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Stadium: The Kassam Stadium, Oxfor (Capacity: 12.500 All-seater)
Rivals: Swindon, Reading, Cheltenham, Wycombe, Rushden, Luton
Reputation: Local
History of Oxford United
Competitions: English League One (1968, 1984), English Championship (1985)
Cups: English League Cup (1986)
Expectations
The Board: Win the English Conference National
The Fans: Win promotion for the Conference National
Media Prediction: 1st
Financial Status
Estimated Value: € 2.000.000
Balance: -€ 77.750
Transfer budget: € 36.250
Staff
Chairman: Nick Merry
Management: Ashwini Tawakley, Fenton Higgins
Coaches: Shaun North (Senior), Andy Awford (Senior), Alan Judge (GK), Alan Hodgkinson (GK), Jordan Milson (Fitness), Les Taylor (Youth), Darren Patterson (Youth)
Wage budget: € 25.300 p/w
Current Wage (2nd July 2006): € 26.290 p/w
Senior players: 24
U18 players: 15
Goalkeepers
Billy Turley [GK, ENG, 32] – 1 / 33 / 0
My first choice as a goalkeeper. Has experience at higher level which will be very usefull to my team. Looking at his goalkeeping, his strenghts is when he is on the line. Hard to beat with his strong reflexes.
Chris Tardif [GK, NIR, 25] – 2 / 51 / 0
Has played in the English Championship, though it were just 5 games. Most of his games were in the shirt of Oxford United. Will be the back up of Turley though I had no good feelings about him. He just misses the talent to become a good goalkeeper.
Defenders
Phil Gilchrist [D C, SCO, 32] – 5 / 176 / 10
An experience defender that has played in the English Premier Division. I expect his experience will help the younger players. Glad he has come back to Oxford United and I hope he will stay till he thinks of retirement.
Rufus Brevett [D L, ENG, 36] – 0 / 0 / 0
This veteran has played in the English Premier Division for several years and has come to Oxford in July. His experience will be of great help around the trainings field as he will not be a regular player.
Chris Willmott [D C, ENG, 28] – 1 / 41 / 0
A decent defender with already played more as 200 games in several English Leagues. I believe a good backup as central defender.
Matt Day [D C, ENG, 19] – 0 / 0 / 0
A young defender that will sure play a lot this season as I believe he is a strong defender and willl become stronger with the help of Phil Gilchrist. So I expect this to be the season of his breakthrough.
Andrew Gunn [D C, ENG, 18] – 1/ 0 / 0
This youngster is believed to be a great talent with a great future in front of him. He will not be a regular player in my team and so I think it would be good for him to go an a loan.
Barry Quinn [D C, IRL, 27] – 3 / 86 / 2
As this is his 4th season at Oxford United, you can say this is a loyal player and a decent defender. Though he is a back up, he will play his matches this season.
Eddie Anaclet [D R, TAN, 20] – 0 / 0 / 0
A young right defender with decent stats but lacks the experience which will grow this season. At the moment he is my only right defender. He will have to fight for his spot in the team when I have signed another right defender.
Alexandre Jeannin [D L, FRA, 28] ] – 0 / 0 / 0
Looks like a decent left defender but easy to get frustrated. He starts this season with a ban till 13th August and 3 domistic league matches. After this he will have to impress and most of all show he has learned from this ban. Else he might end up at the transfer list.
Midfielders
Gavin Johnson [M L, ENG, 35] – 0 / 0 / 0
This is the veteran in midfield and has a lot of experience that can help the younger players. When he retires I might add him to our coaching staff. He is a good left midfielder but will soon have to fight for the spot in the midfield.
Michael Standing [M R, ENG, 25] – 0 / 0 / 0
An experienced midfielder that has played in the English Championship and League One. In 87 games only scored 6 goals. At the end of this season, I will judge him in the amount of assist given. And then decide about his future at Oxford. He will have to fight for keeping his spot.
Carl Pettefer [M R, ENG, 25] – 0 / 0 / 0
This player will be used as back up for Michael Standings at the start of the season. He will have to fight to get in the team but will get his chances. I think this player still has his future ahead of him.
