Danny Bulman

[Hog]

Obviously I have no idea whether this rumour is true or not but at halftime on Saturday I noticed Bullman gave a congratulatory handshake to every United player as they came off which impressed me at the time. I also noticed that Steve Kinniburgh did the same at the end of the game which I thought also showed the measure of the lad as I don't think he's had a kick yet has he?

[surreydave]

Wont get any money for him,transfer dead line gone.Stay and fight or look for a 2 year deal elsewhere....i know how i would take that

[OUFC4eva]

Bully would walk into any club in the CONference - he won't have any problems. Crawley would have him back in a heartbeat

I'd be sad to see him leave, he's been great for us.

[neilw]

Surreydave, it appears, from your later posts, that what Dannie has been told is somewhat different to your original claim. Perhaps the club are merely being straight, realistic and respectful? Better to start the discussion, for / with Dannie, rather than leave it until May to dump him. He was never going to get a new contract for next year, having been brought in to do a specific job, which he has achieved / completed.

[Sackcloth Ox]

Is Bulman good enough to be part of a promotion winning squad?

In my opinion no, he's an excellent non league player but has been found wanting in the higher standard of League 2.

Not surprised if he goes.

As for the Clist out rumour, can't see it happening just yet. He's technically better than Bulman. And is also left footed, always useful.

However I believe he is out of contract at end of season.

[OXON24]

I really hope he stays till the end of the season at least, so far he has been one of our better players so far and was one of our top 3 players last year in my opinion. Plus we don't know if Payne will a) keep up his good performances, or b) stay past his initial one month loan spell.

[Kernow Yellow]

Is Bulman good enough to be part of a promotion winning squad?

In my opinion no, he's an excellent non league player but has been found wanting in the higher standard of League 2.

He was awesome against West Ham though. I was surprised that he was the one to make way for Payne on Saturday, but I've only seen two games this season. And I guess Heslop's proved his extra worth in terms of goals. Also Bulman faded quite badly towards the end of last season.

Clist I thought also looked good at Upton Park, but doesn't seem to be getting much of a sniff since then.

Someone else mentioned Kinniburgh, who I guess most of us thought would feature prominently if he re-signed. I guess he's unlucky that Tonkin is playing so well (and from what I've seen of both, I'm very happy with Tonkin's continued selection)

[recordmeister]

Is Bulman good enough to be part of a promotion winning squad?

In my opinion no, he's an excellent non league player but has been found wanting in the higher standard of League 2.

Not surprised if he goes.

As for the Clist out rumour, can't see it happening just yet. He's technically better than Bulman. And is also left footed, always useful.

However I believe he is out of contract at end of season.

Bulman has been asked to play the Chapman / Murray roll, which isn't his forte. If he was asked to play the Mad Dog roll in midfield, I'm sure he'd excel.

[Old Abingdonian]

Putting individuals to one side, the club faces the same dilemma as every amateur and junior club - 'competition for places' is desirable, essential even, but it is likely that in certain instances, one player will be losing that 'competition', week in, week out. When this becomes clear, then the 'losing' player has a choice - turn up to training every week, and keep competing, and draw the wage, or move on.

In this instance, it may simply be that CW has indicated that Josh Payne's long term future lies at Oxford (subject to contract etc.. Now just about every fan in the ground would then agree that Dannie, excellent servant though he has been, is not likely to get many more starts.

One way to maintain competition whilst retaining the interest of both or all the players is to have an established pro and one or more young pretenders. However, CW's emphasis on youth (and the subsequent desire to bring in good young players) makes this unlikely in our case. If the quality of the incoming players had been weaker, then the likes of Worley and Hall might have had to serve n apprenticeship on the bench.

[Beach Road End]

I think Payne was brought in and Bully dropped because of the lack of goals and CW wanted more attacking options to combat this. However I thought our defence was noticeably exposed on a number of occasions particularly when the ball was pulled back to the edge of the area, a spot where Bully is usually sitting to break things down.

I would be very sad to see him go I think when we go away to some of the better clubs in this league he is exactly the sort of player that is a must. He is however useless going forward

[deanwindass]

Bulman has been asked to play the Chapman / Murray roll, which isn't his forte. If he was asked to play the Mad Dog roll in midfield, I'm sure he'd excel.

Agreed, but we need an anchor within the 433 to allow Hall and Heslop the freedom to get forward and support our forward line and to keep things ticking over in midfield. Having an excellent distributor in that role who is always an option for our defenders also reduces the number of hopeless balls forward from the back (invariably to Potter or Deering's heads!). Payne performed that role superbly on Saturday and if he can continue in that vein and we can extend his loan then it it seems clear that DB's opportunities will be limited.

Saying that, I'm a massive fan of Bulman. Whilst he's not the best on the ball he does a lot of work for the team and assuming we are not financially forced to choose between him and Payne, say, and he is happy to be a squad player rather than an immediate starter, I'd definitely keep him on.

[Baboo]

I think Payne was brought in and Bully dropped because of the lack of goals and CW wanted more attacking options to combat this. However I thought our defence was noticeably exposed on a number of occasions particularly when the ball was pulled back to the edge of the area, a spot where Bully is usually sitting to break things down.

I would be very sad to see him go I think when we go away to some of the better clubs in this league he is exactly the sort of player that is a must. He is however useless going forward

Excellent points.

I thought Payne was absolutely superb but Morecambe were very poor opposition. Let's see what he does against the better sides. Bully will never let you down but is not going to produce any magic to turn a game.

[Hog]

Offthesubjectfact: It seems Payne went to the same school in Basingstoke as Hoglette until we withdrew her last summer term on account of it being utter CRAP!

[headless_pnub]

As far as I can tell for subsequent posts Bulman has been told his contract won't be renewed when up and he has 8 months to start finding another club.
This is a very different story than the one originally portrayed and shows the club in good light if you ask me. Telling him in 8 months would be harsh and he'd be in the running along with every other released player in the country. Sounds like we've done right by him to be honest.

[surreydave]

Thank you all for your comments,its been good to hear the voices of reason.