Pre-Match View From Oxford

“We don’t seem to be able to win against the sort of teams like Bristol still you wouldn’t bet against us beating Sheffield on Tuesday.”

“Very us to lose on Saturday then go beat Sheffield utd”

“CJW in town, a packed away end and what is starting to look like a ‘must-win’ match for OUFC if we’re going to make play-offs.
We’re gonna need another 25 points minimum from our last 13 games, and that is going to mean – in all probability – no more than 2 or 3 more defeats in total. We’re currently 9 points off Millwall with 2 games in hand. They are a decent side, and I would be very surprised if they ‘blew up’ on the run-in.
So it’s up to all involved to make Tuesday the first of a series of home game Cup finals. The whole club seemed like it was suffering a bit of a hangover yesterday.”

“Lose and our playoff hopes are realistically over. “

“Since he left, wilders sides have invariably given us ugly, physical games where he has had the last laugh. Its about time we wiped that self-satified smirk off his fat face.
But, After saturday’s bruisefest, i worry that we may not be able to combat their brand of strongarm skullthuggery, and if we continue to pitch up lifeless balls for a game of head tennis then we can expect a rough ride. We are best with the ball at our feet, moving it quickly down the wings. Hopefully, Hall will be fit which, with him and Johnson bombing on (unlike saturday) we can really get at them.”

“If we can’t get up for it vs Sheffield Utd when we have been playing well in L1, and on the eve of ANOTHER trip to Wembley, we might as well find another past time away from supporting a football team.”

“Maguire, Hall and Nelson all key players who missed Saturday through injury. Hemmings doesn’t play every minute but would probably have featured at some point.
We have a small squad and it certainly looked a bit bare yesterday but we’ve been getting away with it so far.”

“Would love to see us get a result on Tuesday but not seeing it currently unless we get back either Mags or Robbie Hall and Nelson from injury.” “Start any match with the wrong attitude complaining about the pitch and highlighting our injury list must be music to the oppositions lugholes.”

“Jake Wright has no doubt he has succeeded at Sheffield Utd. He would not have been a regular starter for us this season though and would have had limited resale value compared to say Nelson.” “So a player who is a regular – and key – player for the runaway champions elect would not have been a regular for the 9th placed side.”

“Jake has been a mainstay of the Sheff U side that is running away with the division – I note that the Blades have not lost a single one of the 20 odd games he has played. It requires a weird sort of arrogance to blithely state that every player we have in the squad is better than that. Martin? Raglan? Really? Ok – let’s see whether Wilder sees the error of his ways and snaps them up in the summer when they’re both available on a free!”

“Jake has done well at Bramall Lane, of that there is no doubt. However, he still would have been our fourth choice to begin the season, and there’s no doubt about that either. I think my point endures; a long-serving player and likely highest earner, sitting on the bench as fourth choice? It’s lovely if you can afford it! But; I will contend, also a PR nightmare if unhappy Jake is kept against his will and with a potential contract offer elsewhere. To whit, a “mistake” to keep him.”

“Fans are a lot more happier now that MAPP has got everything going his way on the pitch. If that miserable git Wilder was here we would be in the bottom half L2”

“to be fair his sheffield side are running away with this league as his northampton side did with league 2 last year”

“Common denominator – Alan knill”

“To pretend that the one obvious change from his time here vs his spells at Numptyton & SheffU is having Alan Knill as his assistant is not helpful. Wilder’s an unimaginative manager who is good at last-ditch stuff, as we saw. Knill clearly turns the pig’s ear into a silk purse.”

“I don’t think Wilder and co could have come close on what we have achieved in the last 3 years with Mapp, Eales and co.”

“Personally, I’ll always be happy that Wilder got us out of non-League and, to a lesser-extent, consolidated us a L2 side.
To claim he is in fact a poor manager reliant entirely on luck and/or his no2 is almost Stalinist in its rejection of facts. Or Trumpian, as I guess we’re now witnessing!”

“Unless CW takes Sheff Utd there or another Championship club on a Watford-esque roll, he is highly unlikely to manage in the top flight. He’s an old-fashioned manager who is a dying breed.
Appleton is tomorrow’s man. And if he learns – what, he must be 5 years behind CW in developement as a young manager – how to mix up styles of play and tactics (eg Wimbledon) and basically do the old-fashioned stuff more, I’m pretty convinvced he will manage in the PL.”

“I do think that the way Northampton play and have had success with thanks to Wilder is similar to how we played in 2013/14, playing physical and very effective defensive football, scoring on the counter. I couldn’t say for Sheffield United this season but it wouldn’t surprise me if they play similarly.”

“The stats they tell exactly the same story for Wilder. Northampton created very few chances all season (compared to the best team in the division….and several others). They were just extremely clinical. And the wheels never fell off, rather they kept it up all year!
[not true this year, though – stats would suggest that Sheffield United are a genuinely top team is all respects]
As far as we’re concerned…..the stats would suggest that we’re playing really well at both ends of the pitch. If we were a bit more clinical and, dare we say it, a bit luckier – we’d be in the promotion hunt.”

“Fair play to him. Northampton werent the biggest team and he got them promoted. Sheff Utd though are arguably one of the top 3 sides in our league and anything less than promotion will be a failure. If he gets them in the top 8 of the Championship then he can be regarded as a good manager.”

“It’s their sixth season down here, they have cut their budget after other managers spent big and failed, if he gets them up and keeps them up (given the gap between league one and the championship) then he has done a hell of a job.”

“It was widely reported that Sheff Utd had the biggest budget in the league last season, 3 times the average for League one. They were paying an average of nearly 5,000 pounds per week. Yes they brought in around 4 million with the sales of Adams and Calvert-Lewin, but appear to have the same 25 man sized squad from last season.
Their average attendance would put them in the top half of attendances in the Championship. But being in the Championship I would hasten to guess their average attendance would be around the 25,000 mark.
If they get promoted, we will see how good a manager he is.”

“He took Northampton up last year. He’s done nothing else of note. He’s doing OK with Sheff Utd at the moment, but no better than most of his predecessors.
Biggest ego, and most conceited arsewipe in lower league football? Yeah, he’d win that one hands down.”

“He’s a fantastic manager. He has the biggest ego sure. But his achievements with Northampton last year were stunning.
He’d come to the end of his time with us, but the guy has talent. “

“No one can deny he is a very good manager, but I still don’t like him!”