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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 11, 2017 20:45:19 GMT
Why is there a flat feel at the moment? That's an interesting question. The goals scored, points accumulated etc aren't at all bad, the league position is healthy. I wonder if it's because last season it felt as if we were building something as the season went on. This time around it all feels a bit 'temporary' to me. We have an owner who may or may not sell, may or may not spend significantly in January and is considerably less engaged with the supporters than he was. We have signed a load of older players who, while their experience is valuable, are in some cases definitely showing their age and some of whom quite possibly won't be with us next time. Add in long-term (and even in one case career ending) injuries to some of the better players (Nelson, Hall, Raglan and Ribeiro) plus a load more players who either we have never or hardly seen (Pekalski, Van Kessel, Mehmeti) due to injury or failing to step up (Roberts, Martin) plus the lack of any real characters on the pitch (Maguire, Hylton, Beano, even Turley!)and a poor home record then even despite what has for periods in certain games been excellent and attractive football it's actually quite hard work to watch at other times. Another (if more minor factor) is that I have to say that I don't think the Ultras relocating to the side of the stand has helped either. They go through their song repertoire enthusiastically (although the drum is getting a bit much at times) but they are tucked away in that corner and the East Stand seems less 'together' without the singers in the middle. I suspect because when they were in the middle the songs were joined in with by people on both sides of them - now there is only one 'side' who can do so and the songs very rarely get across the whole stand. It is true though, I guess, that we should be grateful that we are not happy about a winning performance against Doncaster in L1 rather than discussing a losing one against Hayes and Yeading in the Conference!
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 11, 2017 17:34:41 GMT
Let's break this down: - Set plays were admittedly dreadful. That was noted! But while it was a frustration, it's such an isolated part of the game it's something that can be fixed relatively quickly. Frankly defending set pieces was more our issue and that looks a bit better now. We make the same mistakes from set pieces most home games, attacking or defending and for something that can be fixed relatively quickly we aren't. As for defending set pieces we don 't look a bit better as if Doncaster players could head a ball with accuracy or power they would have scored the free headers they had from corners and free kicks, especially in the 1st half where they kept heading it gently straight at Simon Eastwood. Yes, good point. There were several free headers of which a better team would have taken advantage. I don't think our defence is fixed, really.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 11, 2017 17:19:40 GMT
OK - so you'll admit we are slow (not the individual player's fault maybe, but certainly something anyone watching would pick up) and the set plays were dreadful (we should be able to fix them, but haven't), movement can be improved (but hasn't really been very much) and we were short of ideas in the final third.
Moving the ball from side to side along the back slowly - and occasionally losing it, which I agree is a crime (especially that close to goal) - is symptomatic of a lack of options. Half the time Doncaster didn't have to run about to try and get it, they just stayed where they were. Doncaster were as full of running as we were at the end - Ruff's late goal had nothing to do with that. It was a decent shot and a clumsy bit of keeping. No, lumping the ball up to Thomas isn't a good idea either - again, a lack of options. Pass the ball along the back, and eventually there is little choice (because you are being closed down and the movement in front of you is pretty poor) but to get shot of it. Retaining the ball at the back and hoofing it long to a player who isn't a target man are two sides of the same coin. Lack of effective movement, slow play and lack of options.
The nominal wide men cutting in is all very well, but as a result makes the middle of the pitch more congested. We have no real width and no pace out wide.
Yes of course don't shoot if there is very little chance of scoring (although Ruffs might dispute it!) but there were certainly instances when there was a chance of a shot from outside the penalty area and by constantly looking for a slightly better chance, no shot at all was taken. I'm not suggesting we shoot if there are 'two banks of four' between the player and the goal! Although there's a bloke who sits behind me who probably would! Mind you he shouts 'Shoot' when we don't even have the ball...
We might have 'had the chance to counter at speed' but (as already discussed) speed is one thing this squad as a whole is sadly lacking. And even then, one break we made we had two players clear on the left and the widest of them (Mowett I think) got the ball, stopped dead and passed it backwards! Which illustrates the point.
I'm sure from your expert point of view there were things to admire, but for me and the people sitting around me watching it in the stands it was a poor performance only redeemed by a late goal which meant we went away relatively happy.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 11, 2017 13:32:39 GMT
I thought for two thirds of the game we played really well (as did the two scouts I came with) I know you are a professional at this and I am 'just' a punter, but I really cannot believe you or the people you came with genuinely thought we played well for any extended period of the match on Saturday. Presumably you noticed the lack of pace? The odd decision making at free kicks? The slow sideways passing that achieved very little? The unambitious subs? The lack of movement off the ball? The reluctance to shoot? The playing ourselves into trouble? Maybe Mrs Zero had sprinkled some downers into my sandwiches!
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 9, 2017 20:23:27 GMT
Well I thought that was a very poor game between two poor sides, run by a very poor ref. And it was very cold. Indeed.
