St Rangers in the night

Oxford have made some odd cameos on TV recently. Firstly the Peterborough game, Jim Smith's momentous return, was featured in Big Ron Manager, where we found that there was a mass punch up in the Posh dressing room after the game. Then last week The Kassam hosted the final trials for The Match - SKY's celebrity football game. There was little to learn from this, apart from the fact that Jim Smith still puts signs up in the dressing room. The one that struck me was 'Simplicity is genius', which is perfect for the conference.

There is a common theme about our games this season. Teams we play feel they should have 'got something out of the game' and that goals are scored against the run of play. Oxford fans are similar in their criticism, identifying that despite winning, we've been a bit rubbish.

Experience from League 2 will tells us that precious few teams play decent football at this level. Perhaps two teams a year played with any style, and they would be the teams that be promoted, usually going on to do well in League 1 and above. The rest are much of a muchness and it is usually a combination of good team spirit, luck, confidence and occasionally a goalscorer, that differentiates the teams that do well with those that struggle. Inconsistency is the norm.

Ergo, the Conference is a division that not only lacks technical quality but the influence of luck and other random factors play a greater role the further down the ladder you travel. It means that despite our early season dominance we are still not good enough to glide through games with a joie de vivre of a Premiership side although we're good enough to do the simple things better than other teams.

We're currently just about too good for the Conference, which is all that's needed and, I believe, good enough to compete well in League 2, so there should be a little bit to spare. But there will be scares, random factors may raise their ugly heads, some results will need to be ground out, a bit like the Stafford result. We shouldn't expect a breeze but the results are quite clear; we've got through a hectic opening phase of the season in excellent shape.

The managers: Ramon Diaz (2004-2005)

Everyone seems to be taking a well earned break this week. Its been a rare luxury having five days between the Crawley game and Stafford. So here's a chance to update my very occasional look at past managers. This time, Ramon Diaz.

Although he was to appoint again, Diaz's appointment was the last roll of the dice for Firoz Kassam. It's difficult to dispute his previous appointments on the base of simple 'outsider' logic - Shotton was the peoples' choice, Denis Smith had done it before, Joe Kinnear had pedigree, to be fair Kassam was lumbered with David Kemp when Kinnear left, Mark Wright was one of the up coming managers in the country, Ian Atkins knew the division, Graham Rix seems to be held in high regard within the game (god knows why).

So he'd tried the new guys and the old guys, but nothing seemed to stick. Diaz was in a different paradigm altogether the Alex Ferguson of South America and claimed by a spurious website to be the best manager in the world. There was no doubting his pedigree and would have been a stellar appointment had Oxford been a South American giant.

The mismatch was obvious and it was the oddest of reigns. He flooded the place with Argentineans both on and off the pitch. Nippy little shits on the wing who looked good in warm-ups but would be seem cowering on the wing with the sleeves over their hands. Results improved, for a bit, but not for long and the season petered out.

Diaz didn't make the final game of the season, at home to Chester, by that time Talbot had been appointed. It didn't stop a farcical aborted storming of the Kassam by Diaz's entourage. Whilst the Oxford Mail Stand pleaded to let 'em in, the game petered out... then seconds from the end Chester scored. Which summed up the whole season really, what was going on off the pitch was more interesting than on it.

Creepy Crawley

It's been nearly ten years since I last watched Oxford on the TV, the last time was the 2-1 defeat at Stoke. Every other time they've been on, I've been there, which I can now tell you is the preferable option.

The myopia that TV football brings makes the game all the more excruciating to watch. Whilst we close up on Steve Basham looking pensive, there's no way of knowing if anyone is dropping close for the short ball, whether the striker is pounding down on the dithering Turley or any of the other movements that put the whole game into context.

Everyday armchair fans must watch games like this all the time. There's a clear gap in perception between those in the living room, who can only see what the camera shows them and hear the opinion of the 'expert analysis' and those in the stand who know that the pacey winger Andy Gray is drooling over, is actually a bit flighty and lazy.

Expert analysis is pretty hopeless at the best of times, but in the Conference it is at its worst. Pre-match analysis claimed, with some authority, that Oxford would line up 4-4-2, even though they haven't played like that all season. And calling Eddie Anaclet, Eddie ANSALET throughout does make you question whether they've bothered to even read the programme.

The game isn't that easy to summarise, Crawley had a lot possession, pressed hard and had a lot of shots, they looked more the more dynamic and direct side, but Turley had little to do and the quality of Oxford's chances was overall better. We looked good first half, but faded in the second, someone needs to dictate the pace in midfield. Burgess is the undoubted creative lever, but he tends to over-elaborate and can start to lose a bit of finesse as he tires.

Matt Day followed his poor man's Ricky Villa with a 30 pile driver in injury time. At this rate Oxford might have to invest in some media training for the poor lad. Asked what he was thinking when he picked the ball up, he took the end of the question has a queue to take a massive swig of water followed by the legend 'dunno'.

Fade to Grays

OK, who thought they'd play in grey?

The quality of the team and the result of any individual game don't necessarily correlate, the proof of quality is over the whole season. So the Grays fan who was shouting 'We fackin' done ya' should enjoy his 'victory' whilst he can.

