Oxford United v Ipswich Town
Saturday 21st January 2023 – 15:00
Kassam Stadium
Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike
Just when will this habit of throwing away points in the dying seconds end ? Once again a game in which we were pretty much comfortable in ends up all square thanks to an injury time goal which of course has to take a cruel deflection on route to the top corner of the net, if ever the words Groundhog Day were apt in Football it is Town in the 91st+ minute of a match, you almost expect it, I certainly did when Nine minutes flashed up on the board and so it proved.
I think there is a major mental flaw with our mindset when we have a lead to defend as the clock clicks down and this One factor alone could prove to be very costly indeed come May. I made the comment that I have One or Two concerns creeping into my thoughts where kieran McKenna is concerned and after a fair few days to reflect on it I stand by that.
He doesn't have the necessary nous to see out games, some of our substitutions are bizarre at times. I also do not for the life of me understand why when we are holding on do we still insist on trying to play the damn ball out from the back like we are Brazil or something, there is a time and a place and we need to hoof the damn thing a Hundred yards upfield and regroup, but no we do the stupid thing because it is the style he wants to play come what may and to try and play it when your keeper is having a mare and looking like he is on drugs throughout the game is stupid in the extreme, i made the point to HallamBlue fairly early in the game that Walton would cost us a goal and while that did not come to pass he was without question woeful, McKenna loves rotating things so maybe its time for Hladky to step in, he certainly looks far more assured with the ball at his feet than Walton does, a case of Horses for courses maybe.
The excitement prior to the Plymouth game was vast and everyone was wrapped up in it so to hear at 2pm that your new flagship striker was crocked was another kick in the wotsits, this is another area where I question the management at times, it is happening far to often that we sign a player and they are either unfit, injured, or injury prone and out within a week or Two, it is no good having a great striker on our hands in Six Months time, we need it now !!!! Luongo is by all accounts injury prone, Broadhead is the same, ball was the same and Ahadme has been nothing short of pointless, then we have Camara, we were warned he was injury prone when we signed him but we went through with the deal anyway. Sorry but I am not impressed and just don't get it.
Back to the Plymouth game and for me it was disappointing, our quality was naff, the passing poor, with Plymouth equally as bad, our style of play resorted to being up in the air all too often, how many times did Ladapo win a header only for nobody to be within a mile of him ? he gets enough stick from the Goon brigade as it is and it hardly helps his cause, Hirst came on and looked decent for Sixty Seconds but that was it. I thought despite the game being pretty poor we were by and large the better of Two poor teams, a point borne out by the Plymouth fans I spoke with on the train after the game, as already stated they thought defensively we were bad, enough said, no sh*t sherlock.
The result leaves us seven points off Plymouth with a game in hand so hardly dire while Sheff Wed continued their winning run to forge Four points ahead of us making our tie at home to the Owls all the more important. On a more positive note the Next Nine games genuinely do throw up the opportunity to go on a winning run, something we need to do but thus far have failed to do, winning a few in a row has proved elusive but with the likes of Oxford, Morecambe, Accrington, Cambridge, Bristol Rovers, Forest Green, MK Dons & Burton all coming up we have a gilt edge chance to adjust that scenario and in doing so putting us right back very much in the mix of the Promotion race, none of us want the lottery of the Play offs for sure and there is loads of time to ensure that does not happen, Plymouth fan are adamant they are going up, we need to be just as positive, having played them twice I am sure we are better than them and yet we have One point from those games, our mentality and steeliness needs to change immediately.
Next up is the first of those winnable games with our trip to Oxford Utd, after our convincing Three goal win at home I see no reason why we cannot do the double of them and claim the points, it's all still very much in our own hands and excuses are starting to wear thin, around Three more defeats would probably be ok and we need to make sure it is not in games like this where we come up short, I think we will see Town get the job done, as always it won't be easy, is it ever with us, I just hope we don't go into 7+ Minutes of Injury time One goal up, that would be a recipe for disaster as we are mentally frail. Fingers crossed Nathan Brodhead is fit to make his debut, I would love to see him slotted in just behind Ladapo with Chaplin the other side, that for me would definitely look like we had goals in the side which we clearly need as we know One is never enough for our biscuit defence. Town win. COYB'S
The Opposition – Oxford United Honours
Football League
Before the Premier League
Second Division: Champions 1984–85
Third Division: Champions 1967–68, 1983–84
Fourth Division: Promoted (3rd) 1964–65
After the formation of the Premier League
Division Two: Runners-up 1995–96
League Two: Runners-up 2015–16
Football Conference
Conference National play-off winners: 2009–10
Southern League
Premier Division Champions: 1952–53, 1960–61, 1961–62
Premier Division Runners-up: 1953–54, 1959–60
Cups
League Cup
Winners: 1985–86
Football League Trophy
Runners-up: 2015–16, 2016–17
Southern League Cup
Winners: 1952–53, 1953–54
The Manager – Karl Robinson
League Table
Form Guide
Oxford United
17 Dec Sheffield Wed 0 - 0 Oxford Utd
26 Dec Ipswich Town 3 - 0 Oxford Utd
29 Dec Oxford Utd 3 - 1 Charlton
1 Jan Oxford Utd 0 - 1 Exeter City
14 Jan Fleetwood 1 - 2 Oxford Utd
Ipswich Town
17 Dec Wycombe 1 - 0 Ipswich Town
26 Dec Ipswich Town 3 - 0 Oxford Utd
29 Dec Portsmouth 2 - 2 Ipswich Town
2 Jan Lincoln City 1 - 1 Ipswich Town
14 Jan Ipswich Town 1 - 1 Plymouth
Head to Head
Match Referee – Robert Madden
OXFORD UNITED 0 IPSWICH TOWN 2
