Oxford United fate now out of their hands

9:30am Monday 23rd April 2012 in Sport Photograph of the Author By David Pritchard, Chief Sports Reporter covering Oxford United. Follow us on twitter: @oxfordmailoufc. Call me on 01865 425458

Oxford goalkeeper Wayne Brown cannot believe it as a Plymouth free-kick in just the second minute takes a wicked deflection and leaves him stranded Oxford goalkeeper Wayne Brown cannot believe it as a Plymouth free-kick in just the second minute takes a wicked deflection and leaves him stranded

OXFORD United’s League Two play-off aspirations are in the hands of others after they only drew 1-1 at struggling Plymouth on Saturday.

The U’s fell behind in the second minute and although they were the better side following Asa Hall’s spectacular equaliser, could not find a winner.

And with Crewe beating Cheltenham, United – who have not won for five matches – find themselves out of the top seven for the first time since January with just two games remaining.

Boss Chris Wilder remains upbeat, but knows his side have to turn their fortunes around quickly.

“Overall, we’ve played OK again, but we’re into the stage of the season where OK’s not really good enough,” Wilder said. “It’s always about winning games and we have to go and win two of them.”

The United boss was keen to stress all was not lost for the club’s play-off hopes, with Crewe facing a tough trip to fourth-placed Torquay this Saturday.

“The picture will change next week and the week after. We’ve just got to stick in there and dig in,” he said.

“It’s tough at the moment for the players, it’s not a great run we’ve been on.

“Yet again the performance has been there against a side on a decent run fighting for their lives – look at Plymouth’s celebrations at getting Football League status.

“We’re down – of course we are because we expect high standards and wins. But sometimes you have to take yourself out of it a bit as well.”

He added: “As always, you get judged on winning football matches and we just haven’t got that killer instinct in the final third at the moment .

“We should be putting teams to bed and getting the results that pretty much the majority of the performances deserve.”

While cutting edge in the final third is one area which requires attention, so is the side’s habit of conceding early goals.

Robbie Williams’ deflected free-kick inside 90 seconds was the third time in five games that the U’s had fallen behind in the opening three minutes.

Wilder said: “It’s another really poor goal to give away.

“We lost the ball in a poor area, instead of turning teams round we took a chance and obviously there was a big deflection off the wall to send Browny (Wayne Brown) the wrong way.”

Comments(24)

LeGod says...
9:44am Mon 23 Apr 12

The REDS are going up.

Well Oxford fans for all your bragging,boasting and constant abuse on our forum at STFC the season couldnt have been sweeter for us on saturday we get promoted and you drop out the play off spot, the timing was perfect.
Quite honestly i want you to go up so we can have our local derbies but i think it is going to be a long time before we play each other again as i think you will be in L2 for a long while as the teams coming down will be strong next season and i think Rovers will be one of the teams pushing for the top 3 with McGee in charge.

Never mind you Yellows you can still do it but unlikely i feel and would you have the squad to compete in L1. I get this felling with your club you are happy to be in L2.

Be prepared for another climb up the L1 table from us as we invest in a number of new players and clear out some of the exisiting squad.

As i always say to you Yellows

FOREVER IN OUR SHADOW

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gnash21 says...
10:14am Mon 23 Apr 12

HAHA scumdom fans have fun next season when Di canio leaves for West Ham and so do all yours players leave that Di Canio brought it. He has also spent all your money! Look at Chesterfield they spent all there money last season then are coming back down this season. Plus you couldn't even beat Chesterfield in the tin pot trophy! 2 games to go. 6 points. Crewe and Cheltenham to lose on Saturday, Oxford to win and we are right back in it. Wait till May 5th when its all over!

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LeGod says...
10:44am Mon 23 Apr 12

Get this fascination out of your head that Di Canio is going so we didnt beat chesterfield but we beat Huddersfield 4-1 beat Bristol City 3-1 beat Colchester 1-0 beat Wigan 2-1 all in the cups so what does that tell you.