Josh Kennet [M R, ENG, 18] – 0 / 0 / 0
This player is seen as a hot prospect for the future and therefor is put on the list for a loan. I think for him to grow, it is important to play more in a first team.
Phil Trainer [M C, ENG, 24] – 0 / 0 / 0
This player has played most matches in a lower league and I wonder if he is good enough to stay at Oxford United. And therefor I have chosen to put him on the transfer list.
John Dempster [M C, SCO, 23] – 1 / 6 / 0
A young midfielder with experience in the English League Two. Will start as a back up in my team but I believe has to skill to become a regular player.
Andy Burgess [AM C, ENG, 24] – 1 / 16 / 1
A good midfielder that will be used a lot in my starting line up as I believe he can play an important role in the midfield. I expect a lot of this midfielder in this season and I hope he can deal with that.
Eddie Hutchinson [AM C, ENG, 24] – 0 / 0 / 0
This midfielder will be playing an important role in my team as he has experience on a higher level. It is a good midfielder and will form the heart of our midfield together with Andy Burgess.
Attackers
Paul Shaw [AM C, ENG, 32] – 0 / 0 / 0
An experienced striker with experience in the English Championship. He played a total of 344 matches and scored 77 goals. He will be a regular player and I expect him to be a help for the younger attackers.
Marvin Robinson [ST, ENG, 26] – 0 / 0 / 0
This player has experience on a higher level and will be used as a back up this season. He played 102 matches and scored 20 goals.
Kristaps Grebis [ST, LVA, 25] – 0 / 0 / 0
This player from Latvia lacks the skill to finish when in front of the goal and that might become a problem for the team. He will get the chance to show I am wrong in this season. Played 114 matches as a professional player and scored 38 goals.
Yemi Odubade [ST, NGA, 21] – 1 / 8 / 1
I wonder why this player has a contract at Oxford United as I really think he does not have the skills. And therefor he has been put at the transfer list.
Robert Duffy [ST, WAL, 23] – 0 / 0 / 0
A young attacker that lacks the experience in a first team. Only played a total of 36 games and scored only once. He will have to show his skills this season as he will be judged at the end of the season.
Billy Beechers [ST, ENG, 19] – 3 / 4 / 0
A young attacker that still needs te learn a lot and therefor I think it is good for him to go on a loan and get experience in a first team. When staying at Oxford, he will play most games in the Reserves.
As Oxford United had relegated last season, I had expected the organisation was ready. But when I looked at the staff, I missed an assistant manager and another scout. So my first action was to find both. How can a manager work without having an assistant manager as there are so many things to be done.
Finding a scout was not very hard and within a couple of days, I had signed Nick Naylor. His strengths were judging both player abilty and player potential. I was happy that he accepted our offer to join Oxford United for 2 years.
Finding an assistant manager was a little harder as he had to have experience and did not expect a high wage. I had a talk with Stuart Gray about this position and he was willing to think about my offer. With experience in the roles of coach, assistant manager and manager, I believed he would be very good for the job. Problem could be that teams like Burnsley, Wrexham and Swindon Town also offered him a job. I was very happy when he told me that he was happy to come to the Kassam Stadium. My staff was completed now and I could start focusing on the team.
For the moment I will use a 4-4-2 formation. The central midfielders will be used to control the midfield. Both the right and left midfielder will help the attackers when even possible. They will have to make rushes beside the lines.
When looking at the current team, there were some area’s with a problem. As I only had 1 right defender and 1 left midfielder, I needed to find some back ups. I had some doubts in my left defenders and so if possible sign a new one. When those spots were filled, I think both the defence and the midfield were ready to start the season. A big problem was the attack as this really needed to be stregthened. As I believed it was not possible to have a chance to win the title with the current strikers and that was what the board and the supporters expected from me.
The players that I signed during pre season
Kelvin Lomax [D R, ENG, 19] – Oldham Athletic, € 2,000
A young defender that I believe will become an important player for the club. Will be used as a back up this season.
