Oxford v Gills

[joethegill]

Since Oxford came back into the league, our 3 visits there have yielded a 1-0 win and two 0-0s. The 1-0 of course broke our 35 match winless away record, so if you believe in fate and lightning striking twice this looks like it could be a good fixture for us to have to break our current unwanted record.

We've won our last two league games with late goals, so should have a semblance of confidence about us. However of course we had THAT Brackley game in the middle of the two wins which has been somewhat of a watershed moment for fans' patience towards certain individuals within our squad. Therefore, we should be pleased that we haven't had to stick with the back line from Brackley and have been able to recall Paul Konchesky and more importantly, Bailly Cargill - we've won 3 from 3 that he has played in so far. I feel the front end of our side is improving week on week, and we're seeing the best from JET since we've changed tactics. This does seem to be at the detriment of Bradley Dack, but he still doesn't look 100% whereas JET is flourishing so it makes sense to stick with it for now.

Elsewhere, we're currently on our 5th right back of the season in Wagstaff which seems to be a good fit, as the previous incumbents (Jackson, Herd, Oshilaja & Osadebe) are all either terrible there or just injury prone.

I expect us to line up:

Nelson
Wagstaff - Ehmer - Cargill - Konchesky
Hessenthaler - Wright - Knott
JET - McDonald - Dack
​

Hadler, Oshilaja, Garmston, Osadebe, Donnelly, Oldaker & List on the bench.

0-0, and an end to the clean sheet drought.

 

[Marked Ox]

Depends which of our team's turn up. If it is the team that played against Shrewsbury then you'll win comfortably. If it is the team that played against Coventry then we have a very good chance.

As for the team, the only change I would expect would be enforced as Joe Skarz was concussed on Saturday so Josh Ruffels will come in to replace him. The only other possible change depends on how Robbie Hall is after Saturday and whether Tuesday is too soon after just coming back from his injury. If it is, then I expect Marvin Johnson to start.

Eastwood
Edwards Nelson Dunkley Ruffels
Macca Ledson Lundstram Hall/Johnson
Maguire
Hemmings

As an aside, Wes Thomas is out for the season with a ruptured Achilles.

 

[ThisTinpotLeague]

Is that a 4-3-3 from Gillingham? Can't really see it on my phone. Either way sounds like you have some much bigger names than us.

Agree with Marked Ox that we are massively inconsistent. I want to say it's a mental problem because when we come out pressing and passing, we win. When we don't, we lose.

Wonder if a second start in four days won't be too much for Hall but have no doubt he played a big part in the improvement shown against Coventry.

Either way we clearly have our mojo back and a detailed analysis tells me that a 3-0 win is the most likely result.

 

[joethegill]

Is that a 4-3-3 from Gillingham? Can't really see it on my phone. Either way sounds like you have some much bigger names than us.

Agree with Marked Ox that we are massively inconsistent. I want to say it's a mental problem because when we come out pressing and passing, we win. When we don't, we lose.

Wonder if a second start in four days won't be too much for Hall but have no doubt he played a big part in the improvement shown against Coventry.

Either way we clearly have our mojo back and a detailed analysis tells me that a 3-0 win is the most likely result.

Yes we've been playing 4-3-3 the last few weeks and there has been a noticeable improvement. Gives JET freedom to cause havoc, which he is likely to do. Central midfield 3 suits us too, it's only really Dack that struggles in this system but I feel that's half down to fitness as much as anything.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

No Idea on this one.
Given up on predicting the Gills.
We were decent against the Spotters and were robbed of two points.
We were OK against Northampton and just about deserved the win.
We were worse than a poor pub side against Brackley.
We were then OK in the first half against Walsall and shite in the second half and ultimately we were lucky to snatch the win.
All in all, and somewhat surprisingly, we have only lost one of our last six in the league (but have only won two of those).

So, in short, haven't got a Scooby.

 

[joethegill]

In our last 8 league games against Oxford there have been 5 goals.

How very fucking predictable.

 

[Marked Ox]

Battling victory with some moments of quality. Good move for the goal and nicely taken by Marv. Very happy Robbie Hall got another hour under his belt on his comeback.

The fog brought out the usual crowd gallows humour. We only knew about offsides right at the end due to just about making out the linesman's flag, and that the ball was cleared when got plenty outside the box.

The Ref was consistent in not giving much at all although fortunately both sides kept to the pushing and pulling rather than nutty challenges.

Overall, happy that we ground out a result after comfortably winning last Saturday. Scunthorpe away on Saturday will be very tough especially considering our away form.