Oxford United players must stand up and be counted - Wilder (From Bicester Advertiser)
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Oxford United players must stand up and be counted - Wilder
9:30am Wednesday 17th October 2012 in Sport
By David Pritchard, Chief Sports Reporter covering Oxford United. Follow us on twitter: @oxfordmailoufc. Call me on 01865 425458
Sam Morsy fires home Port Vale’s third goal during Monday’s 3-0 win over Oxford
OXFORD United’s players have to stand up and take responsibility for their own poor performances, according to manager Chris Wilder.
A short unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt on Monday night, when they were dismantled 3-0 at Port Vale.
It was United’s seventh npower League Two defeat of the season and with a quarter of the campaign gone the U’s are sitting a lowly 19th in the table.
It was a worrying display from a side which lost six straight league games last month, especially with the way the side crumbled after falling behind.
The pressure is on Wilder, who has taken most of the criticism for a disappointing season, to find answers ahead of Saturday’s home game against Accrington Stanley.
But the U’s boss feels now is the time for the players to regroup.
He said: “I was asked ‘what do you do to pick the lads up?’ but the lads need to pick themselves up.
“There’s enough drive about us (the coaching staff) to get us going and look forward to the Accrington Stanley game.
“These players are professional footballers and I think sometimes (the focus) is what do we have to do for them, but they have to do it for themselves as well.
“If they are going to forge careers, especially the younger ones, they have to take nights like that on the chin and learn from it to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“But at the moment we’re too up and down with team selection, too up and down in terms of the players we have available and we’re too up and down in our performances.”
One of the few positives to come out of Monday’s defeat was another substitute appearance from Andy Whing.
The versatile 28-year-old has been out since the summer with a groin injury, but has now featured in the last two games.
His experience has been missed, with Wilder pointing to Vale’s third goal, scored by Sam Morsy, as an example.
He said: ”We talked about (Jennison) Myrie-Williams coming in and laying it to the edge of the box – but where’s the block? Where’s the defensive responsibilities?
“Jake (Forster-Caskey) and Chappy (Adam Chapman) unfortunately have to learn to play without the ball.
“They can’t just come alive when they get on the ball – that’s where your Whings and Levens are good because they play with the ball and are knowledgeable enough to stand in good positions when they haven’t got it.”
Comments(15)
adlibber
says...
10:34am Wed 17 Oct 12
Wiggo71
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11:43am Wed 17 Oct 12
northampton yellow
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2:46pm Wed 17 Oct 12
lillyloo
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3:39pm Wed 17 Oct 12
Merekat1
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5:11pm Wed 17 Oct 12
karatavuk
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9:03pm Wed 17 Oct 12
If he can't count them how can he be sure he has the right number of players on the pitch?
Managing a football team is harder than it looks.
support your local team
says...
11:16pm Wed 17 Oct 12
colinsfew
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11:32pm Wed 17 Oct 12
AR Davis
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4:01pm Thu 18 Oct 12
Pathetic excuses, JUST GO!
RADIOFAN
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5:06pm Thu 18 Oct 12
jbowling
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5:14pm Thu 18 Oct 12
So if we are 20 points from 7th place with say 10 games to go it would still be possible. Therefore Mr Wilder is likely to be here till well into next year.
As the chairman is all too aware of costs perhaps he should consider Duberry as caretaker manager because he is still being paid but is unlikely to ever play again.
Dubes for manager - could work !
A Scroat
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7:59pm Thu 18 Oct 12
Doctor69
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9:16am Fri 19 Oct 12
Wilder out. Now!
marathon2012
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10:38am Fri 19 Oct 12
Iv a feeling we will win this week
jbowling says...
10:34am Wed 17 Oct 12
There is a feeling of complacency about that we are better than Barnet, Wycombe and Wimbledon but are we ? The win against Wimbledon (at home when they were managerless) was a scrambled affair and Wycombe away will tell us more.
The season is finished as far as promotion is concerned. But if we stick with Wilder till Jan or Feb the end of season could be exciting or should I say nail biting !