Oxford - Are they showing the way (1 Viewer)

covboy1987 said:

Signed 4 new players in 48 hours - Looks like thye are putting everything into a promotion push- curently 1 point behind us - should we have done some business in the window

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Have you got a magic money tree?

Them being a point behind us suggests we're doing alright, I don't think we've got any great need for a lot of upheaval. I'm not sure they do either really

Are they improving on what they have?

Will the newbies disrupt the spirit of an already decent team?

Would having a settled squad with depth from Sept to May be better, like Coventry?

All questions at the moment... no answers until May.

I think our squad as it is now is good enough to go up.

The issue will be injuries to key players. We're well covered in midfield, but an injury to Godden or one of the centre backs leaves us a little short in those areas.

covboy1987 said:

Signed 4 new players in 48 hours - Looks like thye are putting everything into a promotion push- curently 1 point behind us - should we have done some business in the window

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Much better to stick with a very strong settled squad IMHO. Huge gamble signing so many players in January, how long is it going to take to bed them in?

Only Marcus Browne & Liam Kelly are experienced players out the 4 the other 2 one is from non league another from West Ham not proven at this level...

Browne would get Into our squad out of the 4 non of the rest would for me.

I would rather have just 11 players in the squad if they had great ability, knew each other well and worked as a team...
than 40 who weren't.

covboy1987 said:

Signed 4 new players in 48 hours - Looks like thye are putting everything into a promotion push- curently 1 point behind us - should we have done some business in the window

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I would suggest there may also be some outgoings from Oxford so hard to judge whether overall they will have strengthened or not.

We already have marquee signings like Jamie Allen who can barely get on as a sub.

The only thing we possibly need, and it's greedy to even think it given the strength of our squad, is back up for Kelly and better back up for Godden. To get that you'd probably have to shift two of Baka, Hiwula or Biamou out. That of course is going to be very hard in a January window and even then the incoming players are going to know they're here to, at best, sit on the bench for the rest of the season behind Godden or Kelly. Not attractive for any parent club looking to loan a player or very motivating for a player transferring in permanently.

If you look at their squad are they actually improving their quality massively? Kelly and Browne are good signings but I wouldn't necessarily suggest they're much better than what they already have.

What they seem to be doing is adding depth which could be invaluable come the end of the season. But as above posters have already rightly mentioned, you could turn that on its head and argue that bringing in such a quantity of players half way through the season in an already settled and successful side could work against them.

covboy1987 said:

Signed 4 new players in 48 hours - Looks like thye are putting everything into a promotion push- curently 1 point behind us - should we have done some business in the window

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some people crowned wycombe as promoted on here not long ago

chill out

what are we desperatly in need of?

a new keeper? no
new cbs? no
new wingbacks? no
new midfeilders? maybe 1 more to help with rotational depth
wingers? no as we have 2 and dont play them
strikers? godden is our number 1 in a lone striker formation. we have baka,hiwulla and biamou if we ever wanna go 2 upfront. can we upgrade them 3? sure but it will cost and we prob wouldnt offloak baka or biamou in same window so is it worth it?

keep walsh and o hare on loan and i dont see much to urgently sort out. sure i wouldnt mind a new signing and it could help if they ar ebetter than what we currently have but its not a pressing concern for me

Esoterica said:

We already have marquee signings like Jamie Allen who can barely get on as a sub.

The only thing we possibly need, and it's greedy to even think it given the strength of our squad, is back up for Kelly and better back up for Godden. To get that you'd probably have to shift two of Baka, Hiwula or Biamou out. That of course is going to be very hard in a January window and even then the incoming players are going to know they're here to, at best, sit on the bench for the rest of the season behind Godden or Kelly. Not attractive for any parent club looking to loan a player or very motivating for a player transferring in permanently.

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Unless it was a development player/young lad, you would want anyone coming in to be competing with a real chance of making the first 11 wouldn't you?

And even when it is a youngster, sometimes they force their way in. I suspect that Walsh was Kelly cover but has become essential playing alongside.

covcity4life said:

its not a pressing concern for me

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It IS a pressing concern. We need to make a decision on this kind of stuff NOW.

I think I speak for the entire forum when I say that we've all had quite enough of your procrastination.

If they go up and we don't you can bet your house that we'll be hearing for years "Sisu had the chance to back us like Oxford's owners did and we would have gone up"

covboy1987 said:

Signed 4 new players in 48 hours - Looks like thye are putting everything into a promotion push- curently 1 point behind us - should we have done some business in the window

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How can we do business in the window when we have little to no money to spend? That's literally the like telling Stevie Wonder to play Where's Wally.

