Paul Beasley

The Magic of the FA Cup

Driving past the stadium just before 6 o’clock you would never have guessed that a couple of hours later a football match would be taking place.

Drinking in the Priory pre-match I’ve never witnessed Oxford fans in such down beat mood.

As it turned out my pessimism had been on the optimistic side. No more than about 3,500 I said. Well, we only just cracked the 2.5k mark and with just 48 Stanleys the atmosphere was, to put it mildly, lacking. Even their bloody drum was left behind in Lancashire. There was not one banner or flag in the ground as far as I could see.

This setting got the football it deserved in the first half. “Tepid” was how it was described on the radio. Was it really that good? The chat at the break was quite consistent – “can’t recall a half that boring”. My son had suggested that the referee should book all 22 players for time wasting. For me the most interesting aspect of the first half was trying to figure out why anyone would want to attend a football match with a chicken, or was it supposed to be a turkey, on their head.

In the second period they remained awful whilst we got better and by the end were worthy winners. For me the big difference was Alfie Potter who began running at the opposition; something he had not done in the first period. Beano, having hardly touched the ball earlier, came to life too and pleasingly scored with a great header from a corner. Let’s make being a threat at set pieces a habit. Peter Leven has rightly received a lot of criticism recently but struck his goal sweetly. More of that too please and also the bread and butter stuff.

The defence also deserves credit. They can’t do better than keep a clean sheet and I wonder if getting close to the back four we had last season is anything to do with this. Jake Wright was immense and the only time we looked in any real danger was when Ryan Clarke had a Wembley moment. From the back of the SSU it looked as if we might have got away with one and the reaction of the few away fans suggested this too. However, the key often is the behaviour of the players themselves. Accrington hardly mustered a protest worthy of the name. Perhaps given the lack of anything to suggest it was a competitive match they had forgotten a 3rd round tie with Sheffield United was at stake and just could not be bothered to appeal.

Free kicks conceded on the edge of the area are usually a big cause for concern but we had nothing to worry about when Davis began to needlessly commit fouls in this vicinity. Accrington must have trained long and hard to produce the comedic effect seen on more than one occasion. Two or three dummy runs over the ball and then thwack it sails out of the ground without going within 30 yards of the goal.

And then we saw a few moments of Dubes. I was so wrong in thinking that he would never again wear a yellow shirt. So what if he was all over the shop, and believe me, he was. His timing was way out. It was fantastic to have him back.

The Pitch

It didn’t look great but when the management and players are highly critical we should perhaps start to worry. I can’t say as I’d noticed it looking in particularly poor health up to now but it’s from here on in with the bad weather setting in and the rugby effect taking hold that ………. wait. Hold this space – Oxford v Fleetwood is off. 11:30 and it’s pissing down. Has been for ages.

Questions, questions, questions.

Was the state of the pitch to blame for Adam Chapman’s injury?

I would be interested to know if the club do a proper analysis of the cause of injuries and have a plan in place to reduce the risk. Paying players to sit around recuperating isn’t best use of the wage bill. At present we’ve got JPP, Dean Smalley (I’ve almost forgotten he exists) and Andy Whing through no fault of their own drawing their salary but not contributing. We must be wasting a small fortune. And what of our sports science experiment?

Is the pitch to blame for us not doing very well?

Mickey Lewis mentioned the need to go long more than we would like because we are a passing side and passing on that surface is difficult. I don’t mind the long ball game as long as it doesn’t just consist of hopeful / pointless hoofing. It’s good to mix things up and football is (nearly?) all about winning isn’t it? And the record books don’t support the fact that our supposed pass, pass, pass style, which to be honest we have not been that good at, has brought massive reward since we have returned to the League.

Would the game have been called off if the pitch was not now receiving a regular pounding from 180 rugby studs?

The fact that this is the first match at the Kassam ever to be called off due to a waterlogged pitch suggests not, although I can’t remember it ever raining so much, so often and over such sustained periods before. No wonder there’s serious flooding all over the country. But the more we build and more concrete we put down to screw up natural drainage this problem is only going to get worse.

How do Reading, Wigan, Swansea, Wycombe and Bristol Rovers cope?

Just asking. I’ve not bothered to do any research but I can’t recall there being a problem at the Madejski, DW or Liberty.

So what’s the likely financial impact on Oxford United?

The fixture list has not been kind to OUFC this season and we can ill afford to miss out on semi lucrative games over this period. It’s supposed to be Cheltenham on New Year’s Day and then four days later the Blades. If these games do not take place on the scheduled dates gate receipts will suffer. Based on nothing whatsoever other than a finger in the air, I’d say approx £40k less income. That hurts.

And fixture wise?

If there is a fixture pile up we’re screwed. As it is we’re not big on squad size but big on injuries and struggle to cope anyway. We’re still in the FA Cup and JPT and the last thing we need is two or three games a week at any stage of the season.

After today (Saturday) the forecast, which can change overnight, shows no more rain in Oxford until after Boxing Day, but then five days of “light showers”. London Welsh are due to churn the pitch up a bit more on 29th. I don’t want to be pessimistic, but I’m going to be.

Then there’s the away fixtures. Exeter on Boxing Day. The South West are currently having watery issues.

What does the contract say?

For me this is a biggie. What are the terms and conditions? “Fit for purpose” must be in there surely but what does that mean? Obviously not, “we guarantee not to allow the pitch to have rugby played on it”. I wonder if the people signing the contract on behalf of OUFC thought things through to ensure that our interests were properly protected. The maintenance of the playing surface has always been an issue and from where we’re sitting – at home and not at the match – there is a feeling that things have been, and still are being, done on the cheap.

I think we may now get into a situation where there is a lot of finger pointing and blame being thrown around without anyone accepting responsibility for anything and the issues which need to be sorted pretty darned quick not being tackled full on. Just put it all down to the exceptionally bad weather and pretend the sun when we next see it, will fix everything.

From reading the Yellows Forum and the local press the University Parks and Sportsturf both feel they need to defend themselves. I quote from the YF, “looks like the new pitch people are doing a great job…just 2 up there today tryin to get it on….ahhhh I remember the days when the uni parks folk sent loads up there …….I remember spendin all night under a heated cover moving it about…spending hours up there and making it playable for all the anti uni posters to have a pop at…well chaps bet you miss those wonderful folk now…..it was always going to happen tho……The drainage needs sorting…..stadium told 3 years ago and still nothing done..”

Sportsturf who were brought in when the ground share was agreed (by Firoz and London Welsh – I assume OUFC had no say in the matter) are relatively content in how the pitch is performing according to their MD, Steve Moore. He’s quoted as saying “It’s not the best pitch in the division, but it’s not the worst either – if you asked me to give a mark out of ten, I’d give it a six.”

Six out of ten. Not good enough by a long way, but that sums up so much of our season.

Right, now off to brave the shoppers and buy some Christmas potatoes. Another enjoyable Saturday afternoon.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL