Would it be the match after the match before? Well it always is, but you all know what I mean!
There's no disguising the pleasure we all got from last weekend's win, and I think it's also fair to say that we were watching most of the second half through the cracks in our fingers. So the thought of todays match brought a bit of apprehension and quite a lot of hope. Aldershot, despite an excellent win against West Ham in the Carling Cup a few days ago, hadn't scored for their last three , with a win on the opening day of the season adding their only points so far.
My car is still undergoing surgery that is probably going to cost me more than the bloody thing is worth, but the garage had lent me a green W reg Dihatsu. As I drove down to Oxford through the squally showers, I wondered if the car was posh enough for me to blag my way into the executive car park. I decided against it.
The at times apocalyptic showers reminded me that both my offspring are camping this weekend - one at the Leeds festival and one at a Scouts thingy, where I suspect there's more beer drinking than dib-dib-dobbing going on. That might be a good thing!
Anyway, the craftsman built Japanese jalopy, got me to the stadium. Although, would people kindly stop coming to watch the team please? No space in the East Stand car park, pah.
The team got a great welcome onto the pitch and lined up much as they had at the skip, but with Smalley in place of Potter. Both teams started brightly, with Constable having a couple of sighters, including a low header wide from a Leven corner. The dead ball routines in offensive positions are now acually worth watching due to the hugely improved delivery. Aldershot were looking lively as well and made a decent chance or two.
After about 10 minutes a long through ball fell for Guy on the edge of the penalty area, he seemed to hesitate and a clumsy challenge in the back from an Aldershot defender sent him sprawling. It was a foul, and as he was clean though, a red card for the Shots player. Off he went, but the free kick (Leven again) went wide of the goal. Aldershot took off a forward and replaced him with a defender to replace the dismissed player. We were still playing well, but it was all a bit tippy tappy. There was minimal movement off the ball by anyone. Smalley tried his best in this period of the game to make little runs across the defence, but as he was ignored every single time (in favour of a pass backwards or sideways) he soon gave that up as a bad job. We were loking like a decent side and eventually took advantage. A Leven cross, a poor punch by the keeper and a good left footed (I think) volley from Beano put us one up.
Everything was looking rosy. One up at home against ten men and looking like the better team. But towards the end of the first half, things started to go slightly askew. We hadn't really pressed home our advantage, the few half chances that fell our way were from slightly hopeful long balls. But half time came and we were happy enough.
More girl dancers (better than those at Swindon I suppose, But I can really take it or leave it. Leave it , preferably) and a cross bar challenge.
Meanwhile the team were obviously in the dressing room trying to calm down by having a nice drink of Nighty Night Snoozy Snooze, a couple of valium each and a relaxing bedtime story from that nice Mr Wilder. That's the only way I can explain the second half performance.
To start with, Heslop came off at half time to be replaced by Alfie Potter. Hmm. Now a midfield of McLaren, Leven and Heslop is OK. McLaren, Leven, Potter gives me less confidence. Not that Alfie is a bad player (he isn't), but I think we need Heslop. Apart from anything else, he's scored a couple of goals by being brave, taking responsibility and actually having a shot.
Well it went worse than I feared. Aldershot were working their socks off, chasing the ball down, harrying our midfield, and generally giving our players no space at all. As has become a bit too usual, our players responded by dropping back, playing the game at walking pace, and playing silly (and occasionally very dangerous) sideways and backwards passes. The ball had become a ticking time bomb that any player in a yellow shirt wanted to get rid of as soon as possible, quite often back to the bloke who had given it to him in the first place. Instead of 'give and go', we were playing 'give and stand still' though, so this resulted in a net gain of no inches in the forward direction. If we didn't give it away, we panicked and hoofed if somewhere, anywhere.
Still, Aldershot (although working hard and making it look as if we were the team with 10 men, not them) weren't looking that dangerous, really. After a quarter of an hour of the second half however, CW made another monumental blunder. He took McLaren off, brought Whing across from the right full back position to cover central midfield and brought Batt on at right back. McLaren had really been the pivtol point of the defensive midfield, which was now Leven, Whing and Potter. Uh-oh!
It took just six minutes for this tactical masterstroke to cost us the equaliser. Batt tried to shepherd the ball out and failed. Strike One! The ball was crossed and the Aldershot striker wasn't closed down at all, despite being surronded by three yellow shirted 'midfielders' and 'defenders'. Strike Two! He then had a shot, which was blocked and came back to him, wasn't closed down for a second time and having been allowed a practice go, made this one count. Strike Three and you're OUT. Pathetic defending, and a deserved equaliser from a team who had worked hard to make up for the early loss of their colleague.
Time for a change of some sort? Nope. We just fannied about with the ball for another ten minutes , sideways backwards sideways sideways backwards HOOF. At walking pace. No movement off the ball. Nobody showing much invention. Batt losing the ball constantly, Whing looking like a midfield disaster about to happen, Potter refusing to even try to take his man on (turning back every single time), Smalley looking less potent than Midson ever did. With about a quarter of an hour to go, Smalley trudged off to be replaced by Pittman. It didn't make much difference to be honest, and it was only in the last five minutes of the match that the Oxford players suddenly remembered their win bonuses and decided to put a shift in. Suddenly, they were moving at speed. Suddenly there were men moving off the ball. Challenges were being made. Midfielders were actually jumping for headers and trying to win the ball. We even made a couple of decent chances. Mind you, Aldershot could also have nicked it. But we weren't good enough to score, and they weren't either, so it ended as one - one.
Like Bradford, a draw that felt like a defeat.
Like Bradford, Swindon, Rotherham - a very poor second half performance.
Official match stats show one shot on target.
