to Argyle's 12
in 43 matches.

http://www.greensonscreen.co.uk/opposit ... eam=oxford

[tomoufc]

Thanks for that info.

Now for a question, since it's my first home game of the season - are tickets bought at the ground the same price as those purchased online? How long are the queues for tickets these days?

Ta

[OUFC4eva]

Thanks for that info.

Now for a question, since it's my first home game of the season - are tickets bought at the ground the same price as those purchased online? How long are the queues for tickets these days?

Ta

There is no matchday premium.If you have a printer you can book online
and print off your ticket.

I would expect a busy evening queues wise, despite the ease
of purchasing online and printing at home. Allow plenty of time, if you can,
is my message!

[SmileyMan]

Fantastic result!

Our efforts against the top half of the table is the difference between this season and the previous few. 17 points from 10 games against teams currently placed 13th or better. I seriously believe we're going to win the league outright

[neilw]

No one was more convinced than me that MApp should've gone last season and that DE was out of his league. Oh, how very wrong I was. Last night was the confirmation that we really are on to something. Everything that's been done this season, on and off the field, has been excellent, reflected in that first half performance last night. Some of the play was exceptional, as are several players.

It's beginning to feel like the beginning of something very special.

[Shoobedoo]

My better half and I were reflecting on the way home when it was last this enjoyable being an Oxford fan and we settled on our last promotion season back in the mid nineties. That's nearly 20 years of the doldrums (with the obvious oasis of our 2010 Wembley win). Yesterday's first half performance was nothing short of exceptional; Plymouth are no mugs but our attack cut through them almost at will and we could very easily have been three or four up at half time. In the second half Plymouth stepped up a couple of yards but even then Slocombe had very little to do and we still created the better chances. A tremendous all-round team performance, no weak links at all but I thought Sercombe, Mullins, Baldock and Hylton were all outstanding.

I too had lost patience with Appleton last season; I liked his ideas but didn't think you could apply them to a League 2 situation. I was wrong. This, already, is the best season for years. We will need a bit of luck with injuries as the squad doesn't have a huge amount of strength in depth, but the first XI is easily capable of winning this league.

Happy.

[YF Dan]

I've been really impressed by what I've seen so far this season. I think Sercombe is the outstanding player in an otherwise really solid looking team.

I have two concerns:

1) We have built a team that will play well on good pitches (at least our own pitch looks up to it this season) but I wonder how well equipped we are for cabbage patches in January.

2) How are we affording this?

But let's enjoy it and hope it lasts.

[Matt D]

I've been really impressed by what I've seen so far this season. I think Sercombe is the outstanding player in an otherwise really solid looking team.

yes, sercombe motm. again.

think you're a little unfair on the side to just describe them as solid. our defence i would say is solid. but a team with sercombe, roofe, and o'dowda to call on I think is a bit more than just solid.

anyway, hair splitting aside, a really good performance for me too, but particularly given that the side was so visibly flagging in the second half. we really dug in and appleton made substitutions that enabled us to get back on an equal footing with argyle.

we had a drink with a very downbeat argyle fan. I thought they'd looked good and capable of scoring at a number of stages there - before the double substitution I thought a goal was clearly coming. but as our argyle friend pointed out, they didn't really muster a shot on goal. too reliant on reid was his conclusion.

I think this looks a side in need of a rest. good on appleton for rotating the squad when lots of people (myself included) had questioned some of those decisions. terrific to get the results we've been getting over this period.

[YF Dan]

Solid probably wasn't the best word: I used it meaning we are full of solidly good performers, not a team full of solid Mickey Lewis style fighters.

No, I think we are high on flair (esp for a team at this level). For instance, Jordan Graham for half an hour on Saturday looked like the best winger I've seen in years. High in skill, indeed.

[Werthers Original]

I thought the Appleton haters had gone quiet Some generous admissions of changed minds here.

I'm loving us this season. In fact, I'll say that for the first time since we moved it's as much fun to go to the Kasstad as it was to the Manor.

[Kernow Yellow]

I have two concerns:

1) We have built a team that will play well on good pitches (at least our own pitch looks up to it this season) but I wonder how well equipped we are for cabbage patches in January.

2) How are we affording this?

I have a couple more concerns:

3) Our squad is still quite thin - injuries to a few key players could give us big problems.

4) Two of our best performers (apparently) of recent weeks are on loan, and so could be recalled at any time

But if we can keep everyone fit and at the club - in particular if this back 4 can play pretty much every game - then this season looks to be shaping up very nicely indeed. There is still a long way to go though. Much too early to be getting excited about the P word.

I'm certainly looking forward to Saturday's match - my first home game since Crawley back in August (which was not as fun as going to The Manor)

[Dr Bob]

I'm loving us this season. In fact, I'll say that for the first time since we moved it's as much fun to go to the Kasstad as it was to the Manor.

Absolutely. Being able to face the roadworks on the M1 with expectation rather than hope about what lies at the other end of the drive has been a refreshing change. The players Appleton has brought in, and the way he looks for certain types of character in a player, are really starting to deliver. But I also really like the way that, at the same time, our players have discipline, and do not (last Saturday excepted) usually get booked for silly fouls, acts of petulance, and the like. There is a real maturity there which should hold us in good stead - you cannot do much about losing players to injury over the course of a season, but limiting the number of absences to accumulated yellow cards is a positive.

Lovin' it. Really lovin' it.

[Hog]

Haters is a little harsh but while we're at it I'll come clean and say that I'm enjoying it too! I still have some nagging doubts about seeing games out (probably in-grained after all these years but I'm still not comfortable until the final whistle!) and substitutions, oh and time wasting and the way players coach the ballboys to do it - just get on with it and you won't get penalised by added time at the end!

I love and adore Danny Hylton and want to hear news of a contract extension as soon as possible, and Sercombe is getting better and better with every game and his confidence must be at 20,000 feet now! I was never convinced with COD last season but he is twice the man now and credit to him for that.

And three cheers for the new 12th man - the pitch! Haven't seen it up close but it looks and plays superb and not a divot to be seen!

[ty cobb]

Don't think you can really blame anyone questioning last season which was dreadful for months until it didn't really matter anymore and we strung together some results.

However, this season has been fantastic so far, Baldock, Sercombe, Hylton and Roofe would easily get into any other team in this league and in quite a few in the league above as well. Our centre back pairing is excellent as well although still too dodgy against high balls and a tall striker which cost us on Sat. I also think Appleton comes across well in the interviews and talks a lot of sense.

Long may it continue (and forget all about the increasing debt and lack of movement on stadium - if Eales wants to have some fun with his money then good for him - he ain't going to get it back unless someone buys him out and if that happens we'll be a lot higher than we are now, although he really should update this page now http://www.ldc.co.uk/team/person/Darryl_Eales/).

[Myles Francis]

Long may it continue (and forget all about the increasing debt and lack of movement on stadium - if Eales wants to have some fun with his money then good for him - he ain't going to get it back unless someone buys him out and if that happens we'll be a lot higher than we are now,

For me this is the elephant in the room. My concern here is that we don't know just how much money Eales has got. He's obviously well-off by most people's standards but he's largely been a salary-man through his career (a good salary, mind!). There is no doubt that the infrastructure which has been put in place at OUFC is burning through money at a rate of knots, and when you add in what was paid to Lenagan that adds up to a big hill of beans.

But what happens if the beans run out? Eales said that he would write off any debt accrued on his watch, but there has been no further detail on how or when that will be done. Certainly, the amount of equity which has been put in over the past year doesn't cover even a third of the likely losses.

Eales having fun with his money is all well and good, but if it jeopardises the club's future in any way, that's a big issue.