It's obviously frustrating when rival teams are adding fairly decent players to their squad and we're here stuck in limbo but unfortunately it's out of Robins' hands. Plus it's not really that different to any other Jan window for us - players have to be moved on first. I think the squad as it is, is good enough for a promotion push during the second half of the season anyway. Also, it's worth baring in mind that Robins may find it quite difficult bringing players in because realistically unless they are far better than what we currently have they'll be warming the bench.

covboy1987 said:

Signed 4 new players in 48 hours - Looks like thye are putting everything into a promotion push- curently 1 point behind us - should we have done some business in the window

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Not really, it just shows they've signed 4 players. We did similar in January 2016, at this point we were sat in 4th place. We all know what happened after that

Esoterica said:

We already have marquee signings like Jamie Allen who can barely get on as a sub.

The only thing we possibly need, and it's greedy to even think it given the strength of our squad, is back up for Kelly and better back up for Godden. To get that you'd probably have to shift two of Baka, Hiwula or Biamou out. That of course is going to be very hard in a January window and even then the incoming players are going to know they're here to, at best, sit on the bench for the rest of the season behind Godden or Kelly. Not attractive for any parent club looking to loan a player or very motivating for a player transferring in permanently.

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Agree on Kelly, if we lose him we're going to struggle. Looking at Pask the other day though he might be able to step into such a role.

SkyBlueCRJ said:

we're here stuck in limbo

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I don't think we are in limbo. We brought in loads of new players over the summer and I'd suggest that this side is only going to get better in the second half of the season now they have gelled. The only position I think we might improve upon is striker. But if Godden is now going to continue scoring goals I suggest even that is unnecessary and Max is adequate cover and provides an option to switch formation at some point and play two up top.

With Pask, Jones and Allen coming back to fitness, hopefully the squad will be strong enough.

As mentioned above it would be good to have additional cover for kelly and godden (I think Max will certainly do a job but unlikely to be as prolific) but realistically are those players available in terms of cost and ability....I doubt it

Liquid Gold said:

If they go up and we don't you can bet your house that we'll be hearing for years "Sisu had the chance to back us like Oxford's owners did and we would have gone up"

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Or our fans had the chance to back us but remained in Coventry so there wasn't any money available?

This maybe explains the incoming players
According to a report from The Telegraph, Leeds United are among the sides eyeing up a deal for Oxford United midfielder Cameron Brannagan, who has been in fine form for the League One side so far this season.

Midfielder Cameron Brannagan has been a strong performer for League One side Oxford United so far this season, helping Karl Robinson’s side to 4th place in the league after 23 games. The former Liverpool youngster has netted seven goals and provided three assists across all competitions so far, playing in 24 games across all competitions.

IN OTHER NEWS: Middlesbrough winger Marcus Browne rejoins Oxford United on loan
And now, it has been reported by The Telegraph journalist Mike McGrath that Championship promotion hopefuls Leeds United are taking an interest in the midfielder this January. Oxford are understandably keen to keep Brannagan at the Kassam Stadium this transfer window given that they are in a promotion chase of their own and will be determined to keep as many players in their squad as possible.

Brannagan was a star performer for Oxford United last season, scoring six goals and providing six assists in 53 games, playing in all but five of the U’s League One matches. He signed for the club in January 2018 on from Premier League side Liverpool, where he made his breakthrough into senior football.

IN OTHER NEWS: QPR confident of beating Derby County and Nottingham Forest to the signing of Spurs winger Jack Clarke
After coming through the club’s youth sides, Brannagan went on to play nine times for the club’s senior side, also spending time out on loan with Fleetwood Town.


Now, with Leeds United reported to be taking an interest, it awaits to be seen if the Whites will look to make a move for Brannagan before the end of the January transfer window.

we have a lot of dead wood

Ponti/Baka/Hiwula/Kastaneer

if we could get rid of them 4 and replace with 2 top players in a Goalscorer and a wide player who could challenge the 1st team, I would be happy

in terms of funds - the FA cup game is also crucial
A win in the replay could be worth 250-300k even if we go out against Birmingham

Also any movement for Maddison or Wilson would help
Hopefully SISU will keep our key players , as this is really our big change for promotion, Thought Mowbray had blown any chance of Championship, but as a team (if not a group of individuals) this Group are miles ahead

skybluesam66 said:

we have a lot of dead wood

Ponti/Baka/Hiwula/Kastaneer

if we could get rid of them 4 and replace with 2 top players in a Goalscorer and a wide player who could challenge the 1st team, I would be happy

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I doubt Kasta will play for us again
He's been relegated to the U23s and hasn't been in a first team squad for a while

mrtrench said:

I don't think we are in limbo. We brought in loads of new players over the summer and I'd suggest that this side is only going to get better in the second half of the season now they have gelled. The only position I think we might improve upon is striker. But if Godden is now going to continue scoring goals I suggest even that is unnecessary and Max is adequate cover and provides an option to switch formation at some point and play two up top.

