The wrap - Oxford United 2 Accrington Stanley 3

Success, it is said, is a fine balance between having enough confidence to believe you can achieve something and enough doubt to convince you to put in effort to achieve it. If you are too confident, you may not put the effort in, if you have too much doubt you’ll give up or you won’t start in the first place.

Performance-wise, I didn’t think Tuesday’s defeat to Accrington was too bad at all. I don’t have a benchmark this year, but it seems to me that Karl Robinson wants to play an intense, high-tempo game and in the main we achieved that.

But that kind of game carries risk; if you bomb forward and lose the ball, you’re susceptible to counter-attack. If you pass the ball quickly, one misplaced ball can cost you. If you close down quickly, mistiming can result in a foul. It is no riskier than, say, Pep Clotet’s or Michael Appleton’s approach.

With Clotet, the strategy was to draw teams on by retaining possession in midfield and defence before attacking at pace. In fact, the team would often get lost passing it along the defence and midfield, unsure of when to attack. While the players bought into Michael Appleton’s strategy of simply out-performing your opponents, sometimes we would be out-thought in the process.

So every strategy carries risk. The fact that we lost doesn’t invalidate the strategy. On Tuesday night, the players seemed to have confidence in the approach and bought into it. All over the pitch there were players stepping up, but the fact every step forward resulted in a step back eroded confidence. It wasn’t just the steps back, but the nature of those steps – an own goal and a penalty – like some higher being has decreed we should struggle. You got a sense of the deflation when the penalty was given, as Robinson said afterwards – it just feels like nothing is going right for us.

This should be short term, but we risk drifting into despondency, a loss of confidence that it’s not worth even trying. Karl Robinson’s post-match interview, I think, was designed to avoid that happening. Everyone did everything right, we were unlucky, if the players keep going they’ll be OK.
On the pitch it’s important that senior pros like John Mousinho and Curtis Nelson step up to provide the leadership. I get a sense that Browne doesn’t lack for confidence and Whyte should be pleased with his start. Most areas had positives.

The most volatile group in all this, of course, are the fans, who stayed with the team and appeared encouraged with what they saw. It’s was quite different to the echo-chamber of social media where everything is bad and will continue to be.

I don’t think we’re far away from getting going, but looking at the upcoming fixtures against two teams relegated from the Championship, it’s important that we get a foothold on the season soon. Maintaining confidence won’t last much longer, and then it’s a long way back from Karl Robinson.

Accrington wrap - Oxford United 1 Accrington Stanley 2

Football fans are pretty unforgiving, despite the gasps every time the ball hung in the air from a goal kick on Saturday, the assessment of our performance against Accrington completely discounted the impact the wind had on the game.

First half with the wind at our backs we looked OK, but with the wind in our faces we looked like we were running into a brick wall. Some viewed it as a sign of fatigue, which may be true, although I think mental fatigue is probably a bigger factor right now. The difference between the two teams was not who was more fresh or who had more skill, but who managed the conditions best.

In the first half, Accrington positioned two players on the edge of their own box at goal kicks to guard against the ball not making it out of their half. At one point when playing with the wind they put a player on the edge of our box, way beyond our back line. They knew that the ball would get caught in the wind and the player on the edge of the box meant that Dunkley and Mullins had to deal with it or let it through for a chance on goal.

Once they’d equalised, which was an absolute shambles from our perspective, Stanley could play conservatively - a point would have been fine. They used the wind to get the ball forward and put pressure on us to play, and, because of the way we play with lots of short passing, wait for the possibility of us making a mistake.

Which is where the problems start, we have a playing philosophy which doesn’t account for the conditions its played in. They, on the other hand, played the game that was in front of them. I suppose the idea is that our system should work more often than not. It’s the kind of philosophy that might work for a middle ranking Premier League team whose definition of success is maintain a level of consistency which ensures you don't fail. But, for a team looking for promotion, can we really afford to wait for the conditions be right for us to succeed?

It’s a gamble, although we’re moving towards March when conditions should start to suit us more. But, if we have too many more games like Saturday we’re going to have to decide whether we want to lose pretty or win ugly.

Coming up: Accrington

The drop

The biggest game, massive, gigantic. If you needed any reminder of how massive this game is both fans and Michael Appleton have implored each other to understand its sheer massiveness.

Way to put pressure on everyone. Yes, a win would be particularly helpful against Accrington at this point in the season. But, Stanley are another of a succession on teams that have appeared in fourth place off the back of a half decent run, and the ineptitude of those around them; Mansfield (now 7th) and Bristol Rovers (8th) have both been our primary threat in recent weeks.

That implies to me that onky three teams have shown consistency this season, and the rest are typical of League 2, producing fitfully throughout the year.

There's a particularly disingenuous piece in the Northampton Chronicle about Tuesday's game, but one this Chris Wilder does say is that football is a physical, technical, tactical and psychological game; if we perform consistently in all four areas, then we should be just fine.

