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Re:
Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 10:20 am
by Dr Bob
"Snake" wrote:"Dr Bob" wrote:Maybe I am reading this all wrong, but it sounds to me like a poorly worded way of saying a short corner is driven into the near post, someone (Matt Elliott did this a lot) flicked it up into the middle of the six-yard box, to whomsoever was waiting there. Simples.
Thank you Dr Bob for translating that for me. And yes, Elliott was the master of the backwards header. In essence it just created chaos as no one knew where the ball would end up about a quarter of a second later other than somewhere in the six yard box and the fastest player to react (from either team) would have to deal with it.
Speaking of which, does anyone else think that our set piece plays have been a little bit on the predictable side in recent years? e.g. direct free kicks just outside the penalty area either get blasted into the defensive wall (presumably hoping for a wicked deflection to deceive the keeper), go over the bar and just occasionally (like the goal that Josh scored recently) go straight in? I know we're not on Match of the Day every Saturday night any more but they still seem a bit un-inventive.
Corners are a typical example. They always seem to raise huge chants of expectation ("Come on you Yellows" followed by "Yellows, Yellows, Yellows") but I think that harks back to the days when we scored a lot more goals via corners that we do now.
And don't get me started with the kick off routine as since the days of Ian Atkins we always seem to kick/hoof for touch in the opponents' half like it was a game of Wugby.
Ditto for when Clarke has the ball in his hands. He so rarely rolls it out to the left or right full back and nearly always launches it 70 yards or so to Beano with the opposition's version of The Beast on his back.
I know it's still Division IV but a bit of a change/variety would be nice now and again.
You are welcome! I agree wholeheartedly with this. What is so depressing is that we cannot even do well the one thing we try to do every time. Trying something different occasionally and messing up is one thing (a red face, a bit of laughter, but hey), but not being able to do the most basic things is just depressing.
Oh, and for what it is worth, I too think the standard in this division is higher than previously. I wonder if one factor might be a combination of more imported players coming in at the top, resulting in decent displaced British (mainly but not exclusively English) players looking further down the leagues for a team. I seem to recall discussions on here in the not so distant past about more and more out of contract players looking for teams, which I suspect might be a symptom if this.
Re:
Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 10:59 am
by Baboo
"Old Abingdonian" wrote:I do think the League 2 standard is higher than I expected, and higher than when we were relegated, although no-one can prove it.
I also think Boris is a little unfair with his designation of a largely Conference squad. You have to assume that a team promoted from one league can at least cope in the next one up. Ironically, at the moment our most experienced (?, haven't checked) league player, Tonkin, is playing atrociously at the moment. Conversely, I wouldn't desinate Clarke, Worley, Wright, Payne, Heslop, Craddock and Potter as 'Conference players'.
But I do think there is an urgent question as to whether Constable is.
Good post.
Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 11:51 am
by Dr Bob
It would appear that Midson is also seen as a League 2 level player, by Southend at least.
Re:
Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 9:15 pm
by Snake
"Dr Bob" wrote:It would appear that Midson is also seen as a League 2 level player, by Southend at least.
This one strikes me as a bit of a gamble.
Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 9:19 pm
by boris
Southend don't have a pot to piss in. I think they're just happy to have bodies on their roster.
Re:
Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 11:22 pm
by Pie Eater
"Baboo" wrote:"Old Abingdonian" wrote:I do think the League 2 standard is higher than I expected, and higher than when we were relegated, although no-one can prove it.
I also think Boris is a little unfair with his designation of a largely Conference squad. You have to assume that a team promoted from one league can at least cope in the next one up. Ironically, at the moment our most experienced (?, haven't checked) league player, Tonkin, is playing atrociously at the moment. Conversely, I wouldn't desinate Clarke, Worley, Wright, Payne, Heslop, Craddock and Potter as 'Conference players'.
But I do think there is an urgent question as to whether Constable is.
Good post.
We have a good squad of footballers but an awful set of battlers. We are to polite, not street wise and lacking in on field leadership especially when the excretia approches the fan. A lack of leadership and that is absolutely vital with a team that basically lacks real experience at this level.
We need some experience and fighters because we are a very poor team when things go against us. Hall, Heslop, Payne, Potter Deering Constable and Craddock are all very good at this level when on top, but when the chips are down don't relish the fight.
Just hope this new conditioning coach is good at psychology because that our fundamental problem
Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2010 10:38 pm
by Snake
Well, as least we can now concentrate on The League, but that’s £18k down the drain for not getting into the 2nd round of the Cup plus a 6k|| home crowd against Chesterfield also going to the same place. But there you go, the ‘romance of the FA Cup’ is over for Us for another season so it’s time to move on and watch the rest of the competition on the telly.
