Away Match Day Thread 10/04/2023: L1 Port Vale v OUFC

[JOHN BOY]

Nobody is slagging off fans. I have said that I don’t think the numbers travelling is anything like it would be If times were better than what they are.

I’ll say it as I see it and 975 away at Vale on a bank holiday, when it’s a big 6 pointer imo, is not that impressive.

If people don’t want to go then don’t go but if I think the support is poor then I will use this ‘forum’ to express my opinion.

I think everyone was so pissed off during the Robinson reign and are finding it difficult to get any enthusiasm back.IMO

 

[Foley]

I guess I should have said from open play!!

Not sure anybody should care where goals come from?
I would settle for free kicks, corners and penalties if we win a couple of games.
Against Wednesday we looked pretty good from set pieces

 

[Foley]

With regard to crowds, I would have thought that a 10k crowd v Wednesday and 1k at Port Vale, based on our recent non winning run, are really good.
I suspect that there will be another very good crowd on Saturday
Moat clubs crowds go down in very poor seasons. Ours seem to have held up pretty well

 

[sonofivan]

Manning has impressed me in quickly making us hard to beat, the formation must not change as they are learning how to dig in and concede less. Negru was superb in his first start, so was Findlay. Brown will always be a good defender and Long will get stuck in defensively at least, but we are seriously struggling going forward.

It now needs emphasis on scoring more goals, as others have said Murphy and Wildschutt have had their chances and not taken them, they are offering little threat and can be used as options off the bench against tired legs instead.

I think Smyth can be key for us, I think our best chance is to allow Cam to push much further forward and get himself in and around the box.

Eastwood
Long Negru/Moore Findlay Brown
Smyth McGuane
Goodhram Brannagan Fleming
Odonkor

4-2-3-1 seems to have worked well defensively so I wouldn't want to change that, so it's finding something that might offer us more attacking threat.

I like the look of that lineup.

I also like 90s east coast rap music - (Up from the 36 chambers, it’s the Ghost Face Killah!!!)

 

[christenedinjericho]

I think everyone was so pissed off during the Robinson reign and are finding it difficult to get any enthusiasm back.IMO

So from your account of things its going to be nigh on impossible then getting a sustained Liam Manning's yellow and blue army chant at Barrow on a Tuesday evening in mid to late November later this year?

 

[uptheus]

With regard to crowds, I would have thought that a 10k crowd v Wednesday and 1k at Port Vale, based on our recent non winning run, are really good.
I suspect that there will be another very good crowd on Saturday
Moat clubs crowds go down in very poor seasons. Ours seem to have held up pretty well

Like you I don’t care where the goals come from, but we generally don’t look like scoring, especially from open play so I guess if we’re going to score it’ll probably be via a set piece whether that be a corner, free kick or penalty.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I said at a game a few weeks back that sometimes he doesn't seem to trust his own passing ability - he will often hold on a split second too long or drive toward the player he is passing to. We've seen a measurable upturn in his overall form this season, not least being more physical but he could be offering a lot more with that natural ability.

In what might be a forum first, I agree with you.

Does anyone else get the feeling like Marcus plays with the "brakes on", for want of a better phrase? Like he doesn't fully trust in his own ability to pick the right ball of cruise past someone, even though he seems sure to have these attributes.

 

[TailsWeWin]

In what might be a forum first, I agree with you.

Does anyone else get the feeling like Marcus plays with the "brakes on", for want of a better phrase? Like he doesn't fully trust in his own ability to pick the right ball of cruise past someone, even though he seems sure to have these attributes.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

In what might be a forum first, I agree with you.

Does anyone else get the feeling like Marcus plays with the "brakes on", for want of a better phrase? Like he doesn't fully trust in his own ability to pick the right ball of cruise past someone, even though he seems sure to have these attributes.

I think he’s more worried about his stats than anything. His pass completion percentage, total touches etc probably look great on a spreadsheet with zero context. His total goals and assists throughout his career going back to England youth are pretty dire - he never played anything resembling a holding role before the past year so that isn’t why. He was always a number 8.

There was a moment against SW last week when we had a throw in that the thrower was desperate to take quickly as there was space in behind for us to get down the side of their penalty area, but McGuane didn’t want it and slowly trotted back towards the halfway line. Someone else saw it and went bombing past him to make the run themselves - they were holding their position before that as they expected him to go for it - but by that point we had lost a bit of ground to a recovering defender and it wasn’t as effective as it should’ve been. He had a free run into acres of space and had no interest in it. He doesn’t tend to spin like a bottle top the way he did when he first showed up here, which is good, but he will generally pick a five or ten yard backwards pass than anything else. Which is a real shame as he has the attributes to be able to drive forward and break the lines. Every now and then he won’t have a choice but to carry the ball and most of the time he goes past people pretty easily. Sometimes you see players who just aren’t quite good enough but he isn’t one of them - he’s got all the raw materials and natural attributes necessary to succeed but doesn’t seem willing or able to let himself off the leash.

I would not be surprised if he ends up leaving on a free in a year’s time for somewhere like Charlton, so that he can just bob about in L1 while living back in London, but I think it would be a shame.

