Tag Archives: James Constable

Nights of Mystery

18 Monday Mar 2013

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Tuesday 12th March 2013 ko 19.45

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Raynes 90)

BARNET 0

Att 5,027 (165 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc Oxford Mail)

1,400 or so grounds in, and I dread to think how many games, this game is still a complete mystery to me. Why was Scotland manager Gordon Strachan watching this? There are only 3 Scots in the two squads, Peter Leven for Oxford, Craig Beattie and George Sykes for Barnet. With Leven injured long term the most likely candidate was Sykes as he’s a member of Ricky Sbragia’s Scotland U19 squad. Trouble is none of the 3 Scots actually made an appearance.

What parallel universe do I live in when Dutch legend Edgar Davids plays for a struggling League 2 outfit? For many the second most noteworthy incident of the game was journeyman pro Andy Whing’s crunching tackle on him. The song from behind the goal, ” All we want is a team of Andy Whings,” was as erudite as it was heartfelt. And while I’m thinking of it why did Barnet play in a frankly ugly shade of lilac? With Oxford playing in all yellow this season, amber and black is no great clash.

Why oh why do a series of Oxford United managers reject good strikers and sign mediocre ones? Both Alfie Potter and James Constable smashed enough shots over the bar to convince me to stop parking my car in the car park at the open end of the ground. Just when you thought the striking options couldn’t get worse, Oxford United introduced Deane Smalley (44 appearances, 4 goals). He worked hard, as he always does, but does anyone think he’ll get you a goal?

Speaking of goals when will Firoka employ stadium staff that can purchase a half-decent set of goals, and get them to last for the duration of a football match? Watching the goal at the western end of the ground collapse twice is embarrassing, even if the added time gave enough time for United to score.

Did anyone visiting the stadium bookie put a pound on centre half Michael Raynes to score the only goal? His screaming header from all of an inch was just reward for a solid display in defence, but the headed ball back to the box from Scott Davies free kick came from Tom Craddock. When I watched Oxford United’s FA Cup tie at Barnet he was extremely conspicious by his absence. Now he looks destined to depart at the end of the campaign, lost and unloved by management, but why?

From a Barnet perspective what was goalkeeper Graham Stack doing collecting a booking for a foul on his opposite number? Yes, there were seconds left, but it was pointless, and silly bookings often have a habit of punishing struggling teams later on. I have connections to Barner and have no desire to see them back in the Conference.

Still a win is welcome even if it is against a struggling team, Davids or not. Where you place it in the season’s context? Don’t ask me I’ve no idea, it was another night of mystery!

Out Through The In Door

13 Wednesday Feb 2013

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Tuesday 12th February 2013 ko 19.45

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Davis 89)

FLEETWOOD TOWN 2 (Crowther 28 Brown 55)

Att 5,003 (76 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (reissue from postponed game with insert that cost £1 if sold separately)

A few years ago I watched a man get fired. It wasn’t the brief, loud, slanging match, with the loser being shown the door, that you see in tv dramas, it was a slow painful process. The man concerned was gradually demoralised, and when he realised that there wasn’t a suitable job for him to resign and slip into, he grimly held on, until one Monday he wasn’t there. The whispers amongst the staff over the next few days confirmed the awful truth.

Since then I’ve learned the signals, the isolation of the dismissee, with the head bowed, the body language, and the repetition of the mistakes that got him into that position in the first place. I saw many of those signs in Oxford United manager Chris Wilder last night. A man lost in his own thoughts, alone yet surrounded by his management team and just over 5,000 supporters.

The groundstaff managed to produce a new line in appalling pitches, this one had trenches made by tractor tyres pulling the spikes to aerate the grass/mud. With Justin Richards out for the season (was he given a medical?), Deane Smalley accompanied James Constable up front, without there ever being a jot of understanding between the two. United had enough possession, but on the odd occasion it produced a chance it was wasted. Alfie Potter’s choice to pass when it looked simpler to shoot, spoke volumes for both his, and the team’s lack of confidence.