Old game of the day

Coming up: Accrington Stanley

The drop

Our trip to The North was supposed to give us a bit of rest bite before tougher fixtures later in the month, which includes the amuse bouche against Swindon on Tuesday. Our midweek win against York was more stressful than it had any need to be and next is promotion chasing Accrington Stanley.

Stanley are defying gravity at the moment. By rights they shouldn't exist at all; surrounded, as they are, by a stack of larger, more established clubs. If the fact they exist is a bit of a miracle, their current position of fourth in the table even more so.

My guess is we won't see them in this position in May; injuries and general fatigue will begin to kick-in and that's when resources really start to count. Those around them look more equipped to cope as we head into the deep winter. In reality, rather than chasing promotion, they're really banking points to ensure safety.

While things are going well, there's a sense of invincibility and confidence, the trick is to break their spirit at the moment they think they can't be beaten. Saturday could be that day.

 

Old game of the day

Who are they? Now, here are two clubs who share a peculiar history. Both teams' most high profile moments are synonymous with the marketing of milk. When we came into the league we replaced them, when they came into the league, they replaced us. Yet, our first ever fixture was just five years ago. A fixture wholly archived by YouTube.

This one is probably the best of the lot; a rip-snorting cup game from 2012. Days after the death of Mitchell Cole, we seemed to be carried on a wave of emotion. Michael Raynes is one of my favourite players of recent years, so his last minute goal is particularly sweet.

From the blog

"I don't want to sound like a curmudgeon. A win is definitely better than a defeat; I am not one of those people who claims to want to see their team lose to affect a change of manager. For one, that’s a buffoon’s logic and two; from what I hear of him, I quite like Michael Appleton. I’m not convinced by him as a manager for obvious, tangible, reasons, but he speaks well and appears willing to take responsibility for his team. I don’t particularly like myself for not being convinced by him as a professional."

Read on 

A win is a win

A win is a win, right? Well, yes, and no.

I found the standing ovations for Callum O’Dowda, Brian Howard and Danny Hylton slightly troubling. Not because they didn’t, in their own ways, have very good games against Accrington. It was because it reminded me of a phenomenon that seemed to arise in the late days of The Manor and early Kassam years. Despite ever falling quality of our performances, the frequency of standing ovations at substitutions increased.

There was a time at The Manor when you knew a player had done something special by the wave of people rising to their feet in the Beech Road stand. It happened very rarely. By the end of the Millennium, simply running around in a yellow shirt had become reason for wild applause. Our standards had slipped.

I don't want to sound like a curmudgeon. A win is definitely better than a defeat; I am not one of those people who claims to want to see their team lose to affect a change of manager. For one, that’s a buffoon’s logic and two; from what I hear of him, I quite like Michael Appleton. I’m not convinced by him as a manager for obvious, tangible, reasons, but he speaks well and appears willing to take responsibility for his team. I don’t particularly like myself for not being convinced by him as a professional.

And, I’ve had worse Tuesday nights at The Kassam; Howard’s ball to Hylton for the first was excellent and Collins’ goal was spectacular, Callum O’Dowda’s performance shows he’s developing well and there was plenty of entertaining, attacking football to watch. As an isolated 90 minutes, it was definitely entertaining.

But. This was us winning against a moderate team, at home, who had ten men in order to pull within a point of the fourth bottom team of the whole football league. We hadn’t won in seven games - it wasn’t a must-win game, it was a 'should win' game by virtue of the law of averages alone. On other days Collins’ shot sails over, Barnett wouldn’t have been given such a daft opportunity and the referee would miss the sending off and it all ends up decidedly more close than it was. Eventually it was going to come together, but could you say it's the start of something?

While it would be great to be goldfish-like and receive every victory like it was the best one we’d ever seen, the win remains tempered by the context. Last year; and in fact, for the last 8 years, we have had aspirations of winning promotions. And, particularly early in those seasons wins meant going top, or staying in the play-offs, they dared us to dream.

I don’t expect every game to have the same feeling as a win at Wembley or in a derby, but while I am satisfied with the win over Accrington, I can’t quite get excited about it in the context of our terrible start to the season.

Perhaps this is the start of something; but there’s still a lot to resolve before it becomes clearer as to whether it is or not. Can Hoskins and Howard stay fit? And Hylton? And Clarke and Whing? Has whatever turned Tyrone Barnett from a million pound player to a free transfer in two years been left behind at his former club? Does Appleton have the ability? Does Eales and Ashton have the money?

This will only become clear when looking at the context; in other words, the runs we go on. If we’re to even have an average season we’re going to have to hit a run to compensate the awful start - five or six wins in seven or eight games, that kind of thing. If we’re actually going for promotion; which seems frankly ridiculous right now, that run will have to be more sustained. Was there enough evidence from the Accrington game to suggest we will put that kind of run together? No, because it’s impossible to judge over 90 minutes.

