Rage Online

&quotOUFC4eva&quot wrote:.........but our esteemed and egotistical chairman, Mr Merry, publically
confirmed live on Radio Oxford ,about four weeks ago that Patterson would have a very similar budget for 2008/2009 to spend !

That's not what was said at the AGM - The budget for the 08/09 season is based on income from home gates of 4700 (ish) which is considerably less than the season just gone when the club had foolishly expected fans to turn out in the same force as during our first season in the Conference which was always going to be a one off.

&quotBaboo&quot wrote:

&quotGeoff&quot wrote:I've been pretty laid back about new signings so far, but I'm starting to get twitchy now. Hopefully several new faces will be in place by the end of June. I'm quite keen on our management team and the way we finished last season but let's not start the new season on the back foot. Please!

Is that twitch getting worse Geoff?
Days to the big (if BSP can be considered big) kick off 46.
New signings nil.
Wonder if anyone will respond positively to Patto's ultimatum.
I had assumed that Howard would have signed by now.

Back from holiday and yes the twitch is getting is getting is getting worse Baboo. Next week, it'll all come good come good come good next week!

[quote=&quotGeoff Back from holiday and yes the twitch is getting is getting is getting worse Baboo. Next week, it'll all come good come good come good next week![/quote]

If this carries on you'll soon be better suited to joining Bill Oddie in search of a golden winged less spotted warbler than watching OUFC. Mind you, the chances of spotting a golden winged less spotted warbler are probably considerably higher than spotting a free scoring Oxford United forward at present.

&quotOUFC4eva&quot wrote:.........but our esteemed and egotistical chairman, Mr Merry, publically
confirmed live on Radio Oxford ,about four weeks ago that Patterson would have a very similar budget for 2008/2009 to spend !

Oh dear, not enough then!

&quotHog&quot wrote:

&quotOUFC4eva&quot wrote:.........but our esteemed and egotistical chairman, Mr Merry, publically
confirmed live on Radio Oxford ,about four weeks ago that Patterson would have a very similar budget for 2008/2009 to spend !

Oh dear, not enough then!

But Jim had spent most / all the 07/08 funds before Patto got the hot seat &amp unfortunately Jim has spent a significant chunk of that for 08/09 - the assets acquired being considered of little use by Patto who thinks they are not fit for first team duty and should train alone.
Not sure whether it was Jim or Patto who extended the injured Wilmot's contract. (Wonder how well he is standing up to the pre-season training?)

Perhaps weÔÇÖre going to get the Man U reserve captain again as a shock acquisition in the middle of July and this is all just a well thought out plan to bring in ST sales after the cheapskates like us have taken advantage of the discount offer ÔÇô he said, clutching at the usual OUFC straws..

&quotBaboo&quot wrote:

&quotHog&quot wrote:

&quotOUFC4eva&quot wrote:.........but our esteemed and egotistical chairman, Mr Merry, publically
confirmed live on Radio Oxford ,about four weeks ago that Patterson would have a very similar budget for 2008/2009 to spend !

Oh dear, not enough then!

But Jim had spent most / all the 07/08 funds before Patto got the hot seat &amp unfortunately Jim has spent a significant chunk of that for 08/09 - the assets acquired being considered of little use by Patto who thinks they are not fit for first team duty and should train alone.
Not sure whether it was Jim or Patto who extended the injured Wilmot's contract. (Wonder how well he is standing up to the pre-season training?)

Mmmm, I think it's a little harsh to blame Jim for having spent next seasons money already! You're obviously referring to Jeannin and Hutchinson but wasn't it Patto who played Jeannin in the one game that earned him another season before shipping him out on loan? That was poor! Hutchinson is obviously different, having been given an amazing 3 year deal by Jim but it is Patto who has humiliated him (them) in public and effectively written off two large chunks of the wage budget by vowing never to play them again. Of course we don't know what has gone on behind closed doors but I think it was a huge mistake to go so public: it looks like bullying to me and doesn't send out encouraging signals to prospective signings. And Patto risks being humiliated himself if (aaaaaaaargh!) he finds himself actually having to use either of them to fill a gap!

And although much of the squad we currently have could be called Jim's men, haven't most have them been re-signed by Patto? I'm thinking Turley/Foster/Quinn/Day/Yemi/Wilmott off the top of my head but I'm happy to be corrected.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not Anti-Patto. I was fairly indifferent when he was appointed but the last 11 games of the season suggested he's got something about him, but I'm not happy that Old Jim is demonised on here (and I wasn't particularly happy when he was given the job either!).

I don't think Patto is blameless by any means but as you say Hog we don't know what goes oin behind closed doors.
As he clearly does not rate Jeannin it was madness to give him that extra game.
I also think it is bang out of order to make them train away from the rest of the players. What do the discrimination laws say on this.
Given the players we currently have signed up I think it would be quite difficult to argue that the two who have been sent to Coventry should not be in the starting XI.