You knew it was going to end in tears. Fleetwood moved the ball neatly, but hardly devastatingly from right to left, and there was Matt Crowther in a Damian Batt shaped hole to slot past the Oxford United keeper. On the subject of the keeper, Max Crocombe spent the end of the first half warming up, and the player brought in his place played the second half with his left thigh heavily strapped up. If that’s his hamstring, then I suspect Crocombe will get the nod on Saturday.

With few options on the bench and still fewer ideas on the pitch, the second half carried on in much the same vein as the first. Even Fleetwood’s second goal bore similarities to the first, a high ball was nodded back across the 6 yard box, and the defence stood a watched at Junior Brown stooped to nod home.

James Constable hit the post then watched as Sean Rigg blazed the rebound into the stand, and Damian Batt watched his strike well saved by Scott Davies. Eventually United did score, Liam Davis’ fine 25 yard pile-driver, which was out of character from the dross that had preceded it. And here’s the rub, Fleetwood were no more talented than Oxford. Better organised, fitter, and definitely more aggressive, all traits that United should be showing. Either they want to make the playoffs, or there’s a relegation battle looming. There are no half measures in League 2 this season.

I left pondering how long you can leave someone in a position this hopeless, when it would clearly be kinder to take the burden away. With as many as 14 players’ contracts up in July it’s now the time to look at what should be retained, and what should go. Its become clear, sadly the man to do that isn’t Chris Wilder.

 

Desolation Row

11 Monday Feb 2013

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Saturday 9th February 2013 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 0

BRISTOL ROVERS 2 (Brown 56p Richards 90)

Att 7,608 (1,932 away)

Entry S/T

Programme (including Oxford Mail) £3

Today a friend of mine sent me a text message. He’s just bought a book, ” Oxford United Who’s Who,” and remarked just how many poor players the club have employed over recent years. I’m not convinced how many of the current crop will be remembered with any fondness. Before kick-off I spotted Simon Heslop glumly looking out from the press box. He must have thought, “How could I fail to get into this squad?” Indeed Simon, indeed!

With the news that the creative midfielder Peter Leven is out injured for the long-term, and that a string of players were signed without undertaking medicals, there was pessimistic feel about the ground. It proved to be well founded as not only did Oxford look unlikely to score, but in an attempt to counteract the dreadful pitch, the tactic was to thump the ball in the direction of Justin Richards, but James Constable doesn’t deal in knock-downs, and with a 4-3-3 formation looking narrow the first half was non-event.

Oxford’s one player who looks worth a transfer fee is Jake Wright, yet it was his sliding challenge on Ryan Brunt that irrevokably swung the tie in the Gas’s favour. It looked a clean challenge from my seat, but few complained, as the retaken spot-kick easily beat the Oxford United keeper.

So with the clock running down, how do you change things? Put the out-of-favour striker Deane Smalley on? Or put the out of favour centre-half Harry Worley on?  When Worley joined the forward line, it didn’t take a psychic to imagine what Smalley was thinking. I wonder whether another loan out can be found for him, his stay at Oxford United clearly hasn’t worked out.

The tremendous away followimg masked another poor attendance, and that figleaf won’t be there on Tuesday night, when Fleetwood are the visitors. Will there be a short-term replacement for Leven? Will there be a 20 goal a season striker to replace Craddock? Somehow I doubt it.

 

The Max Factor

01 Friday Feb 2013

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Tuesday 29th January 2013 ko 19.45

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 1 (Constable 50)

BURTON ALBION 1 (Maghoma 71)

Att 4,906 (65 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (including Oxford Mail)

On Tuesday morning this fixture looked like a routine, if rather dull fourth division division encounter, and I found it rather difficult to raise any enthusiasm for it. The advantage of writing this on Friday is that this fixture can be put into full perspective with what followed.

My mood changed on the way to Grenoble Road, when the news broke that Max Crocombe was to get his first start in goal for Oxford. New Zealander Max is a first year professional, but with Ryan Clarke, and Wayne Brown above him in the pecking order in was hard to see how he was going to get a game, a problem exacerbated by there being no reserve team this season. Back in November I’d taken my friend Kellie to watch United’s FA Cup at Barnet, and after the game we’d lingered to take a few pictures of Underhill. Kellie had a chat with Max, not really knowing who he was, and we were both struck by what a thoroughly decent young man he is. But with Clarke out for the season, and Brown in poor form, the young lad got his chance.