I know we won, but take that last 30 seconds away and think about what we'd be saying. As a performance it was terrible, highlighting our complete lack of any pace on any part of the pitch (and thus no player being able to go past an opposition player), our constant ability to over-complicate even the simplest thing (for example a free kick with the chance to put the ball into their box was instead played short and then another of our players joined out by the corner flag - trying to find some space to put the ball in their box. We lost the ball.), the lack of any meaningful service to whoever was up front, the lack of imagination shown both on the pitch (give to to Payne, he'll do something) or on the touchline (like for like substitutions when the game was crying out for a bit of pace - just get Napa on for ten minutes), the reluctance to shoot (well done Josh Ruffels for having the cojones to do so) and the lack of much steel in midfield.
I am delighted we won of course - but not in the least with the way we played. And while I understand the wish to present stuff in a positive light, a couple of the post match interviews were a trifle too rose-tinted to take seriously!
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 8, 2017 22:22:25 GMT
But the problem is.. who on earth is going to loan you £13m to buy an asset worth £8m? And even if someone was 'generous' enough to do so, what on earth would the repayments be!
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 7, 2017 11:06:21 GMT
That Leicester team was ridiculous. If the aim of including the Prem U21 teams is to encourage young English talent then that was completely against the spirit of it, if the aim of the competition is to give L1 and L2 teams a chance to go and play at Wembley then it also flies in the face of that. Surely this is a competition that is in its death throes?
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 5, 2017 21:10:16 GMT
Meanwhile concrete bob is sat on his staircase with his head in a noose. Why? As far as I have read, he (like many others) thinks the competition is a joke. And, worse than that, sets a dangerous precedent. I agree with both of those - but that doesn't mean that I didn't want us to win, that I didn't want Nappa to show what he could do or that I was wasn't glad Gillingham's goal didn't count. I don't know ConcreteBob, but he is a long time poster and a staunch supporter: I am willing to bet he felt the same!
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 5, 2017 20:50:33 GMT
What happens if the DUP withdraw their support of the Tories if they decide to press ahead with 'EU border really in the middle of the Irish Sea' idea? Should the government collapse, what happens to whatever little progress has been made in the negotiations so far? If Labour got in (for example) would there be brand new negotiators who would presumably have to get up to speed bloody quickly?
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 5, 2017 20:44:57 GMT
If the Tiger deal has fallen through, I will be a little relieved having spoken to some Reading supporters and read Myles's opening post. I agree with that, but if the deal has been aborted by Eales at the 11th hour, it increasingly looks like his expectations have now not been met by two potential investors. Both of them seem to have spent quite a lot of time on this - I hope any (more suitable) potential buyers/investors don't decide that it's a waste of time and money talking to the club.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 5, 2017 20:38:42 GMT
Definitely over the line... what a let off Yes, was definitely a goal.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 5, 2017 19:58:06 GMT
Halftime analysis isn't much cop... Could be worse to be fair. They might have hired Robbie Savage!
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 5, 2017 19:48:46 GMT
Watching the very poor first 20 minute display we have put on tonight, it seemed like a case of deja vu! So I thought I'd look at the last 10 games:
v Gillingham 1 down after 9 minutes v Southend 1 down after 19 minutes v Blackburn 1 down after 5 minutes, 2 down after 17 minutes v Plymouth didn't concede early v Northampton 1 down after 12 minutes v MK Dons 1 down after 9 minutes v Port Vale 1 down 15 minutes v Fleetwood didn't concede early v Rotherham 1 down after 20 minutes v Charlton 1 down after 18 minutes
Now don't claim to be an analyst or some sort of expert, but I'd say that giving 80% of your opposition a goal start in the first 20 minutes isn't a very good stat! I hope (although not on tonight's showing) that they spent some time in Spain sorting that out. Not giving the ball away all the time outside our own area might be a start...
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 5, 2017 19:16:16 GMT
anyone else lost the stream? No, but watching this, I am starting to wish I had! Absolute rubbish.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 4, 2017 10:58:15 GMT
Aussies finding batting hard this session!
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Dec 1, 2017 11:04:36 GMT
I support OUFC because my grandfather played both football and cricket for Headington. I have very little interest in Oxford City - I don't wish them any ill of course, but they simply aren't my team. If the unthinkable happened and OUFC went bust at some I would be more likely to be seen watching a phoenix OUFC on a Sunday morning in the park than Oxford City in the football league.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 30, 2017 22:07:18 GMT
Might he be better played as a wide midfielder who tracks back to help a full back (whoever that might be!) rather than as a last line of defense back there? That might maximise his attacking effectiveness (which is considerable) and minimize his defensive shortcomings (which are also quite evident IMO).