It’s not easy; football should be a visceral and spontaneous experience. But, it's difficult to divorce the experience of a game from what's going on around it. Perhaps that's a plague of growing up; it creates a clutter of history; a ramshackle filing cabinet in my head full of scraps of memories. So, Callum O'Dowda's performance had me delving into that filing cabinet to try and remember how it compared to Joey Beauchamp and Paul Powell, Collins' goal was quickly compared to Leven's. A win is tempered by the context in which it happens; good in itself, but far from conclusive as to whether this is the beginnings of the return of the good times.

Any other business

The end of the home campaign was, perhaps inevitably, a major non-event. It leaves us with little more to do than mop up the bits and pieces of any other business.

The home campaign ended as if it were a dying elderly relative; there was a sense of sadness, but a far greater sense of inevitability and relief.  Far from the dizzying hedonism you see around other grounds at this time of year; end of season at the Kassam is, once again, anti-climactic. Last year felt like the end of something, this year feels like the end of something, is this just the slow ending of everything?

Farewell Beano?
It seemed to come very late in the week, but there was a sudden dawning that the Accrington game could be the last we’d see of James Constable at the Kassam. He sits just two short of the all-time goalscoring record.

Constable hasn’t exactly been negotiating himself into a strong position making repeated claims on Twitter that he’s desperate to sign again. Would Gary Waddock be similarly desperate? It seems unlikely, as despite the folklore that has built up around Constable, he simply doesn’t score frequently enough to make a new contract an inevitability.

What may be more significant is what happens around Constable. It seems unlikely that Deane Smalley will get a new contract having cashed his chips in terms of performances and it seems inconceivable that he might be kept over Constable. Could Waddock recover from the PR disaster that would result?

Dave Kitson seems also to be heading for the door, albeit more by his own volition. There’s no doubt that Kitson is different, sometimes a different class, but not always. His fight seems to have gone and any enthusiasm for the game is fitful at best. This is no real surprise if you constantly ache all over from a career in the game, you have a fledgling, but secret, second career as a journalist and you're earning £10k a month from your former employers. Whether the Kitson experiment has worked or not is questionable.

That would leave Constable as the only out-and-out striker at the club. Is Waddock brave enough to strip out his strike force out completely? Sure, he's angry, but I doubt it, he doesn't have much capital himself after the end-of-season we've had. Constable does something to the team and squad, although perhaps not at the salary he’s currently on, which may be a sticking point. Constable has probably one more contract in him as a functioning first choice striker at this level. After which, he is likely to be on a glide path to retirement via a series of Conference and League 2 clubs. He’s not likely to attract too many Swindon-type bids anymore. Northampton on a free is a possible destination, of course.

Keepergate
Late on Saturday night Wayne Brown tweeted that both Ryan Clarke and Max Crocombe were too good for Oxford. There was a predictable reaction from some Oxford fans. No doubt it was a clumsy way of putting it, but he's probably right. I don't know so much about Crocombe, but certainly Clarke could play at a higher level.

But, footballers are like house prices, they are only worth what others are prepared to pay for them. Clarke, like Constable, is at a stage in his career where he should expect first team football. But are clubs investing in goalkeepers of Clarke's age? I'm not sure. It seems clubs are investing in young prospects or reliable veterans. Clarke is not quite either, and while he's under contract, the prospect of paying a fee when others are available is likely to put many off.

Oxblogger player of the season
There’s no doubt that Ryan Clarke’s performances, particularly towards the end of the season, have been a rare highlight. However, I think if you look over most of the season; you’ll find his performances were less spectacular. That’s simply because we were playing better and he had less to do. As such, the vote for Clarke was really a reflection of his recent form than for his play over the whole season.

It’s funny how quickly players drop from the consciousness when they get injured. For me, the player who has performed consistently well throughout the year and made Clarke's job far easier earlier in the year is Johnny Mullins.

Does Ian Lenagan really want it?
One underlying criticism is that Ian Lenagan is reluctant to invest to succeed. I don’t believe that it’s possible to deliberately steer any business, let alone one as unpredictable as a football club, to the brink of success but not to success itself. If someone had the ability to invest 95% of what it takes to be 95% successful, wouldn’t you use that same ability to invest so precisely to get the right result? It would require such immense skill to be so precariously close to success, that skill could similarly be used to actually succeed.

I don’t buy the idea that Ian Lenagan is deliberately preventing us from getting promoted. I can however, believe that Lenagan won’t pay over the odds to achieve what he wants to achieve. He won’t, for example, do what Manchester City and Chelsea do and pay 150% to become 100% successful. That makes no sense unless you’re drowning in money and so damaged that you need to buy that kind of false happiness. Firstly, I don’t believe that Lenagan has the money to be so profligate, secondly, even if he does, it is not in his manner to risk himself and the club through reckless spending.