He let no-one down either, nice lad or not. He even coped with the early loss of Michael Duberry to a hamstring strain early on, and I think all present bar the pitiful away following would have been pleased to see a home win courtesy of James Constable’s header at a corner, and Max collect a clean sheet. It wasn’t to be as Jacques Maghoma lost his marker, Michael Raynes, and fired home past Crocombe who was in no sense at fault. Even so there was a feel-good feeling around the ground at the final whistle, but that was shattered over the course of the next few days.

The first piece of bad news was shirt sponsor Bridle Insurance announcing that they will not renew the arrangement when it expires in the summer. Hardly a surprise when the firm now owns Eastleigh FC, but its a income stream that will need replacing. Another worry was that the club lost £450,000 during the last trading year, one would assume due to falling attendances. Clearly players wages and a high stadium rent are contributing factors, and ones that little can be done about, at least in the short term. The club is tied to its lease with Mr Kassam, and with him unwilling to sell, that’s a fixed cost that won’t go away. As for players’ wages, thats’s up to owner/chairman Ian Lenagan to set a sustainable budget and recruit and retain a manager that can work within it. Its questionable at best whether any of this is happening now, and certainly losses of this magnitude are not sustainable.

All this rather paled into insignificance with the signing of Luke McCormick last night on a contract for the rest of the season. I’ll leave the debate as to whether another keeper is necessary to another time, save to point out that Crocombe is set to represent his country at the under-20 World Cup in March. McCormick is a former Plymouth Argyle keeper, and his credentials are beyond reproach, but for one terrible detail.

In 2008 he was convicted of causing the death of children aged 8 and 10 by crashing his car into a vehicle driven by their father on the M6, whilst over twice the drink-drive limit. The father is still suffering from the injuries he received in the crash, and McCormick served 3 years and 7 months of a 7 years, 4 months prison sentence, being released in June 2012. So will no doubt say that McCormick has served his debt to society, and everyone deserves their their chance of redemption.

Oxford United have a precedent with midlfielder Adam Chapman who served just over a year of a 30 month sentence for causing death by dangerous driving, he was sending texts on his Blackberry. Chapman was successfully re-integrated into the team on his release, which is in marked contrast with McCormick who will be entering a new club with new players. Chapman was notable for showing remorse, and contact was made with the family of the gentleman he killed, so as not to cause any offence from his public job. None of this has taken place with McCormick, and you wonder why Oxford United would feel the need to taken on a player with so much baggage. Is it really simply a case of acquiring a good player at a knock-down wage?

On another level, the club likes to stress how it is a “Family Club,” and won the “League 2 Family Award” last season to prove the point. How does the signing of McCormick sit with that? Would his presence be a barrier to a company thinking of becoming shirt sponsor? He hardly fits the image a prospective sponsor would look for.

The shame of all of this is that Luke McCormick may well be a fine goalkeeper, although 10 games for Truro City in the Conference South since his release is hardly a ringing endorsement. I can imagine his presence being a massive distraction with everyone concerning themselves with him and not matters in hand. I can only conclude that he’s the wrong player in the wrong club, at the wrong time. The question now is whether his performances will make up for the inevitable circus that will surround him. I wonder also how Max Crocombe will deal with all of this, as unlike McCormick, he’s done nothing wrong.

The Joy of Six

21 Friday Dec 2012

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Tuesday 18th December 2012 ko 19.45

FA Cup 2nd Round Replay

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Constable 66 Leven 80)

ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0

Att 2,566 (48 away)

Entry £20.50

Programme £2 (Reduced size, reissued from postponed fixture 6 days earlier)

Accrington Stanley must be sick of the sight of Oxford United. As if being replaced by Oxford in the league in 1962 wasn’t bad enough (although they replaced OUFC 44 years later!), this makes a rtun of 7 games against the two sides where the Lancastrians have failed to register a win. They came mighty close in the first attempt to settle this tie, with United equalising through the unlikely figure of Michael Raynes with seconds remaining.

