Easter was supposed to be telling, but it’s turned out to be as confusing as ever. Bristol Rovers, who looked like they were on a charge faltered at Carlisle, Plymouth, who looked like they were on the slide took maximum points from their two games, and Accrington have returned to the promotion fold like a bad smell.
We had the worst Easter of all the key teams, which was down
to the Stevenage result more than the draw with Cambridge. Cambridge retain a remote outside chance of the play-offs, so they
were no pushover. The point was fine, it’s just that we really could have done
with all three.
Ultimately the picture remains as it has done for months;
Northampton continue to run away with it, while Plymouth and ourselves sit in
the promotion spots. The others dance around threatening to catch us and then
failing to do so. If we were to be scientific and objective, evidence suggests this
is how it will remain, it just doesn’t feel much like that.
The run-ins for the key protagonists tells us little, apart
from Bristol Rovers’ away game at Northampton on the 9th April,
there are few fixtures which would describe as either walk-overs or banana
skins. Everyone is involved in a League 2 shitfight from here on in.
The good news is we should return from Wembley in a promotion
slot with O’Dowda and Kenny back and Lundstram serving only one more game of
his suspension. Plus, Wembley will be behind us and then only thing we’ll have
to worry about is getting over the line.
Lundstram (the return, or not, in fact)
So, Lundstram misses Wembley joining Billy Hamilton and, to
a lesser extent, Adam Murray in the Oxford United Wembley Heartache Hall of Fame.
The key defence was that Lundstram got the ball, but I suspect
that’s the least important thing in the argument. The priority is probably the
safety of the player and the question of whether Lundstram was in control of
his tackle. Key to that, then, is not the foot that made connection with the
ball, but the foot that should have been controlling his movement. The replay
is inconclusive as whether Lundstram could have controlled his movement to
prevent serious injury if he needed to. The referee thought not and I guess the
FA couldn’t see sufficient evidence to say otherwise.
It does still seem unfair for Lundstram to miss the JPT for
a misdemeanor in the league. If it had been done at any other time during the season it wouldn't have had an impact on his Wembley appearance. He just seems to be a victim
of timing.
Wilder (the return)
Chris Wilder is obsessed with our failure, it seems. Key
evidence for this was an extract in the Football League Paper tweeted by Radio
Oxford’s own charity mugger; Selfy.
“Some other teams in this division can play fantastic football but they might win one week and get beat the next and they’ll be playing League 2 football next year. Or they’ll be in the play-offs at best. We’ll be champions and we’ll be in League One.”
The implication was that he’s referring to us, which seems
unlikely given that we’re not a team hoping for the play-offs ‘at best’. I
think it’s a more general point that winning the title is the definitive statement
of ‘success’ not whether it's done in the right way or not is irrelevant.
That’s not to say Wilder wouldn’t be happy seeing us fail.
There’s a perverse pleasure in seeing your former employer struggle because it
shows important you were to their success.
But, that assumes Wilder, had he chosen to stay at Oxford, would
still be the manager now and therefore ‘doing a Northampton’. Even if he had
survived the Eales takeover – which is unlikely - I suspect his results last
season would have been little better than they were under Michael Appleton. In
all likelihood Wilder would have produced another ‘nearly’ season, which he
probably wouldn’t have survived.
Obsession is a emotive, but I suspect once Northampton have
got promotion his next favourite thing would be for us not to be promoted. Which
is all very disingenuous because without his success at Oxford, he wouldn’t
have the Northampton job in the first place.
So Wilder is comparing Oxford United as it is today, barely a
reflection on the club he left, against an Oxford United that might have
existed in the very unlikely event that he’d have been allowed to continue
managing the club. Which, ultimately, is Wilder creating an argument with a
himself, something he seems prone to do.
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