Why Are Oxford So Poor at Home?

By Michael Roberson,

This season, and for many previous, our home form has been our downfall. Where we’ve thrived on the road, the Kassam hasn’t been the fortress every manager wants their home ground to be. No opposition looks intimidated by the prospect of playing here, no away fans quietened by the roaring atmosphere here, no consistent form here. So, why? Why can I never enjoy the journey up to Grenoble Road, calm and assured of an excellent performance and three points? Why won’t the starting XI run the game like a home side should?

Firstly, there’s the atmosphere. Now, the introduction of the ‘Yellow Army’ to liven up match days is beginning to improve the vibe. But for a majority of the game the atmosphere often falls flat. The role of the fan to cheer his team on fails at points – granted because often there isn’t much to cheer. And this tense, unimpressed feeling from the fans will trickle down to the players who are receptive to the anxiety felt in the stands, increasing pressure on them to perform. The fans that make the long journeys away however are going to be in louder voice, cheering on the team through the lows, because they’ve made the long journey to a League Two ground. Perhaps it’s the lift the players experience only away from the Kassam that provokes a more effective style of football.

Talking of anxiety, maybe it’s the expectation of a win that can add to the pressure of the players, making them more nervous on the pitch. Three points are almost always what the fans expect from a home performance, maybe the players know this. And if they do, the expectation level rises, whereas on the road if we drop a point or three the players won’t be as disappointed because there isn’t that element of expectancy. 

Picture by @Daniel21Leggett

Another problem at home is that we’re not positive enough. Many times if we do go a goal up we tend to sit back and commit fewer men forward. Not to the same extent as in the Atkins days, but we need to kill teams off and we very rarely do. When was the last time we really dominated any side at home? If we want the opposition to be afraid of playing here, this aspect’s got to improve.

One thing’s for sure though, right now we can’t blame the pitch. The summer investment of £50,000 means United have (at least for now) a pitch of high quality. Last season, the turf played its part in leading to some very poor passing and controlling the ball, but right now that can’t be considered a problem. Let’s moan about that later in the year when London Welsh have torn it to shreds! 

And with the £50,000 we have available to invest on a pitch, it’s clear we’re a big club in this league. Like what we see at Old Trafford, maybe it’s a case of teams upping their game at a bigger club? I know we’re no Man Utd but you get what I’m saying.

Whatever it is that’s wrong at the moment though needs sorting. If we were to combine our solid away form with consistent performances and three points back in Oxford, we’d be looking like promotion favourites. At this rate though, it’s League Two for us again next season. 

Follow @MichaelOnToast

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Oxford's Split Personality

The League Two season is now ten games old – a point which is widely recognised as the time to review the start we have made to the season. By this point in the season the table has begun to take some shape, promotion contenders and relegation candidates materialise and patterns have begun emerge.

At the ten-match mark we find ourselves fourth in the table, outside the automatic promotion places by two points. It's a decent position to be in and puts us in a good position to push on and challenge this season but a concerning trend has emerged, albeit a not-unexpected one. Of course, the issue on everyone's lips at the moment is the team's home form.

It's something which has been debated extensively on Yellows Forum and on the excellent Oxpod United podcast and a veritable cavalcade of explanations have been posited, from negative fans to away teams raising their game at the Kassam. It's an issue that's come to dominate all talk of the club but one I've been reluctant to wade into, mainly due to the fact that I've already written about it last season. However, at the risk of repeating myself, it would be impossible to review the season so far without reference to this unusual phenomenon.

In the simplest of terms, Oxford appear to be a completely different side away from home than we are at home. On the road, we are clinical, free-scoring and relatively solid at the back (only Fleetwood and Mansfield have conceded fewer goals than us away). At home, it's a completely different story: only struggling Hartlepool and Accrington have scored fewer goals than we have on their own ground and matches at the Kassam frequently descend into dreary morale-sapping experiences as United struggle to find any rhythm to break down the opposition.

Away

Home

The level of support or the expectations of the fans shouldn't be a factor. Look at small, moneyed clubs like Crawley - expectations are high but supporters are low and it seems to have no effect on their performances. This season has put paid to the popular myth from last season that the state of the pitch was responsible for our poor home form - London Welsh have only played once at the Kassam so far this season. Having a 'nice' stadium isn't the problem either; Rotherham had a brand-new stadium last year which was a lot better than ours and they won promotion and Chesterfield's stadium is much newer and shinier than the Kassam and they have no problems at home.

In my opinion, the reason for our inability to perform at home is not due to the atmosphere or the pressure the players are under, it's something far simpler. The team are set up to be a very good counter-attacking outfit, but when it comes to taking the initiative and breaking opposing sides down we frequently struggle.

This is borne out by the stats. According to the (admittedly not-too-reliable) possession statistics listed on the club's official website, we have enjoyed the majority of possession on just two occasions this season. Clearly that's not because we're being outplayed by our opponents, it's because the team is set up allow our opponents to see a large amount of the ball and then hit them when the openings appear. This is a tactic which will naturally lend itself better to away matches but it's not going to work so well against other teams who are looking to do similar to us at our place – Southend on Saturday being a prime example (for the record, the Shrimpers had just 38% possession in that match).