Eddie Stanford [D L, ENG, 21]– Sandecja Nowy Sacz, € 3,000
A strong left defender although he is young. I believe he will become my first choice as a left defender very soon.
Tim Sparv [M L, FIN, 19]– Southampton, € 20,000
A young midfielder with decent skills and a great future ahead of him. Will be used as a back up for the position of left midfielder and has to replace Gavin Johnson in the future.
Mirnes Ibrahimovic [ST, SVN, 24 ] – Dundee North End, € 3,000
A forward with good skills in front of the goal and with a good future ahead if him. Played 110 matches as a professional player and scored 56 goals.
Liam Dickinson [ST, ENG, 20] – Stockport County, € 2,000
A young and promising forward that can become an important player in the future. Played 21 games and score 7 goals.
Scott Ramsay [ST, ENG, 25]– free
Showed some decent quality during his trail and therefor was offered a contract. He played 223 games and scored 81 goals.
A good start, I think the approach and style is fine myself. Giving information about the club is always useful and I do it as well as it gives you a feel for the club and information to readers who may not know much about them. I will be following this story as it progresses, good luck!
ty, Danny. I chose to start this way, as it is written many times and at some point you have seen it before. And as I start in the conference national, you do not have to replace a wellknown manager and teams making a really surprising sign of a new manager.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = =
July 2006
Wolverhampton Wanderers, Friendly, Home Injured:
Banned: A. Jeannin
Our first match in pre season was against the Wolves, a team playing in the English Championship. I hoped we could keep up with them as long as possible and at the end a respectable score. I did not expect the match was going to end in a draw. The Wolves took a 2-0 lead in the game as expected. I was pleased with the goal Robert Duffy scored. When Paul Shaw scored the equalizer, I jumped of the bench and ran around with my arms in the air. This draw really gave me hope for the season.
Chelmsford City, Friendly, Away Injured:
Banned: A. Jeannin
A good performance in our second match in pre season. Chelmsford did not know what happened as they saw attack after attack. We scored 6 goals in total and conceded 1 goal. Having 5 different players scoring a goal also was a good thing. Paul Shaw, John Dempster and Liam Dickinson (2x) scored in the first half. Mirnes Ibrahimovic and Kristaps Grebis scored in the second half. I was very happy with this 6-1 victory. After the match, I got a report on Gavin Johnson. He sustained fractured ribs and was expected to be out for about 2 months.
Bournemouth Reserves, Friendly, Home Injured: G. Johnson
Banned: A. Jeannin
It was a crazy first half today as a total of 6 goals were scored. It all started with Eddie Hutchinson missing from the spot. After that Portsmouth took a 3-0 lead within 8 minutes. Then it was our turn to start scoring goals. We also needed 8 minutes to level the score as Scottt Ramsay, L. Dickinson and Michael Standing found the back of the net. In the second half we were in control of the game. Goals scored by Paul Shaw and Robert Duffy gave us a 5-3 victory.
Aylesbury United, Friendly, Away Injured: G. Johnson
Banned: A. Jeannin
A one-sided match as we played against Aulesbury. Our goalkeeper did not have to make a save as they did not came close enough to even try a shot at goal. It was nice to see that my team keept looking for the goal and though not all shots were on target, I was pleased with the result. Goals by Kristaps Grebis, Paul Shaw and John Dempster have us a 3-0 victory. Aylesbury ended the game with 10 players as 1 of them was send off with a red card.
Llanelli AFC, Friendly, Away Injured: G. Johnson
Banned: A. Jeannin
For the first time in pre season we did not manage to score a goal though we had some changes. As Llanelli scored 2 goals, the match ended in a 2-0 defeat. I thought it was good to lose a match in pre season as this way our players knew that they still needed to work during a match.
West Bromwich Albion, Friendly, Away Injured: G. Johnson
Banned: A. Jeannin
The last match in pre season and we faced another team playing in the English Championship. The difference in today’s match was finishing. It was a close game but it was WBA going home with the victory. We managed to score once but the goal of Kristaps Grebis was not enough. A 3-1 defeat but I believed a decent performance by the team.
