Rage Online

Villa's squad of star names:

Villa squad: Elliot Parish, Chris Herd, Daniel Devine, Shane Lowry, Tomos Roberts, Daniel Bradley, Dominik Hofbauer, Gary Gardner, Andras Stieber, James Collins, Adam McGurk. Substitutes: Richard Blythe, Ben Siegrist, Jason Lampkin, Jack Dyer, Kofi Poyser, Samir Carruthers, Durell Berry, William Grocott, Ryan Simmonds.

Great, I'm so glad I'm making the effort.

Great, so glad I'm not making the effort.

Full price admission, so great for the club.

Maybe next year we can have the Real Madrid fourth team in pre-season - that should sell some tickets.

Even going to Court Place Farm there are always lots of Oxford City players that you've heard of.

&quotSnake&quot wrote:Even going to Court Place Farm there are always lots of Oxford City players that you've heard of.

Hardly a surprise there though, most of them used to play for us.

Perhaps not a surprise that Villa put out the young guns, but a little naughty that a) the club sold tickets at full price under the umbrella of the Aston Villa name, and b) only last week, Kelvin Thomas was touting Villa as being likely to bring a strong squad.

Most people won't mind paying full price for a pre-season friendly against strong opposition, and most people will expect to pay a reduced price for a pre-season friendly against weakened opposition.

Given Villa's participation in the Spainish tournament, the chances of a strong squad were next to nil.

Whilst I'm on the subject of a little bit naughty, £33 for a junior size home shirt, is outrageous.

&quotSnake&quot wrote:Full price admission, so great for the club.

Maybe next year we can have the Real Madrid fourth team in pre-season - that should sell some tickets.

Even going to Court Place Farm there are always lots of Oxford City players that you've heard of.

Normally pre season not for me but I enjoyed the game tonight, just the right sort of opposition for us 4 days before season. You mean you'd rather see Ashley Young destroy us, not sensible!

We look technically competent. Creighton looks slow though. Roll on the real games.

&quotboris&quot wrote:Villa's squad of star names:

Villa squad: Elliot Parish, Chris Herd, Daniel Devine, Shane Lowry, Tomos Roberts, Daniel Bradley, Dominik Hofbauer, Gary Gardner, Andras Stieber, James Collins, Adam McGurk. Substitutes: Richard Blythe, Ben Siegrist, Jason Lampkin, Jack Dyer, Kofi Poyser, Samir Carruthers, Durell Berry, William Grocott, Ryan Simmonds.

Be fair, two of them are fresh from beating Juventus two days ago - one even put a penalty past Buffon in the shoot-out!

&quotI wasn't at today's game (Jerome)&quot... but from all the reports I've read, we can pass the ball.

My biggest concern is this: no one ever won this league playing good football. You've got to be big, strong, physical and pretty direct. We've tried walking out of this league for the past 3 years now, and it ain't worked. It's time to get ugly, get strong and bully our way out. I hope we can do that when it matters.

My biggest concern is this: no one ever won this league playing good football. You've got to be big, strong, physical and pretty direct. We've tried walking out of this league for the past 3 years now, and it ain't worked. It's time to get ugly, get strong and bully our way out. I hope we can do that when it matters.[/quote]

I just do not see the evidence for this. It certainly does not describe Burton, does not really cover Torquay - nor, to the best of my memory does it fare much better in describing many of the teams promoted in the preceding years (it may cover some, but swallows-summers etc). It may describe some 'smaller' teams, such as Histon, who use this tactic to get the best of the available resources and do quite well from it, but that has not been translated into promotion to the 4th division.

I also remember getting fed up with people using this same argument when we were trying to get out of the fourth division (the right way!), when the majority of promoted teams were typically those that played the best football (best being effective, of course, but also more than just hoof-ball).

Anyway, puddings eaten, etc. We can return to this debate as the season progresses to see whether passing football can be effective or not.

Ugly, big &amp strong / Passing football. Why are these two always seen as mutually exclusive. Surely a mix is what we are after.
Creighton &amp Sam Deering hardly came out of the same pod. (Although if reports of his tackle last night are to be believed little Sam's game is not all about being nice)
Beano's a bit of a bully isn't he?
I have no concerns that Wilder has kidded himself that we can just pass our way out of this league.

&quotAscension Ox&quot wrote:

&quotSnake&quot wrote:Full price admission, so great for the club.

Maybe next year we can have the Real Madrid fourth team in pre-season - that should sell some tickets.

Even going to Court Place Farm there are always lots of Oxford City players that you've heard of.

Normally pre season not for me but I enjoyed the game tonight, just the right sort of opposition for us 4 days before season. You mean you'd rather see Ashley Young destroy us, not sensible!

We look technically competent. Creighton looks slow though. Roll on the real games.

Did you think you got vfm?
4000 || is a good turnout. But were they expecting more (some) current big names from the opposition, or did they go away happy that we had beaten Villa and played well?

&quotBaboo&quot wrote:

&quotAscension Ox&quot wrote:

&quotSnake&quot wrote:Full price admission, so great for the club.

Maybe next year we can have the Real Madrid fourth team in pre-season - that should sell some tickets.

Even going to Court Place Farm there are always lots of Oxford City players that you've heard of.

Normally pre season not for me but I enjoyed the game tonight, just the right sort of opposition for us 4 days before season. You mean you'd rather see Ashley Young destroy us, not sensible!

We look technically competent. Creighton looks slow though. Roll on the real games.

Did you think you got vfm?
4000 || is a good turnout. But were they expecting more (some) current big names from the opposition, or did they go away happy that we had beaten Villa and played well?

Did not hear much moaning about lack of star Villa names tbh. It was a decent workout showcasing just how good a player young Chapman is. Not a classic game as atmosphere was muted but yes, vfm, just about.
Not sure what it tells us about the coming season. I am not going to make the mistake of extreme optimism, reckon it wil be a massively competitive league. We are in with a shout though.

&quotAscension Ox&quot wrote:[ We are in with a shout though.

If we weren't it would be a miserable 9 months ahead.
WSC thinks we gave a decent shout - &quotOne of the main challengers to Luton are aacording to the bookies and fans of other Conference teams, Oxford United. The Us have strengthened well over the summer and look to have the strongest squad in the league.&quot.

Let's hope so. But long may the spotlight shine on Luton.

&quotAscension Ox&quot wrote:

&quotBaboo&quot wrote:

&quotAscension Ox&quot wrote: Normally pre season not for me but I enjoyed the game tonight, just the right sort of opposition for us 4 days before season. You mean you'd rather see Ashley Young destroy us, not sensible!

We look technically competent. Creighton looks slow though. Roll on the real games.

Did you think you got vfm?
4000 || is a good turnout. But were they expecting more (some) current big names from the opposition, or did they go away happy that we had beaten Villa and played well?

Did not hear much moaning about lack of star Villa names tbh. It was a decent workout showcasing just how good a player young Chapman is. Not a classic game as atmosphere was muted but yes, vfm, just about.
Not sure what it tells us about the coming season. I am not going to make the mistake of extreme optimism, reckon it wil be a massively competitive league. We are in with a shout though.

vfm v poor inho

I agree the league will be the toughest it has ever been this next season, but we have a lot of quality in our squad this season and we are rightfully one of the favourties to go up.

For the first time in a long time, I have confidence in pretty much every person involved in the first team, from the players, to the manager, coaches, marketing staff, chairman.