Make no mistake, Oxford were the better side. The passing in the first half was exhausting to watch, so it must have been horrific to defend. Second half, although there were plenty of chances, I thought we looked leggy. Hargreaves' return for Monday can't come soon enough. Hutchinson doesn't seem on the ball at the moment so Hargreaves should take some of the pressure off Andy Burgess to provide the spark and energy in midfield for the game against Crawley.

A draw, in a game we should have won, you would have thought Oxford fans would've learned to view a game objectively after seeing us being overwhelmingly crap for years. So fragile is the ego of the fan, the unbelievably angry bloke behind me, possibly a repressed homosexual, screamed that the performance was a complete shambles. It was far from that, but the Crawley game is going to come very quickly then there's another awayday followed by York at home all before the end of September. The end of the month can't come quickly enough because October, at least, looks more straight forward.

Heading for the Exet

With Eddie Hutchinson looking off colour and lethargic, and Carl Pettfer detailed with mopping up after Eddie Anaclet the centre of midfield was notably absent on Tuesday. The result was the ball being launched up to Marvin Robinson who had a fine game winning everything in the air. Sadly both Steve Basham then Yemi spent most of the night instinctively moving in the opposite direction to the flick-on.

Altogether it was a disjointed victory, we missed Gilchrist, not just because of his defensive qualities, but because he sets the tone and tempo. After the first goal against St Albans, a minute after Hargreaves' sending off, Gilchrist ran over to Jim Smith evidently to plot how to win the game with the situation changed. What's evident about Gilchrist since he's returned is how he's become much more of a thinker than he was 10 years ago when he was an all action centre back. We need that when things get a bit ragged, it was noticeable on Tuesday that nobody was keeping the Us to the game plan.

That said, the Conference has yet to present anything that the Us should fear. That's not to say going to a game is anymore fun. As soon as I sit down, I'm longing for a goal, once that's gone in, the final whistle can't come quick enough.

It was a cold dawning on the opening day when Halifax, that going to football is generally a horrible experience. It is only retrospectively that you can enjoy a victory. Even the easiest wins are a tortuous experience.

Brian Horton run tings

I was at the Reading Festival when I heard that Brian Horton had been snaffled by Manchester City to manage in the Big League. I was as baffled as the next man (who happened to be a Blackpool and Senseless Things fan). Horton was never much loved by the Manor faithful, possibly because they were still smarting from the end of the glory years. Horton was a moderate Division 2 manager and little more, although anyone able to see into the future and the debacle of recent years would have erected a bronze statue in his name to commemorate his achievements. He did, at least, keep us at that utopian state best described as above average.

Moderate teams, of course, consist of moderate players. Therefore, who could have seen that Horton himself would spark Steve McClaren into a management career that would end with the England job? Now comes the news that Dave Penney, another from this early nineties stodgy vintage, could be lining up to take over the Under 21s. This makes Horton the current Godfather of English football, who'd have thought it? Penney was best man to Mickey Lewis at his wedding, Penney reciprocated by appointing Mickey to his backroom staff at Doncaster. If Penney does take over the Under 21s, are we to expect Theo Walcott being mentored by The Mad Dog?

What's the point?

A 3-0 away win with a missed penalty against a team with an increasingly strong reputation is pretty good in my book. However, nobody seems that happy about yesterday's result, the biggest away win in nearly three years. I didn't see the game. In fact only listened briefly on the radio and avoided compulsively texting or checking Ceefax for news. Perhaps I'm beginning to trust the team to get on with it without me having to check up on them all the time.

Each manager has his formulae for a successful season, Ian Atkins takes his games in groups of 5, Sam Allardyce apparently batches the league into likely wins, draws and defeats, Jim Smith keeps it simple with the adage that you win your home games and draw away.

This means averaging two points a game, which would have beaten every second place team in the Conference for 9 out of the last 10 years, though the average for winning a title in recent years have been a bit higher than 2 a game.

It's early days, but Oxford are miles ahead in terms of average points than any previous title winner. Against Jim Smith's criteria, we've 'banked' 6 bonus away points, history would tell us that, the title is currently dependent on a maintenance of form, obviously, and there not being another team who can keep up, like in 2003/4 when both Chester and Hereford exceeded 90 points. Only Grays, next weeks opponents, are showing signs of doing this.

Above all, great teams don't check on others' form. The objective is prosaic; using another of Atkins' old favourites; earn the right to win a game and then take the result. It may not have been the perfect performance against Morecambe, but it was the perfect result.

Site news: Looks like YouTube have caught up with the highlights pirates. Not a great shock there then.

The Rufus on fire

If fit, the signing of Rufus Brevett sounds like the perfect replacement for Gavin Johnson. As long as he has a basic level of fitness, his experience and skill should mean the side can retain the shape that's been so successful this year.

One of Jim Smith's key strengths is his ability to get access to the agents and clubs who don't normally deal in the conference. Ian Atkins' much maligned ability to access tough campaigners like Dave Savage, James Hunt and Andy Woodman was key to the brief spell of success a couple of years ago. Smith's contacts are of a higher quality but Atkins knew the division he was working in; as he's been showing at Torquay. Let's face it, knowing the systems and the players - so hated by many Oxford fans - is what revitalised Torquay and sent us down. Who's laughing now?

