Swansea away pre match thread

[Foxxed]

What  kind of football does Appleton even play?

[Stevosevic]

2 hours ago, ARTY_FOX said:

Are the players going to really be THAT angry about it? Surely they themselves know the tactics and game management has been nothing short of embarrassing 

This.

 

Players move on quickly from manager sacking.

[ZeGuy]

14 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

What  kind of football does Appleton even play?

The muscled one. Watch Mahrez weighing 2 stones more saturday.

[Tuna]

@Foxxed

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/oxford-united/11846445/Meet-Oxford-United-English-footballs-most-attractive-team.html

 

Meet Oxford United - English football's most attractive team

They might be in League Two, but Michael Appleton is making his side play like a member of the Premier League elite

 

There is something unexpected going on at one of the country’s oddest football clubs.

Oxford United – once owned by Robert Maxwell, located in a three-sided carbuncle of a stadium – are playing some of the best football around. Embarked on the longest unbeaten run in all four divisions, their flexible, fluid passing game will be showcased this lunchtime on live television when they travel to Bristol Rovers. And the club manager is convinced viewers will be pleased. “You can’t guarantee a result,” Michael Appleton said. “We’re trying to guarantee a performance that’s enjoyable to watch.”

That Appleton is in charge is another eye-opening facet of the Oxford revolution. After all, his is not the most stable of managerial CVs. He had walked out on Portsmouth to take charge of Blackpool, spent but two months on the Lancashire coast before accepting a job at Blackburn at the height of the Venky madness, from which, despite winning an FA Cup tie at the Emirates Stadium - almost three years on, they remain the last side to beat Arsenal in the competition - he was fired after just 67 days.

 

“No, I always thought there would be opportunity,” he says when asked if he feared he might never work again. “Though I must admit being sacked by letter by someone you’ve never actually met was a little tough to take.”

The mailed defenestration by Blackburn’s absentee owners turned out to be but a temporary setback for someone who has long been reckoned as one of the sharpest young English coaches.

A competitive midfield enforcer, a product of the Manchester United academy (he is a year younger than the Class of ’92) he was obliged to retire after sustaining a knee injury playing for West Bromwich Albion. He coached at the West Brom academy for six years before being promoted to be Roberto Di Matteo’s assistant. When the Italian left, he remained as Roy Hodgson’s No 2.

“The year I worked with Roy I learned so much,” he says of the England manager. “The attention to detail, the organisation side, he was excellent.” The respect seems to be mutual: Hodgson recommended Appleton be absorbed into the Football Association coaching system after he was sacked by Blackburn.

“I did some opposition scouting for Roy, did some work on the training ground, thought about it,” he says of the job offer. “But I wanted to get back working with players every day.”

He arrived in Oxford in the summer of 2014, brought in by the club’s new owner, the former Marussia Formula One boss Daryl Eales. “Michael is highly regarded in the game as a forward thinker and an intelligent human being,” Eales says.

 

Appleton’s brief was simple when he took over: get Oxford playing an attractive, progressive game, one which might enthuse a sizeable potential local audience who had grown weary of a decade of kick and rush. And might then provide a sustainable methodology to take the club further up the divisions. Which went against the conventional wisdom that insists the only way to get out of League Two is to hoof it forward.

“Oh yeah, at first I heard that all the time, in the dressing room as much as anywhere,” Appleton says. “All I got was ‘you can’t play that way in this division.’ I’d hear a moan in the crowd at a sideways pass. But however much I’d disagree with that, last year I was trying to change the ethos and the players we had weren’t good enough to do it. I was putting a noose to my neck, saying this is how we should play and then not being able to deliver.”

After a miserable 5-1 defeat at Cambridge the last time Oxford were live on television, Appleton went to work. He used 25 per cent of his playing budget to pay off half a dozen players. A total of 32 left or joined in his first year. But gradually he has managed to change things. An unbeaten run at the end of last season has continued into this.

“You need the environment to be right. You need a philosophy as to how you’re going to play and most of all you need the right people,” he says. “When I arrived, I thought there were a lot of poor personalities here. Part of our recruitment drive was to get people who bought into what we’re trying to do. We’re getting there now.”

 

A stickler for detail, Appleton has introduced all sorts of changes, from reducing the size of the home pitch, through decorating the tunnel entrance with pictures of former local heroes to installing an analysis room at the training ground. “We might be League Two, but that doesn’t mean we can’t work like a Premier League side. We’ve now got a group of players who don’t dash home after training. They’ll stay on in the gym, or work on their skills, or they’ll be on the computers in the analysis room checking on the opposition.”

