Playoff Final: Bolton 0-2 Oxford

I agree that Baxter has made a good couple of fuckups today too which isn’t like him.

Wish we had Trafford back though.

karlypants wrote:Is it not Evatts fault in recruiting these twats?

Sluffy I think we need quite a bit of money to spend to get up next season instead of just crossing our fingers and riding our luck in the loan and freebie market.

I’m also going back to what I’ve said a few times now that I also think that Evatt isn’t the right man to take the club up to the next division.

Well we finished third in the league and should really have gone up at least in second place if we hadn't wasted those points during Baxter's 'injury', and was just one win away at Wembley to a team we beat 5-0 just a few months back and the only loan player we've used regularly this season is Maghoma - so I suggest we really don't need to splash the cash to get up next season - although any strengthening of the team is always welcome.

I truly have no idea of how the club is funded - Hart states that we will never be financially self-sufficient and Sharon, James and Luckock have not put their hands in their pockets for the last two years and on paper at least it seems we've been totally subsidised by a bunch of yuppy ex-pats working in Switzerland just for fun!

Are they up for funding us for another season - I don't know?

Is anyone up for funding us next season - again I don't know, but the answer is probably yes - it all seems to be about some social experiment by Sharon backed by the likes of Nick Mason (hope he's in good health!).

As for Evatt he clearly is inconsistent - no two halves in most games are the same from us and he's clearly got blind spots such as with keepers and not having a plan B.

Thing is though is that Sharon seems to think he is the bees knees - and she is the one who hires and fires, so I think the chances of him getting the sack is very slim - however did I read something about a manager who had been betting on football matches being investigated...

I wonder who that must be?

I suggest it is going to be more of the same for next year, many of the same players, with the same manager, playing the same style - and getting into the play-offs, or better.

But what do I know as I'm only a twerp apparently!

Hope you and your lad enjoyed the day despite the result.

After the pain of all this wears off - a full review of the squad, tactics etc. will be in order. Technically we have improved year over year.  so as far as firing Ian is concerned, I don't think there is a leg to stand on. 
Today's fiasco has been coming for a while - is it 6 wins out of the last 17 games or something like that. No shots on goal and a slow, plodding attack......again nothing we didn't already know about.
Is Santos to blame for standing still with his foot on the ball  - nope ----something is wrong when your centerback is charged with distribution of the ball that many times in a game. GT must have been playing but has no effect on the game other than to almost get two yellows. Cogs and Dion non existent.  Dempsey showed yet again why he should be in the starting 11 - MOM.

Hello all. Short version is we choked and not for the first time. We choked last season in the play off semi but not only did we fail to learn from that we actually did worse this season. We choked when we had games in hand and could easily have gone top let alone second. We choked in the 2nd leg against Barnsley but got lucky and scraped through. I would even argue that we choked in League 2 and only got automatic promotion because of the extra place and had we needed a play off there I think we'd have lost that one as well. 

It's not about the players in my opinion, it's the mindset that's wrong and we are visibly afraid when we have the 'big' games that we should be winning.  Frankly I have come to believe that Ian Evatt has reached the top level he is capable of as a manager and if our club is to progress any higher up the divisions we need to replace him. I just don't think he can take us any higher and frankly I don't believe we'll even make the playoffs if Ian Evatt is our manager next season.

Evatt has got us to within a win of automatic promotion with players that people are all saying lack mentality. Which I think they do. 

So in essence he’s worked miracles. 

You’d think a player of Sheehan supposed quality in a big game would come back and actively take the ball of Santos and take the game into his own hands. 

He’s good at spinning around in circles but not much else. That proves it. He was afraid of the ball yesterday and was apparently player of the season. 

Evatts main fuck up yesterday was not taking off Sheehan and Ogbeta the second we went 2-0. If not certainly at half time.

luckyPeterpiper wrote:Hello all. Short version is we choked and not for the first time. We choked last season in the play off semi but not only did we fail to learn from that we actually did worse this season. We choked when we had games in hand and could easily have gone top let alone second. We choked in the 2nd leg against Barnsley but got lucky and scraped through. I would even argue that we choked in League 2 and only got automatic promotion because of the extra place and had we needed a play off there I think we'd have lost that one as well. 

