MATCHWATCH : Oxford United (h)

[Winston Biscuit]

I couldn't tell you what a Reading game plan looks like. I think its mostly just get the ball and hope someone somewhere is in space that can be passed to and then see how that works out

[leon]

Must've been watching a different game to most as I quite enjoyed it last night.

Wasn't the best, certainly wasn't the worst. Just another game.

Does make me laugh to see so many people* in the lead up to the game saying we're going to get absolutely battered, once they score it's game over, we've got no chance, etc...

Yet, after the game a lot of the same people* are bemoaning picking up a point.

*people being idiots on social media.

I haven't seen a decent team all season. L1 is absolutely shit. You just need to be vaguely organised and be able to pass and tackle a bit.

Did you enjoy our ~20% possession in the second half?

Thought Portsmouth looked pretty decent up until the last 30 minutes, but other than that, yes the quality is poor - Carlisle being the worst I've seen so far.

Not really, but Oxford never really did anything with it, players aren't just going to go rushing in like headless chickens, lose shape and allow the oppo to pass through us - doesn't seem sensible.

Yes, it would've been nice to control the game a little more and push for a win, but this is where we are as a club at the moment. Nothing is changing in the immediate future and rather than getting annoyed to much with it, I'm trying to just take each game with an open mind and seeing what happens.

What I did find baffling last night is that so many people headed down to the concourse after Oxford scored, there was still 5-10 mins to go before HT, would imagine so many people missed the goal.

you do know we're in the relegation zone and are heading for rapidly D2, don't you Hendo?

[Hendo]

I haven't seen a decent team all season. L1 is absolutely shit. You just need to be vaguely organised and be able to pass and tackle a bit.

Did you enjoy our ~20% possession in the second half?

Thought Portsmouth looked pretty decent up until the last 30 minutes, but other than that, yes the quality is poor - Carlisle being the worst I've seen so far.

Not really, but Oxford never really did anything with it, players aren't just going to go rushing in like headless chickens, lose shape and allow the oppo to pass through us - doesn't seem sensible.

Yes, it would've been nice to control the game a little more and push for a win, but this is where we are as a club at the moment. Nothing is changing in the immediate future and rather than getting annoyed to much with it, I'm trying to just take each game with an open mind and seeing what happens.

What I did find baffling last night is that so many people headed down to the concourse after Oxford scored, there was still 5-10 mins to go before HT, would imagine so many people missed the goal.

you do know we're in the relegation zone and are heading for rapidly D2, don't you Hendo?

I do, and if that happens so be it.

If there is a club to support still, I'll reassess for next year and still consider each game on it's own merit.

Do I want us to be towards the top of the league? Yeah, obviously. But that's not where we find ourselves now.

In the situation where we are, a point against a top-6 side is a decent point.

Or 5 game form is better than everyone else above us, up to Wigan in 14th, we're 4 points short of safety. I think we'll be clear of the relegation zone by end of Feb, will end up being safe at the end of the season.

New owners, new manager (hopefully) and they can try and go again next year.

That's just the way I see it, I'm not saying it's right or everyone else should see it this way. Just the way I'm feeling going into games at the moment.

[WestYorksRoyal]

I do think a lot of fan frustration comes from simply getting used to where we are as a club. Last night was definitely a good result for a team in a relegation battle, and as much as the 2nd half was underwhelming, how many chances did Oxford create?

New owner and new manager, if it happens, would only be the first step to recovery. We should see a small improvement with the uncertainty taken away and smarter management decisions. But we won't start dominating teams in this league. That will take a couple of years good ownership/management to build.

[Millsy]

Decent point despite SeLLLes.

[Greatwesternline]

Bit confused as to why people think new ownership will improve the on pitch performance.

Whether a rich Chinese man is not paying the bar staff compared to a rich consortium of other non entities who is paying the bar staff will make only a modicum of difference to the options available to Tim Holmes when he looks up and sees zero players offering the ball, and having to pump it up to the wide channel in the hope we get a lucky throw in from which to build.

new ownership may well bring new team management, but it'll be quite a while before a new owner is in charge, let's be honest. Months, not weeks. And it will take a few weeks after that until a suitable replacement is in charge of 1st team operations.

[Sutekh]

Bit confused as to why people think new ownership will improve the on pitch performance.