Re: Turley/Foster/Quinn/Day/Yemi/Wilmott - the only one I have real concerns about is Wilmott. I think it was the wrong decision to give him an extension when he was obviously had a bad injury. Harsh from a personal point of view but this football club is losing money. Someone made the decision whether it be Patto or Jim. Perhaps it was a joint decision. (I would loved to be proven wrong on this - with a fit again Willy leading us to the title
I don't think Jim is being demonised - but the position we are currently in has quite a lot to do with the decisions he has made from day one.

It does seem like all doom and gloom at the moment, made worse by the satisfying recovery at the end of last season that now counts for nothing team building wise.

I do keep telling myself that we have some decent players - Turley / Foster / Murray &amp provided he stays on form, Yemi - so its not all bad. Unfortunately this is nowhere near enough.

&quotHog&quot wrote:

&quotBaboo&quot wrote:

&quotHog&quot wrote: Oh dear, not enough then!

But Jim had spent most / all the 07/08 funds before Patto got the hot seat &amp unfortunately Jim has spent a significant chunk of that for 08/09 - the assets acquired being considered of little use by Patto who thinks they are not fit for first team duty and should train alone.
Not sure whether it was Jim or Patto who extended the injured Wilmot's contract. (Wonder how well he is standing up to the pre-season training?)

Mmmm, I think it's a little harsh to blame Jim for having spent next seasons money already! You're obviously referring to Jeannin and Hutchinson but wasn't it Patto who played Jeannin in the one game that earned him another season before shipping him out on loan? That was poor! Hutchinson is obviously different, having been given an amazing 3 year deal by Jim but it is Patto who has humiliated him (them) in public and effectively written off two large chunks of the wage budget by vowing never to play them again. Of course we don't know what has gone on behind closed doors but I think it was a huge mistake to go so public: it looks like bullying to me and doesn't send out encouraging signals to prospective signings. And Patto risks being humiliated himself if (aaaaaaaargh!) he finds himself actually having to use either of them to fill a gap!

And although much of the squad we currently have could be called Jim's men, haven't most have them been re-signed by Patto? I'm thinking Turley/Foster/Quinn/Day/Yemi/Wilmott off the top of my head but I'm happy to be corrected.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not Anti-Patto. I was fairly indifferent when he was appointed but the last 11 games of the season suggested he's got something about him, but I'm not happy that Old Jim is demonised on here (and I wasn't particularly happy when he was given the job either!).

Sorry I don't buy this Jeannin extra game thing as poor.

That we all think Jeannin is crap is irrelevant. The fact is that Patto had the job of trying to get us promoted at that time, and so it was his duty, to play what he felt was the best team available to him at the time. Contractual issues don't even come into that decision.

The contractual problem was no of Pattos making, it was of Smith's making in agreeing to a contract structured like that in the first place.

When promotion or relegation are at stake, the only issue must be selecting the best side that the manager thinks will win the game. Nothing else.

It's perfectly legit to accuse the manager of picking Jeannin if there was someone else better available, but it is not legit to accuse him of picking Jeanning just because it might extend Jeannin's contract.

Using that logic GY, would it be fair to say then that Patterson made his mind up that Jeannin was no good based solely on the one (contract clinching) game and then bombed him out? No, of course not: he had seen every other game he had played that season and had presumably formed his opinion long before the &quotextra&quot one, so the contract issue should have been at the very forefront of his team selection. Christ, if he had that low opinion of him but knew the cost of playing him one more time and still picked him I'd say that's a **** up of monumental proportions! I'm not accusing him of picking him just to extend the contract, I'm accusing him of failing to exclude him so he didn't get an extension.

The fact that we are having these sort of debates demonstrates what a mess we are in at the moment.

According to Radio Oxford this evening Hutchinson is leaving the club. Destination unknown.

&quotSideshow Rob&quot wrote:According to Radio Oxford this evening Hutchinson is leaving the club. Destination unknown.

Foundations of Patto's house extension?

ledgister joins woking:

http&#58//www&#46getsurrey&#46co&#46uk/ ... _for_cards

&quotBaboo&quot wrote:

&quotOUFC4eva&quot wrote:.........but our esteemed and egotistical chairman, Mr Merry, publically
confirmed live on Radio Oxford ,about four weeks ago that Patterson would have a very similar budget for 2008/2009 to spend !

That's not what was said at the AGM - The budget for the 08/09 season is based on income from home gates of 4700 (ish) which is considerably less than the season just gone when the club had foolishly expected fans to turn out in the same force as during our first season in the Conference which was always going to be a one off.

But the AGM comment was made before the rule change on wage cap.