We are trying to play tippy tappy fotball without the quality to do so effectively. Maybe it works in pre season when the tackles aren't flying in and you're not being closed down. It doesn't work very well in real competitive league action. I was watching Barcelona (vs Porto) on telly a couple of days ago. Don't worry, I'm not trying to compare us to Barca! But... They also play pass pass pass posession football, but they are moving forward as they do so. We aren't. We are going backwards and sideways. They also do it quickly. By the time we get if from back to front, whole civilisations have risen and fallen. We are never ever going to walk the ball into the net consistently enough to be effective.
Let's look at the L2 goals we have scored this season:
Bradford - long range shot. Heslop.
Shrewsbury - long range shot (Heslop) and Guy's goal which Beano provided from his own blocked shot.
Swindon - two goals from set pieces (Leven combining with Constable)
Aldershot - Beano's goal from a Leven cross.
None of those have been as a result of playing the ball as we tried to today in the second half.
Perhaps there ought to be a bit of a tactical rethink? I don't mean Wimbledon (original version) style hoofing. But we need to move the ball much more quickly from back to front. Not in the air. We need a more athletic style of play. People making space and others running into it. More movement. Passing the ball and moving (forward) not standing still like you're playing Grandma's bleedin' footsteps. A determination to score more than one goal. And try to score when you're on top, please. That may mean you have to shoot at the goal occasionally. No silly flicks with the side of the foot. Control the ball, and someone else MUST have given you an option that doesn't involve passing it back where it came from. Tackle in the midfield. Invent a novel throw in that doesn't involve throwing it straight to the opposition every
single bleedin' time. Challenge for the ball in midfield. Get tighter to your man, they aren't all Ron-bloody-aldo. Stop crosses coming in so easily. Other teams stop us getting endless crosses in. It's possible. Stop practicing to hit the crossbar, and start practicing to hit the target. One shot on target (against 10 men for 80 minutes) is beyond pathetic.
We are in trouble up front, and in midfield. And I'm not that happy with the defence (joke). Up front, Smalley looks completley lost, Guy (despite bits of nice link up play) is showing why he's scored so few goals in his career, Potter has lost whatever he had in preseason and JPP hasn't impressed in what little match time he's had. So it's all down to you Beano. Let's just hope we don't sell you or we are up a very smelly creek. In midfield McLaren appears (as last season) to only last an hour or so. If that's right (and I'm hoping he is still regaining fitness) then we need someone new who can do his job for the full 90. Leven's dead ball delivery is great, but he is still obviously unfit. Heslop was only given 45 minutes today - again, I hope that was because of a slight knock. Apart from him, the other midfielders hardly even shoot from open play, never mind look like scoring.
So, a depressing day really. We look almost exactly as we did last year. Unless we make sweeping tactical changes, I predict another midtable finish. I can see nothing that makes me think otherwise.
Oh - the ref had a good game generally, trying to let things flow if he could, and not falling for some obvious 'simulation'.
Next up - Crewe away. I won't be there (family committments as well as a knackered car). If anyoe wants to write a special guest blog post for that match, just leave me a comment or PM me through the forum. I'd love to hear another perspective.
As always - COME ON YOU YELLOWS
Oxford United, Stereo Photography, Old Amusement Machines, Odd Musical Instruments and more.
Saturday, 27 August 2011
Sunday, 21 August 2011
This is the best trip... (vs Swindon L2)
I'd got my ticket on the first day they were released and had decided to book a trip on one of the supporters coaches. I'd have to drive through Oxford anyway and it looked like the easieast way to get there. And at only £9 it was probably cheaper than the extra petrol and the parking anyway. One fly in the ointment was that my jalopy had broken down (again) on the way back from the rather excellent victory against Shrewsbury. Luckily, Mrs ZeroThe Hero (who has a much better car than me anyway - aren't I a nice man!) wasn't going anywhere today, so I nicked hers and made my way down to the stadium to catch the coach. My car is in intensive care with little chance of (affordable) recovery - if anyone has something estatey they want to pass on, just leave me a message!
Now supporters coaches are no longer a hotbed of depravity. No booze, no singing and definitely no mooning out of the back window. Still , it was quiet enough to listen to my little tranny (that's a transistor radio, not a tranvestite. I leave him at home on matchdays.) so I could keep listening to the test match as we travelled. Much to my amazement, they had cars in Swindon too. I thought it would probably be full of donkey carts - but in a valiant effort to confirm my prejudices , I loved the sign on the outskirts of pig hill which said 'For town centre shopping, follow signs to town centre'! Brilliant.
We were soon parked up - all six coaches of us - and then went on a wander down a little path, under what I though was a lovely old bridge (but probably passes for modern architecture in Swindon - 'Its made o' real stone, not good old wood'), and then all the way around the County Ground (there's only one football ground in the whole county, you see), to be greeted with this:
Now you know why we call it "The Skip"! Through the rusty turnstiles with bits of plywood bodged over them for some reason and into the ground. There was a healthy amount of yellows support in the ground already with about 45 minutes until kick off. My little TV could pick up RadOx - although they spent ages rattling on about past not-so-glories against Swindon, and didn't tell me the team. Or if they did, it was during one of the increasingly frequent bursts of singing that drowned the radio out.
Eventually the teams came out:
There are bound to be lots and lots of match reports. Suffice to say, we were fine to start with. Beano (the well known Swindon fan) scored after about 10 minutes from a corner expertly delivered by Peter Leven. Joy unconfined on the uncovered terrace. Swindon came back into it and scored after about 20 minutes. It looked at the time as if the otherwise excellent Duberry had been pulled out of position a bit. Gloom amoung the faithful, jumping up and down from the in-breds. It took a couple of good saves from Clarke to keep the scores level, and to me and those around me it looked likely that we would be behind at half time. I deployed my secret weapon by putting on my yellow-tinted glasses (yes, really!) and lo and behold - a Leven free kick, a Beano chest, and we were one goal up again. Even more excitement from the yellow army. Brilliant. Half time whistle blew.
