Oxford United Match

[gnfc_guy]

To be fair, i thought this was Stones best performance for us so far, he was playing some very intelligent through balls which should of been finished, and he also had a very good strike, which an inch either side of the keeper wuda been in. Saying that Hand does look a very useful player. Anyone know how long Stone is out for??

[razzlered]

Think your right, hope not to long as hand and barret both hold! Stone was very good first half. Bad defence again! long ball is what liam wants, stone is more than capable of passing just mixes it up a bit. HAnd will do a job on tuesday tho!! ha h a

[1 F in Fleet]

We don't yet know if Stone or Ricketts are definitely out for Tuesday night guys ... just musing the possibilities on my part .

[rsheard]

What's the status of Smith and Pooley? When Ricketts had to come off, I cringed to hear Hawkins was on the bench. Is Pooley not fit, not good enough, etc.?

[Hempstead Gaz]

Steady on Robert. Jack was heroic last year, especially at Wembley, where his experience counted for helping win the Trophy.

Whilst he may not be the quickest nowadays, like Macca, his positioning is invarably excellent - as proved a couple of times on Saturday.

I would like to see Pooley start on Tuesday though,

Possibly starting like this:

Cronin

Pooley McCarthy Charles Opinel

Moore Barrett Hand Long

Ibe Gash

Subs

Mott

Hawkins

Slatter

Appiah

Purcell

 

This is assuming

Smith, Ricketts and Stone and Shakes are all injured.

 

It shows what a good squad we have that we can replace those injured with equally talented players- my selection doesn't appear any weaker than any other 16 that could be avalable.

[kmj]

Strange then that he looked perfectly OK in the warm down after the stadium was virtually empty. I know. I watched him!

[Alan W (GNFC)]

I hope Liam has recorded the item on Match of the Day 2 tonight about Darren Bents flick ons not being followed up - they could have been talking about Gash , Purcell & Moore!

[hopeful]

Originally Posted By: Alan W (GNFC)

I hope Liam has recorded the item on Match of the Day 2 tonight about Darren Bents flick ons not being followed up - they could have been talking about Gash , Purce ll & Moore!

I may be wrong about this but m gash came to us from cambridge city because he was a goal scorer.So i thought moore, purcell, shakes,or anybody else who ventured forward would be providing the crosses or through balls for him to score for us.But no, everybody seems to think hes here as a target man to knock down or flick on balls to those around him,now we all know that those around him do not score goals in quantity, so WHY are we playing this way.

[rsheard]

Originally Posted By: Hempstead Gaz

Steady on Robert. Jack was heroic last year, especially at Wembley, where his experience counted for helping win the Trophy.
Whilst he may not be the quickest nowadays, like Macca, his positioning is invarably excellent - as proved a couple of times on Saturday.

Fair enough, Gary. All I'm saying is that in the 3.75 games Ricketts has played, no one has scored against us. In the 2.25 games Hawkins has played, we've given up 5 goals. I don't think that's entirely a coincidence, although I'm not suggesting Hawkins is to blame on his own.

[Richard C]

I agree.... just sooo much slower than Ricko, which counts for a lot at full back

[Hempstead Gaz]

Which is why why I would play Pooley if Ricko is still lame. Jack is an ideal sub these days, as he can cover anywhere in the back 4.

[thatguy]

I feel that ricketts played very well on saturday. Everyone fell asleep in the last 5 minutes. Thats what cost us 2 points.

[BustaGut]

Originally Posted By: thatguy

I feel that ricketts played very well on saturday. Everyone fell asleep in the last 5 minutes. Thats what cost us 2 points.

I am with you on this one, No one person was to blame, the team thought the points were won and relaxed. Big mistake!

[Bill Kent]

Peter was caught out of position on a number of occasions. Unfortunately Peter does not have the legs of Sacha to recover his ground quickly. Long ball over the top to the flanks with him out of position is a recipe for a disaster. Don't get me wrong, I think Peter Hawkins has a great footballing brain but his speed of getting back to cover has left him wanting. He should now be conserving his energy by remaining back in a defensive position instead of an attacking full back.

 

But that's my opinion. I'd love to be proved wrong come Tuesday.

Come on Peter prove me wrong.

[Hempstead Gaz]

Your opinion is spot on, Bill. Both Jack and Sacha were guily of pushing forward at around the 85 minute mark when we should have been consolidating, keeping our shape and possession, making the extra man count.

Instead, we were bombing forward from all angles, leaving huge gaps at the back which Oxford (and Mansfield) exploited.

I yearn for the day when we no longer need to learn lessons from mistakes, but close down games.