LEWIS PLEASED WITH BURNLEY PERFORMANCE
Mickey Lewis was pleased with the way Oxford played against Burnley, saying, "The positive thing for us is that we were playing one of the best teams in the league and we were as good as them, if not better at times." He did however feel that the winner should have been disallowed for a handball in the build-up. "There was a handball from the lad who knocked it on to him, so it's very disappointing to get done like that."
Updates have been a bit sparse recently, but it is a busy time of year,
so I'm sure you'll forgive me. As I doubt I'll update this tomorrow, here's
wishing a Happy New Year to all visitors to this page. I would wish
a Happy New Millennium to those numerically-challenged folk who think it's
fine to be wrong, but I'm so sick of it all that I won't. Maybe basic arithmetic
should be made a compulsory course in the Year 2000.
PAYTON KILLS OFF OXFORD
(BURNLEY 3 OXFORD 2)
A hat-trick (including a penalty) from Andy Payton helped Burnley from 2-1 down with ten minutes to go, as Oxford went on to lose 3-2. Steve Anthrobus at last scored again for Oxford, with Phil Whelan (!) adding a second, but sadly this was not enough. I wasn't there, but it sounds as if at least we may have played a bit better than recently.
BURNLEY AWAY - PREVIEW
The fun continues in Lancashire today as Oxford travel to promotion chasing Burnley (6th). Lundin and Watson, who both missed the Cambridge match through illness, are still doubtful, but Oxford might well revert to a five man defence even if Watson is not able to take part. Burnley were in terrible form on Saturday, conceding four against Bury (and that is rare), and flu has hit some of their squad. Still I expect Oxford will be very pleased with a single point from this fixture.
LUCKY WIN
(OXFORD 1 CAMBRIDGE 0)
On Boxing Day, Oxford got another win that was hardly merited on general play. Cambridge are a side that have conceded in every league game this season, they were down to ten men for more than half the match, and yet we still took until the 83rd minute to get a goal that nobody really thought would come.
I was wrong. The system isn't the only problem. For this match we switched back to 4-4-2, but the dreaded Robinson in midfield combined with Matt Murphy (who in David Platt style contributed little except for the goal) to wreck any chance of midfield dominance. Pleasingly what creativity and style there was came from the wings, with Paul Powell and especially Joey both showing class at times. Joey was the only player who consitently fooled tperhaps the worst defence in the division, and it was his skill that reduced Cambridge to ten men. Young defender Marrin McNeil twice hacked him down, and though the first booking looked harsh, that was the end of his match.
Before the dismissal Cambridge had completely dominated play, but with hardly a chance to show for it. After the dismissal they still at least matched us. We were lucky to win a boring game. Still three points - and it was a grand feeling when the goal finally went in. After all, this was our first home league win since early October. That's two and a half months...
STILL NO DEAL
We enter the holiday period with still no sign of the official Land Deal being signed. At the Open Meeting on 8 December, FK basically assured fans that the Land Deal would be done within a week or so of the meeting. It's now over two weeks, and still we wait. The Heads of Agreement (basically a draft agreement) were signed back in November, so what's the hold up?
PRESTON AWAY RESCHEDULED
Our match at Deepdale has been rescheduled for Tuesday March 14, presumably at 7.45pm. This match was originally due to be played on January 8, but was postponed because of FA Cup matches for both sides.
FESTIVE GIFT
Traditionally this is a time for giving (or shopping, more like), so courtesy of Urban75, here's a chance to leave your imprint on the person who is doing his best to shaft football in England. Yes, you too can punch Rupert Murdoch...
Of course, you may fancy punching some other people, from Jack Straw to David Beckham. Have fun!
Warning: Punching any of the above in real life might be against
the law. Rather do it this way...
NOGAN RUMOURS CONTINUE...
...or at least TeamTalk has now picked up on our supposed interest in Preston striker, Kurt Nogan. Cardiff were the side most interested in the player, but now seem likely to sign Swindon's Iffy Onuora instead, whilst Bristol City (who had also been linked) have denied any interest. Their boss Tony Pulis said, "There has been a lot going on and a move for Kurt Nogan is something I've not even thought about."
Nogan made his name as a prolific striker at Brighton, before moves
to Burnley and then Preston. Worryingly his goal ratio is steadily decreasing
with each move. He had a good season last season with 21 goals for Preston,
but has scored just 3 this season (1 since August), and has recently found
himself dropped to the subs' bench.