Now, Accrington to Oxford on a cold Tuesday is a big ask of any fan Continue reading →

Shades

09 Sunday Dec 2012

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Saturday 8th December 2012 ko 15.00


League 2
OXFORD UNITED 1 (Chapman 33) Heslop sent off 90 (dangerous play)
ALDERSHOT TOWN 1 (Mekki 84)

Att 5,721 (244 away)

Entry S/T
Programme (inc Ox Mail) £3

On occasion I take a friend of mine to football. He loves his sport, but he’s a man of definite opinions. He watch some leagues but not others, and some formats he loves, others he won’t touch. Life is in two comforting shades, black and white.
This was an afternoon in which he would have felt comfortable; one of those dull pre-Christmas games where people can shout for the manager or the chairman’s head in the near-certain knowledge that their wish will not be granted.

It had been a difficult week for Oxford United. As if losing two players, Jon-Paul Pittman and Andrew Whing to injury wasn’t bad enough, the club had been rocked to its core by the death of former midfielder Mitchell Cole the weekend before. His career had ended to a heart defect a year ago, but had remained close to the club, and so his passing at just 27 was incredibly sad. It was announced before a minute’s applause that his widow had just given birth to his third child.

Of course supporters tend to forget the human nature side of the game. It cannot be easy simply functioning, let alone doing your job under such tragic circumstances, and certainly many of United’s frailties were on display for all to see. There was little punch up front save for a glaring James Constable miss early on, and Peter Leven’s lack of mobility in midfield saw partner Adam Chapman frequently exposed. I wondered if the unfortunate Whing had been fit, whether Chapman would have started,and with Whing’s lack of scoring prowess. Chapman’s clinical finish from 18 yards was a moment of class in a game that looked precisely what it was, a game between two struggling teams.

The second half saw no demonstrable improvement in quality, but with United having failed to take advantage of their first half possession, Aldershot gradually took the ascendancy and when substitute Adam Mekki curled a delicious effort round Ryan Clarke it was as predictable as it was deserved. It was fair to say that Aldershot gained far more from their substitutions than Oxford did, and that point was underlined when Simon Heslop was dismissed with a minute left for a quite dreadful challenge. Whilst his 3 game ban won’t hurt the team as much as some other players absences, the club need all the bodies they can get at the moment.

From the visitors’ perspective, second from bottom of the league, this was a valuable point. However this wasn’t a day of black and white opinions, just an occasion to forget about what went on the pitch and consider the plight of a widow and three young children.

Sky Fall

25 Sunday Nov 2012

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Saturday 24th November 2012

Ko 10.30

Oxford University Middle Common Room League

WOLFSON/St CROSS P

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE P

Postponed due to a waterlogged pitch (!)

Ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Constable 14 Pittman 79)

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1 (Platt 76) Carlisle sent off 89 (2nd booking)

Att 6,635 (1,075 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (ic Ox Mail)

Its been a long time since I did a Middle Common Room game. Its a league primarily for post-graduate students, perfect for Wolfson, a purely post-graduate college, and 10.30am kick-off games work well for me, when Oxford United are a home. The trouble is that Wolfson sits on the banks of the River Cherwell, bucolic when its sunny, but flood-prone when it rains. And it’s rained here for most of the week, so I really should have guessed that the pitch wouldn’t be playable, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad!

Still it left me one game to see, unlike many groundhoppers, with games falling to waterlogged pitches all over the country, and my game was a local derby too! The odd thing is that there’s never been any great rivalry between Oxford or Northampton with the former being far more concerned with swindon, and the latter Kettering. Still “Ultimate Support Saturday” did produce a better-than-average gate helped in no small part by the travelling Cobblers fans.

