We went out with a whimper, says Oxford chairman Thomas (From The Oxford Times)
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We went out with a whimper, says Oxford chairman Thomas
8:30am Monday 7th May 2012 in Oxford United
By David Pritchard, Chief Sports Reporter covering Oxford United. Follow us on twitter: @oxfordmailoufc. Call me on 01865 425458
Peter Leven sums up the feeling shared by Oxford United’s players, management, staff and fans after their play-off dream ended at Port Vale on Saturday
Oxford United chairman Kelvin Thomas will be looking to help recruit some “stronger” players during the summer in a bid to avoid a repeat of this season’s disappointing finish.
A 3-0 defeat at Port Vale on the final day extended United’s winless run to seven games – with only rock bottom Macclesfield Town below them in the npower League Two’s form table during the run-in.
It saw the U’s blow a four-point cushion over Crewe Alexandra, whose 16-game unbeaten run saw them finish four points in front to set up a play-off semi-final against Southend United.
Thomas, who felt performances earlier in the season were worthy of a side heading for automatic promotion, was dejected with the way the season panned out.
“We’re all disappointed with the way we’ve finished and (against Port Vale) we went out with a bit of a whimper, so we’ve got to put that right,” he said.
“This is a setback really and we’ve got to see how we come back from it.
“We’ve got to find some stronger players who can finish the season off better.”
The U’s chief stressed it was important not to over-react and did not expect wholesale changes to the playing staff during the close season.
Thomas will be meeting manager Chris Wilder this week to begin the task of learning from the season to make sure improvements are made in time for the new campaign.
He said: “We’ve got to be fitter and stronger.
“We’ve had too many injuries and we’ve got to look at the department as a whole, from the playing side and look at how to improve.
“I think over the last seven or eight games the performances haven’t been terrible, but we haven’t scored when we needed to and I don’t think we’ve finished strongly enough, that’s plain to see.
“We are low and hurting as a football club. But we will be positive, this isn’t a case of clearing everything out and starting again.
“We’ve improved on last season – not by enough – but we have to use those experiences to get better.”
l Port Vale v United match report: Pages 38-39 l More reaction: Page 37 l The four games United will rue: Page 36
Comments(46)
sprouts
says...
9:41am Mon 7 May 12
Well, that's not the players' fault, is it? So, who else, ...
dave from witney
says...
10:02am Mon 7 May 12
Brenda Jackson
says...
10:10am Mon 7 May 12
'Haven't been terrible' ? i can think of one or two at least i could describe as 'terrible' - Problem is, when you're manager or Chairman of a Club it's in your interests to Promote it, and there's little in Kelvins statement that inspires me or convinces me next season will be significantly better. If you want to shift some season tickets there needs to be a 'statement of intent' and to do that we need a few 'marque signings' on contracts, not on loan mercenries or young lads!!
Joe1
says...
10:22am Mon 7 May 12
sprouts
says...
10:46am Mon 7 May 12
dave from witney wrote:Yes, I think you're right. You can really sense in KT's quotes how he is walking a tightrope. His concerns are clearly with issues that are the responsibility of the management team. On the other hand, he is obviously struggling to not draw the obvious conclusions. That's a tough position to be in.
I suppose this means Wilder is staying, too expensive to get rid of him. Not sure I agree with BigAl that we have seen an improvement this year, apart from the odd flash of determination it's been pretty uninspiring. The strikers, with the exception of Hall during his loan spell have never got it together and the least said about the other loanees the better.
OX3
says...
10:47am Mon 7 May 12
AylesburyOx
says...
10:47am Mon 7 May 12
'performances haven't been terrible'
What planet are you on?! They've been rubbish since since the turn of the new year and the last time I can say I saw Oxford perform with any real conviction (Swindon game aside) was AFC Wimbledon away.
I expect better than 'not been terrible' in fact I expect 100% from you, the coaching staff, chairman and players. It costs me and fellow Oxford fans thousands of pounds a season in ticket money, petrol, food and drink, programmes and giving money to the club for things like the 12th man to be presented with performances like Port Vale, Torquay, Gillingham, Morecambe - essential, winnable games and what happens? Excuse on excuse.