PITCH INSPECTION - MATCH OFF
After a 3pm pitch inspection, the match against Forest has been postponed. The match will now be played on Saturday 8 January, originally the scheduled date for the fourth round. Please note that the match has now been made All Ticket.
LIVE COMMENTARY
If tonight's match does go ahead and you are unable to attend it, there is live radio commentary on the match provided by Forest Online. So if you aren't in TVFM's reception area, you can still tune in. The commentary may of course be Forest-friendly. Thanks to Steve Merritt for this info.
RACIST PAGE REMOVED
Well, it appears that Freeserve has removed the offending page from its site. It also turns out that I had visited the site before - named Yellow Fellows - but never viewed the page about Minchery Farm, which is no more. Apparently the site is run by a teenager - perhaps naive, perhaps just responding to comments he has heard made by other people? Let's just hope that the views expressed on the site are not representative in any way of a sizeable group of people. I have been shown the words written about the Roma, and I'm not about to reprint them here. I suspect they were written more in ignorance than anything else.
Congratulations, though, should go to the club for being so quick to
act on this issue. They wasted no time in removing their link to the site
and informing the necessary people. Well done, Oxford United.
RACIST SITE?
An official complaint has been made to the police about "racist chat on a U's website". Allegedly the source of the complaint is Les Wells (the bloke who wants compensation for his "right of way" across the Minchery Farm site), who is spokesperson in Oxon for the Roma community. I've no idea which website this racist chat has been found on, but thankfully it's not a site with which I'm acquainted. There's certainly no place for any racist stuff linking itself to the U's. Until recently the site was linked to from the Official Web Site. The racism allegedly concerned anti-Roma (gypsies to the uninformed) comments. After being informed, the club removed the link from their site. The club also wrote to the Racial Equality Council and Thames Valley Police about the site.
The background to all this is of course the fact that Minchery Farm has been occupied by Roma for some of the period of inactivity on the site. Considering that the land has sat there untouched by builders for this time means that few people should have objections to its being used as a home by people who need it. But of course certain people object to issues such as littering problems (Question : Did the Council make available refuse disposal?) and the like. This led to some opinions bordering on racism from even some quite sensible people. This is the sort of atmosphere that encourages unchallenged racist views.
Interestingly though, no Internet U's seem to have seen the offending site. This could be because long ago we made up our minds which sites to visit, and Les Wells, as an initiate, happened across a different site. Or could there be something more sinister behind this whole story?
DERBY UNLIKELY TO SIGN WATSON
Having completed the transfers of Craig Burley and Branko Strupar, Derby boss Jim Smith has been told there is no more money for any signings. Smith has thus announced that there will be no more signings in the near future. Maybe we'll hold onto Mark Watson for a bit longer yet.
ARENDSE AWAY FOR A MONTH
Weren't the days when we had no international players so much easier? Joining Mark Watson in the call-up stakes is South Africa's No 1, Andre Arendse. He will be away for five weeks for the African Nations Cup (equivalent of Euro 2000), including warm-up matches. He will leave for South Africa on 9 January and return whenever South Africa get knocked out of the Cup. South Africa are likely to do well, so don't expect him back long before the final on 13 February. Apparently Mickey Lewis is looking to get a covering keeper for Lundin in on loan.
SNOW PROBLEM
The Manor ground is currently under 2 inches of snow, thus insulating it against any frost tonight. So the match with Forest tomorrow evening should go ahead as planned, with no pitch inspection requiring to be scheduled as yet. As long as it doesn't degenerate into another Watford debacle... (called off five minutes AFTER kick-off time.)
VAN HEUSDEN AVAILABLE
Living in Cambridge, I am only too aware that Arjan van Heusden, so impressive whilst on loan to the U's two seasons ago, has been placed on the transfer list by Cambridge United. Despite seeming always to have played well for Cambridge (he was player of the month as recently as September), "Ise" - as he is known - has been supplanted by youngster Shaun Marshall as first choice at the Abbey. This is mainly due to terrible problems with injury on van Heusden's part, especially two hand injuries. Well, we are looking for keeper cover and we could certainly do worse than van Heusden. A hint for Mad Dog.
McGOWAN APOLOGISES
Young full back Neil McGowan, who was sent off against Bournemouth on Saturday, has apologised for his actions. McGowan elbowed Bournemouth's Jamie Hayter after evidently feeling that the winger had made too much of a clash for which a penalty had been awarded. "I am very sorry for what I did," said McGowan. "I let myself down and the team down. I was naive." McGowan stuck to his opinion that it wasn't a penalty though (though most observers felt the award was correct). "I thought he made a lot of it. To me, it wasn't a penalty. I got my foot in from the side to take the ball, but his foot kicked the back of mine and then he hit the deck like a ten-ton truck."
