Wilder & Co

[Swissbloke]

A true test of a managers character comes during times of crisis.

This is a time of crisis, just as Mad March was last season.

CW wants the players to give everything for the club, manager and fans, just like the Gillingham players did on saturday.

Do the players want to give all for the manager?
- Many would argue that they certainly don't look like they do. Rumours of squabbles, dressing room spats and fallings out are all over the place. Players that were the hub of the dressing room morale - Bulman, Beast and Deering, all players with a bit of &quotBanter&quot which you need in group of 25 men.

Similarly key players were taken out of the team in MadMarch last season, however once back in the team we gelled again and stormed the play-offs.

Do the players want to give everything for the club and fans?
You'd think players would bend over backwards to be at Oxford. The facilities, the fanbase, the city. Some players though have bathed in the adulation of the 35,000 Wembley and City Centre parade crowds. 1,000's of Facebook conversations, Twitter accounts and other fan interactions are now over. Facebook pages closed and Twitter accounts now dormant. The players have opened themselves up and now can't take the spite and criticism from some of our more tetchy supporters.

The Club has gone from a superb positive position in the summer to one where some of the fan base dislike the kit and not just in a minor way. TVP are pushing heavy on the misbehaving minority, whist raising the fact that the Hoolies are back in the local media and the inevitable &quotWhere is KT&quot nonsense that we're hearing. All of it negative. Oxford are back in the misery zone.

We need positivity back. Wilder needs to understand we don't want him fired, we want him to succeed. Stop ranting at the fans, who after a 5 game losing run are entitled to have a rant themselves.

The players need to generate that positivity. In August the fans would still support the team after a loss. Now because of the run the limit of the positivity tails off before half time.

Wilder and the players must respect that not only do we pay their wages, they if the worst happens can move on to new opportunites. We don't. We stick by this club, whoever runs or plays for us. We're the one's that will suffer if the unthinkable happens.

We are not on loan to the Football League. Never again can this club have it's future risked by dropping out of League Football.

[SWA]

good post that ^^^^^

[OUFC4eva]

Neil Warnock is a regular studio guest on TalkSPORT every Sunday
afternoon and he basically said similar things.

He believes anybody could manage QPR at the moment because they are a great set of lads and they are ' flying' high at the top of the Championship.

Warnock said that manager's only earn their corn when they are in a four or five match losing sequence and they don't know where the next goal will come from let alone the next point and the pressure is building from all angles.

His philosphy now is to go out from the start of every match to win the game rather than not to get beat and that you can only really adopt that approach when you are a manager late on in your career.

[OUFC4eva]

We are not on loan to the Football League. Never again can this club have it's future risked by dropping out of League Football.

Agree and this is where all the pressure is coming from. The haunting spectre of relegation back to Non-League is a truly terrifying prospect and this is why fans are bricking it.

If we had not lost our cherished league status in 2006 you would look at us now, with the players we have got and everything else and say we would easily find mid-table safety and security.

However we are being spooked big time and the panic seems to be spreading like wildfire (pardon the pun)

Cool heads are needed.

[JoeyBeauchamp]

Good post Swiss. Things like the kit, the fact that a team played in yellow at home against us, TYP, KT, the likes of Beast and Deering going out on loan - none of this would be even remarked upon with any seriousness if we were winning. But because we're not, all of these little issues are being seized upon as the reasons for our league position. CW needs to keep out of it all and prepare a side that will go out and win against Barnet (hopefully Chesterfield, but let's be honest) - that should be his one and only priority

[Old Abingdonian]

Excellent post, Swissbloke. In fact, a lot of wisdom on this forum over recent days.

We all really know that the way to help players or a manager is to support them to the hilt - a kind of unconditional love - but only until your head tells you that things cannot be turned around. So there's no point in booing, and CW did rightly in not criticising players in the press. I just hope that things improve before we have to ask the question in earnest as to whether they can be turned around with the current personnel.

[Matt D]

1,000's of Facebook conversations, Twitter accounts and other fan interactions are now over. Facebook pages closed and Twitter accounts now dormant. The players have opened themselves up and now can't take the spite and criticism from some of our more tetchy supporters.