Speaking of which, who else would like to see Wimbledon –v- Wimbledon happen in the next round?
Get well soon Beano (yeah, right), but at least it wasn’t a tasty tie away to Supermarine we had to play for today...
As for the ball used at Burton, it wasn’t orange but more like a gold colour (bright yellow or luminescent green would be better under the floodlights now the nights are drawing in) so how come the FA change the shade in November when so few clubs these days play on snow covered pitches during the winter? It’s like going back to the days of the Arc. Did Brian Lee invent this rule?
//
I still think we’ll finish in 7th place in Division IV come May, though there are some things that erode my confidence in that prediction
Such as...
Transfer listed LSD plays for five minutes at the end, and no Jack or James, Wilder in a suit (why?), a formation that seemed to change every quarter of an hour, ongoing hassle with TVP/SMHS at our home games, and recently released accounts from WPL that show loans of £493k from unknown “others
Re:
Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 9:03 am
by Joey's Toe
"Snake" wrote:Speaking of which, who else would like to see Wimbledon –v- Wimbledon (sic) happen in the next round?
Well, not most Wimbledon fans, as it happens.
All the AFC fans I know are saying that they're hoping Stephen Hedge can beat Franchise in the replay to avoid an AFC-Franchise fixture.
A Wimbledon-Franchise match (and the resultant media hype) would offer an element of legitimacy to Franchise, with people focusing on the game and the result rather than whether one of those clubs should have the right to exist at all.
Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 10:41 am
by boris
I was going to make the same point as Joey's Toe. I know quite a few AFC fans (including their former chairman) and not a single one of them ever wants to play Franchise. To have to play them would legitimise them, and they also fear serious crowd trouble should any franchisees turn up at Kingsmeadow. In addition there's no way that they would be able to offer the accepted level of corporate hospitality to any Franchise directors or staff. Apparently they have already discussed this possibility at an earlier board meeting, at which they concluded (reluctantly) that if they were drawn to play them then they would have to fulfill the fixture, because the FA's penalties for failure to do so are 'limitless', and so they could even be thrown out of all FA competitions (including any FA affiliated league). So let's hope it doesn't happen.
Re:
Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 10:46 am
by Joey's Toe
Boris - as an AFC-supporting mate put it in a text to me earlier: "What the hell would we write in the matchday programme? 'We welcome the players and supporters of MK Dons to Kingsmeadow today'? Don't think so!"
I just hope that if it does happen, the media actually focus on the real issues of whether it is right for a club to assume another's identity, rather than treating the game itself as 'part of the magic of the cup' or similar patronising nonsense.
Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:12 am
by SWA
would be great to see it happen
Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 4:54 pm
by Snake
Things are going to look a whole lot better for fans who go to Rotherham on Saturday, in fact you'll need binoculars just to notice any mistakes we make. Just take a look at the view from the away seats!
http://www.footballgroundguide.com/roth ... rham51.jpg
Re:
Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 9:04 pm
by Snake
"Snake" wrote:"BigCrompy" wrote:Think we're as bad as Barnet, do you?
No-one said this year was going to be easy. We may all have hoped for better but just see, perhaps a January signing or two and we'll go on a run.
You have to be spectacularly bad to get relegated, we know that from experience. Keep the faith!
If anyone is convinced we'll be relegated then put your house on it because the bookies (who are quoting 20-1) certainly don't -
http://www.oddschecker.com/football/eng ... relegation
Anyway, the best thing about last night was that I got sick/lucky and could not go, so I can't comment on the performance.
However, having to play at home against a team in yellow is just, err, I'm lost for words for once....
p.s. did anyone spot the Gypsy there last night?
Hmm. Not 20-1 any more so those alarm bells are getting a bit louder and I don't like the current Betfair odds much either.
Is there a stated record for the number of player "clearouts" Oxford United have had in a season? I'm sure boris would know.
Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 10:12 pm
by YF Dan
It's as if Wilder's completely forgotten how he so nearly fucked up last season.
Which given his rather cocksure personality, he probably has.
I'd love to know what the mood in the squad is, especially amongst those who rescued the situation last year.
I also wish KT would have the balls to tell Wider to work with what he's got squad wise and stop the bloody tinkering/rebuilding/completely overhauling.
Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 10:39 pm
by Boogie
Whilst I have not approved of previous tinkering, getting the experienced three in now is the right move and you can't expect them to gel immediately especially away to one of the top teams.
With Wright back in (and PLEASE Constable starting instead of Craddock - yay Craddock was subbed!) we should be fine and I think we could still sneak into 7th place by the end of the season.
Shoot me down after the Gills Match!
