Team for Didcot

[Terryhall]

Drop everyone who played against Warrington !

Hmm. Lets examine that one. Our squad against Warrington (with thanks to the BBC)

30 Pym
06 Ribeiro (Keohane - 67' )
02 Butterfield
08 Oakley
03 Woodman
07 Sercombe
19 Noble (Davies - 59' )
14 Grimes
31 Cummins (Nichols - 74' )
04 Bennett
22 Wheeler

A good number of those have moved on to pastures new, but still we would be going into this without our best defender (Ribeiro), best attacker (Wheeler), best goalscorer (Nichols) and best / most experienced midfielder (Noble). Essentially I guess we'd be left playing the youth team and effectively negating any advantage we might have from our professional status.

As an aside though, it's actually pretty enlightening to look at that lineup and compare it to the proposed XI from Snoop Fog in the OP. Man for man, we look much better to me all the way down the team (Grimes excepted, of course). What a difference a year makes.

 

[malcolms]

Hmm. Lets examine that one. Our squad against Warrington (with thanks to the BBC)

30 Pym
06 Ribeiro (Keohane - 67' )
02 Butterfield
08 Oakley
03 Woodman
07 Sercombe
19 Noble (Davies - 59' )
14 Grimes
31 Cummins (Nichols - 74' )
04 Bennett
22 Wheeler

A good number of those have moved on to pastures new, but still we would be going into this without our best defender (Ribeiro), best attacker (Wheeler), best goalscorer (Nichols) and best / most experienced midfielder (Noble). Essentially I guess we'd be left playing the youth team and effectively negating any advantage we might have from our professional status.

As an aside though, it's actually pretty enlightening to look at that lineup and compare it to the proposed XI from Snoop Fog in the OP. Man for man, we look much better to me all the way down the team (Grimes excepted, of course). What a difference a year makes.

Hold on!!! what difference is that ?.....don't we have almost the same number of league points, goals difference and position going into a 1st Rd FA Cup game against a non league side .... seems strangely similar to me.....

 

[memoman]

-----------------Olejnik------------
Davies----Brown----JMT------JMac
Ribeiro---Oyeleke---Noble---Holmes
----------Wheeler---Nichols--------

Keep the defence nice and tight and overrun them with pace down the wings and upfront. Oyeleke is excellent at the box-to-box role whilst Noble can keep things ticking over in the middle.

 

[Terryhall]

Hold on!!! what difference is that ?.....don't we have almost the same number of league points, goals difference and position going into a 1st Rd FA Cup game against a non league side .... seems strangely similar to me.....

To answer your out-of-context interpretation of what I said, the difference between the two in my mind would be rather than a "boom and bust" of having an atrocious start and needing to be rescued by a superb run to get out of trouble, this season we have been much less volatile and shown much more aptitude to recover from a defeat. As well as, for the first time in a long time, reaching the second round of a cup competition.

To take my comment in context however, Olejnik > Pym, Brown > Oakley, Oyeleke has at least potential to be > Sercombe, Holmes > Cummins, plus many other additions and improvements to the squad such as McCready, Grant, Hoskins.

To say that we've stayed still in the past year just because of a snapshot of the league table is in my view to misunderstand the nature of football. To say that today's squad is on paper the same as it was a year ago (which is the point I was actually making), I would find equally baffling.

 

[malcolms]

To answer your out-of-context interpretation of what I said, the difference between the two in my mind would be rather than a "boom and bust" of having an atrocious start and needing to be rescued by a superb run to get out of trouble, this season we have been much less volatile and shown much more aptitude to recover from a defeat. As well as, for the first time in a long time, reaching the second round of a cup competition.

To take my comment in context however, Olejnik > Pym, Brown > Oakley, Oyeleke has at least potential to be > Sercombe, Holmes > Cummins, plus many other additions and improvements to the squad such as McCready, Grant, Hoskins.

