The Lounge

[Devon Womble]

Greetings from my new life in North Carolina, U.S. of A.
Remembering to tune in at 10am for the game instead of 3pm will be a novel experience, but the enjoyment, the frustrations, and all the other emotions followers of our club experience, will no doubt still be the same.
I am surprised too, to report that there is quite a knowledgeable ‘soccer’ crowd here… although I am going to have to wean them off of the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea and onto a real club…. (10% commission Rob? Erik???)

Perhaps coupled with this move, there is one thing about our club which I feel is time for me to come clean on, and one which may come as a shock to some here, (lol)… I am beginning to perceive a more mature NA, and I find it a decidedly more palatable one. While I have no doubt our performances have a significant influence on this maturity, I am also beginning to think he is now on the same wavelength as his players, and vice-versa. Up until recently this is something I have never been convinced of, and the primary reason why I have never believed he, and his management style, were right for the club.
Win, lose, or draw, if he maintains this connection with his players, and continues to adopt this more philosophical approach, then, however shocking this is for me to say, I would be OK with an extension to his contract.

[Windlesham Don]

It goes without saying that tomorrow is going to be tough. With our record against them it would be tough if they were ordinary. But they aren’t ordinary this season, they are chasing automatic promotion, they have a formidable away record and have won 5 on the spin on the road.

For me, a point would be an excellent outcome and would keep our momentum going. As I understand it, Oxford are a good footballing side this season and so our best ally may be the bumpy Kingsmeadow pitch. If we can also keep the game physical and with a high tempo, then we may be able to hustle them out of their natural game.

I am hopeful of a point, but not confident.

COYD!!

[Colum]

Dons fans need no reminding that Oxford are our bogey team. To prove this we gave away a sloppy goal after three minutes. Danny Hylton – remember him? – was in the right place to tuck in a loose ball after a Roos save.

To be fair to the Dons, they responded well. We could have been 3-1 up at half time and perhaps a couple more up before Oxford’s second.

Back down to 8th, such is the close proximity of the teams at the top, and only one game in hand.

[onyadon]

Lucky against Carlisle, not so against Oxford. A hard 1-2 loss means that’s just 2 out of 36 points against Oxford going back to the Conference days. But by all accounts, the Dons gave this a big shake against what you would expect to be a promoted team come the end of the season. An early conceded goal to the lovely Danny Hylton (who by accounts celebrated demonstrably before the fans of his old club) before the Dons hit back through Andy Barcham. Plenty of chances to go ahead but Oxford plunged in the dagger with a goal against the run of play. Apparently young Ryan Sweeney dallied on the ball and was dispossessed inside his own half in the leadup to their winner. Rightly or wrongly, it will probably will make Ardley try that little bit harder to get that extra defender in on loan after at least five reported rebuffs from other clubs. So a loss to Oxford, but it will be how the Dons react against the best team in League 2 Northampton Town away on Tuesday that will be revealing. This is as we expected it would be: a really tough period in the season for the Dons. How they handle it will tell us more about the capability of the squad.

[MacWomble]

A tough result against Oxford. The posts in the run-up to this game say that it would be a good test of our credentials. Well, the credential test has ended. We are not good enough. So, let’s stop all this nonsense about how the next X games are important. The reality is that we are safe and sound in L2 for another season. Let us Rejoice! We are too good to go down. We are too bad to go up. And while this is happening, we progress towards SW19. As ever, the Gaffer needs to thing carefully about our goal-scoring machines for next season, and especially with being able to offload Azeez and @twitterakin.com@bayou (read @over-rated) for more $s than they are worth. I think it suits NA to stay in L2, as he would get sacked when the poor L1 results started. So, happy days folkies! And Devon Womble – we (like Trump) LOVE South Carolina. Go Clemson Tigers!

[onyadon]

What are your thoughts on this perceptive piece about Bayo Akinfenwa?

http://www.robcrane.net/blog/the-taming-of-the-beast

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