The revolution appears to be working. “A lot of fans are telling me they haven’t seen football as good as this at Oxford for 15 years. It’s nice to hear. But ultimately you’ve got to win games as well.”

And if he manages that, the club might soon be obliged to build a fourth stand to accommodate the growing interest.

 

[Dr The Singh]

Just now, Tuna said:

@Foxxed

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/oxford-united/11846445/Meet-Oxford-United-English-footballs-most-attractive-team.html

 

Meet Oxford United - English football's most attractive team

They might be in League Two, but Michael Appleton is making his side play like a member of the Premier League elite

 

There is something unexpected going on at one of the country’s oddest football clubs.

Oxford United – once owned by Robert Maxwell, located in a three-sided carbuncle of a stadium – are playing some of the best football around. Embarked on the longest unbeaten run in all four divisions, their flexible, fluid passing game will be showcased this lunchtime on live television when they travel to Bristol Rovers. And the club manager is convinced viewers will be pleased. “You can’t guarantee a result,” Michael Appleton said. “We’re trying to guarantee a performance that’s enjoyable to watch.”

That Appleton is in charge is another eye-opening facet of the Oxford revolution. After all, his is not the most stable of managerial CVs. He had walked out on Portsmouth to take charge of Blackpool, spent but two months on the Lancashire coast before accepting a job at Blackburn at the height of the Venky madness, from which, despite winning an FA Cup tie at the Emirates Stadium - almost three years on, they remain the last side to beat Arsenal in the competition - he was fired after just 67 days.

 

“No, I always thought there would be opportunity,” he says when asked if he feared he might never work again. “Though I must admit being sacked by letter by someone you’ve never actually met was a little tough to take.”

The mailed defenestration by Blackburn’s absentee owners turned out to be but a temporary setback for someone who has long been reckoned as one of the sharpest young English coaches.

A competitive midfield enforcer, a product of the Manchester United academy (he is a year younger than the Class of ’92) he was obliged to retire after sustaining a knee injury playing for West Bromwich Albion. He coached at the West Brom academy for six years before being promoted to be Roberto Di Matteo’s assistant. When the Italian left, he remained as Roy Hodgson’s No 2.

“The year I worked with Roy I learned so much,” he says of the England manager. “The attention to detail, the organisation side, he was excellent.” The respect seems to be mutual: Hodgson recommended Appleton be absorbed into the Football Association coaching system after he was sacked by Blackburn.

“I did some opposition scouting for Roy, did some work on the training ground, thought about it,” he says of the job offer. “But I wanted to get back working with players every day.”

He arrived in Oxford in the summer of 2014, brought in by the club’s new owner, the former Marussia Formula One boss Daryl Eales. “Michael is highly regarded in the game as a forward thinker and an intelligent human being,” Eales says.

 

Appleton’s brief was simple when he took over: get Oxford playing an attractive, progressive game, one which might enthuse a sizeable potential local audience who had grown weary of a decade of kick and rush. And might then provide a sustainable methodology to take the club further up the divisions. Which went against the conventional wisdom that insists the only way to get out of League Two is to hoof it forward.

“Oh yeah, at first I heard that all the time, in the dressing room as much as anywhere,” Appleton says. “All I got was ‘you can’t play that way in this division.’ I’d hear a moan in the crowd at a sideways pass. But however much I’d disagree with that, last year I was trying to change the ethos and the players we had weren’t good enough to do it. I was putting a noose to my neck, saying this is how we should play and then not being able to deliver.”

After a miserable 5-1 defeat at Cambridge the last time Oxford were live on television, Appleton went to work. He used 25 per cent of his playing budget to pay off half a dozen players. A total of 32 left or joined in his first year. But gradually he has managed to change things. An unbeaten run at the end of last season has continued into this.

“You need the environment to be right. You need a philosophy as to how you’re going to play and most of all you need the right people,” he says. “When I arrived, I thought there were a lot of poor personalities here. Part of our recruitment drive was to get people who bought into what we’re trying to do. We’re getting there now.”

 

A stickler for detail, Appleton has introduced all sorts of changes, from reducing the size of the home pitch, through decorating the tunnel entrance with pictures of former local heroes to installing an analysis room at the training ground. “We might be League Two, but that doesn’t mean we can’t work like a Premier League side. We’ve now got a group of players who don’t dash home after training. They’ll stay on in the gym, or work on their skills, or they’ll be on the computers in the analysis room checking on the opposition.”

The revolution appears to be working. “A lot of fans are telling me they haven’t seen football as good as this at Oxford for 15 years. It’s nice to hear. But ultimately you’ve got to win games as well.”