No, Lenagan won’t be bullied into making short-term, speculative purchases to achieve success. That's why we got Nicky Wroe and David Connolley and not a whole new team of loanees at Christmas. A moderate investment to push us over the line. At the time is seemed proportional, afterwards, of course, it appears lacking ambition. It isn't to everyone's taste, but Lenagan isn't going to bet the farm to achieve instant success.

The end of an era

4.50pm on Saturday saw the end of the season. Some people thought it would be the end of Chris Wilder. It certainly felt like the end of something.

In the end we were just four points off, or, if you like, the margin of seeing out the game and not conceding at home to Morecambe and scoring rather than hitting both posts in the last minute at Barnet. And other moments, of course, but let's not think too much about it.

We're two points closer to the play-offs than last year, but three less in total, but with a 3 goal improvement in goal difference, but still falling short of our target of play-offs or promotion. We can ague endlessly, and probably pointlessly, as to whether that represents an improvement or not because there are also circumstances to consider. Those circumstances. I think it's fair to say that even if we had sneaked into the play-offs it would have been a success that ultimately papered over the cracks.

Saturday's 3-0 win over Accrington represented the end of an era. Not, as of Thursday, the Wilder era, because he's still here. Nope, Ian Lenagan's speech at the press conference that announced his new contract effectively acted as the eulogy to the end of the Kelvin Thomas era.

What Thomas did for the club was absolutely necessary, we wallowed waiting for success, so he relentlessly signed the best of the rest of the Conference; Midson, Green, Crieghton, Tonkin, Clarke and Bulman. It allowed us to capitalise on our key asset - our comparative size. The strategy continued for two more years after we were promoted.

While it smacks of cripplingly poor planning, it's no accident that we have 16 players out of contract this summer. This represents the slowing down of Thomas' overheating machine. In our first season back in the Football League, we aggressively signed up players in the same manner we had in the last season of the Conference. Players like Heslop and Worley, on three year contracts. The following year; we went for marquee signings on shorter, 2 year, contracts; Leven and Duberry, for example. Along the way, corners were cut with medicals and the like. The long term, even the mid-term was sacrificed for the short term. Now all those contracts have expired in one heap all at the same time.

Thomas' strategy relied on one thing; it had to work. Imagine if we'd gone to Wembley and frozen, or if Isiah Rankine hadn't skewed his shot past the wrong side of the post at 2-1? If we hadn't been promoted, then the following season would have introduced new pressures - the perception that we had a team of chokers, the need to rebuild - and the emergence of Crawley Town and then Fleetwood. We may well have still been struggling to get up, Chris Wilder would surely have gone, along with Thomas. Not only that, our finances would have been drained by failed 'big name' conference players.

So many teams try to accelerate their progress through the same strategy and find themselves in an appalling state. Leeds United's spending was predicated on numbers that were never going to add up. Portsmouth's ambitions seemed reliant on moving to a new stadium - and then attaining super club status - to balance the books after years of insane spending which saw them, at least, pick up the FA Cup in 2008. Plymouth were relying on Premier League football and the 2010 World Cup bid after they jettisoned themselves up the divisions with heavy investment. We'll play Portsmouth and Plymouth next season as equals, and there's not a lot of evidence to suggest they've hit the bottom yet.

The most difficult thing about this strategy is knowing when to stop; Portsmouth are so deeply in the crap that they're still throwing anchors out to slow themselves down. For us, the breaks were slammed on last summer when Sean Rigg became the only meaningful signing of the summer. Thomas must have known the game was up when it became clear that he wasn't going to be able to make 5-6 significant signings so he threw in the towel. Ian Lenagan had switched off the machine, the flow of cash. It's just taken 12 months to finally come to a halt.

There's no doubt that the Thomas-era has not only been necessary, it's been memorable; there was Wembley, of course and beating Swindon three times alongside individual moments such as Peter Leven's goal against Port Vale. But Thomas was the bloke in the pub who gets the rounds in has loads of great stories, but ultimately gets himself into pointless arguments that can leave a bad taste in the mouth at the end of the night. Great for a night out, not someone who will do the washing up if he lived with you.

As spectacular as it was, Thomas wasn't planning on hanging around long enough to go through the painstaking process of finding consistency. When a problem came along, the answer was to sign players, often on loan, until the problem went away. The problem usually went away when the permanent players that were originally the problem came back into form. What he didn't do was learn from the experience and rectify the underlying systemic issues.

This season we've seen the youth team become much more than a page in the programme that you glance after conceding the second goal. The woman's team is now a real part of the club with named players and people tracking their progress. They look set to prosper now they've been accepted into the Women's Super League 2. The new era is set to be less spectacular, but perhaps more interesting. The thing is, I like interesting, I find it interesting. Not everyone does, of course, what the more considered approach is designed to provide is consistency over a long term. And that consistency, we hope will bring real success.

