Resumé
Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 7:35 pm
I went to Loo Town Town yesterday. I love the old school atmosphere of Kenilworth Road, but oh how I hate the squalid conditions forced upon us for top dollar.
There'll be complaints in the Championship about the state of that ground, which really is 30+ years past the point it should have been condemmed as a public sporting venue. The toilets alone are mediaeval. The leg room is fine provided your inside leg measurement is less than 20", and most, if not all, of the away seats have some form of restricted view.
As for the match, well, it wasn't particularly important for us. Of course we want to win every game, and should try everything sporting to do so. But, as a contest is was a bit weird, with only one side truly busting their balls because the result meant something.
The Us played well in patches, but Luton probably deserve the title and were undoubtedly the better side on the day.
Possibly we might have made the result closer, had we brought on Whyte much earlier, or better still from the start, as his influence on the balance of play was immediate and noticeable.
The fans begged Curtis Nelson to stay. I really hope something can be sorted, but I suspect the best centre back the club has seen for many years, will be departing for higher things. We'll be very lucky to hang on to Gavin Whyte over the summer too, but I hope the ambition of Erick Thohir will enable us to hang on to him for at least one more season.
It was great that despite the ignorant Luton fans noxious behaviour at the end, the OUFC players came over to greet the Us supporters and give away their shirts.
So what conclusions do we draw from this season?
Firstly I think we have to realise the importance of giving time to managers to build a side. With both MApp and Robbo (I'm removing the Gobbo title as his touchline antics have improved of late), the time they have been given has resulted in significant upturns in performance. I suspect it would have done so with Pep as well. Respect to Robbo for getting it right in the end and long may this continue. Sometimes in the last few months the football has been as good as that under MApp. Time to embrace Robbo as manager now.
Had anyone guaranteed 12th place as a Christmas present, I doubt there would have been a single Oxford fan who would not have snatched the gift and with a different result yesterday, we could have had an undeserved top 10 finish.
I imagine this next week will be about who stays and who goes.
There'll be complaints in the Championship about the state of that ground, which really is 30+ years past the point it should have been condemmed as a public sporting venue. The toilets alone are mediaeval. The leg room is fine provided your inside leg measurement is less than 20", and most, if not all, of the away seats have some form of restricted view.
As for the match, well, it wasn't particularly important for us. Of course we want to win every game, and should try everything sporting to do so. But, as a contest is was a bit weird, with only one side truly busting their balls because the result meant something.
The Us played well in patches, but Luton probably deserve the title and were undoubtedly the better side on the day.
Possibly we might have made the result closer, had we brought on Whyte much earlier, or better still from the start, as his influence on the balance of play was immediate and noticeable.
The fans begged Curtis Nelson to stay. I really hope something can be sorted, but I suspect the best centre back the club has seen for many years, will be departing for higher things. We'll be very lucky to hang on to Gavin Whyte over the summer too, but I hope the ambition of Erick Thohir will enable us to hang on to him for at least one more season.
It was great that despite the ignorant Luton fans noxious behaviour at the end, the OUFC players came over to greet the Us supporters and give away their shirts.
So what conclusions do we draw from this season?
Firstly I think we have to realise the importance of giving time to managers to build a side. With both MApp and Robbo (I'm removing the Gobbo title as his touchline antics have improved of late), the time they have been given has resulted in significant upturns in performance. I suspect it would have done so with Pep as well. Respect to Robbo for getting it right in the end and long may this continue. Sometimes in the last few months the football has been as good as that under MApp. Time to embrace Robbo as manager now.
Had anyone guaranteed 12th place as a Christmas present, I doubt there would have been a single Oxford fan who would not have snatched the gift and with a different result yesterday, we could have had an undeserved top 10 finish.
I imagine this next week will be about who stays and who goes.