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Post by willscarlett on Jul 23, 2014 18:38:53 GMT
we dont need the size of squad that wilder was used to, but I'm pretty sure we need more than 3! On occasions wilders squad was so small it meant that we couldn't fill the subs bench though.
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Post by willscarlett on Jul 23, 2014 18:45:03 GMT
I don't know how any Oxford fan can't be concerned by all of this. With every day that passes, that's another day that a new player doesn't spend with the squad. We could well be heading into that Burton game with some players who haven't played a minute of pre-season - rusty, unfamiliar and unwanted by anyone else. Shopping this late may knab you a bargain, but too often you're left with players no one else wants. I'm concerned and this talk of only a handful more faces to come in, despite some hefty pay packets off our books, is really very worrying. I'd trade in Derek Fazackerley right now for Paul Benson. Even Shrewsbury have managed to bag themselves Liam Lawrence! I don't want to see a 'great' assistant in there - that's window-dressing. I want to see players in the key positions that need covering, namely strikers, wingers and centre midfielders. Disagree , our lack of tactical knowledge and ability to change things around and do something different cos they have only been coached 1 formation has cost us. Don't just see him as a coach either . He will have massive amounts of contacts With all due respects, if he had all of these "great contacts," we would have seen them being used to bring players weeks ago, not the hot air that is being generated by the new spin machine that seems to have taken over the club.
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Post by bazzer9461 on Jul 23, 2014 18:50:36 GMT
But again, the squad was under strength and not good enough last season This current plan barely sees us scraping together enough players to match that. And after playing 'wait and see' all summer - this mystical 'better than last season' players just don't seem to be coming along. As has been pointed out in other threads, we're missing a massive amount of goals and assists from last seasons team (which finished 8th and was utterly hopeless after Wilder left). Can that really be replaced by 2/3 players in 2/3 weeks? I will be extremely impressed I'm not quite hitting the panic button yet, and will probably give it another week before getting really edgy. These 2-3 could be mind-blowingly good signings and all would be forgiven. But if it was behind one of those 'break in case of emergency' glass screens you get on trains I'm ripping the hammer off the wall right about now... We r definitely lacking goals but that can be address in the 3 players. I don't think we were under strength last season as we hardly had to dip into the youth while wilder was here despite injuries. We were how ever not good enough. That said we had the best defensive record in the league till Xmas, getting those players their confidence back is all that department needs. Collins is an improvement on anything we have had in that position , but a not over worked rose plus ashby, ruffles and whing is decent centre mid. Although lacking a really attacking player. That in its self won't be a problem if we play the 4231 or 442 as the attack comes from the wingers and the no 10. And there is what were missing a left and right winger to challenge potter and o'dowda( maybe the other youth player grant is it?) and a couple of strikers who can get 30+ goals between them. No need for massive panic just wise appointments Thin is oufcy time is running out!
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Post by ascotyellow on Jul 23, 2014 18:51:47 GMT
as it stands i (and I'm sure most of us) agree, however, all of the youngsters will be better than last season so thats a big plus. We got rid of a lot of players who quite frankly weren't good/ consistent enough or got injured/suspended too many times. we should bring in 3/4 new faces, hopefully better than the players we were aiming for under IL/GW so if that happens (give the guys a bit of time to make it happen) we should be in pretty good shape. Personally, i think, if we have a really good keeper, a strong back 4 that is the first priority - so I'm glad the focus has been on a keeper this week. Of course we need some good forward players, i have no doubt they will come. Spot on post!
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Post by oufcyellows on Jul 23, 2014 18:54:25 GMT
Disagree , our lack of tactical knowledge and ability to change things around and do something different cos they have only been coached 1 formation has cost us. Don't just see him as a coach either . He will have massive amounts of contacts With all due respects, if he had all of these "great contacts," we would have seen them being used to bring players weeks ago, not the hot air that is being generated by the new spin machine that seems to have taken over the club. I ment df not ma. He was only appointed 2 days ago how quick do u think u can identify a player make an offer negotiate terms and announce him.
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Post by backtobasics on Jul 23, 2014 19:01:45 GMT
Without an additional 2-3 new strikers and a winger plus a creative MF recruited OUFC will be lucky to stay up.
The recent recruitment policy of extra coaches and jobs for buddies before adding to the 1st team squad seems absolute madness especially with the season starting in a few weeks.
After OUFC's last end of season shenanigans I think the new regime should be listening to the fan base and generating positive momentum with urgent recruitment of the best players available so that they can attract the level of gates they require apparently 6,000 to make progress.