It's a pitch thing. That's what it is.

Mickey Lewis' didn't want to harp on about it, but he did manage to mention the state of the pitch on 4 occassions during his 2 minute interview after the win over over Accrington. A primetime excuse bomb to load into the naysayers doom cannon. But it's true that the pitch is looking ropey at the moment, why are all explanations labelled excuses?
 

It is very easy to use micro-examples to counter macro-issues; for example, if you argue that gun control will help reduce the number of massacres in America, it isn’t difficult to find an example of a massacre within a country where guns are closely controlled.

It stands to reason, however, that more gun control means less guns means less shootings. But not no shootings, it’s just not that simple. The core argument about gun control shouldn’t be undermined by the idea that this will solve the problem wholesale.

The football solution to all problems seems to be to sack the manager; the manager’s solution to all problems is to blame injuries or lack of funds. Again, rarely are problems that simple.

After the 2-0 win over Accrington on Tuesday Mickey Lewis, sounding like he’d recently had his throat sandblasted, introduced the idea that the adverse condition of the pitch has played a part in our current position.

The pitch excuse was like having a bomb vest under his tracksuit; a handy explanation, concealed from all until the time was right to detonate it. Jerome Sale and Nathan Cooper speculated that the grand reveal was tactically timed to coincide with a win so not to sound like it was an excuse for a poor result.

So was Mickey Lewis actually just talking about Tuesday, or is the management making a wider point? Is this an excuse, or an explanation? It’s a fine line.

There was a degree of outrage when London Welsh took up tenancy at the Kassam. Partly because of the cultural aspect of a football club having its own exclusive home; cultural because shared ownership seems an entirely practical thing to do. The Milan clubs share a ground even with their rivalry and it does them no harm.

The impact of the exiles’ occupation is quite acute. It has put any purchase of the stadium on the back burner because the club’s bargaining position has reduced greatly now Kassam is getting two sets of rent. How can the club argue that the commercial value of the property is depreciating when he’s just double its income?

As for the pitch, I don’t know much about rugby, but there seems to be a lot activity analogous of digging a potato patch. It’s bound to have an effect on the surface. The pitch, once the envy of the division, has looked pock-marked from early in the season and the lines of the rugby pitch are clearly visible evidencing that there is an impact of some kind.

But what link to our form? Well, not so much our form – we’re unbeaten in 7 and still in two cups – but our style, which people seem to be confusing (although the two are obviously related). Chris Wilder has always liked a fast, attacking passing game and but this year things haven’t gelled or flowed. It might be the constant change of personell forced upon the manager due to injuries, but it may also be the less than true nature of the pitch.

Peter Leven and Simon Heslop, in particular, seem to have been afflicted by poor form this year. Lewis claimed Leven isn’t fit, which given his recent amount of game time seems reckless. But, Leven can’t complete a pass, Heslop who can strike a ball sweetly has barely had a shot all season and looks like he wants to leave. If the ball isn’t running true, then it’s going to affect players whose game is based around their quality on the ball rather than, say, their physical presence.

The impact, Lewis implied, was the need to be more direct. This neutralises Leven’s impact to set pieces and rare moments when he has space and time to bring the ball under control. It’s not nice to watch, but perhaps it’s necessary.

It’s not the whole solution however, injuries are still a factor but not the whole reason, funds are a factor, but not the whole reason, Wilder is a factor, but not the whole reason. And so on. 

Mitchell Cole's death is not about us, it's about them

The death of Mitchell Cole will bring personal sadness for those who knew him. As much as we can try to empathise with what his friends and family are going through, it simply isn't possible. What the aftermath should remind us is that footballers are people too. Why is it we forget?

Mitchell Cole will never be considered part of the pantheon of Oxford United greats. He arrived alongside a group of players at the beginning of 2010/11 on a wave of post-promotion optimism that ensured each was greeted like an arriving galacticos. In reality his impact was 4 largely unremarkable games.

His death on Saturday was undoubtedly a tragedy on a human level but it is easy, particularly in the hyperbolic world of football, to convince ourselves that we're affected by it as much as those who actually knew him. One person on Twitter described the happiness he felt when he’d heard that Cole had signed for us. To which we’re presumably to surmise the depth of grief he was apparently now feeling.

I find it difficult to attach myself to someone else’s grief. It seems mawkish and voyeuristic. Unfair on his family and friends who have enough to deal with without me or others hanging around sobbing crocodile tears. When I heard that he’d died I had to Google him to check a) he was the guy who used to play for us and b) that he wasn’t Josh Payne, another midfielder of apparent greatness who arrived around the same time and disappeared into the ether. I couldn’t pay an emotional tribute to Cole without feeling I was, in some ways, a bit of a fraud. His death is someone else’s tragedy. It makes the situation no more or less sad because he briefly played for Oxford and I’m an Oxford fan. I don’t know whether that’s selfish of me, or the right way to feel, I doubt there’s a right answer.

