Tim Russon's Greatest Moments

As Oxford prepare to make the relatively short hop to Hereford tomorrow, we thought we'd pay homage to Hereford's vice-chairman Tim Russon, who is now into his second year as a club director after taking over in June of last year. Perhaps a director of an opposing team is an odd choice of subject matter for a blog to choose, but Oxford fans will be familiar with Russon from the many years he spent as the face of Central South TV sports round-ups throughout the 1990s. With reports characterised by elaborate and frankly ridiculous metaphors and cheesy puns, Tim Russon provided the voice to some of the most hilarious football highlights packages ever to grace local news.

Trouble at Home

Saturday's 1-1 draw with Accrington Stanley was another disappointing home result for Oxford. After two impressive away wins, optimism was running high amongst supporters before this match as many of us sniffed an opportunity to go on a winning streak, but a lacklustre performance and poor result has severely dented the optimism, and the knives are out for Chris Wilder once again. 

What the Stats Say...Accrington

Despite its uncanny resemblance to binary code, Matt Peck's stats this week are in fact related to Oxford's home meeting against Accrington Stanley (last season's 0-0 draw). Not a long history of fixtures between these two clubs, with both clubs still looking to score their first ever goal against the other.

The Unusually Intertwined Histories of Oxford and Accrington

For years Oxford United and Accrington Stanley were two clubs, inextricably linked by history, who had never played each other. Of course, all that changed last season when Accrington visited the Kassam Stadium to play out a 0-0 draw in League Two (neither side has ever scored against the other yet). On Saturday, Accrington make their second visit and now seems as good a time as any to revisit the circumstances in which the two clubs came to be joined in the history books.

Why 4-3-3 is the right formation for Oxford United

It has been one of the great forum debates of the Chris Wilder era: is Wilder right to set the team up in a 4-3-3 formation? With many supporters questioning this formation and many nostalgically longing for a return of the classic 4-4-2, George Dugdale explains why he feels 4-3-3 is the right formation for OUFC.

What the Stats Say...Barnet

As Oxford prepare for their third ever league visit to Underhill, Matt Peck looks back at previous encounters and predicts a draw. Can James Constable repeat last season's brace, or will Sam Deering get revenge on the club that released him in the summer?

What the Stats Say...Dagenham

Despite the fact that we've only once played Dagenham away in the league, Matt Peck provides some more fascinating statistical insight ahead of tonight's match. Caution is advised for those who are still traumatised by our first season in the Conference.

League Two's Surprise Packages

In every league, in every season, there's at least one club who exceeds everyone's expectations by doing remarkably well. They may win promotion, qualify for the playoffs, or even just beat the drop against the odds. For example, who would have predicted that Accrington, Stevenage and Torquay would have qualified for the playoffs last season? When I wrote my League Two season preview a few weeks ago, I wrote about who I expected to be challenging, but tried to keep half an eye on potential surprises this season. In this article, I'll try and expand on that by examining the sides who look set to cause a few surprises this season.

What the Stats Say...Burton

Burton are the latest visitors to the Kassam for Saturday's Bridle Bonanza and Matt Peck looks back at our short history of home fixtures against the Brewers, the last of which provided 3 goals (all for Oxford), 2 red cards (both for Burton) and the end of a very long run of matches without a clean sheet.

Déjà Vu

The start of the season has been something of a mixed bag for Oxford, and we have already witnessed a high point of victory away at Swindon followed by frustrating results in our last two fixtures. At the time of writing the Us currently find themselves in 13^th, and if this form is carried throughout the season we're likely to witness another year of midtable mediocrity in the basement division. The inconsistency of the performances so far have inspired a sense of d

éjà

 vu amongst Oxford supporters, and left many of us asking if this season is going to be more of the same.

What the Stats Say...Crewe

As we travel northwards to face a Crewe side that has struggled so far this season, Matt Peck brings us some stats from previous visits to Gresty Road. With Crewe losing four of their first five fixtures, Oxford will be hopeful of earning their first victory at Crewe in fifteen years.