FA Trophy

[Pe├▒a Oxford United]

Maybe the Gypsy has a sense of humour in now making OUFC trot out against Halifax in this nonsense competition rather than doing his usual on a Tuesday night.

Sorry, how is the Trophy a &quotnonsense competition&quot? It's the major cup competition for non-league sides, of which Oxford United are one. Non-league football isn't there purely to allow Oxford United to get out of it as soon as possible, is it?

It's exactly that sort of arrogance which always annoys fans of clubs like Oxford when expressed by many fans of &quotbigger&quot teams.

[Myles Francis]

It's exactly that sort of arrogance which always annoys fans of clubs like Oxford when expressed by many fans of &quotbigger&quot teams.

That is very true. If I were to write it off as a &quotnonsense competition&quot, I wouldn't be able to complain about Liverpool/Arsenal/ManUre putting out weakened teams in the League Cup.

I guess the problem is the fact that we are in the Trophy really brings it home how far we have fallen.

[Mally]

Aren't gypsy curses feminine rather than masculine, or at least isn't it generally female gypsies that go around laying down curses rather than male ones?

I think snake has a particular male gypsy in mind.

[Snake]

I’ve always believed that it’s up to the club who they put out against smaller opposition. The likes of Arsenal do it to bring on their more inexperienced players, and that’s fine. We should have used that opportunity last night as it could not have been any worse than one shot on target all game.

And besides, didn’t Lewes put out a weakened side last night? And what about us losing to Exeter reserves in the LDV last time?

And another thing, if we do go and beat Halifax on Saturday that means postponing the Cambridge game on the 3rd of February, which to be honest I just don’t think we need right now.

It’s not about arrogance, it’s about common sense, as another year in Division V could be immensely damaging if say, Wrexham and/or Mansfield came down in the spring. Then how would we get out, with us not being the top dogs (finance wise) by a country mile?

[Snake]

The end result of all this nonsense is that history will record that we beat Lewes and lost to Halifax Town in the 2nd round of the FA Trophy.

p.s. I’ve heard a rumour that the final of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup may be played at the Kassam Stadium, so it’s probably not a good idea to even consider using some of the Youth Team players in the early rounds of that compi.

[Mooro]

Perhaps we should have gone for it after all - might have been an easier way of getting to Wembley and we'd then have had an excuse for not going up...

[Snake]

But we DID go for it! That was exactly my exasperating point! Instead of trying out a bit of the youth we sent the best players we had on trips to Lewes and Halifax and in effect the fist team played 4 more games this season than we should have done.

I just hope that lessons were learnt and that next season we can use it as an opportunity to blood a few of the younger ones.

[Mooro]

I just hope that lessons were learnt and that next season we can use it as an opportunity to blood a few of the younger ones.

What younger ones?

[Pe├▒a Oxford United]

Get in.

[YF Dan]

I was cheering on Kiddie.

Stevenage will be one of our main rivals next season, this win will have boosted their confidence massively and their bank balance by 250k according to Sky.

Stevenage were also quite simply the rudest and most unpleasant club we visited all season too. I haven't a bad word to say about any other club I encountered all season, bu Stevenage were just a nasty bunch.

And they were f'ing jammy today too.

[boris]

I was well gutted - I had money on a 2-2 draw (with Kiddy winning on pens). Bloody Morrison.

[Snake]

One year on different manager, but same old Division V status and here we are again embroiled in the excitement of the FA Trophy, only this time with no guarantee of a Wembley Final.

So, well worth digging this old thread up again.

p.s. please don’t anyone put up a poll along the lines of “Should we have a serious tilt at winning the Setanta Shield

[Mooro]

The key factors for both the FAT and the SS are money, fixture congestion &amp squad experience/momentum...

Prize Totals for FAT are - Win £89k, Lose Final £64k, Lose SF £23k, Lose QF(R4) £15k,
No info on Setanta prize fund, but suspect amounts are larger.

The main issue is fixture congestion, as Rounds 3 &amp 4 and both legs of the FAT SF are played on Saturdays in Feb &amp Mar. The remaining two rounds &amp SF of the Shield are played midweek in Feb &amp March too. There are only four spare midweek slots in the calendar after the start of Feb to the end of the season, so progress in both cups would mean two games a week for the entire final three months of the season.

I see no problem in progressing through the opening rounds of both in December as this will potentially allow some winning momentum to build up, but after that we may need to assess it round by round depending on our league prospects.

If a playoff challenge is beyond us by then, then we should concentrate on these competitions to try to recoup some money, otherwise it is likely to prove too much of a strain.

[boris]

Sorry, Mooro, but are you suggesting that after December, if we still have a chance of the play offs (which we surely will, as we've only got three more league games this year) that we should consider deliberately losing FAT and SS matches in order to avoid fixture congestion? How would that work? Okay, with the FAT we could send out the kids, and if they win that would be fantastic and if they lose, so what? But the SS has rules that stipulate that a certain number of first-choice players have to be included, so should Patto tell them to throw the game, or not try too hard, or what?

[Ascension Ox]

The key factors for both the FAT and the SS are money, fixture congestion &amp squad experience/momentum...

Prize Totals for FAT are - Win £89k, Lose Final £64k, Lose SF £23k, Lose QF(R4) £15k,
No info on Setanta prize fund, but suspect amounts are larger.

The main issue is fixture congestion, as Rounds 3 &amp 4 and both legs of the FAT SF are played on Saturdays in Feb &amp Mar. The remaining two rounds &amp SF of the Shield are played midweek in Feb &amp March too. There are only four spare midweek slots in the calendar after the start of Feb to the end of the season, so progress in both cups would mean two games a week for the entire final three months of the season.

I see no problem in progressing through the opening rounds of both in December as this will potentially allow some winning momentum to build up, but after that we may need to assess it round by round depending on our league prospects.

If a playoff challenge is beyond us by then, then we should concentrate on these competitions to try to recoup some money, otherwise it is likely to prove too much of a strain.

You don't''assess' things round by round! Plus the club needs as much matchday revenue as it can generate, from whatever competition urgently

You try and win every match you play. Our squad is plenty big enough now the phantom 'injuries' have cleared up.

Hell's teeth you might see Gilchrist on the training pitch with his walking stick next week. The lesser spotted Ledgister was sighted on the subs bench on Saturday.