For all you demented fans of the Yellows how many times do you have to be told we sold players last season for 2.5 million ll the players that have come in this season have been free transfers apart from three all of which cost a combined fee of 250k we have bigger crowds than you with bigger revenue with bigger sponsorship and we are well within the wage cap.

So get your facts right you are just jealous that we have got back to L1 at the forst attempt.

You will draw at the best saturday and even if you do get in the play offs there are teams playing better than you at the moment ie Crewe and i can see them going all the way and they have been even better since bodin went there on loan from us and it would be sweet if you did get to the final Bodin gets the winner to send all you Yellows into despair and crying for all of us to see on TV.

FOREVER IN OUR SHADOW

PAOLO DI CANIO

By the way as you are so misinformed he is just about to sign a new contract.

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badger86 says...
11:17am Mon 23 Apr 12

LeGod wrote:
Get this fascination out of your head that Di Canio is going so we didnt beat chesterfield but we beat Huddersfield 4-1 beat Bristol City 3-1 beat Colchester 1-0 beat Wigan 2-1 all in the cups so what does that tell you.

For all you demented fans of the Yellows how many times do you have to be told we sold players last season for 2.5 million ll the players that have come in this season have been free transfers apart from three all of which cost a combined fee of 250k we have bigger crowds than you with bigger revenue with bigger sponsorship and we are well within the wage cap.

So get your facts right you are just jealous that we have got back to L1 at the forst attempt.

You will draw at the best saturday and even if you do get in the play offs there are teams playing better than you at the moment ie Crewe and i can see them going all the way and they have been even better since bodin went there on loan from us and it would be sweet if you did get to the final Bodin gets the winner to send all you Yellows into despair and crying for all of us to see on TV.

FOREVER IN OUR SHADOW

PAOLO DI CANIO

By the way as you are so misinformed he is just about to sign a new contract.
I'm looking forward to not being in the same division as you lot and having to skim past your banal posts on this website.

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LeGod says...
11:17am Mon 23 Apr 12

with all due respect gnash21 Chesterfield have spent most of their time in L2 and dont have the know how to survive in the league whereas we have alot of knowledge about the league and Di Canio is intelligent and a quick learner. If you honestly think he is not going to change our squad for L1 then again you are more deluded than i already think. For you information there are alot of players that now we are promoted want to play for Paolo so be prepared for some big names coming in and our progress up the league. Unfortutnatley you cant say the same about your manager as lets face who knows him.

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS WITH PAOLO'S ARMY

FOREVER IN OUR SHADOW

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Abingdon Voter says...
11:33am Mon 23 Apr 12

Deluded, sad and quite frankly boring boring Sw*ndon fans. Not an ounce of dignity amongst the lot of them. Quite frankly, embarassing vitriol. It'll all be quite sad if it wasn't so pitiful trolling.

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gnash21 says...
11:42am Mon 23 Apr 12

LeGod you make me laugh. Just because someone is going to sign a contract doesn't mean they are going to stay. Good luck next season. Bankrupt and bottom of the league just like you were last season. I just love the way that all scum fans read the OXFORD mail. Can't your 6 fingered writers make a newpaper good enough to read!

OTID
COYY

I would rather be dead then follow the scum.

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AylesburyOx says...
12:00pm Mon 23 Apr 12

LeGod wrote:
The REDS are going up. Well Oxford fans for all your bragging,boasting and constant abuse on our forum at STFC the season couldnt have been sweeter for us on saturday we get promoted and you drop out the play off spot, the timing was perfect. Quite honestly i want you to go up so we can have our local derbies but i think it is going to be a long time before we play each other again as i think you will be in L2 for a long while as the teams coming down will be strong next season and i think Rovers will be one of the teams pushing for the top 3 with McGee in charge. Never mind you Yellows you can still do it but unlikely i feel and would you have the squad to compete in L1. I get this felling with your club you are happy to be in L2. Be prepared for another climb up the L1 table from us as we invest in a number of new players and clear out some of the exisiting squad. As i always say to you Yellows FOREVER IN OUR SHADOW
Really don't care about Swindon. Well done on going up - staying up will be alot tougher...obviously!