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Post by dubaiyellow on Jul 23, 2014 19:08:03 GMT
disagree btb, how do you go about building success? put the right management team in place, who (on paper) are able to make the best decisions on recruitment, team development and strategy. once in place we build from there. We may (or may not) start off a bit slow but we should see improvements on the field within the first 10 games. (IMO)
(anyway, off to romania (transylvania) tomorrow on the mountain bike, totally off the radar for a week so who knows what will have happened at OUFC by the time i get back - catch up with you all in a week or so)
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Post by horseman on Jul 23, 2014 19:40:19 GMT
can't believe that after seeing the evidence so many asked for that some are still happy about the way things stand. Our defence was solid but fell apart at the end partly due to added pressure when the midfield was virtual non existent and we mustered something like 4 shots in 4 games. Let's not forget that our end of season form was relegation material and rather than make improvments we've released a fair chunk of the squad and brought in 2 and yet some still think 2/3 more will be fine, as others have said we will be very thin and praying for no injuries, bookings or suspensions.
The youngsters are promising at this stage and nothing more, if we are going to be overly relying on them week in week out then we really are in trouble, we need a proper sized squad of quality capable of competing and we are very short.
As for average crowds of 6k that is indeed pushing it to say the least.
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Post by Common Villager on Jul 23, 2014 19:58:32 GMT
Without an additional 2-3 new strikers and a winger plus a creative MF recruited OUFC will be lucky to stay up. The recent recruitment policy of extra coaches and jobs for buddies before adding to the 1st team squad seems absolute madness especially with the season starting in a few weeks. After OUFC's last end of season shenanigans I think the new regime should be listening to the fan base and generating positive momentum with urgent recruitment of the best players available so that they can attract the level of gates they require apparently 6,000 to make progress. With a 'first team' of: Clarke Hunt/Bevans Mullins Wright Newey/Meades Collins Rose Potter Ruffels O'Dowda Hylton I'm confident we will not get pulled anywhere near the relegation battle.
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Post by bazzer9461 on Jul 23, 2014 20:00:55 GMT
can't believe that after seeing the evidence so many asked for that some are still happy about the way things stand. Our defence was solid but fell apart at the end partly due to added pressure when the midfield was virtual non existent and we mustered something like 4 shots in 4 games. Let's not forget that our end of season form was relegation material and rather than make improvments we've released a fair chunk of the squad and brought in 2 and yet some still think 2/3 more will be fine, as others have said we will be very thin and praying for no injuries, bookings or suspensions. The youngsters are promising at this stage and nothing more, if we are going to be overly relying on them week in week out then we really are in trouble, we need a proper sized squad of quality capable of competing and we are very short. As for average crowds of 6k that is indeed pushing it to say the least. Thats a good post horseman some people keep saying we have to build a squad, But how many years are we supposed to do that. We are no more than relegation fodder at the moment I just hope we start bringing in players before the end of this week, Otherwise serious questions have to be asked......The first question is " why cant we attract players"!
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Post by bazzer9461 on Jul 23, 2014 20:01:46 GMT
Without an additional 2-3 new strikers and a winger plus a creative MF recruited OUFC will be lucky to stay up. The recent recruitment policy of extra coaches and jobs for buddies before adding to the 1st team squad seems absolute madness especially with the season starting in a few weeks. After OUFC's last end of season shenanigans I think the new regime should be listening to the fan base and generating positive momentum with urgent recruitment of the best players available so that they can attract the level of gates they require apparently 6,000 to make progress. With a 'first team' of: Clarke Hunt/Bevans Mullins Wright Newey/Meades Collins Rose Potter Ruffels O'Dowda Hylton I'm confident we will not get pulled anywhere near the relegation battle. Sorry atw94 I don't share your optimism.
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Post by Common Villager on Jul 23, 2014 20:21:34 GMT
With a 'first team' of: Clarke Hunt/Bevans Mullins Wright Newey/Meades Collins Rose Potter Ruffels O'Dowda Hylton I'm confident we will not get pulled anywhere near the relegation battle. Sorry atw94 I don't share your optimism. Fair enough. By no means am I trying to suggest this is a team that will be competitive in terms play-offs/promotion, I just don't think we will get pulled into a serious relegation battle.
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Post by bazzer9461 on Jul 23, 2014 20:35:36 GMT
Sorry atw94 I don't share your optimism. Fair enough. By no means am I trying to suggest this is a team that will be competitive in terms play-offs/promotion, I just don't think we will get pulled into a serious relegation battle. I wold hope not, But at the moment we are threadbare and with the greatest respect to the squad, Its not much different to the team struggled at the end of last season....We all no what happened there 1 win in 8.
