Rage Online

Disappointing to lose on Saturday and we are now eight points adrift of the play-offs. I think most teams have worked us out now, but our next three home games are all against teams below us in the league which perhaps gives us a chance of catching up. When I look at the teams above us I think most of them would do better than us in the play-offs anyway.

I'm sort of getting the feeling that we are back in a position like when Eales said he could fund us in League 1 all day long. The extra money for a top two / promotion was beyond him, and I think we would be Championship whipping boys even if we did go up.

Although we've had three good transfer fees since the Summer, where is the next one coming from? It seems we have replaced them with players on loan rather than outright buys.

We still have a decent chance of the play-offs I think - the biggest reason for our bad form was the lack of Henry and Brannagan, if those two remain fit we have half a chance. During our excellent run of results and performances these two stood out, along with Cadden and Fosu. The failure to replace Cadden has had a big impact and I'm still not sure who would play at left back if Ruffels was injured. Baptiste was different, he was injured most of the season and although is undoubtedly a very good player, I'm not sure we saw the best of him. Getting Forde back and presumably one day Woodburn might help.

In terms of future saleable players - in the short term Brannagan, I'd be surprised if we still had him next season. Likewise Dickie. Beyond that I think Sykes too, although he needs to improve further and also Moore. The key for us is finding similarly promising replacements - in some senses I'm pleased the club didn't rush to sign anyone even if it has meant we're significantly less likely to get promoted.
The bigger challenge is how you can ever get the club into the top 6, if you are losing £3m a year and can only recover this by selling your best players every season.

Isaac wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:04 pm We still have a decent chance of the play-offs I think - the biggest reason for our bad form was the lack of Henry and Brannagan, if those two remain fit we have half a chance. During our excellent run of results and performances these two stood out, along with Cadden and Fosu. The failure to replace Cadden has had a big impact and I'm still not sure who would play at left back if Ruffels was injured. Baptiste was different, he was injured most of the season and although is undoubtedly a very good player, I'm not sure we saw the best of him. Getting Forde back and presumably one day Woodburn might help.

In terms of future saleable players - in the short term Brannagan, I'd be surprised if we still had him next season. Likewise Dickie. Beyond that I think Sykes too, although he needs to improve further and also Moore. The key for us is finding similarly promising replacements - in some senses I'm pleased the club didn't rush to sign anyone even if it has meant we're significantly less likely to get promoted.
The bigger challenge is how you can ever get the club into the top 6, if you are losing £3m a year and can only recover this by selling your best players every season.

The answer to that is not having to pay a stadium rent and actually enjoying revenues from a stadium. I live in hope that the DC United model which Erick implemented is the model that our Board will use here - build the stadium and lease it to the club for £1 per year with OUFC enjoying the revenues and the investors making a return on other businesses in the vicinity.

Famous last words, but we *should* win at least 5 of our next 6 games, if not all of them. If we do, we are really in with a chance.

recordmeister wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 12:09 pm Famous last words, but we *should* win at least 5 of our next 6 games, if not all of them. If we do, we are really in with a chance.

Ipswich away?

Well that was a good result last night. OK it was against AFC Wimbledon who are in 20th place. But scoring five goals from three different scorers and apparently plenty of chances must give the squad a bit of a boost.

slappy wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:34 pm Well that was a good result last night. OK it was against AFC Wimbledon who are in 20th place. But scoring five goals from three different scorers and apparently plenty of chances must give the squad a bit of a boost.

Especially as the Dons came here on the back of a draw against Rotherham.

Play that well on Saturday and who knows?

That was definitely a lot better. Wimbledon were appalling (looked a league below us), but we took advantage and played well. If we can avoid losing at Ipswich, then we've got half a chance of challenging for the top 6 again given the fixtures that follow.

Jimski wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 3:57 pm That was definitely a lot better. Wimbledon were appalling (looked a league below us), but we took advantage and played well. If we can avoid losing at Ipswich, then we've got half a chance of challenging for the top 6 again given the fixtures that follow.

Looking at the goals on the highlights reel, the tempo of the attacks and the slick passing reminded me of how Posh tore us apart. Play like that against anybody in this division and they will struggle to live with it. The main difference between Wombles and Ipswich is at the other end of the pitch. If we can avoid starting playing a quarter of an hour after the opposition, we shall have a great chance.

Dr Bob wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 6:01 pm
Looking at the goals on the highlights reel, the tempo of the attacks and the slick passing reminded me of how Posh tore us apart. Play like that against anybody in this division and they will struggle to live with it.

