The Rotherham Game

[joepoolman]

Before the investigation starts I need to get one thing off my chest. Tonight the manager picked a formation with 3 centre-backs. For the first 30 minutes I think the players overall played quite well in that formation. For the next 15 minutes the players played awfully in that formation. But the main point being the players played awfully, and no matter what formation you're playing if you defend that badly any professional team will put at least one goal.

I'm not saying the manager shouldn't take some of the blame and I'm not saying the formation makes no difference but I think largely in the last couple of weeks some of the time the players have played well, other times the players played badly and the score lines have reflected that, you can't but shocking individual errors down to a formation!

[STEVE F]

THE RESULT TONIGHT YET AGAIN SHOWS THAT THE MANAGEMENT COACHING STAFF AND
PLAYERS AT OXFORD UNITED ARE NO BETTER THAN NON LEAGUE OR AT BEST LOWER LEAGUE
THREE PERFORMERS

THE WHOLE MANAGEMENT TEAM AND MOST OF THE PLAYERS NEED TO BE SACKKED TOMORROW MORNING

THE OWNER AND CHAIRMAN NEEDS TO ACT NOW AS THIS SEASON IS OVER AND ANY OXFORD FAN

WHO THINKS OTHERWISE IS LIVING IN A DREAM WORLD .

I WOULD HOPE TO SEE A NEW MANAGER AND MANAGEMENT TEAM IN PLACE WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK
AND MOST OF THE PLAYERS BEING TOLD THEY WILL NOT BE AT OXFORD UNITED NEXT SEASON .

[slappy]

We set our stall out to defend with the 3 centre backs. And by moving all the hoardings close to the pitch to avoid long throws. I think Wilder has a phobia of Westley and Evans teams and gets backed into believing we won't win and so tries to adapt to them and it is almost always unsuccessful.

[joepoolman]

We set our stall out to defend with the 3 centre backs. And by moving all the hoardings close to the pitch to avoid long throws. I think Wilder has a phobia of Westley and Evans teams and gets backed into believing we won't win and so tries to adapt to them and it is almost always unsuccessful.

I don't like the 3 centre-backs and I didn't like the advertsing hoardings being moved in, all that really wound me up was blaming players defending very badly on a formation in which they'd defended well in for the first 30 mins.

[recordmeister]

What was soooooo good about Saturday, was that we actually took the game to PV right from the kick off. Running at them, playing the 'attack is the best form of defence' and it worked.

I wasn't there this evening, but before the first whistle was even blown, we were set out to defend, with three centre backs. This is the opposite mind-set of the game plan which so brilliantly worked on Saturday.

If you've been out two weekends on the bounce and pulled a stunner each night, you leave the house on the third week with a massive packet of jonnies in your jacket and a one-way ticket on the bus in to town. That's the attitude and set-up I thought we'd have this evening, going out with confidence that we could beat them, but instead we did the footballing equivalent of staying at home with a pot noodle, crying and having a wank.

[Hog]

I don't think they defended particularly well in the first 30 minutes, they just got lucky that Rotherham didn't exploit the huge gaps left on the wings by the absent full backs who were playing as wide midfielders behind the, er, wide midfielders.

[SWA]

PLEASE REFRAIN FROM TYPING IN CAPITALS. STOP FUCKING SHOUTING!!!!!!!!!

[Mooro]

I don't think they defended particularly well in the first 30 minutes, they just got lucky that Rotherham didn't exploit the huge gaps left on the wings by the absent full backs who were playing as wide midfielders behind the, er, wide midfielders.

That was my first thought when I looked at the names selected - how do play wing-backs and a front three at the same time?

Not quite as distraught as many Man U fans are tonight, but annoyed that we just derailed ourselves so completely without Mr Evans even having to do anything

[OUFC4eva]

I don't think they defended particularly well in the first 30 minutes, they just got lucky that Rotherham didn't exploit the huge gaps left on the wings by the absent full backs who were playing as wide midfielders behind the, er, wide midfielders.

Absolutely correct Hog - I was really unhappy about the wide open spaces in behind Davis and Batt
and the fact that we were outnumbered in midfield from about the fifteenth minute mark. Evans was not happy and
was barking out orders to his team.

However you defend from the front in my opinion and we did not work anywhere near hard enough
in that department. Smalley bounced off Claude Davis all night. Rigg had a game to forget, the lightweight Potter ran down blind alleys
but for me Batt and especially Davis had a torrid evenings.They got turned around for fun.
I can't comment or find a suitable adjective to describe Heslop's showing.

As the game unfolded after 25 minutes it was simply men versus boys.

As for the advertising hoardings being moved dangerously close to the pitch all around the perimeter - that certainly backfired
and I did not like it either.

When did Oxford United last concede four goals before the interval in a league match at home? (never ?)

[A-Ro]

I agree with all the above and to my shame I left at half time. It annoys me so much that Wilder tinkers all the time and tinkering with a winning setup is just madness in my mind.

[Dr Bob]

I agree with all the above and to my shame I left at half time. It annoys me so much that Wilder tinkers all the time and tinkering with a winning setup is just madness in my mind.

I cannot make midweek games, so I do not know what it was like (I can imagine... But from what I have read here, it is not you who should feel shame.

[theox]

The advertising hoardings thing was pathetic and I think actually put us at a psychological disadvantage. It says to the other team that we don't think we can beat them on the pitch so have to try to find other petty ways to swing the game back in our favour. Ridiculous.

In terms of the performance, it looked like the kind of surrender that happens just before a manager gets sacked.

[SmileyMan]

As was pointed out in the 'glimmer of hope' thread, the only really valid strategy was to go all out to win every game - relegation is not a realistic threat, and draws aren't enough. If a bunch of whinging old blokes on an Internet forum can work that out, then surely the club management can.

And with that in mind, the selection, formation and tactics were all wrong, wrong, wrong.

Time to get a new manager NOW, so that he can evaluate which players are going to work with him, and start planning for summer replacements for the others.

[Mooro]

This was a psychological battle that Chris wilder lost absolutely - we'd come off the back of two wins against the top two and had Evans talking of adapting his approach (whether he meant it or not?), so to select three centre-backs and move the hoardings just sent out a massive signal that Wilder was scared of Rotherham, and if anyone at our level is likely to pick up on that and use it to drive his own players on it is Steve Evans....
The question is why? Does he really think that Rotherham are better than Gillingham and Port Vale? If he didnt think we were good enough to take on the top teams then why didn't he do it at Gillingham where, in truth, we'd probably have been far more forgiving?
In the last few weeks there has been a discernable softening of feeling towards Wilder, even from before Gillingham, but I think it takes quite some resolve to put this one aside and move on - as you say, the kind of surrender before a manager gets sacked....
We are now safe, we are ten points (because of GD) behind the playoffs with only ten games to go, are we into 'mutual consent' territory yet?

[SWA]

Does anyone know why the advertising hoardings had been moved closer to the pitch?