McGowan will be banned for three matches (the automatic penalty for
violent conduct), starting with Wigan at home on January 3. He would miss
the FA Cup 4th round match against Chelsea were the Us to overcome Forest.
THRASHED
(BOURNEMOUTH 4 OXFORD
0)
Oxford left their unbeaten run firmly behind them, coming unstuck to lose 4-0 to a Bournemouth team who themselves had lost by four goals a week before. The Us played with ten men for more than half the match, after Neil McGowan had hit out at Jamie Hayter, accusing him of diving to win a penalty. McGowan and penalty were duly despatched, and Oxford were 2-0 and one man down at the interval. Only fine defending, especially from Mark Watson, prevented a rout. Bizarrely, a clearly unfit Kevin Francis played the last fifteen minutes. To no effect.
In truth, anyone watching Oxford over the course of the eleven match unbeaten run might have suspected that it would end in a big defeat. We had played a lot of tame, unincisive football and lived off a lot of luck during those matches. Too few goals are being scored. Let's hope tactics are rethought before Tuesday's replay with Forest.
DENIS LINKED WITH POMPEY
After earlier this month being linked with the Bury job, Denis Smith's name is now being muttered in connection with the vacancy at Portsmouth. Since Kevin Keegan is still safely (well, perhaps not "safely") installed in the England chair, our Denis may well have to make do with the likes of Portsmouth. I'd like to see him get the job. We could see then how he measures up against the great Alan Ball as a manager. Unfortunately Jim Jeffries and Gary Megson are considered the favourites for the job.
NOGAN LINK
Rumour has it that Kurt
Nogan, brother of former Oxford YTS product Lee Nogan, is being linked
with a move to the Manor. However most Preston sources seem to indicate
that it is in fact Cardiff and Bristol City who are fighting over his services.
Kurt would cost a cool £100,000. This is what Hull and Preston recently
agreed as a fee before the move fell through, allegedly because Hull could
not match Nogan's wage demands. Well, we won't be signing him then.
Just ask Jamie Lambert.
COOK MAY START
Jamie Cook could be the beneficiary of Steve Anthrobus' suspension tomorrow, after he looked very lively (and possibly changed the match) when coming on as a substitute against Nottingham Forest a week ago. Anthrobus is suspended for one match after picking up five bookings this season, but to be honest he hardly deserves his place at present after several lethargic performances of late. Hopefully Cook will seize his chance.
Otherwise the side is likely to be that which got the draw at Forest. Steve Davis may return to the bench after recovering from a thigh injury.
WRIGHT GETS HIS JOB
Mark Wright, who had declared his interest in the Oxford vacancy after
Malcolm Shotton's departure, has now got his first job in management. He
was yesterday appointed as boss of Conference side Southport.
WATSON IN DERBY LINK (AGAIN)
TeamTalk are again reporting that Derby County are interested in Mark Watson. This rumour was first circulated early last month, and made it into the tabloids and onto Telextext. It is certainly possible that struggling Derby, desperate for a central defender after deals for Colin Hendry and Paul Ritchie fell through, are interested in Watson. However this is a player who will be unavailable for much of February because of the CONCACAF Championships, and who will also miss a week in January for warm-up matches. Do Derby know this? I'm sure it would affect their eagerness to buy him.
OXFORD v PRESTON RESCHEDULED
Our home game with Preston, postponed from last weekend, has been rescheduled for February 1 next year, with a 7.45pm kick-off. The away game with Preston is yet to be rescheduled.
INJURY NEWS
Paul Tait's knee has no major damage (according to results from an exploratory
operation), and he is expected to be back in action sometime between Christmas
and the New Year. Meanwhile Steve davis' thigh strain has now cleared up,
and he will be considered for the squad for the Bournemouth match on Saturday.
York City supporters recently formed a supporters' group FACT (Fans Against Craig's Tyranny) to oppose their chairman Douglas Craig. They are protesting against the way the club is being run, and are worried that the club is slipping towards the Conference. Now this Douglas Craig sounds like a pleasant chap. After a red card protest at the match against Peterborough in September, Craig billed supporters £41 for "cleaning expenses". The money was paid in loose change. It was after this protest, the first despite five years of unrest, that FACT was formed by a group of supporters. Here are some choice quotes about the protestors from Craig:
After a boycott of the AWS match against Hull (attendance 1005 - in
the Shield it's hard to tell how effective the boycott was), FACT have
now called a meeting of supporters for Friday night. Good luck to them
in their campaign.