Whether a rich Chinese man is not paying the bar staff compared to a rich consortium of other non entities who is paying the bar staff will make only a modicum of difference to the options available to Tim Holmes when he looks up and sees zero players offering the ball, and having to pump it up to the wide channel in the hope we get a lucky throw in from which to build.

new ownership may well bring new team management, but it'll be quite a while before a new owner is in charge, let's be honest. Months, not weeks. And it will take a few weeks after that until a suitable replacement is in charge of 1st team operations.

Could Reading beat Barrow though?

[WestYorksRoyal]

Anybody who can't understand how constant uncertainty, protests and chaos would affect player confidence and on pitch performance lacks basic emotional intelligence.

Yes, they're professionals. They should focus on the task at hand which is not related to all these matters. Should. It's not easy though.

[Snowflake Royal]

Bit confused as to why people think new ownership will improve the on pitch performance.

Whether a rich Chinese man is not paying the bar staff compared to a rich consortium of other non entities who is paying the bar staff will make only a modicum of difference to the options available to Tim Holmes when he looks up and sees zero players offering the ball, and having to pump it up to the wide channel in the hope we get a lucky throw in from which to build.

new ownership may well bring new team management, but it'll be quite a while before a new owner is in charge, let's be honest. Months, not weeks. And it will take a few weeks after that until a suitable replacement is in charge of 1st team operations.

Not sure why you're confused, it's really quite simple.

The atmosphere at the club is absolutely toxic through and through. There are protests every game and the players and staff don't know if they'll get paid month by month. That is unbelievably obviously a difficult environment to perform in.

Immediately on a new owner arriving that changes. Overnight. Everything becomes forward looking in a positive way, stable, exciting.

The manager almost certainly gets sacked within a week. The owner will have been negotiating to buy for about two months at that point. They will have had ample opportunities to sound out prospective new managers and Bowen should certainly be planning for it and discussing it. So we could conceivably have a new manager within a couple of weeks.

If, as we all hope, a deal goes through in early to mid-January, we could also start making signings immediately to bolster the squad.

These players are easily good enough to finish midtable, they just need a non-toxic work environment, some proper coaching and management and a couple of additions.

[genome]

Anybody who can't understand how constant uncertainty, protests and chaos would affect player confidence and on pitch performance lacks basic emotional intelligence.

The man works in Downing Street

[Snowflake Royal]

Anybody who can't understand how constant uncertainty, protests and chaos would affect player confidence and on pitch performance lacks basic emotional intelligence.

The man works in Downing Street

It really shows that he spends all his time working with corrupt scum.

[Greatwesternline]

Anybody who can't understand how constant uncertainty, protests and chaos would affect player confidence and on pitch performance lacks basic emotional intelligence.

Yes, they're professionals. They should focus on the task at hand which is not related to all these matters. Should. It's not easy though.

What i watched yesterday was players simply lacking the footballing nous to make correct decisions, or execute passes.

Perhaps 7 or 8 times, there is a ball that has bounced, half way between the semi circle and the box - no man's land - and the player has time to make a decision, and has three options of players available to play a short controlled pass to.

On each occasion the player simply chose to head the ball back where it came from, into a group of oppostion players, rather than retain possession. A quick glance to the manager would show him smack his waist in frustration.

Poor decision after poor decision. In game decision making isnt affected by some notion of governance of the club.

[Snowflake Royal]

Anybody who can't understand how constant uncertainty, protests and chaos would affect player confidence and on pitch performance lacks basic emotional intelligence.

Yes, they're professionals. They should focus on the task at hand which is not related to all these matters. Should. It's not easy though.

What i watched yesterday was players simply lacking the footballing nous to make correct decisions, or execute passes.

Perhaps 7 or 8 times, there is a ball that has bounced, half way between the semi circle and the box - no man's land - and the player has time to make a decision, and has three options of players available to play a short controlled pass to.

On each occasion the player simply chose to head the ball back where it came from, into a group of oppostion players, rather than retain possession. A quick glance to the manager would show him smack his waist in frustration.

Poor decision after poor decision. In game decision making isnt affected by some notion of governance of the club.

Yes, it is.

[windermereROYAL]

Should we use the staff wage fund to buy the ref some glasses after that penalty he didn't penalise Yiadom for?

Maybe you should buy some, it was a coming together, there was a bigger shout down the other end a few minutes before that you neglected to mention.