I want 100% from the top on down -
I want to hear how purchasing the stadium is going, with a target date for completion.
I want to hear about a scouting network and links to local sides; look at Brackley, look at Oxford City; have we spotted some talent from them?
I want to see new coaches getting hired, those with experience, who can train the strikers to hit the back of the net and the midfielders complete more passes.
I want to see the future prospects of the clubs; the youth players and them being given the opportunity in the first team over loan signings.
I want honest players; those that train hard and give it their all on a match day and a dedicated manager who punishes those that don't.
When I start to see those things I'll start believing that Kelvin Thomas and Chris Wilder are the people to get this club back to what it once was.
yellowhoods
says...
11:11am Mon 7 May 12
adlibber
says...
12:29pm Mon 7 May 12
Brian Gibbs
says...
2:02pm Mon 7 May 12
BigAlBiker
says...
2:32pm Mon 7 May 12
Some of them had to be relatives of CW as they did nothing to enhance the team at all, in fact some of them were downright useless and should have been done for fraud, football players they were not.
yellowhoods
says...
2:44pm Mon 7 May 12
BigAlBiker wrote:Pointless but thanks
Apart from Robbie Hall and Lee Holmes the rest of the players brought in by CW would not have made Oxford City's team this afternoon. Some of them had to be relatives of CW as they did nothing to enhance the team at all, in fact some of them were downright useless and should have been done for fraud, football players they were not.
BigAlBiker
says...
2:47pm Mon 7 May 12
yellowhoods wrote:Pleasure, as always.
BigAlBiker wrote:Pointless but thanks
Apart from Robbie Hall and Lee Holmes the rest of the players brought in by CW would not have made Oxford City's team this afternoon. Some of them had to be relatives of CW as they did nothing to enhance the team at all, in fact some of them were downright useless and should have been done for fraud, football players they were not.
Brenda Jackson
says...
2:59pm Mon 7 May 12
AylesburyOx wrote:Agree with everything you say, when it suits, Chairmen and managers refer to 'Your Club' as though Supporters own it- in reality it is a business like any other and i don't think we are getting value for money. There's no structure to the Club, and the reserve team is to be disbanded next season, meaning even less chance for Youth and trial players to prove their worth.
Sorry that's just a f*cking insult to loyal Oxford fans - Thomas and Wilder get over yourselves you are not bigger than the club and certainly not the week-in week-out mugs like myself who pay your wages! 'performances haven't been terrible' What planet are you on?! They've been rubbish since since the turn of the new year and the last time I can say I saw Oxford perform with any real conviction (Swindon game aside) was AFC Wimbledon away. I expect better than 'not been terrible' in fact I expect 100% from you, the coaching staff, chairman and players. It costs me and fellow Oxford fans thousands of pounds a season in ticket money, petrol, food and drink, programmes and giving money to the club for things like the 12th man to be presented with performances like Port Vale, Torquay, Gillingham, Morecambe - essential, winnable games and what happens? Excuse on excuse. I want 100% from the top on down - I want to hear how purchasing the stadium is going, with a target date for completion. I want to hear about a scouting network and links to local sides; look at Brackley, look at Oxford City; have we spotted some talent from them? I want to see new coaches getting hired, those with experience, who can train the strikers to hit the back of the net and the midfielders complete more passes. I want to see the future prospects of the clubs; the youth players and them being given the opportunity in the first team over loan signings. I want honest players; those that train hard and give it their all on a match day and a dedicated manager who punishes those that don't. When I start to see those things I'll start believing that Kelvin Thomas and Chris Wilder are the people to get this club back to what it once was.
Forget the Stadium, we're told that 'It's getting nearer'- But the proverbial goal posts keep getting shifted!
Mac27
says...
3:20pm Mon 7 May 12
clarke
dubery
davis
leven
whing
hall
j.p.pittman
craddock
every one else go take a run and jump! and why hasnt tyrone marsh been given a go.?
rather bring in lewis guy or morgan on loan total joke!
yellowhoods
says...
4:51pm Mon 7 May 12
oldun
says...