Now I've been in some crappy grounds recently (Stafford, anyone?) but the loos at the Skip are awful. There's ivy growing into them through the walls. But that's OK, there's plently to water them, since the bit of hosepipe with holes in it that is supposed to occasionally wash the urinals is lying in the floor, shooting water about everywhere but where it's supposed to go. Nice. Back to the terrace in time to catch the half time entertainment, kindly provided by young ladies from the St. Vitus School of Dance and Jiggling About A Bit.
The second half. Hmm. I'm tempted to draw a bit of a veil over it to be honest. It wasn't pretty. I'm being kind. CW called it 'rubbish' afterwards. We defended fairly well, which is a good job as we had quite a lot of it to do! We couldn't keep the ball. But Swindon couldn't do very much with it when they had it. And in fact Beano could of added a third at the end, but his lob over the goalie just hit the bar. Never mind. There have been many occasions over the last few years when we were the better team and lost. Today (at least for the second half) we weren't the better team, and we won. The ref blew up and:
That was it. We'd won. Bragging rights until 25 brave Swindon supporters sidle into our place later in the season. Back on the coach, back to the cricket (we bowled India out cheaply yet again), back to Oxford, back home in my wifes little white rollerskate. An excellent day. I could go through the team and pick out the poor performers, but do you know what? I don't care. We beat the scum at the Skip. End of. 10/10 for every player, member of the management team and supporter.
My MOM. I'm going to cheat. Duberry (signing of the season), Beano (our best striker by a mile) and Clarke (who had a blinding game.)
Other random thoughts:
DiCanio is indeed a plonker. First he motivated our main striker, who puts two past his team. Then he gets sent to the stands. Finally he can't even be gracious in defeat.
We beat the referee today as well. Following the professional perfomance of the ref in the Shrews game, we witnessed another stinker today.
Memo to self. Next time it might be sunny, remember sun cream. My face is as red as a farmer's arse - except where the yellow-tinted glasses were. I look like some sort of embarassed panda.
See you all for the next game - Aldershot at home (if I can get there!)
Thursday, 11 August 2011
It's Just Not Cricket (vs Cardiff, Carling Cup)
The first home match of the season, albeit a cup match rather than a league match, and Cardiff were the opponents. The night before had seen several Championship sides knocked out of the competition by lower league opposition, and Cardiff had various players missing due to injury and internationals, so maybe we had a chance. Of course, in the greater scheme of things, the league cup is fairly low on our scale of priorities for the season, but at the very least I'd hope for a much better performance than the team served up against Rotherham.
The drive to the match was odd. I like evening matches, but it's so early in the year that it still felt like the afternoon. And on a Wednesday as well, which is unusual. The final peculiar thing was listening to the England-India test match on the way. Summer? Autumn? Evening? Afternoon? Wednesday? Tuesday? Bizzare!
Well, I have to admit that one on the way, I was wondering if I'd have to avoid gangs of hoody-clad rioting yoof in the stadium car park who would be demanding all my valuables. Then I remembered that I didn't have any and relaxed. In fact there was no sign of any trouble at all, the Bowlplex opposite the stadium stayed open all evening. The East Stand car park wasn't full of cars, never mind ne'er-do-wells - there were still spaces when I made my way into the stadium with only 10 minutes until kick off. Not going to be a bumper crowd tonight then!
There were changes from the team we'd put out against Rotherham. In > Clist, Potter and Pittman. Out > Tonkin. Benched - Smalley and Payne. Which meant that Liam Davis moved to left back and there was more of a 4-3-3 feel about the team. Having said that, Saturday's nominal 4-4-2 soon changed into a 4-5-1 or a 4-1-4-1, so it's always pretty fluid. I have to be honest and say that I don't really follow Championship football much, so there were some names in the Cardiff line-up that I didn't recognise at all, along with some that I did.
Cardiff had brought a decent following - about 700-800 at a guess, but the crowd figure was only about 5,400. Not a fixture that had really caught the casual supporters imagination. It's been a funny start to the season like that. The atmosphere-less Don Valley Stadium match had somehow still felt like pre-season and this was a cup match. I suspect Saturday's match at home to Bradford will feel like the real start of the season!
Anyway, back to matters at hand. Premier League ref Andy D'Urso blew the whistle, Cardiff kicked off, and soon began to pass the ball around nicely. We are (and have been for ages) slow starters, and it was all a bit hurried to start with. After 10 minutes, Cardiff went ahead. Not for the last time in the match, the Oxford defence looked indecisive and a ball that should have been hoofed into the stands was allowed to run towards the goal line inside the penalty area. A Cardiff player managed to get to the ball, and scuffed it across the face of the goal. It came off Jake Wright, Ryan Clarke was nowhere and we were one down. A poor goal to give away really.
The ref was already giving cause for concern. After Saturday's rather odd reffing performance, I hoped that a Prem referee would show us how it should be done. Unfortunately not. Mr D'Urso gave some fouls, but not identical ones a minute later. If someone went down after challenging fairly for the ball it was a foul to one team or the other at random. If a player had his shorts almost pulled off in the penalty area to stop him getting away (Pittman after about a quarter of an hour) then that's all good clean fun apparently.
Cardiff striker Jon Parkin (the size of a small terraced house in the valleys) should have put Cardiff two up, with a free header from a cross on the 6 yard line, but skewed it dismally wide. One of the features of the night was actually our inability to prevent the Cardiff players crossing the ball - from both sides of the pitch. Despite that, we were coming back into the game and after half an hour or so we equalised. Now even though I've had my eyes lasered, sitting in the OM stand doesn't really give you the best view of what is happening up the fence end. It looked to me as if Pittman missed a one-on-one but Clist scored from the save with the aid of quite a large deflection.
No more than some of our later play had deserved really. Special mention for Alfie Potter who had been much better than Saturday and had been a thorn in the Cardiff flesh all half, which ended with us defending valiantly (or maybe valley-antly).