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Maybe, maybe not I think it just feels that way because money is tighter than ever and Robins has all but confirmed that it's unlikely we'll see any incomings this season. Like I said though I'm not overly concerned as we nearly have a full strength squad so it's illogical wanting to replicate Oxford's window as it'd be unnecessary even if the budget was there.

Yeah I highly doubt we'd be able to bring in a striker as they wouldn't see game time.

better days said:

I doubt Kasta will play for us again
He's been relegated to the U23s and hasn't been in a first team squad for a while

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Difficult to get rid considering he's on a 3 year contract. Will be interesting to see what Robins decides to do with him.

Pask, Jones and Allen are as much new signings for us as any Oxford have signed, also how many if any of the Oxford newbies would get into our current first eleven ?
A late loan signing might yet happen as it did last season when we bagged Bright you never know but I think that will depend if one or two of ours go out.

We need to get at least 1 in, if Godden gets injured we are FUCKED striker wise.....

Every other position is sound

Notts County gambled on lots of signings and it didn't work out well for them.
We really should only worry about ourselves. I don't think we need another player in at the minute unless Biamou is going to be out for a while. There's no point in upsetting the applecart for the sake of it or just because other teams are getting players in left right and centre.

No they aren’t.

It’s always exciting to sign new players, but as others have said, we don’t need any. We might want a few, but we are not crying out for any particular position.

The obviously worrying one is Godden (remember when people were writing him off before he got injured?), however what in form striker would join a team to knowingly play second fiddle? In which case, if we did sign a striker, it would likely be a unproven but high potential youngster. I’d prefer to have Hiwula, Bakayoko, Biamou and Ponticelli as back ups.

I don’t think CB is an issue, we have Williams and Drysdale who are both highly thought of, plus Pask who can play there.

We definitely don’t need any midfielders, as even if Kelly is injured Walsh is the obvious replacement with Westbrooke/Shipley/Eccles/Pask all capable of playing alongside him.

Plus, we have two ready made attacking midfielders ready to come back in Allen and Jones.

The only other place we may be short is a back up RWB. It’s a shame we couldn’t keep Watson as he looked a very good back up. But worst case, Pask could play there or even Westbrooke short term.

So back to the original question; I’m sure it’s an exciting time to be an Oxford fan, but it is to be a Coventry one too. I’ve said from the start of the season we have one of the strongest squads in the league and I still maintain that.

skybluesam66 said:

in terms of funds - the FA cup game is also crucial
A win in the replay could be worth 250-300k even if we go out against Birmingham

Also any movement for Maddison or Wilson would help
Hopefully SISU will keep our key players , as this is really our big change for promotion, Thought Mowbray had blown any chance of Championship, but as a team (if not a group of individuals) this Group are miles ahead

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Would it be crucial though? Realistically any revenue earned from the F.A. Cup is likely to be used to make up the shortfall rather than be given straight to Robins. Equally, neither Maddison or Wilson are likely to move on during this window - and given how well Leicester are performing at the minute I can't see Maddison going in the summer either. The best we can hope for (which is bittersweet as you shouldn't wish for any side to be relegated) is Bournemouth getting relegated. Then Wilson will be heavily tipped to leave.

SkyBlueCRJ said:

Would it be crucial though? Realistically any revenue earned from the F.A. Cup run is likely to be used to make up the shortfall rather than be given straight to Robins. Equally, neither Maddison or Wilson are likely to move on during this window - and given how well Leicester are performing at the minute I can't see Maddison going in the summer either. The best we can hope for (which is bittersweet as you shouldn't wish for any side getting relegated) is Bournemouth getting relegated. Then Wilson will be heavily tipped to leave.

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It could be the difference between someone getting sold in the window or staying though.

SkyBlueCRJ said:

Would it be crucial though? Realistically any revenue earned from the F.A. Cup is likely to be used to make up the shortfall rather than be given straight to Robins. Equally, neither Maddison or Wilson are likely to move on during this window - and given how well Leicester are performing at the minute I can't see Maddison going in the summer either. The best we can hope for (which is bittersweet as you shouldn't wish for any side to be relegated) is Bournemouth getting relegated. Then Wilson will be heavily tipped to leave.

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Wouldn’t be surprised to see Callum Wilson be a big money transfer this month there’s normally a couple of surprises in this window.

Magwitch said:

Wouldn’t be surprised to see Callum Wilson be a big money transfer this month there’s normally a couple of surprises in this window.

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Bournemouth are in a relegation battle and you think they're going to sell their current joint top scorer for this season and their top scorer last season when Josh King is also out injured. Use common sense he's going nowhere.