Coming up: Accrington Stanley

The drop

Our trip to The North was supposed to give us a bit of rest bite before tougher fixtures later in the month, which includes the amuse bouche against Swindon on Tuesday. Our midweek win against York was more stressful than it had any need to be and next is promotion chasing Accrington Stanley.
Stanley are defying gravity at the moment. By rights they shouldn’t exist at all; surrounded, as they are, by a stack of larger, more established clubs. If the fact they exist is a bit of a miracle, their current position of fourth in the table even more so.
My guess is we won’t see them in this position in May; injuries and general fatigue will begin to kick-in and that’s when resources really start to count. Those around them look more equipped to cope as we head into the deep winter. In reality, rather than chasing promotion, they’re really banking points to ensure safety.
While things are going well, there’s a sense of invincibility and confidence, the trick is to break their spirit at the moment they think they can’t be beaten. Saturday could be that day.

 

Old game of the day

Who are they? Now, here are two clubs who share a peculiar history. Both teams’ most high profile moments are synonymous with the marketing of milk. When we came into the league we replaced them, when they came into the league, they replaced us. Yet, our first ever fixture was just five years ago. A fixture wholly archived by YouTube.

This one is probably the best of the lot; a rip-snorting cup game from 2012. Days after the death of Mitchell Cole, we seemed to be carried on a wave of emotion. Michael Raynes is one of my favourite players of recent years, so his last minute goal is particularly sweet.

From the blog

“I don’t want to sound like a curmudgeon. A win is definitely better than a defeat; I am not one of those people who claims to want to see their team lose to affect a change of manager. For one, that’s a buffoon’s logic and two; from what I hear of him, I quite like Michael Appleton. I’m not convinced by him as a manager for obvious, tangible, reasons, but he speaks well and appears willing to take responsibility for his team. I don’t particularly like myself for not being convinced by him as a professional.”

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Oxblogger

Oxblogger is a blog about Oxford United.

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