So, all even at half time. As usual, we had started slowly and got better as the half went on. There were still, if we are honest, problems. Dithering and over-elaboration at the back and a lack of shots on goal up front - mostly due to a lack of supply from midfield. The half time entertainment was the crossbar challenge. Like meeting an old acquaintance at a party it was pleasant at first, and then the novelty wore off like when you remembered why you hadn't ever bothered to get back in touch! Still, at least 'blokes with tattoos' seem to be quite good at hitting the crossbar. I also enjoyed the playing of the Perkele 'Yellow and Blue' song before the match and at half time - it would be good if we could get some people in the stands singing it.
The second half started with the first 15 minutes starring the ref. Minor fouls were punished, more major ones ignored. Cardiff players were going down as if they were shot and the ref was falling for it every single time. The play was fairly scrappy with neither team looking like world beaters. A snap shot from a Cardiff player hit the bar and we attacked from the rebound with a couple of players (Pittman was one) getting in each other's way to spoil it. Lewis Guy (why does that surname make me shudder?) and Peter Leven came on for Pittman and Clist. Both looked better than the players they had replaced. Guy actually started making diagonal runs off the ball - I am sure that's something we'll beat out of him in training.
We were looking like the better team and were on top. Beano was tripped in the area - no penalty. Maybe he would have had more luck if he'd just fallen over with nodody near him eh, Mr Durso? Guy made a good run but his cross didn't find anyone and Hall unleashed a thunderbolt that just went past the post. Then Duberry had a good headed chance that went just ocer. It was all looking much much better, with Leven pulling the strings. But we hadn't really tested their keeper, and the old adage that you have to score when you are on top was what was going round my head. Cardiff were also looking dangerous on the break, but created no real chances.
We than had an incident which pretty summed up Mr. Durso's performance. Duberry was fouled (elbow in the face), there were a few players waving their arms about. Mr. Durso then booked the Cardiff player. Fine. He then booked Duberry. What? And then gave a throw in rather than a free kick. I give up. Much like Andre Mariner's performance at Northampton last year, this Prem referee was also useless, wanting to be the star of the show and making all the wrong decisions. Or maybe making all the right decisions, but not necessarily in the right order. (copyright Eric M)
More faffing about at the back between Batt and Clarke lead to a needless corner, which bobbled about in our penalty area and somehow didn't go in. It was rather symptomatic of the collywobbles in defence which meant we were putting ourselves under more pressure than we needed to be. Still dangerous in attack, it took the Cardiff goalie's arm to prevent Guy chipping him to win the match in dramatic fashion as the end of normal time drew near.
And that was about it for the second half. The best half of the season so far as far as Oxford are concerned. We didn't score, but looked lively and threatening matching opponents who are two divisions above us.
As extra time started, Potter was replaced by Smalley. An odd move if tactical, as Potter had played very well. However, it was nearly a stroke of genius as Smalley's goalward header was intercepted by a Cardiff arm in the penalty area. Surely this time? Nope. The ref had obviously decided to make no decisions.
Then what turned out to be the telling moment. Our midfield decided it was a good idea not to challenge Peter Whittingham as he trundled towards our goal with the ball, getting out of his way instead like the red sea parting for that self-righteous bloke with a beard. Charlton Heston, I think. Anyway, he couldn't believe his luck and simply put the ball in the net (almost exactly like to goal away at Stockport last season). If McLaren was playing, I don't think he'd have got there so easily, but got there he had and we were behind again. Their lead almost didn't last for long, as Leven sent over a lovely free kick that Hall connected with and hit the bar. Leven's dead ball delivery was generally excellent, with him taking free kicks and corners that looked likely to cause discomfort to the defence much of the time. Something that's been missing from our play for a while now, so that's a plus point.
Halftime in extra time, one down but playing well.
The fourth half (!) saw us on top for the majority of the time, with a couple of dangerous crosses just failing to connect with our attackers, Constable missing a difficult volley and having the ball taken off his toes a few minutes later. It looked entirely possible that we would equalise, and we were certainly the better team. But time was running out and a catastrophic mistake by Jake Wright finally ended the matter. He let a hopeful upfield punt bounce (doh!) between himself and Clarke, a Cardiff player nipped in and header the ball in to make it an undeserved 3-1 to the Bluebirds. The final whistle blew shortly afterwards.
There is one other incident I'd like to mention, even though I can't remember exactly when it happened. It wa swhen we were playing towards the OM stand, so either in the second or fourth halves. A Cardiff player went down holding his head. One of our players (Davis) sportingly went to poke the ball into touch and ran off. He'd miskicked however and the ball didn't go out. So Cardiff, instead of being sporting, took the ball and went and attacked winning a corner from our incredulous defence. Cue lots of arm waving from our lot and some useless shrugging from D'Urso. Very poor Cardiff - went down quite a lot in my estimation there.
So out of the Carling Cup. No great dismay from me really, although I hate losing. The performance (after a fairly poor start) improved as the match went on.
A few observations.
The defence needs to be more decisive at times and that includes the goalkeeper.
Duberry - that diagonal cross-field flighted pass didn't work once, and went straight out more than once. Maybe leave it out?
We are (as always) better with the ball on the floor than in the air.
Leven is going to be a very influential player and played for about an hour. Let's hope he can manage 90 minutes soon.
We miss McLaren in the defensive midfield role.
Duberry is as fit as several butcher's dogs.
My man of the match was (maybe surprisingly) Liam Davis. He did his defending job very well and got forward as often as he could. Honourable mentions for Batt, Leven and Alfie's first half.
Next up - Bradford at home. My daughter is coming with me for her once per season visit - it would be good if she could see us win.
The drive to the match was odd. I like evening matches, but it's so early in the year that it still felt like the afternoon. And on a Wednesday as well, which is unusual. The final peculiar thing was listening to the England-India test match on the way. Summer? Autumn? Evening? Afternoon? Wednesday? Tuesday? Bizzare!