It's not about the players in my opinion, it's the mindset that's wrong and we are visibly afraid when we have the 'big' games that we should be winning.  Frankly I have come to believe that Ian Evatt has reached the top level he is capable of as a manager and if our club is to progress any higher up the divisions we need to replace him. I just don't think he can take us any higher and frankly I don't believe we'll even make the playoffs if Ian Evatt is our manager next season.

Hi Peter! It's very nice to see you on here even if it is just popping in for a moment or two!

I have to say that I fully agree with this. The trouble is with Evatt as he only has one plan A and no plan B. I still think this tippy tappy bollocks doesn't always work and when it doesn't there is nothing he has to offer technically to change it.

I have been saying this a few times leading up to the end of the season saying that he simply isn't good enough or has the plan to turn things round when you are losing in a game.

The problem is though, who do we place him with?

We also need a few quid being spent on players now. I feel it's not always good looking around on the freebie list hoping to get a rough diamond and relying on loan players.

I would also go to the extent that sometime in the near future Sharon may even start looking to put the club up for sale or something (she might have been secretly planning this if we went up to the Championship with the club being valued at a higher amount) as she personally doesn't have the wealth to throw a few million quid at it!

We played a plan B at Barnsley in the first leg. So Evatt clearly is able to identify when we need to go long.

Sluffy wrote:
Hope you and your lad enjoyed the day despite the result.

Yes we both had a fun day but it was tiring.

When we got to the queue to get on the Official Coach, there was one young boy going up and down trying to flog off air horns for a fiver a pop.

Lo and behold they would come to haunt me as we were sat in the family area at Wembley with one kid constantly blowing in his hooter making me wanting to shove it right up his arse so he could try to play it from there!

They are a right bloody nuisance!

Up at 4.30am and didn't get home till 12.30. 2 long coach journeys involved and nearly £200 spent and for what? 

A spineless and totally inept performance against a team who won every 50/50 and had a clear gameplan that worked totally. Evatt again has no plan B and not sure what we do going forward. Do we stick with Evatt or try another way? Only Dempsey came out of that game with any credit, he should have started in my opinion. 

The back 3 were awful, Santos was ponderous and you have to ask is he fully fit? Toal needs to be on the right and Jones needs to go completely. Oxford just sat back and waited till our back 3 gave the ball away or just lumped it which just came straight back. the build up is far too slow and we desperately need a player like Murphy from Oxford to be able to carry the ball at pace and get us up the pitch.

Totally fed up this morning next season is going to be even harder as Stockport and Wrexham will spend again and the likes of Birmingham and Rotherham will be looking to go straight back up.

I feel your pain mate.

I'm pleased I didn't waste the entire day and Auntie Sharon can stop fretting about where she can get another £20m from. Maybe we can also look forward to next season without expecting us to get beaten every week.

Always look on the bright side of life.

I've calmed down a bit now, just pissed off now! It really was a very poor performance but thinking back we've had a few games like that since Christmas and is something Evatt needs to look at. 

Teams know how to set up against us now and Evatt doesn't seem to have the ability to change things during games. Going to be a tough season next season and even harder to get promotion.

Trying to use the ponderous and very limited Santos as our play-maker is madness.

Hi Mad Dog, can't argue with anything you said, been saying the same on here.

As for Nat. she has disappeared, which is a great shame. She's not been on for months.

Just looking back at the comments on our Wembley performance and I don't think enough credit was given to Oxford/Buckingham.
This video shows how he outsmarted Evatt.
But moreover it includes a lesson in tactics that we all need to be aware of.
With the signings we have made I feel more confident now for the season ahead, even if we don't land our other targets - we have more athleticism and steel in the middle, some good quality players and a "new" system. My only concern though is whether or not our approach will still be susceptible to tactics similar to those Buckingham outlines below as with 343 we will still leave gaps down the side. We'll see.