We scored some lovely goals and won at an absolute canter. But we were pretty sloppy at times, and a better team would have taken advantage - Wimbledon were utter bobbins though, even worse than at their place. The goals came when we moved the ball quickly and precisely, with Henry and Sykes often playing the passes which unlocked the Wombles’ defence. But for much of the game we didn’t really click, and the last half hour went very flat as Robinson tried out some bizarre formations (Brannigan up front when there were three other forwards on the pitch!)

All in all very enjoyable and great to get a good win under our belts, but I really wouldn’t read too much into what the result means for when we play ‘anybody in this division’. Ipswich simply won’t let us play like that.

OtmoorYellow wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:32 pm

recordmeister wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 12:09 pm Famous last words, but we *should* win at least 5 of our next 6 games, if not all of them. If we do, we are really in with a chance.

Ipswich away?

Three wins out of three so far which probably means we will drop points against Southend. I suppose Sunderland - Fleetwood draw and Coventry - Rotherham were good results last night in that they all only pick up one point. We really need the top seven to start dropping points and as Fan's View 43 points out we only have four games left against them as six-pointers.

slappy wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 12:33 pm

OtmoorYellow wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:32 pm

recordmeister wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 12:09 pm Famous last words, but we *should* win at least 5 of our next 6 games, if not all of them. If we do, we are really in with a chance.

Ipswich away?

Three wins out of three so far which probably means we will drop points against Southend. I suppose Sunderland - Fleetwood draw and Coventry - Rotherham were good results last night in that they all only pick up one point. We really need the top seven to start dropping points and as Fan's View 43 points out we only have four games left against them as six-pointers.

They will drop points as they have to play each other on numerous occasions before the end of the season. We just need to keep ticking along. I do like our last two fixtures as Tranmere may and Bolton will have nothing to play for.

I've had a look at the run-ins of the current top 8 against the rest of the top 8.
Rotherham 2 home 2 away
Coventry 4 home 1 away
Wycombe 2 home 1 away
Sunderland 1 home 2 away
Portsmouth 1 home 4 away
Peterborough 1 home 2 away
Fleetwood 1 home 3 away
Oxford 2 home 2 away
Ipswich 3 home

It looks like Coventry could take points off quite a few teams which would be helpful if we want them to make our chances of the play-offs higher, so letting them take the auto spot. Wycombe have a few weak teams to play in April so could end up in the autos.

OtmoorYellow wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2020 4:01 pm

Kernow Yellow wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2020 2:38 pm And now Robinson is making clear hints about unhappiness.Isn't that just interpretation to stimulate debate? I've heard nothing from Robbo that suggests any frustration are with the club. More likely I suspect his frustrations are with the poor standard of referees and effective gagging by the EFL.

In case anyone was in any doubt, Robinson's frustrations with the club are now plain for all to see. This sounds more like a come-and-get-me-plea than a wish to end speculation about his future:

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/sport/1826 ... ted-owner/

A shame that this is happening when we've got potentially the most exciting run-in since our last promotion. We've really hit some form again, although I didn't think we looked that convincing until the second goal went in on Tuesday. Funny how we can look like world-beaters one minute and nervy and error-prone the next. I guess that inconsistency is why we find ourselves outside the top 6 rather than in the automatics. No-one can seriously think that Wycombe are a better football team than us at the moment, yet they are consistently winning matches and sit above us in the table.

Anyway, could be an interesting end to the season one way or another!

I can't help but feel his frustration is misplaced. By his own admission, we were unlucky rather than tight-fisted in the transfer window. He said in a recent interview that we made a huge (record?) offer for Chris Cadden but the selling club wouldn't budge, that we made a huge offer for the Scottish full-back who didn't want to move, and we made substantial offers for other players which didn't get over the line in time.

It sounds to me as though he was allocated a hefty proportion of the Fos-Bap money to reinvest but for one reason or another those deals didn't come off. That's life. Presumably the money will still be there in the summer when, arguably, it will stretch further anyway. In the meantime, he's got a squad hitting form at the right time and a real chance to get another promotion on his CV. Rather than fannying about trying to get a better deal elsewhere, focus on the job in-hand and if you come up short use it as leverage for a bigger transfer kitty in the summer (or for a move elsewhere then).

The biggest danger to our season now is that the manager loses focus at the exact moment when things are coming together nicely. And if he does, it'd be him I'd blame more than the board.