Well, I have to admit that one on the way, I was wondering if I'd have to avoid gangs of hoody-clad rioting yoof in the stadium car park who would be demanding all my valuables. Then I remembered that I didn't have any and relaxed. In fact there was no sign of any trouble at all, the Bowlplex opposite the stadium stayed open all evening. The East Stand car park wasn't full of cars, never mind ne'er-do-wells - there were still spaces when I made my way into the stadium with only 10 minutes until kick off. Not going to be a bumper crowd tonight then!
There were changes from the team we'd put out against Rotherham. In > Clist, Potter and Pittman. Out > Tonkin. Benched - Smalley and Payne. Which meant that Liam Davis moved to left back and there was more of a 4-3-3 feel about the team. Having said that, Saturday's nominal 4-4-2 soon changed into a 4-5-1 or a 4-1-4-1, so it's always pretty fluid. I have to be honest and say that I don't really follow Championship football much, so there were some names in the Cardiff line-up that I didn't recognise at all, along with some that I did.
Cardiff had brought a decent following - about 700-800 at a guess, but the crowd figure was only about 5,400. Not a fixture that had really caught the casual supporters imagination. It's been a funny start to the season like that. The atmosphere-less Don Valley Stadium match had somehow still felt like pre-season and this was a cup match. I suspect Saturday's match at home to Bradford will feel like the real start of the season!
Anyway, back to matters at hand. Premier League ref Andy D'Urso blew the whistle, Cardiff kicked off, and soon began to pass the ball around nicely. We are (and have been for ages) slow starters, and it was all a bit hurried to start with. After 10 minutes, Cardiff went ahead. Not for the last time in the match, the Oxford defence looked indecisive and a ball that should have been hoofed into the stands was allowed to run towards the goal line inside the penalty area. A Cardiff player managed to get to the ball, and scuffed it across the face of the goal. It came off Jake Wright, Ryan Clarke was nowhere and we were one down. A poor goal to give away really.
The ref was already giving cause for concern. After Saturday's rather odd reffing performance, I hoped that a Prem referee would show us how it should be done. Unfortunately not. Mr D'Urso gave some fouls, but not identical ones a minute later. If someone went down after challenging fairly for the ball it was a foul to one team or the other at random. If a player had his shorts almost pulled off in the penalty area to stop him getting away (Pittman after about a quarter of an hour) then that's all good clean fun apparently.
Cardiff striker Jon Parkin (the size of a small terraced house in the valleys) should have put Cardiff two up, with a free header from a cross on the 6 yard line, but skewed it dismally wide. One of the features of the night was actually our inability to prevent the Cardiff players crossing the ball - from both sides of the pitch. Despite that, we were coming back into the game and after half an hour or so we equalised. Now even though I've had my eyes lasered, sitting in the OM stand doesn't really give you the best view of what is happening up the fence end. It looked to me as if Pittman missed a one-on-one but Clist scored from the save with the aid of quite a large deflection.
No more than some of our later play had deserved really. Special mention for Alfie Potter who had been much better than Saturday and had been a thorn in the Cardiff flesh all half, which ended with us defending valiantly (or maybe valley-antly).
So, all even at half time. As usual, we had started slowly and got better as the half went on. There were still, if we are honest, problems. Dithering and over-elaboration at the back and a lack of shots on goal up front - mostly due to a lack of supply from midfield. The half time entertainment was the crossbar challenge. Like meeting an old acquaintance at a party it was pleasant at first, and then the novelty wore off like when you remembered why you hadn't ever bothered to get back in touch! Still, at least 'blokes with tattoos' seem to be quite good at hitting the crossbar. I also enjoyed the playing of the Perkele 'Yellow and Blue' song before the match and at half time - it would be good if we could get some people in the stands singing it.
The second half started with the first 15 minutes starring the ref. Minor fouls were punished, more major ones ignored. Cardiff players were going down as if they were shot and the ref was falling for it every single time. The play was fairly scrappy with neither team looking like world beaters. A snap shot from a Cardiff player hit the bar and we attacked from the rebound with a couple of players (Pittman was one) getting in each other's way to spoil it. Lewis Guy (why does that surname make me shudder?) and Peter Leven came on for Pittman and Clist. Both looked better than the players they had replaced. Guy actually started making diagonal runs off the ball - I am sure that's something we'll beat out of him in training.
We were looking like the better team and were on top. Beano was tripped in the area - no penalty. Maybe he would have had more luck if he'd just fallen over with nodody near him eh, Mr Durso? Guy made a good run but his cross didn't find anyone and Hall unleashed a thunderbolt that just went past the post. Then Duberry had a good headed chance that went just ocer. It was all looking much much better, with Leven pulling the strings. But we hadn't really tested their keeper, and the old adage that you have to score when you are on top was what was going round my head. Cardiff were also looking dangerous on the break, but created no real chances.
We than had an incident which pretty summed up Mr. Durso's performance. Duberry was fouled (elbow in the face), there were a few players waving their arms about. Mr. Durso then booked the Cardiff player. Fine. He then booked Duberry. What? And then gave a throw in rather than a free kick. I give up. Much like Andre Mariner's performance at Northampton last year, this Prem referee was also useless, wanting to be the star of the show and making all the wrong decisions. Or maybe making all the right decisions, but not necessarily in the right order. (copyright Eric M)
More faffing about at the back between Batt and Clarke lead to a needless corner, which bobbled about in our penalty area and somehow didn't go in. It was rather symptomatic of the collywobbles in defence which meant we were putting ourselves under more pressure than we needed to be. Still dangerous in attack, it took the Cardiff goalie's arm to prevent Guy chipping him to win the match in dramatic fashion as the end of normal time drew near.
And that was about it for the second half. The best half of the season so far as far as Oxford are concerned. We didn't score, but looked lively and threatening matching opponents who are two divisions above us.