LAMBERT WANTS IMPROVED OFFER
Jamie Lambert is still keen to sign for Oxford, provided he gets an improved offer. Lambert has been officially released after turning down the contract offered to him. According to Lambert, "I wasn't asking for first division wages, just for an average second division wage, but I was offered a pittance. What I was offered was the same as I was getting at Reading when I was 18, and it's what I could get playing non-League football."
Lambert was upset that fans would see him as money-grabbing after he turned down the offer. "I don't want the fans at Oxford, or anywhere else for that matter, thinking of me as money-grabbing. I've asked for very, very little. I find it hard to understand what their thinking is. The squad's very small and if they get an injury to Joey Beauchamp, I'm not sure where they're going to get any creativity from."
It is hard to know what to think until we hear both sides of the story,
but if the above is true, it would appear we have stupidly let go a very
talented player. Lambert feels there is still a chance that Oxford will
sign him, so let's hope that both parties can get together and thrash out
a deal.
WATSON CALL-UP
Mark Watson will miss the game on 8 January after being called up to the Canadian squad. Now of course, we might not have a game on the 8 January. But if we do, it will be at Stamford Bridge. Not a good match for Watson to miss really. If we fail to beat Forest, we will be without a match on that date as Preston (interesting how they were our scheduled league opponents on both third and fourth round days) are already through to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Watson will play matches against Trinidad & Tobago (8 Jan) and Venezuela (11 Jan) as preparation for the CONCACAF Championships in February. We'll no doubt lose Watson for three weeks in February too then...
PLATT SOUNDING DESPERATE
David Platt is sounding increasingly desperate as his Forest job starts to slip from his grasp. He said of next week's replay, "I am confident we can go there and win the replay. I base my confidence on the fact that I feel we have the ability to win football matches." Well that's a reason to be confident...
Mickey Lewis was also quietly confident ahead of the replay. "I fancy
us to give them a good game at our place. It will be a big occasion and
I'm sure we'll put in a good performance," said Mad Dog. But let's get
some points at Bournemouth first please, Mickey.
CALLING MIKE REED?
If we beat Nottingham Forest in the replay, it's our old favourites
Chelsea
in the fourth round. At Stamford Bridge. So we need to take them to a replay
and then have a re-enactment of the last minute penalty scene at the Manor.
Only this time given to us. Ok, so realistically we'll get hammered at
the Bridge, and even that's assuming we can see off Forest!
POWELL SUPERSTRIKE
(FOREST 1 OXFORD 1)
A superb equaliser from Paul Powell saved Oxford from defeat against Forest. They had gone ahead late in the first half through Dougie Freedman, with Oxford hardly featuring during the first period. After the break, the U's improved, but attacks were still rare, and it seemed Forest were the more likely to score. But a 25-yarder from Powell levelled affairs, and both sides then had chances to win it. Neither side looked very convincing, and Forest could easily be beatable at the Manor.
Oxford are now amazingly eleven games unbeaten in all competitions. Next stop Bournemouth...
LAMBERT LEAVES
Jamie Lambert has left Oxford after turning down contract terms. According to FK, "We made him a very good offer and he turned it down. He is no longer at the club." This is a pity, as I've always thought highly of Lambert, especially when played on the wing. He is the best crosser of the ball to have gtraced the Manor in a long time.
AWS - WYCOMBE AT HOME
The draw for the second round of the Auto Windscreen Shield was made
this morning, with Oxford drawn at home to Wycombe. The match will be played
in the week commencing January 10.
PLATT'S JOB ON THE LINE
Knowing Oxford's propensity for getting opposition managers the sack (viz. Denis Smith, Ossie Ardiles, Ray Harford), it would not be surprising if the U's got a result at Forest tonight. A win would probably just about seal David Platt's fate, as Forest lie just one point above the first division relegation zone after six losses out of seven. Realistically, a draw would be a very good result for Oxford, especially after Mikkel Beck was recalled by Derby. His talent for missing goals would have come in handy tonight.
Mark Watson is doubtful for Oxford - if he misses the match, it would be a major blow to our hopes of coming through unscathed. Steve Davis will definitely not feature, as his thigh strain is still troubling him.
For Forest, leading scorer Dougie Freedman will replace Beck and partner impressive new signing Stern John up front. Fellow striker Matthieu Louis-Jean is injured and midfielder Andy Johnson is suspended.