They got a good game too, with the action making up for technical deficiences, and the appalling weather. Oxford United and the supporters know what Ade Akinfenwa gives to the Cobblers, he’s portly but he’s still one hell of a player. Few players at this level have his control and vision, and he was marshalled carefully. Also well known to United is midfielder Chris Hackett, who started his career at Oxford before moves to Hearts and Millwall. He marked his return with a fine game showing both pace, and a glut of well place passes, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one wondering why United didn’t re-sign him in the summer?

But for all of that this was Oxford’s day. Was James Constable offside when he tapped in Alfie Potter’s cross? He looked it, but the linesman’s decision was probably based on a feeling that Potter’s pass was entirely lateral and so Constable was always behind the ball. Either way home fans will point to the woodwork being hit twice, by Jake Forster-Caskey and Sean Rigg’s deflected effort.

As befits any side managed by Aidy Boothroyd, Northampton were well-drilled and a series of corners at the end of the first half tested Ryan Clarke in the home goal, and he did well to get down to Ben Harding’s low shot.

Cliches are cliches for a reason, and one goal was never going to be enough with Oxford’s defensive frailties, and the introduction of the towering figure of Clive Platt after an hour proved to be significant. With Michael Raynes keeping Akinfenwa quiet, he rose above Jake Wright to head Hackett’s cross home. I wondered what that meant for Chris Wilder’s tenure as manager. I didn’t ponder for long as Peter Leven’s ball over the top allowed subsitute Jon-Paul Pittman to run throuugh and he blasted home past Lee Nicholls for his first goal in 10 months, and earning Oxford a first win in 4 matches.

All that remained was the dismissal of Clark Carlisle for his second booking. It made no impact on the game but I wonder if getting sent off is more embarrassing when you’re PFA chairman? The Press Association reported his second booking was for foul and abusive language, but after the game Northampton Town swiftly asked that it be altered to a simple foul. For the record, I saw the 2nd booking as for a foul challenge, and there was no hint of any back-chat. It is worth noting that the PA feed is staffed by former players sourced by, yes, the PFA!

I used the term “Predictably Unpredictable” on a previous piece on Oxford United, and nothing I saw in this highly entertaining game changed my opinion on the club, and in a wider sense the division. I do wonder what chairman Ian Lenagan is thinking though. 18th place does not represent the level of ambition, or expenditure at the club. Some might say a change is needed, but if so who?

Predictably Unpredictable

11 Sunday Nov 2012

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Saturday 10th November 2012 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 0

TORQUAY UNITED 0

Att 5,773 (259 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3 (inc Oxford Mail) £3

Now, I’m not a gambling man, the whole bookie experience leaves me cold, but consider if you will the two team’s build-ups to this game. Torquay lost to non-league Harrogate Town in the FA Cup, while Oxford beat Barnet convincingly. During last week Oxford lost at home to Dagenham & Redbridge, while Torquay lost away at…. Barnet. Up on the top deck, before kick-off we considered the likely outcome on a cold afternoon. A few scratched heads, then a grin, and the comment, “Nil-nil it’ll be then!”

Three changes for United, all logical with Alfie Potter still out with a sore hamstring. Johnny Mullins replaced Michael Raynes in central defence, Liam Davis replaced Tony Capaldi at left back, and Simon Heslop was considered a “least worst” option in right midfield than Adam Chapman. The lack of an out-and-out right-winger was an obvious deficiency on Tuesday and while Heslop was a better bet than Chapman, the position continued to look like a square peg in a round hole. For Torquay the principle concern was in goal, regular keeper Michael Poke having a groin strain meant subsitute keeper Martin Rice playing his first game of 2012. That produced an unusual kit-clash, his day glo-orange shirt and shorts being the same colour as that worn by the stadium’s stewards!

The first half was a non-event, Oxford trying their best, but with a lack of conviction where it mattered, in the finishing off of chances. Torquay were more than happy to defend and live off scraps, Billy Bodin’s 20 yard effort being the most memorable, but that should be set against 2 James Constable efforts, one blasted over, the other well saved, and Sean Rigg’s header straight at the keeper.