The news swept through Oxford players both past and present. Mark Creighton and Jack Midson, Damien Batt and James Constable were all on Twitter on Saturday morning. First confirming the rumour, then expressing their shock and finally paying tribute to the player.

Twitter gives us an insight into many things; we get to see a bit of the players on a personal level. Midson and Creighton expressed genuine shock at the news. Constable tweeted a picture of him and Cole. But it wasn’t a picture of him playing for Oxford, but when they were together playing for England C. They knew Cole not just for the 4 games he played for us, but before, during and after his time with the club. 

To us, footballers are actors in a rambling, incoherent and unending play. They are evil and heroes to be cheered and booed. But they are also people who knew Cole as a person and continued to know him after he left the Oxford stage. Cole had been at our games after he left, Midson talked to him last week, Chris Wilder had been speaking to him in his office only recently, and he had been at the launch of Batt’s company last week. We don’t see these things and we don’t consider how much life off the pitch impacts the actors on it.

This was summarised best by Chris Wilder after the ding dong 3-3 Cup draw with Accrington. Audibly upset, he struggled through his interview on Radio Oxford. He’d had to cope with the personal grief of hearing of Cole’s death, kept his team organised and focussed, maintained his professionalism throughout the game. It was no crafted PR statement, no bland platitude; it was a man who’d had a very very difficult day personally and professionally. They just have to pull on a shirt, focus on their job and get on with it. It is a massive credit to all of them that they're able to do this. Perhaps we need to consider this when we're hollering abuse at Chris Wilder and anyone else we choose to.

Perhaps most fittingly, the 94th minute equaliser was scored by Michael Raynes; a guy who is constantly maligned because he’s not as good at Michael Duberry or Johnny Mullins and has been labelled as – to quote Jerome Sale ‘The whipping boy’. But he seems like a decent guy, he’s always the one talking when heads are dropping, and he got his moment late late late on Saturday. He may frustrate, but does that mean we should have the right to abuse without restraint?

It’s a glib statement to say that a death puts football into perspective. But it would be nice to think if Mitchell Cole’s death offers something, it’s the opportunity for one or two to take a step back and consider the people behind the players that they scream abuse at every Saturday. 

The return of a slightly different kind of Constable

Has there ever been a more sung unsung hero than James Constable last Saturday? Manager, players and fans were all lining up to give their special mentions to the striker, acknowledging that it would be Tom Craddock who would take all the headlines after the 5-0 biffing of Accrington on Saturday.

Constable's performance didn't wholly come out of the blue, he has been looking better in recent weeks. You can chart his problems right back to the start of the year and all the shenanigans with Swindon. Constable strikes you as the kind of person who needs security around him to perform well. The Swindon approach was destabilising putting him in the uncomfortable position of being a striker with a price on his head.

Suddenly there was the pressure of a benchmark to meet. Then, of course, he was sent off in the derby for being little more than being himself; bustling and aggressive. It was like everything that defined him was suddenly considered wrong. Towards the end of the season he got injured, then he eased his way back to fitness, via more money bids, this time from Bristol Rovers, only to be sent off against Exeter. Another blow.

Now he seems to be getting a clearer run at finding some form. Apparently he was helped by the club who supplied him with a DVD of his goals from the Conference. Even without spending a few idle hours on YouTube, one of the lasting memories of the Conference vintage Constable, is of him alongside Adam Murray and Dannie Bulman getting in the faces of referees, linesmen and opponents tipping the balance of games in our favour in the process. That has ebbed away in recent months.

At Oxford, of course, he has been afforded the unusual gift of both time and patience by the fans. Although he has plenty of good will in the bank.

Perhaps he is settling in the role that his abilities are best suited to at this level; as a target man, ready to bully defences. While he lies tangled up on the floor with some lump of meat and gristle centre back, others can capitalise. Craddock is the more natural goalscorer, always looking like he's soft peddling until a chance comes along; he's never going to waste energy on things which don't lead to goals.

We forget that Craddock missed all of last season, another big miss for both the effectiveness of Constable and the team as a whole. It is rather too easy to assume that Craddocks 4 goal haul is a sign that things have turned around, as the result against Rochdale proved. However, having both of them on the pitch understanding their respective roles has got to be a sign that some things are beginning to improve.

So what exactly has Chris Wilder done for the Yellows

We're in that part of the season, and in that kind of form where even a Tuesday night trip to Accrington comes with the complete expectation of a comfortable win. Not a hopeful win, not that we'll be happy with a draw, a win is expected and demanded. Which is precisely what we did, of course.