Once again some media attention is focused for a brief moment on an Oxford match, including a lengthy Press Association piece.
BUS SUSPENDED
It has been confirmed that Steve Anthrobus will be suspended for our
trip to Bournemouth next weekend. He picked up his fifth booking of the
season in our replay victory over Shrewsbury, meaning he misses one match.
OPEN MEETING SUMMARY
A full report on the Open Meeting is available at Rage Online. In summary, the following important issues were clarified:
LATEST: Agreement has now been reached (and signed) with Taylor Woodrow, meaning that FK is free to appoint a new building contractor for the Minchery Farm ground. Kassam has paid £1.5 million to TW to prevent their scuppering the CVA deal.
ROSS SIGNS CONTRACT
Ross Weatherstone has signed an 18 month contract with Oxford, after successfully making the move up from the youth team (via the reserves) to the first team this season. He has impressed at centre back in his three first team appearances so far. He and brother Simon this week became the first siblings to appear together in a competitive match for the U's since Ron and Graham Atkinson in the 60's and 70's.
TAIT HAS KNEE OPERATION
Paul Tait has had an exploratory operation on a knee after coming off injured during the FA Cup replay against Shrewsbury last week. It is not known for how long Tait will be sidelined, but he certainly won't be featuring against Forest tomorrow evening.
MARCH RELAUNCH
According to yesterday's Oxford Mail, our "beloved" former chairman Robin Herd is relaunching the March Formula One racing team which he co-owned in the 1970s and 80s. Herd is apparently seeking financial backing from Arab businessmen in order to fill the current vacancy for a twelfth team within F1. Herd originally formed the March team with Max Mosley (now FIA president), Alan Rees and Graham Coaker. The H is Herd himself.
RESERVES LOSE TO SWINDON
A reserve side consisting mainly of youngsters (but again including
the recovering Kevin Francis) suffered an apparently deserved 2-0 loss
to Swindon yesterday afternoon.
IRREGULARS SUCCEED WHERE REGULARS FAILED
(OXFORD 2 LUTON 0)
Oxford's scratch team beat Luton in the first round of the AWS last night, after the full first team had lost both league matches earlier this season. An experimental line-up saw Jamie Cook starting up-front, Simon Weatherstone in midfield, Peter Fear at right back and Paul Powell returning at left back. It was Powell who scored the goals, both penalties. Matt Murphy (would he still have been on penalty duty?), Mark Watson, Rob Folland and Derek Lilley were rested. Ben Abbey made a return as substitute, and youth team striker Dean Whitehead made his first team debut when he replaced Joey late on. By the way, the new free kick rule did not need to be applied!
In the Southern Section, four second division sides were knocked out by third division opposition, as Cardiff, Colchester, Gillingham and Millwall all exited. Maybe Oxford do have a chance in this competition after all...
OPEN MEETING TONIGHT
Don't forget tonight's Open Meeting with Firoz Kassam, at 7.30pm in the OUFC Social Club.
RESERVES PLAY SWINDON
The grudge reserve match of the season takes place at the Manor at 1pm today. Kevin Francis will continue his comeback from injury. Expect a young side, as many of our reserves featured in the AWS squad last night.
DENIS FOR BURY?
Lucky old Bury. Denis Smith is being linked with their vacant manager's
post after Neil Warnock left to take over at Sheffield United. Stan Ternent,
Warnock, now Denis - they really don't get a lot of luck in that corner
of Lancashire, do they? At least for once Denis will be able to look like
a decent manager after succeeding the other two, both long-ball specialists.
LUTON TONIGHT
It is easily forgotten, but tonight Oxford take on Luton (again) in
the first round of the Auto Windscreen Shield. Like most people, I realise
that the finalists
play at Wembley. But like most people, that is the stage at which I
start to take a real interest. It would be excellent to progress in this
competition, but not at the expense of league points. A chance to blood
promising youngsters shoud be used to that effect. It seems that Mad Dog
is to take that opportunity, by adding youth teamer Dean Whitehead, and
young pro Jon Shepheard to the squad. Several of the more senior players
are to be rested. Certain of these omissions may well improve the team!
Mark Watson will definitely be rested after coming off with a back injury
on Saturday.
An item of interest is that a new rule will apply at free kicks in all
Shield matches. If, after a free kick has been given, an opposition player
is booked for
encroachment or dissent, the free kick will advance ten yards in a
straight line between the original position and the centre of the opposition
goal. This can
however only be applied once to any free kick. A direct free kick will
not be converted into a penalty if the ten yards moves it into the penalty
area - it will
remain as a direct free kick from the new position.