The Club has gone from a superb positive position in the summer to one where some of the fan base dislike the kit and not just in a minor way. TVP are pushing heavy on the misbehaving minority, whist raising the fact that the Hoolies are back in the local media and the inevitable &quotWhere is KT&quot nonsense that we're hearing. All of it negative. Oxford are back in the misery zone.

thanks for the interesting and heartfelt thoughts SB. it strikes a chord with me. there does seem to be more of a disconnect with supporters this season. is this because we're perceived to be back in 'The Big Time'?

[GodalmingYellow]

A true test of a managers character comes during times of crisis.

This is a time of crisis, just as Mad March was last season.

CW wants the players to give everything for the club, manager and fans, just like the Gillingham players did on saturday.

Do the players want to give all for the manager?
- Many would argue that they certainly don't look like they do. Rumours of squabbles, dressing room spats and fallings out are all over the place. Players that were the hub of the dressing room morale - Bulman, Beast and Deering, all players with a bit of &quotBanter&quot which you need in group of 25 men.

Similarly key players were taken out of the team in MadMarch last season, however once back in the team we gelled again and stormed the play-offs.

Do the players want to give everything for the club and fans?
You'd think players would bend over backwards to be at Oxford. The facilities, the fanbase, the city. Some players though have bathed in the adulation of the 35,000 Wembley and City Centre parade crowds. 1,000's of Facebook conversations, Twitter accounts and other fan interactions are now over. Facebook pages closed and Twitter accounts now dormant. The players have opened themselves up and now can't take the spite and criticism from some of our more tetchy supporters.

The Club has gone from a superb positive position in the summer to one where some of the fan base dislike the kit and not just in a minor way. TVP are pushing heavy on the misbehaving minority, whist raising the fact that the Hoolies are back in the local media and the inevitable &quotWhere is KT&quot nonsense that we're hearing. All of it negative. Oxford are back in the misery zone.

We need positivity back. Wilder needs to understand we don't want him fired, we want him to succeed. Stop ranting at the fans, who after a 5 game losing run are entitled to have a rant themselves.

The players need to generate that positivity. In August the fans would still support the team after a loss. Now because of the run the limit of the positivity tails off before half time.

Wilder and the players must respect that not only do we pay their wages, they if the worst happens can move on to new opportunites. We don't. We stick by this club, whoever runs or plays for us. We're the one's that will suffer if the unthinkable happens.

We are not on loan to the Football League. Never again can this club have it's future risked by dropping out of League Football.

Couldn't agree more.

[Out of the gloom]

A post so good, I see you published it twice.

Agree that since promotion a number of actions, both on and off the field, have made the club seem more distant from supporters. It is reasonable to accept that there would be more patience with the 'Wembley team' than that put out on Saturday. The manager is ultimately responsible for that decision.

My worry is how little Wilder and some fans are learning. Players and managers are human. They develop over time, for better or worse.

A performance and points tonight can change a lot.

[GodalmingYellow]

A performance and points tonight can change a lot.

As can defeat.

[JoeyBeauchamp]

A performance and points tonight can change a lot.

As can defeat.

Not sure about this, how can defeat change a lot? We are 'expected' to lose this one, so i can't see that anything would change as a result.

Now if we lost at home to Barnet...

[boris]

I expect that depends on the nature of the defeat. Yes, we're expected to lose and if we go down by a couple of goals whilst missing a few chances ourselves then no one would be particularly surprised. But if it's another Bradford, or we surrender meekly without putting up a fight, or Wilder plays another Burton-style formation/side, then serious questions would have to be asked.

[JoeyBeauchamp]

Serious questions would cetainly have to be asked, but I would not have thought that anything would dreastically change before such a crunch game as Barnet. As I said, if we were to lose that one then heads would have to roll I would have thought

[Baboo]

A performance and points tonight can change a lot.

As can defeat.

Not sure about this, how can defeat change a lot? We are 'expected' to lose this one, so i can't see that anything would change as a result.

Now if we lost at home to Barnet...

No belief whatsoever then re the game tonight.
Realistically we should not be expecting to lose any game at this level.
6 defeats in a row is worse than 5 whoever they are against.

[JoeyBeauchamp]

Of course I've got belief, I'm a football fan and an Oxford fan so I always have blind beleif. I'd have belief if we were playing Man U away. All I am saying is that if if we were to lose tonight, I don't think, because of the opposition and our own woeful form, it should trigger any sort of major reaction. However if we lost to a team nailed on for relegation at home, then it should. It's fine to be an optimist, but you also have to be a realist.