 

[uptheus]

I’m not even sure he thinks proactively from a footballing perspective! I actually think he’s in his own little world. The amount of times the coaching staff have to shout to him to get to get him to focus or make a move or pick up a player is unbelievable.

He’s got all the attributes (they were better before his injury) to be a great player, but I do wonder whether he’s got a proactive footballing brain.

 

[Foley]

Like you I don’t care where the goals come from, but we generally don’t look like scoring, especially from open play so I guess if we’re going to score it’ll probably be via a set piece whether that be a corner, free kick or penalty.

Yes probably.
That is why I am really surprised that some seem to want to leave Browne out.
He has contributed to both goals under Manning and put a couple of excellent free kicks in v Wednesday. Sky rightly in my view suggested that Browne was MoM and looked the most likely creator.
With Browne playing we look pretty dangerous ay free kicks ( and we know Cam can score from free kicks as well)

 

[unification]

We weren't playing Plymouth or Ipswich, we were away to a team who would have been only 3pts above us having played a game more if we had beaten them. Most clubs are above us at the moment.

It wasn't a disaster, but then again it certainly wasn't anything to write home about. Vale away was one of our easiest remaining fixtures, the manner of our attacking performance was disappointing.

That’s the biggest miss for me.

We could have dragged Port Vale into the maelstrom by beating them. Since we didn’t, we let them off the hook.

(I appreciate that this post doesn’t take into account us being second best for most of the game and relying on Eastwood to keep us in it.)

 

[spmox]

I think he’s more worried about his stats than anything. His pass completion percentage, total touches etc probably look great on a spreadsheet with zero context. His total goals and assists throughout his career going back to England youth are pretty dire - he never played anything resembling a holding role before the past year so that isn’t why. He was always a number 8.

There was a moment against SW last week when we had a throw in that the thrower was desperate to take quickly as there was space in behind for us to get down the side of their penalty area, but McGuane didn’t want it and slowly trotted back towards the halfway line. Someone else saw it and went bombing past him to make the run themselves - they were holding their position before that as they expected him to go for it - but by that point we had lost a bit of ground to a recovering defender and it wasn’t as effective as it should’ve been. He had a free run into acres of space and had no interest in it. He doesn’t tend to spin like a bottle top the way he did when he first showed up here, which is good, but he will generally pick a five or ten yard backwards pass than anything else. Which is a real shame as he has the attributes to be able to drive forward and break the lines. Every now and then he won’t have a choice but to carry the ball and most of the time he goes past people pretty easily. Sometimes you see players who just aren’t quite good enough but he isn’t one of them - he’s got all the raw materials and natural attributes necessary to succeed but doesn’t seem willing or able to let himself off the leash.

I would not be surprised if he ends up leaving on a free in a year’s time for somewhere like Charlton, so that he can just bob about in L1 while living back in London, but I think it would be a shame.

Thanks RB -agree with all of that. And I noticed that same moment/missed opportunity v Sheffield Wednesday.

If we were plying 4141 as we usually did with Gorrin sitting, then you never want that man bombing forward and exposing the back 4. But with 4231, as we are now, there should be more freedom for McGuane to sometimes progress higher up the pitch. But sadly I don't trust his passing ability- and, as you suggest, I don't he does either.

 

[spmox]

Thanks RB -agree with all of that. And I noticed that same moment/missed opportunity v Sheffield Wednesday.

If we were plying 4141 as we usually did with Gorrin sitting, then you never want that man bombing forward and exposing the back 4. But with 4231, as we are now, there should be more freedom for McGuane to sometimes progress higher up the pitch. But sadly I don't trust his passing ability- and, as you suggest, I don't he does either.

I don't think he does either

 

[Scotchegg]

Don’t be surprised by s**t support when it comes to this club when things aren’t going brilliantly.. @ECYellow

The majority sat in silence at the stadium & on social media whilst this club was ripped apart by an individual.

This is what we’ve got to show for it now. The club is on it’s a**e.

Maybe you and @ECYellow can chip in for a Supporter of the Year award and pass it between you a game at a time. You are both so obviously better than the rest of us "melts" who didn't go to Wycombe (oh, I forgot, you didn't either!!)

 

[ECYellow]

Maybe you and @ECYellow can chip in for a Supporter of the Year award and pass it between you a game at a time. You are both so obviously better than the rest of us "melts" who didn't go to Wycombe (oh, I forgot, you didn't either!!)

Whoa! Hang on a second, please refer to the post where I’ve described any of our supporters as ‘melts’.

…glad to see you’re feeling better Egg! Hope all went well.

 

[Scotchegg]

Whoa! Hang on a second, please refer to the post where I’ve described any of our supporters as ‘melts’.

…glad to see you’re feeling better Egg! Hope all went well.

It was Sub that was calling fellow supporters melts!

Spent yesterday in A&E and recovering a little today, but hope to be up to going tomorrow.

 

[ECYellow]

As for the ‘supporter of the year’ comment, I don’t really thinks it’s necessary or constructive.

I have given concise reasoning for why I think the support has been pretty poor, but like always, that is just my opinion.

I respect anyone of our supporters that spends their money watching the team.

 

[ECYellow]

It was Sub that was calling fellow supporters melts!

Spent yesterday in A&E and recovering a little today, but hope to be up to going tomorrow.

Good man! Fingers crossed you’re ok.