LAMBERT AND WEATHERSTONE TO SIGN?
Jamie Lambert (currently on non-contract terms on a pay as you play
basis) and Ross Weatherstone (currently on youth terms) are both due for
talks with Ray Harford today about signing full-time contracts with Oxford.
Certainly it would be good news to sign these two up. Lambert in particular
has been public in his desire to return to Reading now that the hated Tommy
Burns has departed. The sooner we get him signed up to play for us the
better. And Ross Weatherstone looks likely to eclipse his brother Simon
after two impressive displays in central defence in recent weeks.
SAME OLD OXFORD...
(OXFORD 1 STOKE 1)
So the unbeaten run continues. So does the boring, negative football. Still no home win since early October. Matt Murphy apparently described Tuesday's display as "total football". In that case, Johan Cruyff would have approved of today's performance, as it was more of the same. A fine goal from Joey Beauchamp - our only threat - was then grimly defended against a Stoke team that started dreadfully, but grew in confidence as the match went on. Eventually they had total control, and it was a question of whether Oxford could grab anything from the match. Inevitably Stoke equalised, and (I guess) equally inevitably we didn't lose. It keeps that unbeaten run going, you see. It means we must be playing well.
"Total football"? Well, I'd use the first word but not the second.
BLIND MICKEY
Mickey Lewis is an early contender for visually challenged manager of
the month after complimenting Les Robinson on his midfield performance
against Stoke. "Robbo was excellent in midfield today...he makes us much
more solid", Mad Dog announced at the press conference. He's obviously
been socialising with Jon Murray too much. Mickey also described Robbo
as being "all over the place". His passing certainly was.
SLOW NEWS DAY
It's a very slow news day today ... Forest have dropped
their entry prices to £10 for adults and £5 for children
... The Swindon reserve match next Wednesday will now kick off at
1pm so as not to clash with the Open Meeting that evening ...
Robinson and Davis are rated as doubtful for tomorrow's match, as they
supposedly "picked up knocks" on Tuesday. Or is it just a convenient way
of dropping two players who now look well past their best? Just heard that
Tait and Folland are doubtful as well.
TIMES ARTICLE
There is an article in today's Times about the latest situation at Oxford - nothing particularly new, but at least a national newspaper is taking some notice of Oxford.
RESERVES LOSE
The reserves lost 2-1 at Portsmouth yesterday. Kevin Francis made his comeback from injury, playing 45 minutes of the game. All I know is that PompeyWeb describes the Oxford performance as "very poor", and the game as "scrappy". Ross Weatherstone got the Oxford goal.
PITY THE BLADES
Neil Warnock, recently linked with Oxford, has this afternoon been appointed manager of Sheffield United. Warnock, a Blades supporter as a boy, has quit as manager of Bury. Their fans will be relieved, as they were waging a campaign against Warnock.
FOULMOUTH
5 is now online.
TELFORD IN DISGUISE
(OXFORD 2 SHREWSBURY
1 aet)
"Are you Telford in disguise?", sang the Shrewsbury faithful.
Well we played as though we were Telford in disguise. That is if Telford have a manager who plays a system that counteracts our players' strengths; if Telford have a captain who is past it, yet still slotted into the team in any available position; if Telford play all their football in their own half, with a complete inability to string an attacking move together. I suspect Telford are better than that.
Yes, we won. We didn't deserve to. It was one of the worst games I've ever seen. I didn't even celebrate our first goal. It meant another half hour of the game to watch. It meant the manager would not learn from his mistakes (play 4-4-2, Mad Dog, we've got excellent wingers), and that this charade of an unbeaten run would continue. Unbeaten run or not, only at Reading have we played significantly better than under Shotton.
According to the Oxford Mail, Mickey Lewis is not afraid to take "tough" decisions. I think the opposite. The easy decision was to drop Folland, a young player, unsure of his regular place in the side. The tough, but correct, decision is to drop Robinson, and play Folland, the most consistent player over the last five or six matches.
Anyway the score was 2-1 after extra time. Matt Murphy got both goals. We play Forest away on Friday night next week.
FOULMOUTH 5
The latest edition of the FOUL mouthpiece, FoulMouth 5,
will be distributed before the Stoke game on Saturday. It will contain
full details on all the recent developments at Oxford.
This page is maintained by James Beard.