Is there life on Mars?

[Baboo]

Is there life on Mars?

It was just like stepping back into the 70’s today. Shared terracing behind the goal with a fence dividing home and away fans, pillars a plenty to spoil the view, stands that were probably built in the 30’s &amp something new – portaloos.

The performance was again much improved but at the final reckoning not good enough. I have been very critical of Johnson &amp to a lesser extent Anaclet but both had very good games today. Full back good, wing back bad. Eddie’s pace got us out of a couple of potentially tricky defensive positions. The entire midfield competed and we passed the ball well if again not creating a great deal. Yemi was a real handful going forward and at times got back to help out (I had to rub my eyes to confirm it was he and not Eddie) although for the most part we are weaker defensively with him on the right hand side in midfield (Although I was not entirely sure if we were playing 442 or 433). But I can live with that when he has the opposition on the back foot. It was also pleasing to see that when he broke down the left (he gets all over the place) in the first half Rose was able to keep pace with him and nearly /should have scored. I thought then and on a couple of other occasions we looked like a proper football team again.

But we had one massive weakness – the front two. I’m struggling to think of a worse combination that Grebis / Robinson. Grebis played a couple of decent passes but as regards showing any sign of being a striker – he did not even give us a clue. He made couple of runs with no conviction whatsoever and just kept going until he lost the ball. Robinson was no better. His lack of mobility is alarming and he should have scored with a second half header. They did nothing to hold the ball up and take the pressure off the defence. If they had had a quarter decent match between them I think we may have been looking at that elusive win. People might not like Duffy but compared with those two today he at times looks like Thierry Henry. The way I saw it he was taken out off the ball – and that was the reason he had to go off. No question that Aldershot chose to step beyond the laws of the game at times. Another example being when their no. 6 (?) decided he could have a freebie after the whistle had gone for a free kick and hammered Yemi. He wasn’t even spoken to.

Another depressing day because it could have been so much better and we have blown the chance to pull a further 2 points back on the Daggers.

[Snake]

I was going to post up today’s match report with a title of “Walking With Dinosaurs

[Baboo]

I
By means of a bonus we had Duffer off the pitch early, so at least we had all eleven players interested in a game of football, even if Grebis played like a headless and clumsy donkey as his replacement up front.

I must have missed something - what evidence did I miss that shows Duffy not to be interested in the match in the 16 mins he was on?

I think this critisism of Duffy is getting ridiculous. And that of Burgess too. He got in a few great crosses in the 15 mins he was on the pitch. Yet some season ticket holder rang Jerome and said that he wouldn't be going again if Burgess was picked. Well stay away I say.

All players have flaws but turning on them the way some Oxford fans seem too does no one any favours imho. (And that's coming after I've had a real go at our front 2 today)

[Baboo]

The only thing that was missing was seeing scarves tied to wrists and beer at 20p a pint.

Shame it wasn't. The London Pride was £2.80. For you lager drinkers out there that's real beer and well worth the money.

[Matt D]

The only thing that was missing was seeing scarves tied to wrists and beer at 20p a pint.

Shame it wasn't. The London Pride was £2.80. For you lager drinkers out there that's real beer and well worth the money.

agree on the atmosphere as soon as you entered the town. on account of this we just went to the first place that looked okay - unfortunatley no real ale, but the guinness was only £2.10. that's until it got thrown around the pub along with a hail of bottles. i never experienced '70s football', and thought that kind of thing had really been marginalised in football.

anyway, to the football: one of the best games i've seen this season.

eddie in particular had a tremendous game - i've never really had much faith in him defensively, but he really proved me wrong today with some great last-ditch tackles.

i think we've been here before in january - playing better and threatening to break our bad run, before the confidence was knocked back out of us and things got worse again. REALLY important we get that elusive win VERY soon. absolutely galled it didn't come today - the spirit was back in evidence on the pitch, and in the stands.

[YF Dan]

Let's face it, had we not been two months without a win, we'd have settled for a point at Aldershot. It's a tough place to go in every respect, and we played well and more than deserved a draw, at we haven't been able to say that for ages. It's just a bit galling because it's another damn winless match.

I'm the king of gloom, normally, but for the first time in ages I left yesterday's game feeling positive.

The positives:

Yemi looked a class act, almost undefendable at times. Only an idiot would put him back on the bench again this season.

The formation helped us attack, we looked threatening.

Eddie seems happy as a fullback, happy as a right-mid. Let's banish wing-backs for ever, please.

Burgess came on and looked interested, and like he could do a good job playing left-mid.

Foster is great, a really good player. He and Hargreaves gave the midfield a lot of energy and movement.

Rose did well too.

Corcoran is to Gilly now what Gilly used to be to Elliott. It's a shame that Gilly isn't Elliott. But Corkers looks a good signing, just what we needed.

And although I don't think it's a 2-horse race, and I'm still genuinely worried about York and Stevenage, Dagenham lost at home to Rushden

Things are getting better.