Difficult trio of games coming up; Morecambe, Exeter and Grays. If winning your home games and drawing away is at the heart of winning the title, the fact we're four points ahead of schedule could pay dividends over the next seven days.

Winged wondering

Whilst the transfer window cranks itself closed, the news that Gavin Johnson is to be out for a month as a result of his hamstring pull against St Albans highlights a key concern in the squad's composition. Johnson, in some ways, is one of the weak links in the squad. Not because his play has been poor, on the contrary, he's been excellent. It's more because of his age - which could hamper his recovery - and the specialist nature of his position.

The wing back role is a tricky one; knowing when to bomb on and when to hold back and tuck in. It's a skill in itself and there's no one with Johnson's ability to slot into the position without changing the balance of the side. Matt Day took Johnson's place on Friday, but despite his wonder goal, he appears more suited to a back five than a wing back system.

Eddie Anaclet has struggled with the system this season and he's admitted as much. He was excellent on Friday but he was given quite a bit of freedom to forage forward and link up with Yemi where, at times they bombed about like dogfighting fighter planes, bewildering and exhausting the St Albans defence. In the main, however, Carl Pettefer has been the unsung hero mopping up after Anaclet when he gets it wrong; a weakness exposed against Northwich, who scored through via a fast left wing break when Anaclet was left bewildered on the half-way line.

One of the characteristics of the side this season is the level of sophistication in its tactical play. It's bamboozled the opposition, and obviously, paid fantastic dividends. It would be a shame to see that upset through injuries.

The Saints and Greavsie

Back in the 2003/4 season the Us were topping the league at Christmas with a remarkable record of having lost only one game. The visitors on a chilly Boxing Day were Leyton Orient. It was a big crowd, I was sat with friends in the front couple of rows of the North Stand having transferred my seat to be with them.

With the board being lifted to indicate time added on, Oxford did what they did, pumped the ball forward. It wasn't the first time they'd done it that afternoon and I quietly despaired at the one-dimensional style. Then Julian Alsop got his head to the ball and as he landed instinctively set of on a foot race with a retreating Orient defender and strike partner Lee Steele. I, again, quietly despaired as Alsop pushed the more agile and crafted Steele out the way and got to the ball first knocking it into space. The lumbering beast not only neutralised his partners participation in the attack, he'd over hit his first touch. I quietly despaired as the keeper advanced and Alsop, falling, desperately tried to salvage the situation. The keeper and Alsop met around the same time. Suddenly the ball was beyond the oncoming keeper; but it was rising. I quietly despaired as it soared upwards... except it didn't, it kept rising, but hit the back of the net. 2-1, top of the league.

Ricky Villa in the 1981 FA Cup Final it wasn't but Matt Day's winner against St Albans last night was like that, it was a series of improbable phases in which you thought the chance had passed only to see him appear with the ball at his feet in a further advanced position. Me must have block tackled and ricocheted his way passed four or five players before toe-poking his drive into the net.

We were the better side, and things were going against us, Hargreaves' sending off may have been justified, I couldn't really see but Robinson and Johnson's first half injuries were just bad luck. St Albans came with a game plan to defend deep and break hard and fast. Which they did excellently, it wasn't the style normally associated with a part-time team. On the way back I followed a couple of their fans back up the Grenoble Road. One took a phone call... 'Hi, yeah, it's finished, we lost but it was brilliant, we played so well'. Which pretty much summed it up.

Weymouth and Northwich goals

There are plenty of sites which write match reports, I always find the oppositions views more interesting, so trying to keep up to date, here are the latest goals and match reports.

Northwich



A report on the Northwich game from their supporters' trust site...
and from their official site

Weymouth



A report from the Weymouth game

Marv-ellous

What to say about Marvin Robinson? The term 'much travelled', which is how Jerome Sale described him, does not always fill you with confidence. Occasionally it refers to a player who comes in to do a specific job, usually shoring up a defence or midfield in a relegation battle.

More often, however, it's a player with talent who has some kind of disciplinary problems. And so it seems with Robinson, who has the less than envious position of being the first player to play with a police chip after being convicted of headbutting a woman in a night club.

Hmm, this doesn't make him a bad footballer, of course, 20 goals in 57 appearances (plus 50 as sub) is not a bad return. Last season with Lincoln he scored 7 in 20, but was still released. Perhaps coaches get fed up with his ill-discipline. After all, when you're working with a small budget, you've got to be a brilliant asset to a squad to have your indulgences tolerated in preference to a less able, more disciplined alternative.

Aside his record, a couple of positives are that he's joining a team on the up and Oxford fans know more than most the pain watching bad players being released and turning their careers around. Plus, the fact he's re-joining Jim Smith, who clearly knows him from his Derby days.

If he can get an early goal and get a roll starting, then hopefully he'll be an asset to the intelligence of Basham, speed of Odubade and strength of Duffy. Undoubtedly we have options up front, but are they the right options?