Living up to expectations is a novelty for us. The efficient execution of a plan; the sure fire sign of success, is something that we haven't been able to do for years. I remember not so long ago, listening to the radio and the presenters speculating that back-to-back home wins would make a difference to whichever season it was. We'd subsequently go and drop points citing the pressure. Now, if we expect three points, we get three points. Not always, but often.

Two defeats in 20 is form that other teams have, not us, but it was not that long ago someone on the radio was saying that Chris Wilder had done nothing for the club this season. It was absurd then, of course, but what are those people thinking now?

When Chris Wilder first arrived at the Kassam, what kind of objectives might we have set for him? Promotion from the football league? For sure. And that was achieved. Year on year progress in the league? That was achieved. Beat your biggest rivals? Well, yes, twice. What about; that we should win our big games - not an easy one to quantify, but we've played 8 games under Wilder in front of more than 10,000 fans and won 5.

One defeat was the West Ham League Cup tie which we lost in the last minute to a goal from the soon to be Footballer of the Year and now England captain. Another was Northwich in the last game of the 2008/9 season, which was a crazy time with a crazy team. Only the 5-0 reverse to Bradford last season, you could argue, was a true failure to perform on the bigger stages. In short, we do well in big games. In addition, you have to be in it to win it; it's taken Chris Wilder 3.5 years to put us in front of 8 10k+ crowds - half the time it took to play 8 10k games before that. And during those 8 games we lost 7; the win against Swindon in the Cup.

What might Chris Wilder have achieved? He could have got us up as champions from the Conference, he could have got us out of League 2 at the first attempt, and he might have found a sustainable striking solution rather than rely on James Constable. With a bit more application in a couple of home games, we could be scrapping toe-for-toe with Swindon for the title. You might also argue that he should have kept Dannie Bulman. But these would have simply polished a comparatively golden period. The Conference championship would have been deeply satisfying, but it would have been at the expense of the adrenaline rush of Wembley. I'm happy to have lived through these blips, to have experienced all the highs of the Wilder-era.

Those who criticise Wilder dissolve into the background at times like this; but they are like sleeper cells. There is a chance that we will hit difficulties in the future. Life in League 1 - which appears to be in our future, maybe this year, maybe next - will be a very different proposition again. We may find ourselves in a relegation battle. This is the perfect opportunity for the sleeper cells to return to 'tell us so'. They will claim they were right all along. Chris Wilder is limited and has done nothing for this club.

Apologists will argue that they have a right to criticise, it is their club and they will be around long after Wilder has gone. Plus, they've paid for their tickets - they're customers. These things are true, but if you are indeed a fan in it for the long term; why are you looking for such a short term fix? If you are just a 'customer', then use your prerogative and walk away. If central values of being a fan are loyalty and longevity; people with half an ounce of decency will bestow a little of that on Chris Wilder as he takes us forward.

Oxford United 1 Accrington Stanley 1

To me, the problem is obvious; Peter Leven is a liability when he’s facing our goal. He needs someone like Paul McLaren to mop up when someone nicks the ball off his toe or an audacious cross-field pass ricochets off an oncoming striker’s shin.

The reason he’s a liability in that position, is that he has magic in his boots going forward, he’s a passer and passers don’t have the ball for long. That means it can easily fall into the hands of the enemy.

The longer a game goes on, the less effective he is, perhaps it’s tiredness, maybe he gets sussed, whatever, he is just more susceptible to losing the ball. 

So Leven’s protector needs to be on his money, particularly later in the game. Chris Wilder is concerned that McLaren doesn’t have the fitness he needs at this point in his career to put in 50 90-minute games in a season. It’s not an unreasonable assessment.

The impact is particularly acute at home. When you’re the home side, there is pressure to attack and chase the game. The away side with no expectations when behind, can more easily counter-attack and play a risky and devil-may-care game. As the home side, it is not advisable to sit on a lead when your opponents are prepared to pile forward recklessly.

Away from home, once you're in the lead, there is no need to attack. You can sit and absorb and hang onto a lead. You’re not expected to win, let alone attack, so sitting on a lead away is OK.

At home, Leven is susceptible to giving the ball away to opponents who are prepared to risk all to attack. Without McLaren mopping up, and in the case of Saturday, with a makeshift centre of defence, we get put under a lot of pressure.

Wilder’s response at home, understandably, is to try and inject energy into the midfield when it appears to flag. In trying to go onto the offensive – replacing McLaren with Payne - we become more open.

If we tightening things up with Andy Whing, then everything becomes a bit sludgy.  If you don’t play with Leven, then nobody is feeding the strikers, Batt and Davis and everything grinds to a halt. That leaves Heslop without the space he’s currently enjoying that allows him to use his prodigious shooting skills.

The answer, of course, is that McLaren should be able to last 90 minutes and Leven shouldn’t give the ball away. But, a bit like Neil Warnock said of Joey Barton; if they were that good, then wouldn’t be here.