Pre season was over and soon the season really begins. What I have seen during pre season pleased me and gave me hope for a good result in my first season as a manager. The players that I signed all did good and gave me the feeling that they strengthened our team. According Totalbet we could get promoted this season though Halifax Town and Grays Athletic were seen as the favourites.
The board still believed they had made the right choice when they appointed me as the manager. The supporters wanted to wait and see how I would do before giving an oppinion. Financial the club recorded a loss of € 5,460 this month.
Match Overview: July 2006 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">---------------------------------------------------------------------Friendly:Oxford United – Wolverhampton Wanderers2 – 2R. Duffy (74), P. Shaw (90)Friendly:Chelmsford City – Oxford United1 – 6P. Shaw (10), J. Dempster (11), L. Dickinson (14, 36)M. Ibrahimovic (54), K, Grebis (79)Friendly:Oxford United – Portsmouth Reserves5 – 3S. Ramsay (23), L. Dickinson (28), M. Standing (30)P. Shaw (48), R. Duffy (61)Friendly:Aylesbury United – Oxford United0 – 3K. Grebis (10), P. Shaw (49), J. Dempster (67)Friendly:Llanelli AFC – Oxford United2 – 0 Friendly:Oxford Unietd – West Bromwich Albion1 – 3K. Grebis (74)---------------------------------------------------------------------</pre>
Kidderminster Harriers, Conference, Away Injured: G. Johnson, S. Ramsay
Banned: A. Jeannin, C. Willmott
First match if the season and I wanted to start with a win. So it was a little shock for me when I saw Kidderminster takning the lead. Bill Turley tried to clear the ball but saw it intercepted by a player of Kidderminster. Justin Richards had no problems to net the ball as Bill Turley was out of the area and gave the home team a 1-0 lead. We launched some attacks but had a little trouble to past their defence. So Andy Burgess tried a shot from a distance and it disappeared in the top corner. We had leveled the score. Just before half time is was Michael Standings with the corner and Mirnes Ibrahimovic heading it in the back of the net. A nice debut as this was the winning goal. In the second half we managed to keep Kidderminster away from the goal though they tried to put a little pressure on our defence. The game ended in a 2-1 victory and we had won our first 3 points of the season.
Boston United, Conference, Home Injured: G. Johnson, S. Ramsay
Banned: A. Jeannin, C. Willmott
The first half was boring as not much action was to be seen in front of the goal. In the second half more action was to be seen. It was Boston United that took the lead when Stewart Talbot converted a free kick. For a moment I thought the game was going to end in a defeat as creating chances was very hard. But suddenly the team started to play football and this resulted in goals. First it was Paul Shaw with a cross that meet the head of Carl Pettefer. After this goal it were the 10 minutes of Liam Dickinso. First he past ttheir defence and came one-on-one with the goalkeeper. He had not pronlem to score the goal and gave us a lead in the game. And in the last minute of the game he netted a cross by Tim Sparv. We had won the game and 3 points.
Gravesend & Northfleet, Conference, Away Injured: G. Johnson
Banned: A. Jeannin
We played a decent first half and when the opportunity arrised, we managed to score the goal. First It was Liam Dickinson to smash the ball in the top corner after a cross by Carl Pettefer. Our defence had to stay focused as Gravesend also launched several attacks but luckily they did not score. When in the last minute of the first half a combination between Andy Burgess and Mirnes Ibrahimovic ended in the back of the net, a fine goal scored by Mirnes Ibrahimovix. The fans started a wave as they believed we had won the game. In the second half both teams were even and it was a fight in the midfield. It was Gravesend that was able to take a goal back as they converted a penalty. As they had found a way back in the game, it became a hard last part of the game. I changet tactics and brought Barry Quinn as a defending midfielder. Minute after minute past and I really wanted the referee to blow the last whistle as Gravesend had put some pressure on our defence. But we managed to keep our lead and added 3 points to our total.