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 30, 2017 22:04:22 GMT
I suspect exactly the opposite would happen. His childish posts would just get more extreme - and no news media is going to ignore the outbursts of an American president whose grip on reality (not to mention commonsense and common decency) seems to be shakier every day. But that's the whole point of it. If people took a breath and just let it go no matter how silly he got, he'd get the message (eventually). He knows that people love to hate him and crave him tweeting so they can get outraged, which is great for his ego! The pied piper of Twitter! As I said - he is the president of one of the worlds most influential countries. Do you really think that worldwide news outlets, the twitterati and commentators everywhere will really 'take a breath and let it go'? I do agree that this is all to feed his own ego - I think the best we can hope for is that a) he isn't allowed actually DO anything that causes too many people too much harm and b) he decides the presidency is too much bother and people aren't 'respecting' him enough and concludes that one term is enough.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 30, 2017 14:03:53 GMT
I sometimes wonder if people ignored Trump, whether he'd get bored with the lack of attention and headlines (eventually) and not as such go away, but regress back to a better norm. If your ego demands top billing on the daily news cycle and you know you can get it, Trump is getting what he wants right now. I suspect exactly the opposite would happen. His childish posts would just get more extreme - and no news media is going to ignore the outbursts of an American president whose grip on reality (not to mention commonsense and common decency) seems to be shakier every day.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 29, 2017 14:34:54 GMT
I sometimes wonder if he does stuff like this just to annoy people or if he means it? In either case it reflects very badly upon his willingness and ability to comprehend/research/be advised upon issues. I'm afraid that the man is an egotistical, ignorant, blowhard bigot and completely unsuitable to be leading a country of any size, never mind the USA.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 27, 2017 19:07:46 GMT
I honestly can't imagine how the Irish border question is going to be solved. You can't have a completely open border between the EU and the UK, but practically (and probably historically as well) speaking, you can't have border posts etc there either. And somehow having an open border with controls between NI and the rest of the UK is a non-starter.
Just another example that goes to show what a well-thought out process this has been from minute one! As far as I can see, absolutely nothing has yet been achieved.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 24, 2017 22:45:21 GMT
Cynically, you'd suspect that the takeover/investment is going to be announced early next week and this gets the players well away from any furore.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 22, 2017 10:38:56 GMT
I was convinced Napa would come on last night. Pace and width were what we were lacking, so even though it would be unfair to hope a young, returning loanee could have turned the game it would at least have provided something different. Instead we went even narrower and took Thomas off, who for all his faults can score a goal. In fact I thought the period before that double substitution was made was one of the few times we actually got into the game, and the changes disrupted that. Tinkering at the edges really though, the match was lost in the first 20 minutes.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 22, 2017 9:04:49 GMT
I thought out lot tried hard enough last night, and some bits of what we did were quite entertaining and even competent at times. The problem is that (with a couple of exceptions, one of whom isn't even ours!) the players simply aren't good enough, some aren't fit enough and all of them are trying to play a style that is too easily countered by any team with something about them.
There's nothing Clotet can do about the first and the second needs more fitness work/training (which might cause more injuries to the more aged members of the squad!). So surely he has to rethink this way of playing and make the best of the players he has to work with rather than just doing the same thing over and over again and hoping it somehow works out?
If I see another quick, short free kick to someone who is already marked, I think my head will explode. And can somebody explain to me how the keeper rolling the ball out to a player who has no option than to pass it straight back for the keeper to hit it up the pitch gives us any advantage at all over the keeper just launching it to begin with? Or how farting about with the ball slowly in our own half and constantly putting ourselves under pressure is a good idea?
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 20, 2017 14:07:12 GMT
Interesting that the OM's Twitter Fans Chat that runs for 1 hour every Monday had no mention at all of anything to do with a takeover or the ground. I'm assuming that questions where ignored as I can't believe that nobody bothered asking. Strange It was very largely the same for the match coverage on Radio Oxford on Saturday. While it's not evidence of anything, IMO it points to the media outlets being asked to keep quiet on the subject while the deals is being finalised.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 19, 2017 9:05:28 GMT
So all season u tell us that we should be around mid table, yet all along u thought we had the capability of making the playoffs, as well as saying we could be looking towards a relegation battle. Think u got it pretty well covered to be right come the end of the season To be fair though, we are so inconsistent (as are many other teams in this division this season) that all three situations are eminently possible. A three or four game winning streak and we will be in the playoff places easily, a five game losing streak and we will be looking over our shoulders - and we have already seen both of those this season!
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 18, 2017 16:55:58 GMT
Brilliant! I was certainly wrong - I couldn't see us even getting a draw, but forecasting how this team plays is getting to be almost impossible!
Tonight's beers will taste all the better.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 18, 2017 15:05:28 GMT
Interesting that (unless I missed it) the ownership of the club was not even mentioned pre-match. Normally they would at least allude to things that are being discussed on here and social media. Or are they under a news blackout until whatever it is is announced?
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 18, 2017 9:22:32 GMT
Ah - right, I'll get a shirt with his name on on Tuesday...
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Nov 18, 2017 9:12:09 GMT
Not sure if its total rubbish, guess work or on the nose but some fella mentioned on Twitter that "oufc are set to sign Slovenia international winger Dejan Lazarevic on a free transfer following his release from Verona in the summer" Anyone heard this elsewhere? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dejan_Lazarevi%C4%87_(footballer)According to the Wiki page you linked to, he has never been with Verona in the first place, so I guess the rest of the Tweet is just as inaccurate!
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