As extra time started, Potter was replaced by Smalley. An odd move if tactical, as Potter had played very well. However, it was nearly a stroke of genius as Smalley's goalward header was intercepted by a Cardiff arm in the penalty area. Surely this time? Nope. The ref had obviously decided to make no decisions.
Then what turned out to be the telling moment. Our midfield decided it was a good idea not to challenge Peter Whittingham as he trundled towards our goal with the ball, getting out of his way instead like the red sea parting for that self-righteous bloke with a beard. Charlton Heston, I think. Anyway, he couldn't believe his luck and simply put the ball in the net (almost exactly like to goal away at Stockport last season). If McLaren was playing, I don't think he'd have got there so easily, but got there he had and we were behind again. Their lead almost didn't last for long, as Leven sent over a lovely free kick that Hall connected with and hit the bar. Leven's dead ball delivery was generally excellent, with him taking free kicks and corners that looked likely to cause discomfort to the defence much of the time. Something that's been missing from our play for a while now, so that's a plus point.
Halftime in extra time, one down but playing well.
The fourth half (!) saw us on top for the majority of the time, with a couple of dangerous crosses just failing to connect with our attackers, Constable missing a difficult volley and having the ball taken off his toes a few minutes later. It looked entirely possible that we would equalise, and we were certainly the better team. But time was running out and a catastrophic mistake by Jake Wright finally ended the matter. He let a hopeful upfield punt bounce (doh!) between himself and Clarke, a Cardiff player nipped in and header the ball in to make it an undeserved 3-1 to the Bluebirds. The final whistle blew shortly afterwards.
There is one other incident I'd like to mention, even though I can't remember exactly when it happened. It wa swhen we were playing towards the OM stand, so either in the second or fourth halves. A Cardiff player went down holding his head. One of our players (Davis) sportingly went to poke the ball into touch and ran off. He'd miskicked however and the ball didn't go out. So Cardiff, instead of being sporting, took the ball and went and attacked winning a corner from our incredulous defence. Cue lots of arm waving from our lot and some useless shrugging from D'Urso. Very poor Cardiff - went down quite a lot in my estimation there.
So out of the Carling Cup. No great dismay from me really, although I hate losing. The performance (after a fairly poor start) improved as the match went on.
A few observations.
The defence needs to be more decisive at times and that includes the goalkeeper.
Duberry - that diagonal cross-field flighted pass didn't work once, and went straight out more than once. Maybe leave it out?
We are (as always) better with the ball on the floor than in the air.
Leven is going to be a very influential player and played for about an hour. Let's hope he can manage 90 minutes soon.
We miss McLaren in the defensive midfield role.
Duberry is as fit as several butcher's dogs.
My man of the match was (maybe surprisingly) Liam Davis. He did his defending job very well and got forward as often as he could. Honourable mentions for Batt, Leven and Alfie's first half.
Next up - Bradford at home. My daughter is coming with me for her once per season visit - it would be good if she could see us win.
Saturday, 6 August 2011
Shut up, Granville! (vs Rotherham, L2)
At last. The start of the new season, the phoney war of preseason is over and the proper stuff is underway.
First up - Rotherham. Last season's visit was a fairly miserable affair, losing 2-1 and not playing very well. Only relieved by the comedy value of watching the 8ft Ben Futcher being out-headed by a succession of Rotherham players half his height!
For me, it's just a couple of hours up the M1. If I had a better car it would only be an hour and a half and three points on the license, but beggars can't be choosers I suppose. So, a quick potter (more of him later) up the M1 (enlivened by some thumbs ups and honking from a couple of other cars full of yellows on their way to the match), a quick bit of parking on the hill outside the stadium, some yummy sandwiches wot I made myself and all was ready.
Actually, why does the Don Valley Stadium (Sheffield) which has a capacity of (I'd guess) 20,000, not have enough on-site car parking to accomodate 4,000 people for a League 2 football match? There are enough derelict buildings (sorry 'freehold business opportunities') around the stadium for someone with a bulldozer to create some decent car parks in about 10 minutes.
The stadium itself is of course an athletics stadium, with all the attendant problems that causes (track between the seats and the pitch, 16,000 empty seats staring at you all match, crappy PA system which is OK for music but inadequate for a shouty announcer etc) and the away fans are housed in one corner. Add that to the fact that the Rotherham fans have obviously been served with a Noise Abatement Order so they make as little noise as possible, and it all leads to a terrible football supporting experience. I'm sure the Rotherham fans hate it as well, mind you, and I wish them all the luck in the world with their new home which is actually in Rotherham. Which is nice.
There were three surprises to start with. Firstly we were playing in yellow and blue (the 'home') kit. Hoo-bloody-ray! It looks much nicer than last years stripey abomination, which I ended up hating, and I much prefer us to wear our proper colours whenever we can. The second surprise was the formation. 4-4-2. Clarke at the back, with Batt, Wright, Duberry and Tonkin behind Hall, Whing, Payne and Davis with Constable and Smalley up front together. Now I can't remember that team/formation playing any of the preseason matches for any length of time, if at all. Might it have been an idea to do so? The third, pleasant, surprise was spotting Scoob, who I had gone to the Southend match with. I said hello, and we found some seats.
After the usual formalities and some good singing from the Oxford support (the Rotherham fans just preferred to sit and listen - we must be very good!) the team kicked off, playing umm diagonally away from the support.
The first ten minutes were all a bit huff and puff from both sides, with few real chances. Beano had a half chance header and after about 15 minutes we had our nearest attempt at a goal. Hall climbed well from a corner (Edit - having watched the highlights - no he didn't, he stooped from a free kick!), and his downward header looked (well we were a long way away) like going in, but hit the bottom of the post. It rebounded out to Duberry who blasted over from five yards or so - not such a bad miss as that sounds, the ball came to him very quickly.
