Doesn't sound like Joe has covered himself in glory on his return either. But it's early days for him and he has to get up to speed.
Oxford United v Swansea City
- Thread starter CroJack
- Start date
The Blobster
Prediction Champ
Sorinola misses and Oxford only need the next pen
We are out
Let's hope Martin gets the push now .
We are out
Let's hope Martin gets the push now .
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Same statistical story as on Saturday except we scored goals. Dominate possession, but don't do enough with it. Opposition equal to us with opportunity and production, end up winning the game going away.
Fitness - physical and for purpose sadly lacking. Season's over before it got started unless we make serious changes.
Fitness - physical and for purpose sadly lacking. Season's over before it got started unless we make serious changes.
Ha!! Let's see what Martin has got to say about this. Surely he's got to go now. We get a two goal start against a League One club then contrive to lose it. It's not good enough and neither is Russell Martin, his coaching and his staff. Now please do us a favour and piss off.
Starting with the fucking manager!!
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Threat of relegation is real. It's not like we're busting a gut and getting beat by better teams. We're being out matched by lesser teams in all but two metrics passing / possession ... but football isn't won on style.
Are there any numbers on the collective, individual and average distance run by both teams in our matches. It would be interesting to see who's working the most and whether Martin's plan on knackering out the other team is even remotely close to reality.
Are there any numbers on the collective, individual and average distance run by both teams in our matches. It would be interesting to see who's working the most and whether Martin's plan on knackering out the other team is even remotely close to reality.
Martin's devotion to possession only proves how meaningless possession is. If Swansea's opponents can get near enough the same number of shots and scoring opportunities with half the possession Swansea have, then where's the value in possession?
His statement that Swansea "wear the opposition out" is pure delusion - his Swans move at a snails pace, all ball-to-feet, no running, no aggression. The opposition barely have to move to contain it. His football doesn't exhaust the opposition, it exhausts the audience.
Re fitness - practicing ball-to-feet passing will hardly build stamina will it? Where's the running into space to receive a ball played into that space? No wonder this team have no fitness.
I'm not trying to be wise after the fact, but I told @ivoralljack over the summer that I'd have fired Martin at the end of last season for finishing 15th while having a 2-man strikeforce that combined for something like 34 goals. I said elsewhere on this forum that I believe any other Championship manager would have finished higher than 15th with last season's squad and I stand by it. This squad is not perfect but there's enough talent here to finish in the playoffs, provided Piroe stays.
All I'm seeing so far is a wasted pre-season that a less conceited manager might have spent more wisely.
His statement that Swansea "wear the opposition out" is pure delusion - his Swans move at a snails pace, all ball-to-feet, no running, no aggression. The opposition barely have to move to contain it. His football doesn't exhaust the opposition, it exhausts the audience.
Re fitness - practicing ball-to-feet passing will hardly build stamina will it? Where's the running into space to receive a ball played into that space? No wonder this team have no fitness.
I'm not trying to be wise after the fact, but I told @ivoralljack over the summer that I'd have fired Martin at the end of last season for finishing 15th while having a 2-man strikeforce that combined for something like 34 goals. I said elsewhere on this forum that I believe any other Championship manager would have finished higher than 15th with last season's squad and I stand by it. This squad is not perfect but there's enough talent here to finish in the playoffs, provided Piroe stays.
All I'm seeing so far is a wasted pre-season that a less conceited manager might have spent more wisely.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Sums it up nicely. Over promised, under delivered, poor utilization of resources. Martin's Madness tries to force the players into the system instead of the molding the system around the players ... now, if only there was a system.
CroJack
Key Player
Possession is not and by definition can not be meaningless. It's like saying passing is meaningless, shooting is meaningless, crossing is meaningless...
But what you do or don't do with possession can be meaningless, just like shooting or crossing from 50 yards is meaningless.
There is no logic in what you are saying. Swansea's implementation of possession football, paired with lack of pace and aggression, on one side, and use of high back-line, on the other, is the reason Swans opponents create more and better chances, out-shoot and out-score us. Not possession, but our loss of possession gives our opponents all these chances and shots. Sloppy passes and players dispossessed in dangerous areas are killing us. Last season we scored 58 goals and finished 15th, in 2020/21 under Steve Cooper we scored 56 goals and finished 4th. But under Martin we conceded 68, and under Cooper 39 goals. I remember that Cooper didn't have the answer to high pressing but luckily for him not many Championship teams played high pressing football. He often parked the bus so we didn't concede goals from counter-attacks like we often do under Martin. We rarely got dispossessed under Cooper because we hoofed it. Under Martin we play high risk football from the back, which is stupid because our players are not so skillful and they don't have pace to use it when they need to regain possession.
Possession numbers have nothing to do with our losses. Our problem is not possession but how and where we lose possession. You should rather ask where is the value in losing possession?
Last Sunday I watched West Ham v Manchester City. A boring game and boring football played by Pep Guardiola. But Man City won 0:2 and I bet they will win the title again. Man City had 74% possession, 14 shots and 2 shots on target, West Ham 6 shots and 1 shot on target. Now we can ask how come Man City with all that possession had only two shots on target and West Ham 1?
We were definitely poor against Blackburn, but against Rotherham we run into spaces to receive the ball. I made a video about our attacking actions and we actually created a lot of chances.
If we play like we did against Rotherham, provided we score from chances we create, then we'll finish in the top six. But if we continue to play like we did against Blackburn, then we'll be relegated. It's up to Martin.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Martin's post match dialogue was a quasi turn against the players. He actually expected them to hoof it long in the last 15 minutes ... when he's been coaching the exact opposite. He's contradictory. He's not understanding the problem.
