Squad Status

[Shoobedoo]

I'm probably the only one who thinks this but I quite liked Grebis and I don't think he was given a proper chance. Once the news got out about Jim not actually watching him I felt he was dumped with undue haste.

No, you're not the only one. I would have liked to have seen more of him as well not only did he not get a fair chance, he was also in the side at the time when we were at our poorest. With the amount of ball we were getting in the box, we could have signed Berbatov and Henry up front and they wouldn't have looked like scoring either. Hardly fair on our Latvian was it?

We seem to be doing very well for defenders so far, do you think Jim is going for an 8-1-1 next year? Or a flat back ten?

[Mooro]

I'm probably the only one who thinks this but I quite liked Grebis and I don't think he was given a proper chance. Once the news got out about Jim not actually watching him I felt he was dumped with undue haste.

No, you're not the only one. I would have liked to have seen more of him as well not only did he not get a fair chance, he was also in the side at the time when we were at our poorest. With the amount of ball we were getting in the box, we could have signed Berbatov and Henry up front and they wouldn't have looked like scoring either. Hardly fair on our Latvian was it?

We seem to be doing very well for defenders so far, do you think Jim is going for an 8-1-1 next year? Or a flat back ten?

I agree as well -
I think too much has been made of Jimbo not seeing him himself - he will have a trusted network of people who can pick out players and he himself acknowledged at the time it was a gamble. I also seem to remember the transfer window was also an issue, which raised the question that it may have been Grebis or no-one.
He struck me as someone who desparately needed a goal to settle - as Shoobee said, we were hardly creating bucketloads of chances at the time were we, while in the couple of outings in the ressies I saw he showed far better than Marvin, just again didnt quite get that first goal that he needed.
He was always going to take a while to settle, but his confidence clearly fell away and wasnt helped by discontent in some quarters over the manner of his arrival.
Still, MArvin's still here...

[Pe├▒a Oxford United]

I think too much has been made of Jimbo not seeing him himself - he will have a trusted network of people who can pick out players

Will he? Why would we think that? Isn't it more likely that he does what everybody else does, i.e. talk to other people in football and occasionally dob somebody a tenner to go and watch a game?

[Baboo]

After all we've even been know to carelessly sign players we've never seen play.

I'm probably the only one who thinks this but I quite liked Grebis and I don't think he was given a proper chance. Once the news got out about Jim not actually watching him I felt he was dumped with undue haste.

I too thought he was not given a decent chance. OK, a) if someone else saw him perform on Jim's behalf who was that? (&amp I'm not convinced they did) b) Why did Jim not like the look of him when he got here? NB: Jim didn't seem to be much of a Yemi fan at first.

[Snake]

Mally, can you update the top level posting with M. Foster signing with R&ampD please?

[Baboo]

Did we offer Martin Foster anything? Or did R&ampD trump what we put before him?
I see Rushden have also picked up Challinor from Exeter – For a midfielder he has a decent goal scoring record. Where are Rushden getting their dosh from and what is persuading players to join them? I suppose for Challinor it is a case of going home though.

Didn’t we offer anything to Rose and Zeb ?

And I wonder if we’ve given Luke &amp Corcoran a deadline to enable us to pursue other options if they don’t want to take what we’ve offered.

[Paul Cooper]

Did we offer Martin Foster anything? Or did R&ampD trump what we put before him?

Didn’t we offer anything to Rose and Zeb ?

And I wonder if we’ve given Luke &amp Corcoran a deadline to enable us to pursue other options if they don’t want to take what we’ve offered.

OM today states that Rose has been told he is welcoime at Oxford but he has Championship and League 1 clubs after him.

My guess is that we didn't offer Foster anything. I thought that he started well but faded and was one of those who froze at home to Exeter. Probably alos too similar to Petteford.

[Baboo]

[quote=&quotPaul CooperI thought that he started well but faded and was one of those who froze at home to Exeter. Probably alos too similar to Petteford.[/quote]

Agree with all of that. Early season Pettefer was better than anything MF offered. I've also got great hopes for Eddie Hutch in midfield next season. Injury didn't help him last season but at York I thought he looked a decent player and he is only in his mid 20's.

[Snake]

Did we offer Martin Foster anything? Or did R&ampD trump what we put before him?

Didn’t we offer anything to Rose and Zeb ?

And I wonder if we’ve given Luke &amp Corcoran a deadline to enable us to pursue other options if they don’t want to take what we’ve offered.

OM today states that Rose has been told he is welcoime at Oxford but he has Championship and League 1 clubs after him.

My guess is that we didn't offer Foster anything. I thought that he started well but faded and was one of those who froze at home to Exeter. Probably alos too similar to Petteford.

Why don't Manchester United want to keep him, does anyone know?

He was captain of their reserve team, after all.

[Mally]

Why don't Manchester United want to keep him, does anyone know?

He was captain of their reserve team, after all.

Did you actually watch him last season? He did OK and had some good games at this level but he's hardly the next Roy Keen or Ryan Giggs.

[Snake]

Ok, I'll re-phrase the question then.

If he was the captian of Manchester United reserves before he came to Us then what's gone wrong with his career?

[Mooro]

And I wonder if we’ve given Luke &amp Corcoran a deadline to enable us to pursue other options if they don’t want to take what we’ve offered.

I'm slightly surprised FosL hasn't signed, as I wouldnt have thought too many others would have come in for him, given he was without a club at all only a couple of months ago. My only thought was that he was worried about how many CBs might be ahead of him in the squad.

Would expect Corcoran to have other offers, just hope we made him feel sufficiently at home here to turn them down.

[YF Dan]

I would have been happier with Corcoran and Foster L signing, but now that Jim has swamped us with central defenders, do we need one, let alone both? Having said that, it could still be that Smith will take up the entire salary cap with centre backs though - I'm increasingly convinced he's Ian Atkins in a red-nosed, hairless disguise.

I fear Jim has learned nothing from last season. If he had, he would have signed both the &quotyoungsters&quot, and let Quinn and/or Wilmott go. Hunger and enthusiasm count for more than experience at this level. Dagenham proved that.

[boris]

Hunger and enthusiasm count for more than experience at this level. Dagenham proved that.

I don't think it's necessarily an either/or situation. Dagenham had plenty of experience in their squad - it wasn't entirely comprised of 19-year old, very keen, rookies. Where they succeeded and Oxford failed was their ability to maintain a sufficiently high level of consistency. How they managed that, I've no idea, but it wasn't just down to using lots of enthusiastic kids.

Besides, we've seen that both Quinn and FozL are both capable of playing effectively in positions other than centre back (Quinn's best games have been with him at right back, and FozL is just as comfortable in midfield or at right wing back as at centre back), and with the likelihood of Gilly not lasting a full season, I see no problem with us trying to sign both FozL and Corcs, in addition to Quinn, Willmott, Day, and Gilly.

[GodalmingYellow]

Not sure if this has been brought up elsewhere, but Martin Foster has now signed for Rushden &amp Diamonds having been released by Halifax.