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Post by oufcyellows on Jul 24, 2014 5:41:09 GMT
Fair enough. By no means am I trying to suggest this is a team that will be competitive in terms play-offs/promotion, I just don't think we will get pulled into a serious relegation battle. I wold hope not, But at the moment we are threadbare and with the greatest respect to the squad, Its not much different to the team struggled at the end of last season....We all no what happened there 1 win in 8. It's also not that different to the team that's stormed to the top of the league and remained there till Xmas
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Post by backtobasics on Jul 24, 2014 7:08:18 GMT
disagree btb, how do you go about building success? put the right management team in place, who (on paper) are able to make the best decisions on recruitment, team development and strategy. once in place we build from there. We may (or may not) start off a bit slow but we should see improvements on the field within the first 10 games. (IMO) (anyway, off to romania (transylvania) tomorrow on the mountain bike, totally off the radar for a week so who knows what will have happened at OUFC by the time i get back - catch up with you all in a week or so) Maybe good intentions to recruit DF etc but priorities should still be the first team squad getting the right balance of football players first and foremost.Lenagan's investment in sports science in theory may have been a good idea, however I believe those monies should have been invested in better players to help gain promotion.
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Post by bazzer9461 on Jul 24, 2014 7:45:52 GMT
I wold hope not, But at the moment we are threadbare and with the greatest respect to the squad, Its not much different to the team struggled at the end of last season....We all no what happened there 1 win in 8. It's also not that different to the team that's stormed to the top of the league and remained there till Xmas yes and we capitulated have we got over that re the players up for the challenge.
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Post by oufcyellows on Jul 24, 2014 7:50:29 GMT
It's also not that different to the team that's stormed to the top of the league and remained there till Xmas yes and we capitulated have we got over that re the players up for the challenge. But better motivation, tactics and confidence can go along way to helping with that. I'm not saying we will win the league , but we have a pretty decent start , with a few more quality added
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Post by bazzer9461 on Jul 24, 2014 7:52:19 GMT
We haven't started yet and getting a bit more quality is getting less as the season approaches.
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Post by Gary Baldi on Jul 24, 2014 8:15:06 GMT
I suspect we're looking at maybe 4-5 to get it in. Sometimes it's best not to broadcast the true numbers we are looking to get in.
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Post by charliesghost on Jul 24, 2014 8:35:25 GMT
I wold hope not, But at the moment we are threadbare and with the greatest respect to the squad, Its not much different to the team struggled at the end of last season....We all no what happened there 1 win in 8. It's also not that different to the team that's stormed to the top of the league and remained there till Xmas Actually, it IS quite different from the squad that "stormed" (not quite sure that's how I'd put it) to the top of the League. In the first half of last season, our three outstanding attacking players - responsible for 75% of our goals scored and created - were Constable, Kitson and Williams. They gave us every little bit of pace, nous and attacking power we had. Take those three out, and replace them with average players, and we'd have been lucky to be mid-table. In the second half of the season Beano lost form, niggling injuries caught up with Kitson and Williams had that drop off which is common in first year professionals (until he came to us he'd only ever played one first team game). With the onus then on Potter, Callum etc, we suddenly looked naive, weak and ordinary. This is no slight on Callum - it was asking a lot for him and Ruffels to be the driving force for promotion in their first season! To be honest, the youngsters out-performed what most of us thought them capable of, given their age. But it was an indication that beneath our top 3 players - as outlined above - we had simply no attacking depth whatsoever. I think our defence is serviceable - though people seem reluctant to factor in the impact of our best player, Clarkey, being out for 2/3 months - but it's not world-beating. It crumbled on numerous occasions last year. The full-backs were ordinary last year, Jake is vulnerable to a powerful centre forward, and the defence as a whole lacks height, making a strong 'keeper who comes for the ball essential. But upfront and out wide, anyone can see that we are woefully 'light', in all ways - goalpower, pace, nous, set-piece strength, ability to bully centre backs. So, if 3 signings it is to be then they really, really need to be good. As a trustee of the Academy I would be as proud as anyone if our young players bailed us out, and proved themselves to be real class acts this season. My dream is to see a successful OUFC side dominated by Oxfordshire lads. Whether it's fair to load the burden of a battle against relegation on their shoulders is another thing altogether. They should be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.