He complained that Congreve had a calf aggravated after 70 minutes ... "it's his longest spell so far" ... or something like that he said ... well whose fault is it that Congreve's only had short match work in preseason. I think Martin's starting to unravel. We'll know for sure after this Saturday's result.
He complained that Congreve had a calf aggravated after 70 minutes ... "it's his longest spell so far" ... or something like that he said ... well whose fault is it that Congreve's only had short match work in preseason. I think Martin's starting to unravel. We'll know for sure after this Saturday's result.
Behindthegoal
Key Player
It was the substitutions that did for us, wasn’t it?
Alf Ramsey made the same mistake at Mexico 70. Although he’d already won the World Cup he wasn’t ever truly forgiven.
Alf Ramsey made the same mistake at Mexico 70. Although he’d already won the World Cup he wasn’t ever truly forgiven.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Highlights | Oxford United v Swansea City | Swansea
Watch all the key moments as Swansea City take on Oxford United in the first round of the Carabao Cup at the Kassam Stadium.
www.swanseacity.com
Before he was taken off Fulton was having a solid game and instrumental in all things positive going forward and scored a lovely free-kick goal.
Cullen should start instead of Obafemi against 'Pool
Internet awash with demands for Martin to go!! For all his usual bluster about our dominating the game (61/39), Oxford had as many shots (10) from their 39% as we did from our 61% and we just scraped the OT efforts 5/4. This means that Oxford created far more from their lowly possession than we managed. It defies belief that Martin, his assistants and his stats people can't see this. If they can, why doesn't he do something about it? Could it be that he doesn't know how: that he's so tactically naive he can't even sharpen his primary gameplan let alone devise a Plan B? If we lose to Blackpool we should start to be very worried.
Could it be that he doesn't know how: that he's so tactically naive he can't even sharpen his primary gameplan let alone devise a Plan B? If we lose to Blackpool we should start to be very worried.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
We are in the bottom three. We have the worst GD in the league. We have scored but 1 goal in the league, which was basically a hoof and hope.
I really don't want to have to make a management team change; but what we are seeing is the culmination of a season's work that has placed the entire squad on a negative trajectory. A trajectory which could have been worse if Piroe and Obafemi had not scored the goals they did last season. So far this season, both of those players have been anaemic in front of goal.
Martin is not going to turn this around. It's his recipe. He sees nothing wrong with it. He's brought in his pet players; they've had little to no impact. He's sidelined our own players (e.g. Benda, Fulton) who have suffered by being relegated to bench warmers last season. Martin is going to persist until the cupboard is bare.
I don't see any forward progress from here.
I really don't want to have to make a management team change; but what we are seeing is the culmination of a season's work that has placed the entire squad on a negative trajectory. A trajectory which could have been worse if Piroe and Obafemi had not scored the goals they did last season. So far this season, both of those players have been anaemic in front of goal.
Martin is not going to turn this around. It's his recipe. He sees nothing wrong with it. He's brought in his pet players; they've had little to no impact. He's sidelined our own players (e.g. Benda, Fulton) who have suffered by being relegated to bench warmers last season. Martin is going to persist until the cupboard is bare.
I don't see any forward progress from here.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
I would give Martin until the end of August that's 5 matches ... more than enough rope to hang anybody. Beyond that would be a pointless exercise and a total waste of valuable match time. If Martin can't course correct by then, he never will. It would take a replacement until October to recalibrate and that's if he walked in on Sept 1.
At this point, we would have to move forward with KOL and pull Curt out of retirement to support him - I don't know enough about the U21 coach and other staff to have any confidence in using them as interims backing up KOL. Our automatic go-to such as Toshack is most likely not available.
I would hope that the Club has a continuity plan to replace Martin, but I'm not hopeful of that.
On a hunch, my thoughts ventured to Angel Rangel as an assistant ... only to find out that he's now youth coach (under 12) at Ponty.
At this point, we would have to move forward with KOL and pull Curt out of retirement to support him - I don't know enough about the U21 coach and other staff to have any confidence in using them as interims backing up KOL. Our automatic go-to such as Toshack is most likely not available.
I would hope that the Club has a continuity plan to replace Martin, but I'm not hopeful of that.
On a hunch, my thoughts ventured to Angel Rangel as an assistant ... only to find out that he's now youth coach (under 12) at Ponty.
I see that Cullen didn't come up with his usual one-touch finish, this time he took two. Martin now on record as saying that Cullen can help the team. Yes he can, Russell, but for pity's sake (and Cullen's) make sure that he plays as a fox in the box and get the ball in there to him as often as possible. That's his strength and, for those with short memories, people at the club who know Cullen's game, repeatedly say that he's the best natural finisher we've got. Do their opinions count for nothing? Btw, some of those 'people' include Curt, Trundle, Leon and, before them, Cameron Toshack. I guess you could say that Curt and Trunds know a little about the art of finishing!!
As an end note, yet another crap penalty along the ground was saved. They need to be hit perfectly to score and, if they aren't, an athletic keeper has a better than 50/50 chance of saving them. Their keeper went the right way for Joe's pen. Had it been a ground shot he might well have saved it. But Joe had given the ball enough loft to beat the dive. I didn't like Cullen's pen to be honest but at least it was perfectly placed - on another occasion that might not be the case.
As an end note, yet another crap penalty along the ground was saved. They need to be hit perfectly to score and, if they aren't, an athletic keeper has a better than 50/50 chance of saving them. Their keeper went the right way for Joe's pen. Had it been a ground shot he might well have saved it. But Joe had given the ball enough loft to beat the dive. I didn't like Cullen's pen to be honest but at least it was perfectly placed - on another occasion that might not be the case.
I reckon he'd come back if he was wanted. I'd want him for sure with all the top level experience he offers.On a hunch, my thoughts ventured to Angel Rangel as an assistant ... only to find out that he's now youth coach at Ponty.