PS. I really like Aldershot's drum. There, I've said it.

[Radley Rambler]

Couple of things:

Duffy - I can not understand the criticism of him. He got trod on (deliberately in my opinion) and as a result was limping for some time prior to being subbed. He has scored 19 goals (yes 19!) this season and that includes a month off where he was injured. I admit he can look a bit aloof at times but in the first 20 minutes yesterday he won more in the air than Robinson and Grebis did for the rest of the game combined. As for Robinson's missed header from 3 yards, Duffy would have scored that. Goals this season, Duffy 19, Obudabe 7, Robinson 1, Grebis 0. Leave him alone. As for Grebis, I'm now totally convinced he is a waste of time.

If we are going to go up, we will need Duffy's goals - no-one else is going to contribute sufficiently so I suggest we all support him rather than have a go at the most prolific scorer we have had since Paul Moody. He scored lots of penalties - no-one had a go at him.


Stewarding - Why did they all disappear with 5 minutes to go so that the neanderthals on both sides could square up and raise the 'atmosphere' - very odd.

[Resurrection Ox]

Couple of things:

Duffy - I can not understand the criticism of him. He got trod on (deliberately in my opinion) and as a result was limping for some time prior to being subbed. He has scored 19 goals (yes 19!) this season and that includes a month off where he was injured. I admit he can look a bit aloof at times but in the first 20 minutes yesterday he won more in the air than Robinson and Grebis did for the rest of the game combined. As for Robinson's missed header from 3 yards, Duffy would have scored that. Goals this season, Duffy 19, Obudabe 7, Robinson 1, Grebis 0. Leave him alone. As for Grebis, I'm now totally convinced he is a waste of time.

If we are going to go up, we will need Duffy's goals - no-one else is going to contribute sufficiently so I suggest we all support him rather than have a go at the most prolific scorer we have had since Paul Moody. He scored lots of penalties - no-one had a go at him.


Stewarding - Why did they all disappear with 5 minutes to go so that the neanderthals on both sides could square up and raise the 'atmosphere' - very odd.

You're wrong. Robinson's a waste of time. Not Grebis. He will be OK.

We could do with having some sort of in form Basham back soon though. Whether that will ever happen again is, however, a moot point.

We did not miss Duffy one iota. Yemi is liberated once the tugboat goes back into dock.

Can we keep Corcoran untill the end of the season please? Already the best defender at the club.

[Resurrection Ox]

Is there life on Mars?

It was just like stepping back into the 70’s today. Shared terracing behind the goal with a fence dividing home and away fans, pillars a plenty to spoil the view, stands that were probably built in the 30’s &amp something new – portaloos.

The performance was again much improved but at the final reckoning not good enough. I have been very critical of Johnson &amp to a lesser extent Anaclet but both had very good games today. Full back good, wing back bad. Eddie’s pace got us out of a couple of potentially tricky defensive positions. The entire midfield competed and we passed the ball well if again not creating a great deal. Yemi was a real handful going forward and at times got back to help out (I had to rub my eyes to confirm it was he and not Eddie) although for the most part we are weaker defensively with him on the right hand side in midfield (Although I was not entirely sure if we were playing 442 or 433). But I can live with that when he has the opposition on the back foot. It was also pleasing to see that when he broke down the left (he gets all over the place) in the first half Rose was able to keep pace with him and nearly /should have scored. I thought then and on a couple of other occasions we looked like a proper football team again.

But we had one massive weakness – the front two. I’m struggling to think of a worse combination that Grebis / Robinson. Grebis played a couple of decent passes but as regards showing any sign of being a striker – he did not even give us a clue. He made couple of runs with no conviction whatsoever and just kept going until he lost the ball. Robinson was no better. His lack of mobility is alarming and he should have scored with a second half header. They did nothing to hold the ball up and take the pressure off the defence. If they had had a quarter decent match between them I think we may have been looking at that elusive win. People might not like Duffy but compared with those two today he at times looks like Thierry Henry. The way I saw it he was taken out off the ball – and that was the reason he had to go off. No question that Aldershot chose to step beyond the laws of the game at times. Another example being when their no. 6 (?) decided he could have a freebie after the whistle had gone for a free kick and hammered Yemi. He wasn’t even spoken to.

Another depressing day because it could have been so much better and we have blown the chance to pull a further 2 points back on the Daggers.

Life on Mars. You said it . I came on my Raleigh Chopper bike.

Absolutely not a depressing day. Cheer up. We can still piss this nightmare league.

Grebis is far better than Robinson. The players note this as well. They pass to Grebis.

The teenage ref was excellent as well I thought.

[Baboo]

[quote=&quotResurrection Ox
We can still piss this nightmare league

Grebis is far better than Robinson. The players note this as well. They pass to Grebis. [/quote]

Only a couple of games ago you thought we were not good enough to go up. I admire the new found optimism.

Robinson appears so bad that is far from being a glowing endorsement of our Latvian international.

