The week unwrapped

The Busy Christmas Period opens with a trip to Charlton and we find ourselves in a festive fug. We’ve slipped into the relegation zone, routinely missed opportunities to take three points against failing teams and have now mustered just one win in nine.

Merry Christmas!

Gary Rowett, a man who throws away his whole drawing board every time a plan doesn’t work, is under increasing pressure to find a solution before we slip into a deeper crisis. While Charlton is not make-or-break, a good or bad Christmas period could define our season and maybe even Rowett’s future. 

Addickfacts

Charlton Athletic are basically us last season. Having been promoted almost by accident, via the play-offs, They went on a major signing spree during the summer to ensure that they could compete. 

At first it worked, five wins in their first eleven games was a strong start. Then the clocks went back and November went to hell in a handcart. They’ve scrambled just one point out of a potential eighteen, which has seen them plummet towards the bottom of the table. We estimate they’re about three games from appointing Gary Rowett as manager.

That all sounds good, right? Well, maybe, we’re not great in these situations, and the teams they’ve lost to are amongst the strongest in the division. There’s a chance here, but let’s not be fooled into thinking it’s another guaranteed three points.

Football friend | Danny Hylton

A regular theme of these previews are the pivotal moments in Oxford’s history which are sometimes forgotten. This week is no different; let’s go back into a liminal space between two very distinct Oxford United eras. 

In 2013 Chris Wilder resigned having belligerently stemmed the club’s decline and propelled us back in the right direction by winning promotion back to the Football League. Things then turned sour; Wilder couldn’t quite get promotion back into League 1 over the line and with the financial restrictions closing in, he left for Northampton Town.

 After a 10 week gap in which Oxford’s prospects of promotion dwindled, Gary Waddock was appointed and we limped to the end of the season with a dismal record. The summer was an opportunity to rebuild but was quiet. Too quiet. Something was happening, but nobody knew what. Waddock signed just one player, his old Aldershot striker Danny Hylton.

Then there was an explosion; in walked Darryl Eales with Mark Ashton to take the club over and inject new impetus into the old girl. At the bottom of the press release announcing the takeover was a simple statement that Michael Appleton was our new head coach and Gary Waddock had stepped down.

Appleton’s start was dismal, with no preparation time we lost our opening four league games and didn’t win until the middle of September. The only bright spark was the prodigious work rate of Danny Hylton who netted seven times. 

Hylton’s form continued as Appleton tried to wrestle control of the club. We eventually stemmed our slide down the table thanks in no small terms to Hylton’s 16 goals.

As 2015/16 approached, Appleton’s plan really kicked into gear. Focus was on a new measured, scientific brand of the game. To play it, he drafted in players who’d played in the Premier League Academy system. Hylton, the maverick lower league grafter, playing for the love of the game in any way he chose, didn’t fit the model.

But, he kept scoring goals, three in the opening four games of the season. What really endeared him to fans was his eccentricity. On one occasion he was interviewed wearing one sock and flip flops. He lived on a different plain to Appleton whose physique, tattooed arms and granite look was the picture of dedication. Together they made no sense and you got the feeling they didn’t see eye-to-eye, but while he continued to score, Hylton was undroppable.

The season is fabled, promotion, giant killings, derby wins, Wembley visits, it had it all. At the centre was a lunatic who was the complete anathema to everything Appleton was trying to do. Promotion secured, preparations began for League One, but Hylton, at the peak of his powers, rejected a new contract and signed for Luton Town back in League Two. It was a Hylton-esque departure.

Expecting him to find his level, Hylton kicked on to secure two promotions in six seasons and play in the Championship, averaging a goal every three games. After a couple of seasons at Northampton he moved to Charlton as player coach inspiring the next generation to play the game just like he did. At the end of 2024/5, he announced his retirement from playing, but continues as part of the back room set up at The Valley.

From the archives | Charlton Athletic 2 Oxford United 3 (2018)

February 2018 was a bleak time for Oxford United, after the thrill of Michael Appleton catapulting the club into League One, brooding Spaniard Pep Clotet took the reins drove our vibrant youthful club into the ground. By January 2018, after a 7-0 home defeat to Wigan and an even more bruising 2-1 loss to hapless, but Chris Maguire inspired Bury, Clotet was gone.

Oxford went into a period of introspection, Derek Fazackerley took over as we headed for play-off chasing Charlton, managed by Karl Robinson. Oxford fans were planning for the worst, when after 35 minutes our only recognised striker Jonathan Obika went off injured to be replaced by the teenager Malachi Napa. 

Resolutely, Oxford battled to half-time goalless then just after an hour, the inevitable seemed to happen when Ahmed Kashi opened the scoring for the home side. With fourteen minutes left, James Henry snatched an unexpected equaliser raising hopes of a point before two minutes later, Josh Magennis restored the lead.

As the game ground to its inevitable conclusion, Oxford broke through again with Chelsea loanee Todd Kane scoring to make it 2-2. Delirious Oxford fans were still soaking up the unlikeliest point when, four minutes into injury time, Ryan Ledson broke through to hit a screamer for 3-2.

The limbs in the away end are stuff of legend, although only a few hundred made the trip, many thousands now claim to have been there. I was there (I wasn’t), it was amazing (probably).