To say that we've stayed still in the past year just because of a snapshot of the league table is in my view to misunderstand the nature of football. To say that today's squad is on paper the same as it was a year ago (which is the point I was actually making), I would find equally baffling.

The implication was that in a year everything has changed.... The personnel may well have done. as you have illustrated, but the "snapshot" whether It's taken with your Mobile Phone, Box Brownie, Rollieflex or Polaroid, remains steadfastly the same. Come back to me if the picture is developed in a different fashion by the end of the season.

MS, completely misunderstanding the nature of photography......

 

[Sexton Blake]

Looking back on the Warrington game I believe it is fair to say that they looked what they were an eighth tier side and we looked what we were a league team. The main reason we lost is simply because we started off like rabbits in the headlights. In fact in all my years watching the City I have rarely seen them start so nervously and make so many unforced errors as we did in the first 15 to 20 minutes.

Warrington were up for a fight and we allowed them to bully us out of the game. They were fortunate with their goal and afterwards we did everything but score and their goal had a charmed life. Lady Luck turned her back on us but we should never have given them that chance to have something to defend.

We can not allow a repeat performance against Didcot and should take the game to them. My main concern is that they will like Warrington be a physical side and again (although it almost seems like using playground language) try to bully us. If I was their manager and have watched City that would be my tactics because we are not a physical team do not play that and sadly can be bullied. Tippy tappy football is not going to see us through to the next round. To succeed Tisdale will have to drastically change his approach and send them out with the instruction to battle and earn the right to play their game but I am worried because it has been shown so many times that Agincourt type battle cries are not Tisdale's way with apologies for repeating this again we are susceptible to bullying tactics and Didcot will know that this is definitely our Achilles Heel.

We are being given a great chance to progress further and success in the FA Cup is one of the few ways where clubs at our level can improve their finance. The revenue from the Man Utd ties saved the Club and likewise the revenue from their Man Utd ties gave Burton Albion the springboard to become a football league and now league one club.

 

[antman]

Looking back on the Warrington game I believe it is fair to say that they looked what they were an eighth tier side and we looked what we were a league team. The main reason we lost is simply because we started off like rabbits in the headlights. In fact in all my years watching the City I have rarely seen them start so nervously and make so many unforced errors as we did in the first 15 to 20 minutes.

Noble had a shocker first half, Wheeler was anonymous and the strikers let themselves be physically bossed. Everyone was too hasty, as you say. Hopefully they will have learned form that experience but I would definitely play Clinton Morrison, to take the heat off Nichols. It won't be a game for pace over brains, because they will sit back as Warrington did and bite at our ankles all the time. You can bet the ref willl favour the underdog home team, just like at Warrington, so we need players that can stand up to being knocked about a bit. I would definitely play Harley because it will be brains and timing that wins a game like this. But overall we are far stronger than we were this time last year in my opinion.

 

[Langer]

The main problem I have with watching this type of game is we should be good enought to not let them have the ball but we seem to let teams play against us. My tactic would be to pass it round for 70mins untill there bucked then hit them with it .

 

[MagzECFC]

----------Pym----------
Ribs---Brown--Tilson-----J.M.T
-------Nobel---Harley
Wheeler------Jay------Watkins
-----------Clint

Joel Grant would get lumps kicked out of him all game and I feel the same goes for Tom.

 

[Thames Valley Red]

Well, as they lost 2 1 at "the mighty" Banbury United last night, a win should not really be a problem..... I wonder if he was there to witness how it might be achieved?

As a local I can tell you Banbury are a well organised club with a decent set up. They have a full youth set up and local clubs in the local area are affiliated to them. I coach a team on a Saturday morning these days and Banbury have a stream of well kitted out teams. As for Didcot they had a very good striker called Stuart Beavon on their books. That said if Paul Tisdale fails at this game in my opinion after Warrington he should move on. As some have alluded to this would be beyond unacceptable.

UTC

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