Oxford are probably the best team in League Two without the ball, but clearly we need to be better with it. Despite losing, I saw some positive signs against Portsmouth that we are still capable of imposing ourselves on sides when they come to the Kassam but we clearly lacked that cutting edge that has made us so clinical on our travels. Nevertheless it gives me some hope that we can change our style of play at home and we'll have to if we want our form to improve.

We don't need to be fantastic at home to win promotion from this league, as the current table demonstrates, just a slight improvement will be enough to get us over the line. Gillingham won the league last season despite losing six and drawing five of their home matches last season – including a 1-0 defeat to us. That said, if home crowds are to improve from their average of 6,180 we are going to have to start getting results and entertaining fans. That's not so easily solved...

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An Inevitable And Postive Transition

Panic, dread, terror. Apprehension. Fear. If you are an Oxford United fan and one of these emotional states did not flash through your conscience on Thursday night, then you just do not care enough. As rumours of Kelvin Thomas’ resignation fluttered around the Twitterverse, anyone with a semblance of interest in the club would have been fretting into their late night brews. I know I was.

If more than a couple of these feelings remained come Friday afternoon, perhaps you care too much.

Like a doctor delivering the all-clear to a patient rushed into A&E the night before, Ian Lenagan stepped in to soothe any worries over the short-term future. We had feared that the life-support machine may be turned off. Rumours have abounded for weeks and months; funds had dried up, staff were being laid off, signings had stopped. The club was pot-less, they said. Yet within the space of less than 48 hours, Oxford United Football Club appear to have turned a significant corner, one which may be seen in years to come as a defining moment in the history of the club.

As the truth has emerged from the misty cloud of uncertainty, the underlying reasons for the changes have surfaced to provide a much needed sense of clarity. The decision is not a quick-fix transition which signifies the beginnings of decline; instead, with every new piece of information which comes to the fore the switch appears to be natural, organic, an inevitable progression which has been months, even years in the making. It is not a move dictated by chance or circumstance.

When analysing Ian Lenagan’s statement, it is startlingly apparent that his involvement, planning and influence at the club has stretched far beyond his wallet for some time now. Whilst a prominent figure in his time here so far, Lenagan has rarely ventured, publicly at least, into the everyday affairs of the club. Yet behind closed doors, Lenagan’s progressive ideas have been maneuvered into position - six figures invested in sports science methods, a revamp of training methods, improved facilities. All of this tends to suggest that Ian Lenagan has been undertaking a prominent role in the everyday running of the club for considerable time. Be it in collaboration with Kelvin Thomas or of his own accord, Lenagan signified his intent to be more than just the money man.

When a man of such influence and leverage in the world of sport displays such desire to acquire greater power over his capital, it is highly unlikely that his wishes will go un-granted. There is every chance that Ian Lenagan has decided the time is right to exert his control and apply his own personal strategies: a personal impulse to see things done his way. This is not to suggest that Kelvin Thomas has been pushed out or Lenagan has forced his way into the role. Instead, it is a case of a man with a proven record of implementing innovative and distinctive ideas wishing to lend his expertise to another venture. It would have been disrespectful to Thomas to have enacted this without first being in the necessary role, as well as undermining of the fantastic work he has done at the club. It is a tribute to the character of the man that Kelvin Thomas has recognised it is time to step down, that Ian Lenagan is the man to take Oxford United’s progression to the next level.

It may not sound like the greatest of praise, but to say that Kelvin Thomas is the most sensible Chairman in the recent history of Oxford United Football Club is the biggest compliment you can pay to anyone in a similar role. In this age of hyperbole, broken promises and perilous overextension, Thomas brought stability and strength to a club on its knees. Think back to 2008, if you can muster the strength. Just two weeks before Thomas took the reigns in October, a sub-4,000 crowd saw a 2-1 home defeat to Crawley. Almost exactly three years after his appointment, a near five figure attendance witnessed a 3-0 victory over Bristol Rovers in the Football League. There are few better comparisons to highlight the stunning reversal of fortunes of our club under Kelvin Thomas.

The appointment of Chris Wilder, promotion and a series of memorable results do not even rank amongst Kelvin’s greatest achievements. Instead, it is the sense of community, of belonging he has brought back to the club. He made it our club again. It is hard to recall in these times of progress but the club was a barren, destitute prospect in the years following relegation. We are now a feel-good club, a club on the up, one which takes pride in itself rather than wandering around aimlessly hoping for something to happen. Kelvin Thomas has taken Oxford United from a club some may have had reluctance in admitting they supported to one which can take 33,000 fans to Wembley. Every single one of them will be eternally grateful for bringing a sense of self-worth back to the club.