I don’t know the answer – perhaps we should switch to 4-4-2 as the game progresses offering a bit more protection to Leven. It’s not the universal answer to all our problems, though. Neither should we get carried away that the problem is a deep and unsolvable one.

The bigger picture is that we are in an excellent position. If we were leading the table we would be salivating and taking our eye off the prize of promotion. For me, we are always at our best when chasing, not leading.

Accrington Stanley 0 Yellows 0

Floating around mid-table with a goal difference of 0 we are having, according to Danny Baker, “the season that never happened”. We went into the season with a goal difference of 0 and an inconsequential league position and we’ll come out of it largely the same.

If that’s true, then Accrington Stanley is the fixture that never happened. Over a period of nearly 50 years we’ve been ships that pass in the night with not so much as a gentle nod of acknowledgement to each other. Then, when we finally do meet, firstly back in August and again on Saturday, we produce two barely memorable 0-0 draws.

Except, of course, 0-0 is not a score we’re particularly familiar with this season. Which is why it was particularly surprising to many that Damien Batt has been voted the best right-back in the league by his fellow professionals.

For a team that managed to go a full 23 games without keeping a clean sheet, the idea that a member of our defence performed better than, say, the right back at Stevenage, who have conceded 15 less goals, seems barely comprehensible.

But whilst your average Oxford fan will look at Batt (and others’) weaknesses when assessing the season, fellow players will view it differently. If you’re playing against Batt, and you have the beating of him then you’re much more likely to put this success down to your strengths, not his weaknesses. What’s more, when you’re on a roll, the opposition become invisible. As Barry Davies famously said when commentating on Great Britain's third goal Olympic Hockey final in Seoul; “Where was the German defence? But frankly, who cares?”

Batt must be a nightmare to play against; he’s phenomenally fit, blisteringly quick and always willing to push forward. You can see how playing against him would be a daunting prospect.

It does leave him high and dry on occasions, but look at his positioning when we go forward – sitting on the right of midfield, if you look across to Tonkin on the left he’s in exactly the same position. The weakness, therefore, is tactical.

And there's the quandary, make him sit on the edge of his own penalty box and you lose the impetus going forward. Playing to Batt’s strengths you're going to give the opposition a hellish ride.

Batt does what he does. We might benefit from a bit of midfield cover when he’s bombing on, because he’s never going to be a sitter but considering who he is and the tactical framework he’s playing in, he’s had a fine season and has improved on last year.

Yellows 0 Accrington Stanley 0

There’s this girl, right? She looks really pretty, but not out of your league. It’s just there’s never been the opportunity to talk with her. Then, one night in the pub she’s on her own and her phone is out of battery.

You let her borrow yours and get talking to her. Things go well and you walk her home.

At her front door she says “Maybe we could…”

Immediately, you say “yes, great” and walk across the threshold into her house. You look back and she’s still standing on the step looking puzzled. Oh God, what was she going to say? Maybe she wasn’t asking you in. Your confidence seeps away.

She follows you anyway, one thing leads to another. You’re kissing when suddenly you say the name of your ex-girlfriend. The girl rolls away. You apologise. She says it’s nothing, it’s ‘fine’, it was… nice.

You exchange pleasantries, and make for the door. In one last attempt you turn to ask her that maybe you could see her again. Her face prevents you from uttering a single word. In fact, she might actually be shaking her head.

So, the long anticipated first date with Accrington Stanley turned out to be an uncomfortable affair and that first league win has again proved elusive.

It’s been an emotionally draining opening few weeks. All those portentous firsts, all that anticipation; it’s not surprising that things were going to fall a little flat at some point. From the giddy heights of Wembley, hopefully we’ve sobered up enough to knuckle down and get a rhythm going for the season.

Accrington Stanley... the story begins

“Mr Stanley, finally we meet”

Accrington squinted as he tried to focus on the figure sat in the half-light of the room. In front of him was a man looking regal but battered and worn. Like he’d been in a battle.

As his eyes became accustomed to the little light there was he saw a familiar figure. Where was he from? He couldn’t recall, though clearly the man knew him. His eyes were fixed unblinking. Suddenly something sparked a memory; he had seen him before, in the corridor that lead from the sunshine to the cesspool of piranhas, that horrible journey to unimaginable misery.

They’d met twice, in fact, the first time many years ago, the man was fresh and triumphant, the second, more recently, he was drawn, haunted even, with deadened eyes.

Could what they say about the prophecy be true? About that first meeting setting off a chain of events that would lead only to peril? Was this really the man they called… Oxford?

The man in front of him looked better than he did that day, but his scars were barely healed. Finally he spoke again.

“Accrington Stanley, did you really think that I wouldn’t find you?”

The force of the man’s presence caused Accrington to step back until he was flat against the wall. A chill shot down his spine. Suddenly it was all making sense. Was this the prophecy finally coming to bear?