And if he manages that, the club might soon be obliged to build a fourth stand to accommodate the growing interest.

 

That aint gonna work

[Dan LCFC]

I gave us a massive benefit of the doubt when we beat Liverpool back in February. If we turn up on Saturday and play like that again then you've got to ask massive questions of the players. Will make me seriously question their motive.

[Dan LCFC]

He's also not going to turn us into Barcelona overnight. I'd imagine a similar team to Monday.

 

I can't see us scoring. They're very much safety first and for us to score it'll rely on a bit of individual quality. It certainly won't be due to us opening them up put it that way.

[STUHILL]

If I was Appleton and knew that I had about 1% chance of getting the gig full-time.. then I would say fook it and completely tear up the obvious failing 4-4-2. 

 

Surprise us and get us in a 3-5-2 or at least shake the starting 11 up and start Gray and Slimani. Show us something different and lets try and play some actual football.

[Foxxed]

16 minutes ago, Tuna said:

@Foxxed

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/oxford-united/11846445/Meet-Oxford-United-English-footballs-most-attractive-team.html

 

Meet Oxford United - English football's most attractive team

They might be in League Two, but Michael Appleton is making his side play like a member of the Premier League elite

 

There is something unexpected going on at one of the country’s oddest football clubs.

Oxford United – once owned by Robert Maxwell, located in a three-sided carbuncle of a stadium – are playing some of the best football around. Embarked on the longest unbeaten run in all four divisions, their flexible, fluid passing game will be showcased this lunchtime on live television when they travel to Bristol Rovers. And the club manager is convinced viewers will be pleased. “You can’t guarantee a result,” Michael Appleton said. “We’re trying to guarantee a performance that’s enjoyable to watch.”

 

I hope he can play with other styles...

[Foxxed]

21 minutes ago, ZeGuy said:

The muscled one. Watch Mahrez weighing 2 stones more saturday.

"Beefcake, beefcake!!" can be Appleton's new chant.

[STUHILL]

6 minutes ago, pmcla26 said:

But he played 442 the whole time he was at Oxford really tbh

I guess that was working at the time for him and the players he had fit into that system. 

 

Hopefully he recognises our recruitment policy has been a disaster and we have talented players who just don't fit into a rigid 4-4-2

 

I do expect him to go with the same old though, with maybe a couple of changes to the line-up. I was just hopeful we may see something different.

[ZeGuy]

24 minutes ago, Dan LCFC said:

He's also not going to turn us into Barcelona overnight. I'd imagine a similar team to Monday.

 

I can't see us scoring. They're very much safety first and for us to score it'll rely on a bit of individual quality. It certainly won't be due to us opening them up put it that way.

That's pretty much what I think. He's just there for 1-2 games and unless he got the green light from above to experiment, the game will be autoplayed.

 

4-4-2 with the usual starters and a 2-0 or 2-1 loss.

[Kasey Keller]

25 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

"Beefcake, beefcake!!" can be Appleton's new chant.

https://goo.gl/images/wuEFw6

[hackneyfox]

3 hours ago, ARTY_FOX said:

Are the players going to really be THAT angry about it? Surely they themselves know the tactics and game management has been nothing short of embarrassing 

I'm assuming that's why some of them have looked as if they don't care.

 

The old guard may be unhappy, but I doubt it, the newer players who have hardly been given a chance are probably relieved.

[Tuna]

 

[norwichfox]

54 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

"Beefcake, beefcake!!" can be Appleton's new chant.

Tanker of  Whey Protein just pulled up at the training ground....

[Beechey]

 

 

[sk3since03]

Team talk just consists of Appleton flashing his guns shouting “ you see these puppies”.. fvck tactics just remember these while your out there smashing these Swan Pansies 

[Tuna]

 

[Wymsey]

He appears to sound what Pearson was like, feet on the ground and to the point.

[ZeGuy]

27 minutes ago, Beechey said:

 

 

Keyword here is "massively".

[les-tah]

tried and tested 442 i think it means. The one that expired after our incredible season.... just let it go.

[st albans fox]

he is hardly going to talk about tactics. our main weakness is our predictability. if he plans on changes he isn't going to advertise it.

 

that said, if he thinks a run of 5 wins on the bounce could get him the gig then he will be playing it safe and crossing his fingers

[Argarath]

Schmeichel

Simpson -Dragovic- Maguire -Fuchs

Gray-Iborra- someone- Albrighton

Vardy

Slimani

[Foxxed]

#shexit

#applein