Things looked worse after the break with Tom Craddock’s sore ribs precluding further participation. The loss of United’s form striker wasn’t keenly felt, as his replacement Jon-Paul Pittman had a fine 45 minutes, stretching the Gulls defence with runs pulling the centre halves out of the channels. United looked far more incisive, but again the final shot wasn’t quite there. Constable fired over, and Rigg had two shots saved, but there was a fright after 50 minutes when Ryan Jarvis headed home for Torquay but the effort was ruled offside.

But the United chances kept coming and kept being missed. Constable did the difficult thing, turning his marker beautifully, but failed with the simpler task, firing over from 10 yards out. There was and is an anxiety about the forward line, the chances get created, but things conspire to see them missed.

Squirrelled away in the warm at the back of the stand was a chap in a club’s coat. My sister didn’t recognise the badge when we spotted him cuddling his tea at half time. I did, the badge was Chesterfield’s and with Oxford playing there next Saturday I doubt if the report he sends back to Derbyshire will contain much that will worry the Spireites. But then what, if anything can you correctly predict at the moment where Oxford United is concerned?

The last train from High Barnet

04 Sunday Nov 2012

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Saturday 3rd November 2012 ko 15.00

FA Cup First Round

BARNET 0

OXFORD UNITED 2 (Constable 56 Rigg 80)

Att 2,246 (834 away)

Entry £21

Programme £3

Tea £1.50

Teamsheet FREE

I have connections with this part of North London, my grandfather grew up in Sebright Road, just a stone’s throw from Underhill. Back then Barnet was a village in Hertfordshire, set on the lip of the artesian basin that London itself sits in, and was connected to the metropolis by the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway. Nowadays Barnet is part of Greater London, swallowed up by the big city and the railway is a terminus of the Northern Underground line. As games are played at the local football ground the trains rumble in and out of High Barnet station above the pitch. Seeing an underground train from below is rather counter-intuitive, but does make a trip to Underhill unique. Continue reading →

Exactly

20 Saturday Oct 2012

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Saturday 20th October 2012 ko 15.00

League 2

OXFORD UNITED 5 (Craddock 13 23 36 71 Potter 78)

ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0

Att 5,403 (96 away)

Entry S/T

Programme £3

I have to say I have a soft spot for Stanley. Their banner says it all, “The club that refused to die,”  rising from bankrupcy and oblivion, to a return to League football in 2006. It’s not lost on Oxford United fans that when Accrington folded in 1966, then  returned to the League, on both occasions it was Oxford United that swapped places with them! For those of us of a certain age, Accrington was imortalised in a famous advert for milk…

To the club’s credit, Carl Rice the actor in the advert, was guest of honour at Accrington’s home game against Forest Green Rovers during their Conference winning season. I was fortunate enough to be there! Today, Stanley are a benchmark for small clubs, surviving in the league despite the close presence of two much larger clubs locally, namely Blackburn and Bolton.

With Stanley 11th and Oxford 19th, you wouldn’t have predicted a drubbing like this! A few hours after the event I’m still trying to work out was it a case of United being excellent, or Stanley quite royally stinking? I suspect its a mixture of the both. Certainly a move to 4-4-2 suited the personel available to Chris Wilder, and in particular James Constable revelled in the service he got from the flanks where Alfie Potter and Sean Rigg had excellent games. The knock-downs from Constable were manna from heaven for Tom Craddock, and I’d point out that 3 of the 4 goals he scored were teed up by Constable (the other by Rigg). Craddock had, its perhaps superfluous to say, his best game for the club, working hard, closing down and taking the chances when they came. His goals were as predatory as they were welcome.

But the most welcome sight was a grinning Brummie making his first start of the season after injury. Yes, the warrior was back, and the defence looked all the more solid with Andy Whing there to marshall it. His departure, utterly exhausted in the 81st minute produced a spine-tingling standing ovation. That was the second remarkable crowd reaction, as a few minutes earlier when Craddock had scored his fourth, the chant had been “Beano, Beano,” a comment on how the talismanic Constable had unselfishly worked to give Craddock his chances.

But it was Tom Craddock, quite correctly, who took the plaudits,  and became the first Oxford United player to score 4 goals in a game since John Durnin did at the Manor Ground against Luton Town in 1992. For the record, I was at that game too!