4:52pm Mon 7 May 12
BigAlBiker
says...
5:02pm Mon 7 May 12
yellowhoods wrote:One can hope.
Just said on the radio the club making a statement in one hour, wilder has quit his post
oldun
says...
6:25pm Mon 7 May 12
northampton yellow
says...
7:03pm Mon 7 May 12
BenkiuGuasu
says...
7:17pm Mon 7 May 12
secondly, there is no club announcement.
thirdly, wilder is going nowhere.
fourthly, CHRIS WILDER MY LORD...CHRIS WILDER.....CHRIS WILDER MY LORD...CHRIS WILDER!!!!!!!!!!
Brenda Jackson
says...
8:03pm Mon 7 May 12
yellowhoods
says...
8:11pm Mon 7 May 12
BenkiuGuasu wrote:Sad
firstly, yellow hoods is a swindon fan. secondly, there is no club announcement. thirdly, wilder is going nowhere. fourthly, CHRIS WILDER MY LORD...CHRIS WILDER.....CHRIS WILDER MY LORD...CHRIS WILDER!!!!!!!!!!
AylesburyOx
says...
8:38pm Mon 7 May 12
Brenda Jackson wrote:Haven't seen that. Shall have a look. Cheers
aylesburyox -If you didn't know there's a mention of your post on 'yellows Forum' Under the management section - 'Official our players are wimps' thread. Do you post on there already?
mandate
says...
2:20am Tue 8 May 12
How is it possible that clubs like Cheltenham, Torquay and Crewe, with less than half the player budgets and fanbase, finish in the play-offs?
Thousands of loyal fans turn up at the Kassam week after week. Season ticket sales are already at high levels for next season. I want to know where all this money goes?
It is time for Kelvin Thomas to either make major investments in the club, or stand down.
Oxford United are far to big a club to be stuck in League 2. If the chairman and management can't get us to where we should be, then I think it's time for them all to leave the club, and get people in who are dedicated to making a serious go of making Oxford United FC a club to be proud of again.
Megastar07
says...
5:15am Tue 8 May 12
The money goes on the stadium
oldun
says...
7:38am Tue 8 May 12
BigAlBiker
says...
8:25am Tue 8 May 12
Oxford Male
says...
8:56am Tue 8 May 12
BigAlBiker wrote:Brilliant. Bet no one has ever thought of that before.
Rumour has it the cost to Kassam is £450,000 per annum, thats a few quality players wth wages out the door, time to target wealthy business people or corprorations and get the stadium purchased and renamed.
Do you honestly think that people at the club have not been working on this for years. Perhaps the blame should be placed on those that negotiated the deal with Kassam and came to the agreed figure of £13m (or around that amount) for the future purchase of the stadium. Or those that claim to have forced Kassam out - he had always said that he would only sell the football club and stadium together. But look what happened.
Pity we didn't have better negotiators representing OUFC at the time.
Tarkus
says...
9:09am Tue 8 May 12
Why did we bring a player in with a long throw & keeper whose kicks where acurate & long, then drop the most likely ball winner in the air & best holding it up i.e. Rendell. Also We should have started Johnson & Monatanio both have pace to burn which we lacked.
Why didn't Chapman start? He's more mobile than Leven & can deliver a killer ball, so play both!
If Asa Hall scores great but if he doesn't then the rest of his game is not strong enough, especially in tackling.
Ab Boy
says...
9:36am Tue 8 May 12
You have to go into the game believing 100% that Crewe MIGHT drop points so you MUST win your game and see what happens!!
The players played like they knew it was a lost cause and you have to blame the manager for that!!!
Crewe were very lucky to get their draw on Sat and at 2-1 down very nearly went 3-1 down and how would the players felt then!!!
Total lack of professionalism by all at the club!!!
When Swindon had to get over the line to win it they dug deep and managed it and I believe that was the difference over the season between the two teams.
One wanted it and they played for their manager who's motavation and tactics were spot on and the other team were only really up for some big games!!
Its not winning some big games that win you the league, its those horrible away Tuesday night games in the winter that count!!!
oldun
says...
9:43am Tue 8 May 12
horsham
says...
