THE APL PREDICTION LEAGUE & PREVIEW –
Oxford UnitedNEW YEARS DAYI’m writing this prior to the Saturday game against Posh, so we could be in the bottom four by the time this one comes around judging by the predictions so far for the game.
On the other hand, we could confound everyone I suppose, and give Winkie and Neilson a bit of breathing space, especially with a game to nothing coming up against QPR in the Cup.
Unfortunately, the distraction will not last long as our next two games are against Kingston (13th Jan) and Northampton (20th Jan), and you don’t need me to tell you they are must win 6 pointers, if only for the fact at the time of writing they are below us, and that’s without mentioning the bragging rights.........if we’re not up for it, things have the possibility of getting much worse, and I dare not even contemplate the possibility of getting nothing out of these games.
This game also marks the opening of the transfer window, so, will Winkie back his man, can we attract the calibre of player we need to pull us out of this spiral, will Golbourne extend his deal, as without him we are going to be paper thin at the back, and you have to say it, the Lewington fiasco seems hasty to me, as surely playing him in the back four has to be a whole lot better than playing Pawlett at right back, cutting your nose off to spite your face ?
Lets also not forget what Winkie said in his video blockbuster, if someone comes in for Chuks, and the money is right, he will not stand in his way, if that’s the case, in my opinion that will say all I need to know about the ambition of the club.
I suppose you cannot dismiss that someone is likely to make an enquiry about Brittain, as far as I know since the video, (look into the camera and look sincere) no new deal has been done to secure his future, so a club waving a bit of cash may be all it takes to get the England youngster.
Outside chances are probably Nicholls and Williams, but I doubt it, the more likely scenario is a few may go out on loan, possibly the likes of Jackson, Rasulo etc, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Seager go back to his parent club.
Anyway.......Happy New Year to you all, and let’s hope we can kick the year off with a victory over a team that can only afford three sides to a football ground.... yes, folks its Oxford United.
Leave your opinions at the door and support the lads.
WellDon
THE STORY SO FAROxford are currently in 10th place in the League table with a record of
PLAYED 24, WON 8, DRAWN 8, LOST 8, GF 36 & GA 35, with 32 POINTS to their name.
Their League results in chronological order are as follows.
Oldham 0 Oxford 2
Oxford 3 Portsmouth 0
Scunthorpe 1 Oxford 0
Oxford 1 Shrewsbury 1
MK Dons 1 Oxford 1
Oxford 3 Gillingham 0
Oxford 2 Bradford 2
Blackpool 3 Oxford 1
Oxford 1 Walsall 2
Bury 3 Oxford 0
Peterborough 1 Oxford 4
Oxford 3 KFC Chicken 0
Bristol Rovers 0 Oxford 1
Oxford 1 Charlton 1
Oxford 3 Rotherham 3
Fleetwood 2 Oxford 0
Oxford 1 Northampton 2
Plymouth 0 Oxford 4
Oxford 2 Blackburn 4
Southend 1 Oxford 1
Oxford 1 Doncaster 0
Rochdale 0 Oxford 0
Oxford 0 Wigan 7
Gillingham 1 Oxford 1
Bradford v Oxford (Dec 30th)
THE MANAGER / COACHWe have Josep” Pep” Clotet Ruiz, aged 40 born in Barcelona, Spain.
Pep was never a pro player, playing mainly amateur football in Spain, and at 20 became a coach, mainly in youth football or as an assistant. Notable teams include Espanyol, Malmo, Malaga and Viking. In British football, he joined Swansea as assistant to Michael Laudrup in 2013, Three years later he became assistant to Gary Monk at Leeds, and in July 2017 joined Oxford as Coach/Manager.
His record at Oxford is
GAMES 30, WON 10, DRAWN 9, LOST 11 with a WIN RATIO of 33%.THE STADIUM The 12,500 all seated Kassam Stadium (
Sat Nav – OX4 4XP) and is just a 43-mile journey from SMK.
The club moved to the Kassam Stadium in 2001, after leaving the Manor Ground, which had been its home for 76 years, but it has a very strange feel about it as It has only three sides, with one end remaining unused, another anomaly is the pitch which is part real grass, part artificial, the two being interwoven.
Away fans are normally housed on one side of the North Stand, towards the open end of the ground. This stand may be shared with home supporters, or if demand requires it, then the whole of this stand can be allocated providing just over 5,000 seats in total. The facilities within and the views of the playing action are excellent, and there is also good leg room. There is not much around the ground in terms of pubs and eating establishments, although refreshments inside the stadium are okay, but if there is a large away support, then it can take quite a while to get served. Refreshments on offer include: Cheeseburgers (£3.80), Burgers (£3.40), Hot Dogs (£3) and a selection of Wrights Pies (£3).