[Greatwesternline]

Anybody who can't understand how constant uncertainty, protests and chaos would affect player confidence and on pitch performance lacks basic emotional intelligence.

Yes, they're professionals. They should focus on the task at hand which is not related to all these matters. Should. It's not easy though.

What i watched yesterday was players simply lacking the footballing nous to make correct decisions, or execute passes.

Perhaps 7 or 8 times, there is a ball that has bounced, half way between the semi circle and the box - no man's land - and the player has time to make a decision, and has three options of players available to play a short controlled pass to.

On each occasion the player simply chose to head the ball back where it came from, into a group of oppostion players, rather than retain possession. A quick glance to the manager would show him smack his waist in frustration.

Poor decision after poor decision. In game decision making isnt affected by some notion of governance of the club.

Yes, it is.

Was it Sam Smith's concerns around the next batch of tennis balls on the pitch that made him pass the ball behind Knibbs run when through on goal?

BTW if fans really think that chaos and protests negatively impact the on field performance, perhaps there should be more anger directed at those increasing the chaos by persisting with more protests.....

A club performing well is more likely to find a buyer than one playing badly, so by the logic of chaos and protests worsening our performance the protests are hindering a sale.

[leon]

I'm with GWL on this.

The team are making fundamentally basic mistakes. Set up wrong and executing poorly thought out/non existent tactics.

That's down to Selles and the players.

Now it could be argued that under a proper owner Selles would have been sacked months ago. But that is a slightly different point.

[Royal_jimmy]

Thought Portsmouth looked pretty decent up until the last 30 minutes, but other than that, yes the quality is poor - Carlisle being the worst I've seen so far.

Not really, but Oxford never really did anything with it, players aren't just going to go rushing in like headless chickens, lose shape and allow the oppo to pass through us - doesn't seem sensible.

Yes, it would've been nice to control the game a little more and push for a win, but this is where we are as a club at the moment. Nothing is changing in the immediate future and rather than getting annoyed to much with it, I'm trying to just take each game with an open mind and seeing what happens.

What I did find baffling last night is that so many people headed down to the concourse after Oxford scored, there was still 5-10 mins to go before HT, would imagine so many people missed the goal.

you do know we're in the relegation zone and are heading for rapidly D2, don't you Hendo?

I do, and if that happens so be it.

If there is a club to support still, I'll reassess for next year and still consider each game on it's own merit.

Do I want us to be towards the top of the league? Yeah, obviously. But that's not where we find ourselves now.

In the situation where we are, a point against a top-6 side is a decent point.

Or 5 game form is better than everyone else above us, up to Wigan in 14th, we're 4 points short of safety. I think we'll be clear of the relegation zone by end of Feb, will end up being safe at the end of the season.

New owners, new manager (hopefully) and they can try and go again next year.

That's just the way I see it, I'm not saying it's right or everyone else should see it this way. Just the way I'm feeling going into games at the moment.

I'm worried about further points deductions but if we don't get anymore taken away then I agree.

[Snowflake Royal]

I'm with GWL on this.

The team are making fundamentally basic mistakes. Set up wrong and executing poorly thought out/non existent tactics.

That's down to Selles and the players.

Now it could be argued that under a proper owner Selles would have been sacked months ago. But that is a slightly different point.

Selles is clearly part of the problem and a big part. But to just dismiss the effects of a toxic work environment on confidence, morale and mental fatigue and the effects they have on executing basic skills and decision making is just plain stupid. Imo.

[Royal_jimmy]

I do think a lot of fan frustration comes from simply getting used to where we are as a club. Last night was definitely a good result for a team in a relegation battle, and as much as the 2nd half was underwhelming, how many chances did Oxford create?

New owner and new manager, if it happens, would only be the first step to recovery. We should see a small improvement with the uncertainty taken away and smarter management decisions. But we won't start dominating teams in this league. That will take a couple of years good ownership/management to build.

This is the worst Reading side for probably 35-40 years and Oxford still couldn't beat us.

[Snowflake Royal]

Should we use the staff wage fund to buy the ref some glasses after that penalty he didn't penalise Yiadom for?

Maybe you should buy some, it was a coming together, there was a bigger shout down the other end a few minutes before that you neglected to mention.

The hand ball early on? I did, in fact, mention it.

And it wasn't just a coming together. Yiadom lunged for the ball, missed and the player went over him. Its a freekick everywhere else on the pitch and usually a penalty.