Yet as more dust settles and the situation takes on greater definition, so to does a sense that this was the right time for transition to take hold prevail. Arguably, Kelvin Thomas has achieved what he set out to do - get the club back into the Football League, reverse a hemorrhaging financial situation and reinstate the club as a focal point for the local community. Not taking the club a step further may be one regret Kelvin takes with him, but it is not one which Oxford fans will begrudge him for.

However, for all of Kelvin Thomas’ outstanding work, something extra is needed to propel the club further. The experience and specialist knowledge acquired by Ian Lenagan during his tenure at Wigan Warriors may well be this factor. The man has the wisdom of operating a club at the very pinnacle of their sport behind him - something that Kelvin, for all his noteworthy capabilities, cannot offer.

When a fresh edition of the club’s history is written in twenty, thirty, or even fifty years time, Kelvin Thomas will be credited as the man who gave buoyancy to a rapidly descending club. His efforts will forever be appreciated. He has laid the foundations. Lenagan now has free reign to build upon them as he desires, in his mould and with liberty.

So thank you Mr Thomas, and good luck Mr Lenagan.





Follow me @acherrie1

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Concern Over London Welsh and the Kassam Stadium

Picture from @bbcoxfordsport

It never gets boring supporting this football club. It seems like there is always something new to worry about, whether it's the latest James Constable transfer saga, uncertainty over the club's continuing progress, or some other impending doom. In fact, the average Oxford fan appears to spend most of his or her life in a perpetual state of alarm.

The latest potential crisis is the intention of London Welsh to use the Kassam Stadium to host Premiership rugby next season. The initial announcement was met with an inevitably mixed reception, but debates over the state of the pitch appear to have taken a back seat to more pressing issues following Welsh's Championship playoff final victory over Cornish Pirates. The issue is muddied by the ongoing tussle between London Welsh and the Rugby Football Union over the club's eligibility to enter next season's Premiership. However, while the national and even local media becomes caught up in the wider debate regarding rugby's Minimum Standards Criteria, Oxford fans have become increasingly alarmed by the potential implications of recent developments, while the football club itself has remained silent on the issue.

The uncertainty over the potential ground-share comes down to the RFU'srules regarding primacy of tenure. In a ground-share situation such as those at London Wasps, Saracens and London Irish – where the rugby club is a tenant of the football club – the rugby club must arrange to have a backup ground within 30 miles of its principal ground. In the case of London Welsh, this is rumoured to be Brentford's Griffin Park (42 miles from the Kassam), clearly in breach of the regulations. And yet London Welsh remain convinced that they have met the RFU's criteria. Their chairman, Bleddyn Phillips, is a notable lawyer, he is not likely to have missed this detail. This, of course, suggests that something else may be afoot. It could well be that London Welsh mean to challenge the RFU's Minimum Standards Criteria in a court of law, though they must have been aware of the rules before agreeing to them at the start of the season. The other possibility, and the one that has been causing unease amongst yellows fans, is that London Welsh have secured primary tenancy over the Kassam Stadium, which would relegate us to the status of secondary tenants and could have a number of implications for the club.

Foremost among these is that such a move would place Oxford in violation of the Football League's own rules regarding primacy of tenure. This would obviously leave us vulnerable to sanctions, and though I'm unsure how serious this might be we would almost certainly have to apply for special dispensation to compete in the League. This is the most serious possible consequence, but there are many others as well. OxVox have worked hard to get their Stadium Heritage Project off the ground, but the arrival of London Welsh will make it much more difficult to get permission for any future signage and it is possible that all traces of the club's identity, which the club and its supporters have had to fight for, could be removed from the stadium and be replaced with signs bearing the London Welsh logo (and anyone who watched their playoff final at the Kassam could see how keen they were to hide any trace of the football club). The club's fixtures would also be affected by such an arrangement, with rugby activities taking precedence over football. This could result in fixtures being moved at late notice, or having to play on Fridays or Sundays, which would considerably inconvenience us all.

Picture from @MilanVranjes

However, until further information is revealed we can only speculate. Much of the 'evidence' to support this scenario comes from remarks in the press that leave much room for interpretation. Mostly we are getting concerned over London Welsh's stated aim to 'turn Oxford into London Welsh' and comments from the club's Managing Director, John Taylor, who appeared to dismiss Oxford by stating that the club is irrelevant to their deal with Kassam. Such comments are contrary to the earlier impression given before the RFU's rejection of London Welsh, when it was suggested that a ground-share might be mutually beneficial.

On Perry Deakin, Port Vale and Firoz Kassam

The recent reports that former Port Vale CEO Perry Deakin has been appointed as the new 'Stadium Manager' at the Kassam seems to have brought Vale's frenzied war between fans and directors to our doorstep. Vale fans are, understandably, indignant that the despised Deakin has been given another job after leaving Port Vale in administration. A look at the relevant thread on their One Vale Fan forum is revealing, including comments such as:

“Just as Vale, Oxford have not done their homework before they employed him”

“That'll be admin for Oxford next year then”

“I am pretty sure that the powers that be at Oxford have and will be brought up to date with Deakin's antics. It's then their call whether they want to risk employing someone of his calibre.”