Burton Albion, Conference, Home Injured: G. Johnson
Banned: A. Jeannin
Though we were the stronger team on the pitch, we were not able to keep a lead. It was Kristaps Grebis powering a header in the net after a good cross by Michael Standing. But it did not last very long as it was Andrew Gooding to level the score. Again we took a lead just before the end of the first half as again Kristaps Grebis found the back of the net after an excellent move by Eddie Stanford. I hoped this goal would break Burton in the second half. But Tony James scored the equalizer out of a free kick. Thoiugh we had chances the match ended in a 2-2 draw as Kristaps Grebis third goal was ruled out because of offside. We finished the game with 10 as we lost Tim Sparv with an injury. The young player sustained a twisted ankle and was expected to be out for a month.
Altrincham, Conference, Away Injured: G. Johnson, T. Sparv
Banned:
This was the game of Mirnes Ibrahimovic as he was a danger for the defence of Altrincham. At the start both teams launched severa attacks but did not score. But within 2 minutes, we took a 2 goal lead and were able to control the match from there. First it was Kristaps Grebis with the goal after a low cross by Eddie Stanford. A little later Eddie Hutchinson passed the ball to Mirnes Ibrahimovic and he past their defence and the goalkeeper. And so the first half ended in a 2-0 lead. In the second half we started some attacks and got surprised on a break. It was Robbie Lawton to bring Altrincham back in the game. But it was at this moment Mirnes Ibrahimovix stepped forward to secure our victory. He scored his second goal with a good header after a cross by Michael Standing. And then he made a move in the area and passed the ball to Paul Shaw. He only had to tuck the ball in the net as he was standing totally free near the line. Though Kieran Lugsden managed to score a goal for Altrincham, our victory was never in danger again. We lost Kristaps Grebis because of a fratured wrist. It was going to take a month before he was available again.
Match Overview: August 2006 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">ECN:Kidderminster Harriers – Oxford United1 – 2A. Burgess (28), M. Ibrahimovic (45)ECN:Oxford United – Boston United3 – 1C. Pettefer (78), L. Dickinson (80, 90)ECN:Gravesend & Northfleet – Oxford United1 – 2L. Dickinson (31), M. Ibrahimovic (44)ECN:Oxford United – Burton Albion2 – 2K. Grebis (12, 43)ECN: Altrincham – Oxford United2 – 4K. Grebis (35), M. Ibrahimovic (36, 61), P. Shaw (72)PosPldWonDrnLstForAgG.D.Pts2nd 5410137+ 613</pre>
Exeter City, Conference, Home Injured: G. Johnson, T. Sparv, K. Grebis
Banned:
In the first half it was an even game with not much happening in front of the goal. And to this half ended in a 0-0 score. The second half started the same as both teams had trouble creating chances. It was a cross by Eddie Stanford that opened the score. As nobody touched this cross, the ball fell in the goal close to the far post. A lucky goal it was but it opened the game. It was Michael Standing with an excellent free kick to double the score. When Liam Dickinson scored our third goal on a break, everyone thought it was over. We conceded a goal when Adam Stansfield walked through our defence and beat Bill Turley. In the last minute they scored another goal when Steve Basham headed home a cross by Adam Stansfield. The goal came to late for Exeter and so we won the match with a 3-2 score.
Another player was added to our sickbay as Carl Pettefer suffered a bruised rib and was out for 2 weeks.
St. Albans City, Conference, Home Injured: G. Johnson, T. Sparv, K. Grebis, C. Pettefer
Banned:
A onsided match as we kept St. Albans away from our area and a goalles first half. We had trouble with finishing in front of the goal. Several players tried but they mostly failed. It was Eddie Stanford with a move into the area and his shot ended behind the goalkeeper. Ha had given us a lead in the game. It took a long time before secured our lead and so our defence had to stay awake. One mistake could bring St. Albans back in the game. It was again Eddie Stanford with a shot at goal. As the ball ricoched off Gary Elphick, the goalkeeper had no chance to make a save and the ball ended in the net. We could add another 3 points to our total and so we were first in the Conference National at this moment.
