New Signing

[Hog]

Notwithstanding the usual "I'll reserve judgement til I've seen him play" etc etc ... What the bloody hell?

Well, credit where credit is due - that was as impressive a senior debut as you could hope to see, very well done nipper!

[OUFC4eva]

Agreed - a very , very good debut.Reminded me of a young Gael Clichy -he was that good.

He has a great future ahead of him in the game I would think.You could see after 2 mins that
he is a physical specimen who can play and compete.

Appleton said on BBC Radio Oxford that he had spoken to a friend about young Tareiq - that friend had played
500-600 league games as a left back.

I take it he was referring to Chris Powell who would have worked with Holmes-Dennis at the Valley.

[OUFC4eva]

Who thinks Riley has been our best player this season?.

#askashton?

IMHO, this is an utterly ridiculous signing. We could've brought in Leighton Baines and it still wouldn't be the answer to our problems.

He could go on to be a better left back that Leighton Baines

[YF Dan]

On that performance, we have signed a future England international.

For an 18-year-old on debut to play like that was something else. Nerveless, composed, quick, but also - unlike some of our more senior pros - totally aware of when to put a boot through it.

Quality signing.


I concur though, no matter how good he is, I'm not remotely convinced we needed a new left back.

[Eric Pollard]

Surely your post is illogical ? If the young lad is streets better than Newey - and that looked to be the case today - then doesn't that mean we do need a new left back ?

Roberts also looked very useful from the three of four minutes he was on.

[SWA]

Hope a few posters on here are enjoying their humble pie today?
Great debut lad.

[Ancient Colin]

Perhaps we should reserve judgement until he's had a month or so of our coaching skills?!

[Jimski]

I'm definitely glad to be being proven wrong. Though (a) let's hope this form continues - it is only one game; and (b) if we signed another unproven 18 year old on loan, I'd have the same initial reaction. I think it's a reasonable default stance.

[Hog]

I'm more than happy to admit he had an impressive debut and was first to do so above (and deliberately didn't add the caveat of "but can he do it on a Tuesday night at Northampton against a team which isn't bottom of the whole league" because I didn't want to appear to be offering faint praise) but ... can he do it on a Tuesday night at Northampton against a team which isn't bottom of the whole league. I hope he can.

[tomoufc]

Hope a few posters on here are enjoying their humble pie today?
Great debut lad.

Pass the gravy, would you?

[tomoufc]

I'm more than happy to admit he had an impressive debut and was first to do so above (and deliberately didn't add the caveat of "but can he do it on a Tuesday night at Northampton against a team which isn't bottom of the whole league" because I didn't want to appear to be offering faint praise) but ... can he do it on a Tuesday night at Northampton against a team which isn't bottom of the whole league. I hope he can.

I think that's a caveat that applies to the whole team.

[Myles Francis]

Don't think there's need for anybody to be eating humble pie as it was the general principle of signing an unproven 18yo left back that was being questioned rather than his individual ability.

It was a very good debut indeed. A couple of times he was simply outmuscled for the ball, but that wasn't unexpected. Overall, a nice composed performance.

Now, onto wider matters. It's fairly clear that Appleton is deviating from Plan A now. Early on it did look as though we were playing 442, or a more fluid version of the 4231 with Hylton and Barnett swapping roles and/or partnering each other up front. There was also much more robust, direct play - possibly a natural by product of having Andy Whing back in the side!

I can see that Adams will be getting Tranmere to play a more direct game very quickly. They clearly have a degree of physicality to help them with this, and already have the big unit up front to be the focus of the attack.

Great to get another 3 points at home, but Tuesday becomes the big test of our progress.

[GodalmingYellow]

Don't think there's need for anybody to be eating humble pie as it was the general principle of signing an unproven 18yo left back that was being questioned rather than his individual ability.

It was a very good debut indeed. A couple of times he was simply outmuscled for the ball, but that wasn't unexpected. Overall, a nice composed performance.

Now, onto wider matters. It's fairly clear that Appleton is deviating from Plan A now. Early on it did look as though we were playing 442, or a more fluid version of the 4231 with Hylton and Barnett swapping roles and/or partnering each other up front. There was also much more robust, direct play - possibly a natural by product of having Andy Whing back in the side!

I can see that Adams will be getting Tranmere to play a more direct game very quickly. They clearly have a degree of physicality to help them with this, and already have the big unit up front to be the focus of the attack.

Great to get another 3 points at home, but Tuesday becomes the big test of our progress.

I pretty much agree with Myles.

Getting a result at Northampton will be much more impressive than a home result against the worst team in the league.

Nice to get the win, but lets keep it in perspective.

[SWA]

I thought they looked a lot better than Stevenage. Micky Adams will get them up the league soon enough.
Northampton are in a bad run themselves at the moment. Reckon we can go there and get a long overdue win..