The next 20 minutes were fairly even, with us probably shading it - but in truth neither team seemed likely to score. As the half wore on, there were danger signs though. Our passing was getting sloppier and sloppier, the ball was no longer being passed out of defence but being hoofed in the air by the defenders somewhere, anywhere up the pitch towards Smalley and Beano who were getting very little change indeed out of the Millers' defence. Not that their attack was having an easy time of it either - our defence was looking OK at stopping them. Our midfield however was not. Payne and Hall, who had looked alright in preseason were anything but alright in actual league football. The ball was being lost easily and often, possession given away. The ball was constantly coming back at the defenders - hence their desire to get it as far away as quickly as possible.
Half time came with us looking second best. Rotherham hadn't had to do much really, just keep the ball more efficiently than we did. Any later in the season and I 'd have said that the whole affair looked like a midtable stalemate. Still it was 0-0 at halftime. CW would doubtless have words and I was hoping that he would take the opportunity to make midfield changes. Oddly enough (and remember we were a milion miles from the pitch) we could only make out 4 Oxford subs warming up on the pitch at half time. It looked like Leven was missing or was it maybe Heslop?
As the trams rattled past the stadium, the teams ran out for the second half. No changes for us. Pity. The Millers kept our boys waiting for a while, but eventually managed to get all the juice they could out of their orange quarters and deigned to join in.
The second half started much as the first had ended, but even so, it was a shock when Rotherham went ahead. A Miller simply shot at the goal (note for our strikers: it's that white rectangle with the netting, in case you'd forgotten) caught the ball beautifully and gave Clarke no chance. Arse.
The Rotherham fans briefly livened up, but it didn't last for long. An Oxford chant of 'You only sing when you're winning' shortly afterwards petered out when we realised that they in fact weren't. In fact they were so quiet you could hear individual shouts from their supporters (hence the 'Shut up, Granville' which made us laugh!). Almost immediately Beano found himself with the ball in the Rotherham penalty area, but the ball got stuck under his feet and the chance was lost.
Rather later than I'd hoped, Payne made way for Potter. Personally I'd have subbed Hall, but you can't really argue with the idea, just the timing. Now Rotherham had obviously worked out a plan to deal with Potter. They had put very stong electromagnets in his boots. Every time he got the ball, they used a remote control to turn them on. The result was that instead of heading towards the goal (where I am sure he meant to go) he was drawn towards the largest lump of nearby metal - the main stand. As this was behind the sideline, he just ran off course and dribbled the ball into touch. They then turned the magnets off so that nobody suspected. Fiendish.
We than had a series of free kicks and corners (down the Rotherham end obviously) which threatened to bring us back into the match. Davis looked as if he was fouled in the box, but instead of going down, he stayed on his feet and crossed the ball. It went all the way through to Constable on the right who put the ball back in across the face of the goal. It only needed a touch to put it in, but Smalley got confused, mistaking his head for his feet, and tried to head the daisy cutter on its way past. Unsurprisingly he missed and the ball went harmlessly past the far post. The set pieces during this period were notable for their quantity rather than their quality, and once they had passed Rotherham took control again.
Pittman came on for the solid Tonkin, and I never noticed him again during the rest of the match. Davis dropped back into Tonk's place at left back. It isn't a coincidence that most of Rotherham's best play for the rest of the game was down our left. Looks like Davis is a better wide midfielder than he is fullback.
Leven came on for the last ten minutes in place of Hall (how did he last 80 minutes?) but it made little difference. A blatant push on Duberry in the last few minutes in the Millers penalty area was ignored by the out-of-his-depth referee (who had made some odd decisions all afternoon, very few of them our way) and the lino - who had a shocking game generally. The lino got several throw in decisions wrong, waited for the ref to give them many other times and obviously doesn't know the rules for obstruction, as Beano was not only obstructed by two players at one point but also physically pushed off the ball to allow the defenders to get into the position where they could obstruct him!
But as the final whistle blew, it wasn't the officials fault that we had lost the match and played so poorly. Reading back what I have written it doesn't really give the full picture of our ineptitude for parts of the match. Basic passing skills were lacking all over the pitch. In same cases basic looking skills might also have helped as passes were made to people who either were't there at all, were running the other way or were simply wearing the wrong coloured shirt. The midfield was generally weak, losing the ball easily when we had it and not getting it back when we didn't.
I know it's a marathon not a sprint, but it's a shame we didn't hear the starting gun.
My MOTM - Duberry
Next Up - Cardiff in midweek. We'll have to play 100% better than we did today, or it will be embarassing.
First up - Rotherham. Last season's visit was a fairly miserable affair, losing 2-1 and not playing very well. Only relieved by the comedy value of watching the 8ft Ben Futcher being out-headed by a succession of Rotherham players half his height!
For me, it's just a couple of hours up the M1. If I had a better car it would only be an hour and a half and three points on the license, but beggars can't be choosers I suppose. So, a quick potter (more of him later) up the M1 (enlivened by some thumbs ups and honking from a couple of other cars full of yellows on their way to the match), a quick bit of parking on the hill outside the stadium, some yummy sandwiches wot I made myself and all was ready.
Actually, why does the Don Valley Stadium (Sheffield) which has a capacity of (I'd guess) 20,000, not have enough on-site car parking to accomodate 4,000 people for a League 2 football match? There are enough derelict buildings (sorry 'freehold business opportunities') around the stadium for someone with a bulldozer to create some decent car parks in about 10 minutes.
The stadium itself is of course an athletics stadium, with all the attendant problems that causes (track between the seats and the pitch, 16,000 empty seats staring at you all match, crappy PA system which is OK for music but inadequate for a shouty announcer etc) and the away fans are housed in one corner. Add that to the fact that the Rotherham fans have obviously been served with a Noise Abatement Order so they make as little noise as possible, and it all leads to a terrible football supporting experience. I'm sure the Rotherham fans hate it as well, mind you, and I wish them all the luck in the world with their new home which is actually in Rotherham. Which is nice.
There were three surprises to start with. Firstly we were playing in yellow and blue (the 'home') kit. Hoo-bloody-ray! It looks much nicer than last years stripey abomination, which I ended up hating, and I much prefer us to wear our proper colours whenever we can. The second surprise was the formation. 4-4-2. Clarke at the back, with Batt, Wright, Duberry and Tonkin behind Hall, Whing, Payne and Davis with Constable and Smalley up front together. Now I can't remember that team/formation playing any of the preseason matches for any length of time, if at all. Might it have been an idea to do so? The third, pleasant, surprise was spotting Scoob, who I had gone to the Southend match with. I said hello, and we found some seats.
After the usual formalities and some good singing from the Oxford support (the Rotherham fans just preferred to sit and listen - we must be very good!) the team kicked off, playing umm diagonally away from the support.
The first ten minutes were all a bit huff and puff from both sides, with few real chances. Beano had a half chance header and after about 15 minutes we had our nearest attempt at a goal. Hall climbed well from a corner (Edit - having watched the highlights - no he didn't, he stooped from a free kick!), and his downward header looked (well we were a long way away) like going in, but hit the bottom of the post. It rebounded out to Duberry who blasted over from five yards or so - not such a bad miss as that sounds, the ball came to him very quickly.
The next 20 minutes were fairly even, with us probably shading it - but in truth neither team seemed likely to score. As the half wore on, there were danger signs though. Our passing was getting sloppier and sloppier, the ball was no longer being passed out of defence but being hoofed in the air by the defenders somewhere, anywhere up the pitch towards Smalley and Beano who were getting very little change indeed out of the Millers' defence. Not that their attack was having an easy time of it either - our defence was looking OK at stopping them. Our midfield however was not. Payne and Hall, who had looked alright in preseason were anything but alright in actual league football. The ball was being lost easily and often, possession given away. The ball was constantly coming back at the defenders - hence their desire to get it as far away as quickly as possible.
Half time came with us looking second best. Rotherham hadn't had to do much really, just keep the ball more efficiently than we did. Any later in the season and I 'd have said that the whole affair looked like a midtable stalemate. Still it was 0-0 at halftime. CW would doubtless have words and I was hoping that he would take the opportunity to make midfield changes. Oddly enough (and remember we were a milion miles from the pitch) we could only make out 4 Oxford subs warming up on the pitch at half time. It looked like Leven was missing or was it maybe Heslop?
As the trams rattled past the stadium, the teams ran out for the second half. No changes for us. Pity. The Millers kept our boys waiting for a while, but eventually managed to get all the juice they could out of their orange quarters and deigned to join in.
The second half started much as the first had ended, but even so, it was a shock when Rotherham went ahead. A Miller simply shot at the goal (note for our strikers: it's that white rectangle with the netting, in case you'd forgotten) caught the ball beautifully and gave Clarke no chance. Arse.
The Rotherham fans briefly livened up, but it didn't last for long. An Oxford chant of 'You only sing when you're winning' shortly afterwards petered out when we realised that they in fact weren't. In fact they were so quiet you could hear individual shouts from their supporters (hence the 'Shut up, Granville' which made us laugh!). Almost immediately Beano found himself with the ball in the Rotherham penalty area, but the ball got stuck under his feet and the chance was lost.
Rather later than I'd hoped, Payne made way for Potter. Personally I'd have subbed Hall, but you can't really argue with the idea, just the timing. Now Rotherham had obviously worked out a plan to deal with Potter. They had put very stong electromagnets in his boots. Every time he got the ball, they used a remote control to turn them on. The result was that instead of heading towards the goal (where I am sure he meant to go) he was drawn towards the largest lump of nearby metal - the main stand. As this was behind the sideline, he just ran off course and dribbled the ball into touch. They then turned the magnets off so that nobody suspected. Fiendish.
We than had a series of free kicks and corners (down the Rotherham end obviously) which threatened to bring us back into the match. Davis looked as if he was fouled in the box, but instead of going down, he stayed on his feet and crossed the ball. It went all the way through to Constable on the right who put the ball back in across the face of the goal. It only needed a touch to put it in, but Smalley got confused, mistaking his head for his feet, and tried to head the daisy cutter on its way past. Unsurprisingly he missed and the ball went harmlessly past the far post. The set pieces during this period were notable for their quantity rather than their quality, and once they had passed Rotherham took control again.
Pittman came on for the solid Tonkin, and I never noticed him again during the rest of the match. Davis dropped back into Tonk's place at left back. It isn't a coincidence that most of Rotherham's best play for the rest of the game was down our left. Looks like Davis is a better wide midfielder than he is fullback.
Leven came on for the last ten minutes in place of Hall (how did he last 80 minutes?) but it made little difference. A blatant push on Duberry in the last few minutes in the Millers penalty area was ignored by the out-of-his-depth referee (who had made some odd decisions all afternoon, very few of them our way) and the lino - who had a shocking game generally. The lino got several throw in decisions wrong, waited for the ref to give them many other times and obviously doesn't know the rules for obstruction, as Beano was not only obstructed by two players at one point but also physically pushed off the ball to allow the defenders to get into the position where they could obstruct him!
But as the final whistle blew, it wasn't the officials fault that we had lost the match and played so poorly. Reading back what I have written it doesn't really give the full picture of our ineptitude for parts of the match. Basic passing skills were lacking all over the pitch. In same cases basic looking skills might also have helped as passes were made to people who either were't there at all, were running the other way or were simply wearing the wrong coloured shirt. The midfield was generally weak, losing the ball easily when we had it and not getting it back when we didn't.
I know it's a marathon not a sprint, but it's a shame we didn't hear the starting gun.
My MOTM - Duberry
Next Up - Cardiff in midweek. We'll have to play 100% better than we did today, or it will be embarassing.
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