There are no pubs in close vicinity to the stadium although there is a bar in the nearby Holiday Inn Express Hotel, but this no longer allows away fans. There is a cinema and bowling alley complex located adjacent to the stadium, called Ozone. Inside the bowling alley there is a bar, which also has Sky television and a fast food outlet. There is also on the complex a Chinese buffet restaurant called Oxy Oriental, as well as a fish and chip shop called the Ozone Plaice.
A traditional pub in walking distance (15-20 minutes) of the Kassam Stadium is the Catherine Wheel in Sandford-on-Thames. This pub offers local real ales and cider, plus hot food snacks on matchday.
Otherwise alcohol is also served within the ground in the form of: Carlsberg (500ml Can £3.90), Brains SA Smooth (Pint £3.80), Cider (500ml Can £3.80) and Wine (miniature bottles £4).
There are 1,600 car parking spaces at the stadium itself, which are free, however, the car parks tend to fill up fast.......so get there early, failing that you can always park in the Ozone complex.
Oxford Railway Station is over 4 miles from the ground but is served by a regular bus service which takes around 30 minutes.
FORMER MANAGERSSince Oxford turned pro in 1949 they have had 36 managers, some of those have been caretaker managers, and in 1958 a committee of board members selected the team.
Past incumbents include, Ron Saunders, Jim Smith, Brian Talbot, Garry Waddock, Ian Atkins, Graham Rix and Mark Wright.
It should be noted that since 2000, Oxford have had 20 different managers.
FORMER PLAYERSGeorge Baldock, John Aldridge, Graham Atkinson, Ron Atkinson, Jim Barron, Ray Houghton, Alan Judge, Jim Magilton, Danny Rose, Dean Saunders, Jim Smith & Dean Windass to name just a few.
THE JUDAS OF OXFORDFormer Don, breaker of agreements, and suffering from memory loss of who paid for his medical treatment, we have Rob “Give us our knee back “Hall, although it is unlikely Judas will be playing as the knee we bought him is buggered......and no warranty.
MASCOTOlly the Ox along with his friend Olivia.
SHOOTERS BOOTS Top scorer for Oxford is Wes Thomas with 8 goals in all comps.
CURRENT MATCH ODDSOxford
11/8 (BetFred) Draw
13/5 (Hills) MK Dons
23/10 (Bet365)
FAMOUS FANSTimmy Mallet from children’s TV and Radiohead drummer Phil Selway.
LAST TIME ROUNDTuesday November 7th, 2017 – Oxford 3 MK Dons 4 (Checkatrade Trophy)
Team – Sietsma, Lewington, Williams, Wootton (Logan), Ebanks-Landell, Ariyibi, Nesbitt (Pawlett), Upson, Muirhead, Seager (Agard), Thomas-Asante
Unused Subs – Nicholls, Aneke, Kasumu, Rasulo.
Goals – Thomas-Asante 10’, Payne 33’ & 39’, Ariyibi 40’ & 45’, Hall 64’, Seager 66’
Ref – Chris Sarginson (6 Yellows)
Attendance – 1,182 (101 Dons fans)
HEAD 2 HEAD2017/18 – Oxford 3 MK Dons 4 (CT) – (Thomas- Asante, Ariyibi 2, Seager)
2017/18 – MK Dons 1 Oxford 1 – (Brittain)
2016/17 – Oxford 1 MK Dons 0
2016/17 – MK Dons 0 Oxford 0
YOU’VE GOT NO HISTORYFounded in 1893 as Headington United, Oxford United adopted their current name in 1960.
They joined the Football League in 1962 after winning the Southern Football League, reaching the Second Division in 1968. After relegation in 1976, between 1984 and 1986 the club earned successive promotions into the First Division, and won the League Cup in 1986. Oxford were unable to enter the 1987 UEFA Cup because of the UEFA ban on English clubs in European competitions.
Relegation from the top flight in 1988 began an 18-year decline which saw the club relegated to the Conference in 2006. This was the first time in the history of English football that a team that had won a major trophy was relegated from the Football League.
After four seasons, Oxford were promoted to League Two in 2010 via the playoffs, and six seasons later were promoted to League One, after finishing 2nd in League Two in 2016.
Ron Atkinson holds the club record for the most overall appearances with 560, John Shuker holds the record for the most appearances in the Football League with 478 and Ron's brother Graham Atkinson holds the record for the most goals scored with 107. In total, nineteen players have made international appearances while playing for the club.
PREDICTIONThat’s it for this game, make sure you get your prediction in on time, and as usual that’s 1 hour prior to kick off, all the usual APL rules apply.
See you at Oxford.
WellDonEXAMPLEOxford United 1 MK Dons 1
MKDFGS – Chuks Aneke
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