9:55am Tue 8 May 12
Mac27 wrote:Mac27, you are wrong about Jake Wright, he is the sort of player that Oxford DO need next season.
wilder out take your favourite jake wright with u! aylesbury ox spot on post!players worth keeping
clarke
dubery
davis
leven
whing
hall
j.p.pittman
craddock
every one else go take a run and jump! and why hasnt tyrone marsh been given a go.?
rather bring in lewis guy or morgan on loan total joke!
Manchester Yellow
says...
12:17pm Tue 8 May 12
oldun
says...
12:25pm Tue 8 May 12
Manchester Yellow
says...
12:32pm Tue 8 May 12
oldun wrote:I agree oldun. All I'm saying is that it takes time to build a sustainable successful club. We're a few years into that programme. What would be the point of being promoted into League 1 and then coming straight back down again because the club's/ team's not ready? Like Wycombe. Would set us back further. And as we found out to our detriment 2006-10, just because we are a big club, that doesn't give us a right to be in the league. Don't rate the idea of change for change sake, and CW has been loyal to us, so we should show him some loyalty.
Many of those 15 clubs are traditionally 4th tier or non league clubs with gates of 4000 . As such they probably understand that they are doing very well , thank you. Rovers, Argyle and Bradford fans might think like us - but they have all very recently been in the third tier . We are the long-term underachievers of the division - aren't we? Last in third tier 2000-2001 .
oldun
says...
12:39pm Tue 8 May 12
Major Oxford
says...
12:57pm Tue 8 May 12
adlibber
says...
1:05pm Tue 8 May 12
mandate
says...
11:46pm Tue 8 May 12
As for Chris Wilder, I truly believe he is not the right man for the managerial position.
We need a manager like Dennis Smith back in charge. He was a superb manager and was totally respected by all.
Chris is relatively inexperienced as a manager and would do well to learn is trade from the likes of Dennis Smith.
As for the chairman Kelvin clown, I feel the club would be in a better place if he was to start showing some real commitment to the club. A good start would be by having talks with Barnet FC about buying Izale McLeod. He would be a fantastic asset to the team next season.
LeGod
says...
10:44am Wed 9 May 12
You've only been up from the conference a couple of seasons.
No club is too big for any league if you dont earn the right to be where you think you should be then you shouldnt be there.
So Sheff Weds for example should be in the premier league as they would pulll in crowds of 40000 so does that mean they should be there-No- there team isnt good enough.
you have to earn the right and Oxford arent good enough to be in a highere division otherwise you would have been top 3 this season.
You can always change your support to a team down the road who play in Red as we are going up.
Bye bye mandate. Next season the clubs pushing will be Rotherham-Rovers-Ply
mouth and Chesterfield and whichever team is left behind from this seasons play offs.
Brenda Jackson
says...
12:37pm Wed 9 May 12
mandate wrote:Agree with you, especially about the lack of ambition.
I'm not negative, I just feel passionate about Oxford United. If other Oxford fans feel it is acceptable for us to have not played in a higher division than League 2 since 2001, then maybe they have'nt been Oxford fans for so long. As for Chris Wilder, I truly believe he is not the right man for the managerial position. We need a manager like Dennis Smith back in charge. He was a superb manager and was totally respected by all. Chris is relatively inexperienced as a manager and would do well to learn is trade from the likes of Dennis Smith. As for the chairman Kelvin clown, I feel the club would be in a better place if he was to start showing some real commitment to the club. A good start would be by having talks with Barnet FC about buying Izale McLeod. He would be a fantastic asset to the team next season.
And when a Clubs' manager rubbishes their History yet keeps harping on about 'where we were' before he came in you know we have a problem.
Ignore the trolls, what a sad life
they must lead coming on here just to have a dig or two.
I'm considering whether to re-new my season ticket, i have not heard anything that encourages me to do so yet.
oldun
says...
12:58pm Wed 9 May 12
yellowhoods
says...
2:03pm Wed 9 May 12
BenkiuGuasu
says...
1:33am Fri 11 May 12
BigAlBiker says...
9:23am Mon 7 May 12