Northwich Victoria, Conference, Away Injured: T. Sparv, K. Grebis,
Banned:
We had a bad start of the match as Northwich took an early lead. It was Rufus Brevett with an own goal after they had taken a corner. And we did not get a moment to recover from it as in the next attack it was Paul Brayson to double the score. We had to get back in the game as soon as possible if we still wanted to have a change to win. It was Eddie Stanford scoring the so needed goal to get us back in the game. And when Andy Burgess scored the equalizer some players of Northwoch got frustrated. First it was Greg Strong with a red card as he fouled Liam Dickinson, who was on his way to the goalkeeper. A few minutes later it was Lee Steele sent off as he mad a late tackle on Kelvin Lomax. In the second half we launched several attacks as we wanted to win against Northwich. It took a while before we succeeded. It was Robert Duffy on the break, who scored the winning goal. We had won 3-2 though we had fallen behind 2 goals.
Stafford Rangers, Conference, Away Injured: T. Sparv, K. Grebis
Banned:
The match ended in out first defeat of the season We did not playe well today but the referee played an important role today. In the second half, he gave Michael Standings his second yellow card of the match. We conceded the goal scored by Brian Quailey at the moment we played with 10. I only wondered why we got a yellow card so easily and he di not book players of Stafford. A lecture was what they got nothing more nothing less.
Southport, Conference, Home Injured: T. Sparv, K. Grebis
Banned: M. Standing
We conceded an early goal when Jon Newby scored on a break. This goal awoke my players as they now took control over the match and did not give that away anymore. It did not take us long to level the score again as Liam Dickinson scored after a near post cross by Eddie Stanford. As Paul Shaw scored just before half time an Eddie Stanford at the start of the second half, the vicory was secured. Southport just missed the quality to endanger our goalkeeper.
Crawley Town, Conference, Away Injured: T. Sparv, K. Grebis
Banned:
Our second defeat of the season as we were not able to recover from the goal scored by Steve Evans in the second half. We had the chances but missed a little luck and the quality to finish in today’s match. We dominated the match but at the end it is the goals scored that count.
York City, Conference, Home Injured: T. Sparv, K. Grebis
Banned:
A very strange first half in this match against York. We got a little help as they scored an own goal twice and also saw a player send off. It was a nightmare for Danny Parslow as he beat his own goalkeeper twice and gave us a 2-0 lead in the game. And as Darren Craddack made a late tackle on Paul Shaw, the referee gave him a red card. So York only had 10 players and fell behind 2 goals in the first half. Our supporters now expected a easy win. Well how mistaken they were. It was a boring second half till the 70th minute. As York had nothing to lose, they started to play on the attack. In it succeeded as Jpe Cradis put the 2-1 on the board. It was Gavin Johnsen scoring on a counter that restored our 2 goal lead and we really needed that goal. Just before the end of the game, it was again York scoring as Onome Sodje headed home the ball. Yorl City scored 4 goals today and still they lost the game 3-2, how painfull that should be.
Match Overview: September 2006 <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">---------------------------------------------------------------------ECN: Oxford United – Exeter City3 – 2E. Stanford (56), M. Standing (63), L. Dickinson (65)ECN:Oxford United – St. Albans City2 – 0E. Stanford (74), Own Goal (90)ECN:Northwich Victoria – Oxford United2 – 3E. Stanford (18), A. Burgess (24), R. Duffy (83)ECN:Stafford Rangers – Oxford United1 – 0 ECN: Oxford United – Southport 3 – 1 L. Dickinson (9), P. Shaw (38), E. Standford (48)ECN:Crawley Town – Oxford United1 - 0ECN:Oxford United – York City3 – 2Own Goal (15, 33), G. Johnson (82)PosPldWonDrnLstForAgG.D.Pts2nd129122716+ 1128 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------</pre>
have you tried playing yemi odoboaye yet ? i was watching the oxford - torquay the other night (ended 3-3) and he ran torquay ragged in the first half by bagging 2 goals. what are his stats like ? (pace , finishing , dribbling ...)
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