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Post by bullytheox86 on Jul 24, 2014 8:46:26 GMT
We haven't started yet and getting a bit more quality is getting less as the season approaches. bazzer I know it's twitchy bum time but if we are going to sign quality players, then it is reasonable to expect other clubs to be trying to sign them.Hold fire with your panicking and wait and see
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Post by horseman on Jul 24, 2014 9:07:19 GMT
Backroom staff.....Squad bonding session....Try to bring more players in.....Bit ass about face to me
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Post by yellowoptimist on Jul 24, 2014 9:11:32 GMT
Backroom staff.....Squad bonding session....Try to bring more players in.....Bit ass about face to me So what do they do sit on their asses and forget about the 90% of the squad already here and say come back in when we've signed 3 more players! And that existing squad needs coaching support to the level we have had for the last 4 years
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Post by horseman on Jul 24, 2014 9:19:34 GMT
We haven't started yet and getting a bit more quality is getting less as the season approaches. bazzer I know it's twitchy bum time but if we are going to sign quality players, then it is reasonable to expect other clubs to be trying to sign them.Hold fire with your panicking and wait and see Very true BUT we have already watched others take players we were reported after + a few other fair signings for this league gone elsewhere..The sides expected to be pushing for promotion have strengthened whilst we have released 8 and brought in 2...The squad are on a bonding session and it would surely have been sensible to have the additions before doing this afterall those at Bisham all know each other bar 2 and then there's friendlies which is the time to try different tactics etc and ALL players get used to what the manager wants and expects only we aren't able to do that as we still await 4/5 more players. The poor decisions made since jan are now biting us on the backside big time
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Post by horseman on Jul 24, 2014 9:33:39 GMT
Backroom staff.....Squad bonding session....Try to bring more players in.....Bit ass about face to me So what do they do sit on their asses and forget about the 90% of the squad already here and say come back in when we've signed 3 more players! And that existing squad needs coaching support to the level we have had for the last 4 years as i've just said would make more sense to have a bonding session once your squad is complete as all bar 2 already know each other. Nothing to do with ignoring the other 90% but more that you'll have less time to coach the new players to the way you want to play + increase their fitness levels.
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Post by oufcyellows on Jul 24, 2014 9:39:20 GMT
So what do they do sit on their asses and forget about the 90% of the squad already here and say come back in when we've signed 3 more players! And that existing squad needs coaching support to the level we have had for the last 4 years as i've just said would make more sense to have a bonding session once your squad is complete as all bar 2 already know each other. Nothing to do with ignoring the other 90% but more that you'll have less time to coach the new players to the way you want to play + increase their fitness levels. But that it more down to the fact they only took over 2 weeks ago. Most teams would have identified players in jan or towards then end when they knew who they were letting go. We were always going to be playing catch up. U can rush and bring in 5-6 players like jim smith did, it don't always work. But we had no scouting in place probably not identified any, or if we had they were not deemed good enough. (McDonald) and like someone else said if we r looking at better players they r probably talking to a lot of different clubs. The fact we now have some well know and respected coaches might be enough to swing the decisions in our favour . I'm getting nervous but still believe. Like d:ream say things can only get better
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Post by bazzer9461 on Jul 24, 2014 9:43:55 GMT
We haven't started yet and getting a bit more quality is getting less as the season approaches. bazzer I know it's twitchy bum time but if we are going to sign quality players, then it is reasonable to expect other clubs to be trying to sign them.Hold fire with your panicking and wait and see Don't think I am the only one though bully.
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Post by mcf86 on Jul 24, 2014 9:45:47 GMT
We are where we are in terms of preparation, so talking of 'Most teams' is irrelevant. But, I will anyhow! Most teams have not had the upheaval we have had, and they have not been managed by CW last season, or had IL as Chairman. Rome wasn't... And Oxford will not be re-built overnight either, so let's give em a chance to sort it.
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Post by oxfordmitch on Jul 24, 2014 9:49:59 GMT
One of the biggest problems with 4-2-3-1 is the number 10 role. You need to have a real quality player in there and who in the current squad could you put in there? Some would say Alfie, because he's been effective there before, but for me he is better in the wing. I know COD has been tried there in pre season but again, he is a winger.
Ruffles for me is a good centre mid, but not a player in the hole. Kitson could've played there, but now I feel we need to sort this position as a matter of urgency.
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Post by bazzer9461 on Jul 24, 2014 9:55:11 GMT
We are where we are in terms of preparation, so talking of 'Most teams' is irrelevant. But, I will anyhow! Most teams have not had the upheaval we have had, and they have not been managed by CW last season, or had IL as Chairman. Rome wasn't... And Oxford will not be re-built overnight either, so let's give em a chance to sort it. How much longer, We have been waiting a long time as it is.
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