Frankly we were awful on Saturday and looked like a team of strangers again. Nonsense high balls, little movement and too many players going missing for large periods of the match.

The goal was unfortunate as you can't do much about a big deflection like that but why the hell go in two footed on the edge of the box - just asking for trouble!

Thankfully Plymouth failed to take advantage of us being all at sea (pun intended!) but could so easily have been 0-2 inside 15 minutes.

Goal by Hall was a bit special but outside of that it was a poor first half display.

Second half looked a lot brighter and Oxford had from 45 minutes to 70 minutes to win the game in as Plymouth were spent. However yet again we were goal shy and tried to do the hard stuff. People will sight that the freekick that hit the inside of the post was unlucky but where was the man following up to tap it home?! We must push up and attack teams!

Last 20 minutes were a no show and a constant stream of high balls and wasteful crosses, which considering we needed to win was frankly an insult to the travelling fans.

1-1 was a fair result but Plymouth will be harder to beat next season.

Realistically we'd be in trouble if we went up but more to the point we don't deserve it.

Wilder - you must MUST employ an Attacking Coach!

High points - the band before the game, nice half time pasty and Halls goal

Low points - Constable going off injured, sloppy passes and little desire

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eatmygoal says...
2:21pm Mon 23 Apr 12

As I have said before: Sad really, isn't it? Rounded off an excellent season with promotion - probably as champions, but their mindset is to come here and act in an undignified, ungracious manner. Speaks volumes. Regarding the rivalry, when it resumes, we will continue what we have done all season - do our talking on the pitch, where it matters, not with tawdry trolling around the internet.

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dave from witney says...
2:55pm Mon 23 Apr 12

Wilder say's 'Saturday was o.k.', well it was not ok. If taking the game to them for under a third of the game is ok on such a vital fixture at this time of the season, then he is not the man for the job. Any other team around the playoffs would have ripped them apart. Oxford fans are critisised for expecting too much, but to line up with three loan signings as your attack, thirty appearances and five goals between them just about sums up Wilder's ability to spot and sign a decent forward. Not good enough by a long shot, even if by some fluke we make the play-offs he seems to have completely lost his way.

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LondonOX says...
3:00pm Mon 23 Apr 12

Some big games this weekend so its not over yet. Torquay V Crewe. Yellows v Southend. We're on the slide and we know it but there is still a chance of a Playoff spot..

Just like to add that the first post on here is outstanding. First paragraph you moan about Oxford fans going on to Swinedump website and gloating, abusing ect but you're doing exactly the same thing you're moaning about! Reeks of hypocrisy LeNob. You seem to be obsessed with this website.

I couldn't careless how PDC's reds get on. I'm not interested & nor will he be as soon as a bigger offer comes along.

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support your local team says...
3:44pm Mon 23 Apr 12

STFC have in the past week achieved promotion in a manner befitting their club. Nothing like a bit of class.......

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oldun says...
4:06pm Mon 23 Apr 12

Many congratulations to Swindon and the many sensible fans amongst them - a great season for you (save possibly for all of those defeats - yes, fewer than we have had) . Could you do another Chesterfield (or Wycombe?) . Unless United go up (I suspect that we will do so) this will have been a very disappointing season - ending below some (ues, yes) very small clubs - and one big (by 4th div standards) one . Cheltenham, Crawley and Torquay have done superbly for tiny clubs - Stevenage even better

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A Scroat says...
4:55pm Mon 23 Apr 12

dave from witney wrote:
Wilder say's 'Saturday was o.k.', well it was not ok. If taking the game to them for under a third of the game is ok on such a vital fixture at this time of the season, then he is not the man for the job. Any other team around the playoffs would have ripped them apart. Oxford fans are critisised for expecting too much, but to line up with three loan signings as your attack, thirty appearances and five goals between them just about sums up Wilder's ability to spot and sign a decent forward. Not good enough by a long shot, even if by some fluke we make the play-offs he seems to have completely lost his way.
Dave, I could not have put it better. Perhaps the management did not want to go up this year because the games I have seen lately have been Conference standard. Shame we can't find a striker that is not on loan because we certainly don't have a signed one.