[Sideshow Rob]

We must have jumped into a time machine because I was sure it was a criminal offence for a spectator to enter the playing arena. There was not a panda car in sight as an Aldershot fan was allowed the freedom to run in front of the Oxford part of the East Bank making the most provocative of gestures after the Shots had equalised.

[Ancient Colin]

Anyone else read the non-league paper's report on the game - the essence of which was we deserved to concede the equaliser because of blatant timewasting - they pointed particularly to Tardiff. Didn't really notice that, personally, but that might just be perceptual blinkers.

NLP also gave Foster a bad rating. I thought he really orchestrated things in the first half, was organising very well. Much less of a force in the second, though, possibly as it all got more frantic and longball.

Grebis was gruesome at first, but seemed to improve a bit the longer he was out there. These things are relative though.

Walking back to the station the back way, and there's a line of police and horses across the road, blocking the street. So I walk straight up and through it with not a word said. The lad next to me trying to do the same is screamed at and has a dog set on him. Well, he &quotlooked&quot more like a football hooligan, I suppose. Oh, I don't miss those days at all (other than that then I had hair, was thin and could run) ...

[Radley Rambler]

Couple of things:

Duffy - I can not understand the criticism of him. He got trod on (deliberately in my opinion) and as a result was limping for some time prior to being subbed. He has scored 19 goals (yes 19!) this season and that includes a month off where he was injured. I admit he can look a bit aloof at times but in the first 20 minutes yesterday he won more in the air than Robinson and Grebis did for the rest of the game combined. As for Robinson's missed header from 3 yards, Duffy would have scored that. Goals this season, Duffy 19, Obudabe 7, Robinson 1, Grebis 0. Leave him alone. As for Grebis, I'm now totally convinced he is a waste of time.

If we are going to go up, we will need Duffy's goals - no-one else is going to contribute sufficiently so I suggest we all support him rather than have a go at the most prolific scorer we have had since Paul Moody. He scored lots of penalties - no-one had a go at him.


Stewarding - Why did they all disappear with 5 minutes to go so that the neanderthals on both sides could square up and raise the 'atmosphere' - very odd.

You're wrong. Robinson's a waste of time. Not Grebis. He will be OK.

We could do with having some sort of in form Basham back soon though. Whether that will ever happen again is, however, a moot point.

We did not miss Duffy one iota. Yemi is liberated once the tugboat goes back into dock.

Can we keep Corcoran untill the end of the season please? Already the best defender at the club.

Well let's see how many Grebis has at the end of the season. I'm prepared to bet a hefty wager that his strike rate will be far worse than Duffy's (goals scored per hour played).

Basham - Too slow, past his best (if he ever had one) - what was his best total for a season (10?).

Agree with you about Robinson - worst player on the pitch for the last few games. Also agree with you about Corcoran, he and Gilly work well together.

[Baboo]

There was not a panda car in sight as an Aldershot fan was allowed the freedom to run in front of the Oxford part of the East Bank making the most provocative of gestures after the Shots had equalised.

The way the stewards looked at him and just allowed him to get on with it without making the slightest effort to stop him was somewhat baffling. I think we should watch this one and see if a prosecution, conviction and banning occurs. A few years back a couple of Oxford fans jumped on to the pitch to celebrate a goal at Rochdale with no provocation involved and they got banned for two years if I remember rightly.

[GodalmingYellow]

The first game or some time when we didn't get what we deserved.

Duffy wasn't on for long enough to judge his perforamcne today. I saw the stamp on him which went unpunished, but I missed the split second prior to that. However, the Aldershot player in question intimated to the linesman that Duffy had been the first to stamp. Neither player was sanctioned so make your own minds up. I'd like to see a video replay though.

Robinson was though and his performance was rubbish. Grebis not much better.

Grebis seemed to have very little vision. A couple of times he found himself in a forward position with the ball and few defenders around him. The latter of those times, Foster made a brilliant run down the right and a simple pass would have put Foster through with a great chance of ensuring we won the game. Grebis tried to take on his man and failed.

I thought Foster was magnificant. No idea where NLP get their ratings from. Ditto Corcoran and Yemi.

I'm not criticising his performance one bit, as it was much improved on the last 2 games, but Tardiff was timewasting a fair bit.

On the hooli's, the cops blocked the road which runs in front of the ground for about an hour after the match. I spoke to one of them who said that the hooli's had been at each other all day and would probably be doing so all evening. As I drove from the multi-story car park, I witnessed hundreds of these idiots chasing each other through the town and being pursued by police. These people really disgust me and I don't understand why any who are caught cannot be forced to sign in at the cop shop on match days to keep them away from football matches.

Some of the policing and stewarding methods seemed a bit outdated, but no doubt done to maintain the safety of the rest of us, and for that reason I have no problem being held up at the ground. But surely it would be better to disperse the away fans first, who are of smaller number and can be prevented from lingering much more easily.