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oldun says...
5:01pm Mon 23 Apr 12

Expect too much?. We are very long- suffering - not a sleeping giant - a comatose one ! We have settled for far from second best

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mandate says...
5:09pm Mon 23 Apr 12

Regardless of whether we are in League 1 or 2 next season, we need a huge clear out of players during the summer.

The only players worth keeping are Clarke, Whing, Wright, Leven, Hall, Chapman, Constable and Potter. The rest of them can look for new clubs as far as I'm concerned.

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mandate says...
5:13pm Mon 23 Apr 12

You will notice that the above players were all with us at the start of the season. The loanees have been bad replacements.

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adlibber says...
5:33pm Mon 23 Apr 12

Wilder is a walking cliché he seems to continuously point to bad luck,injuries,tough opponents for the lame performances yet rarely holds his hands up for his tactics and selection mistakes.Signing so many loan players hasn't really worked out and Constable's demise is pretty shocking. As I've said many times I like Wilder as a person but I really do think his failure to halt the slide at such an important stage of the season has exposed his weaknesses. I think if we miss out on play offs it's time for a change.

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The Manager says...
10:14pm Mon 23 Apr 12

Wilder has made good signings since he has been with us but he does not play a formation that could bring out the best in them, such as playing strikers as wingers and then moving them on also having personal issues with other players which is not good for the and one more item is his reaction to fans when they have dig at him when things are going against us. All of you must also remember that he wan't exactly an experienced manager when he came to Oxford and the coaches that are here with him have also had about the same amount of experience which has not really helped. Keep it plain, keep it simple for the last two games and who knows.

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sdyerUsa says...
2:45am Tue 24 Apr 12

It can't be good for our players to keep loosing there places to "on lone Players" who go right into the team. I hate this about the game. How can you expect an on loan player to come here and give his all in place of someone like beano who is LOYAL to our club. I like Wilder but he needs to be more consistent, SPEND a few pounds get good Players and stick with them through there lean times and they will pay you back for your loyalty. Just look at some of the forwards we let go after degrading them and replacing them with loan players. We need a Team of OXFORD UNITED players. So spend some of that cash that the fans generate next season. Its almost like there is no urgency to go up at all ?. Sad.

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sdyerUsa says...
2:46am Tue 24 Apr 12

It can't be good for our players to keep loosing there places to "on lone Players" who go right into the team. I hate this about the game. How can you expect an on loan player to come here and give his all in place of someone like beano who is LOYAL to our club. I like Wilder but he needs to be more consistent, SPEND a few pounds get good Players and stick with them through there lean times and they will pay you back for your loyalty. Just look at some of the forwards we let go after degrading them and replacing them with loan players. We need a Team of OXFORD UNITED players. So spend some of that cash that the fans generate next season. Its almost like there is no urgency to go up at all ?. Sad.

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bigchet says...
11:58am Tue 24 Apr 12

stfc are fortunate that the points accrued before their blip in form were enough of a cushion to carry them through, but good luck to them as the table does not lie. some of their fans seem to think that they have won div1 before they have got there but its a hard div to get out of so i would suggest they wait and see. i think that de canio will still be there as i imagine bigger clubs would be wary as his disciplinary record as a player was poor his fan club may say it shows his passion but i think it is just stupidity. maybe he has learnt from this as it is hard to discipline players when your record will not stand up to scrutiny.

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mandate says...
2:45pm Tue 24 Apr 12

I think it is time for Oxford to look for a new manager. I'm certain somebody can get more out of our players than Wilder does. I wonder if Dennis Smith would fancy another term at Oxford.

Bad news for stfc, Di Canio will NOT be manager next season. He was already considering leaving Swindon after the Wembley loss. Cementing promotion only adds merit to his cv. I hope that stfc is already looking for a summer replacement. Mark Yates is a name to remember.

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yellowhoods says...
3:06pm Wed 25 Apr 12

Wilder out!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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