28/09/07 - Marvellous

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the trust.

It's been two weeks since my last piece. Quite frankly, after the Histon debacle last week I did not want to even acknowledge the existence of OUFC let alone write about it. On the plus side the last two weeks has given me plenty to write about so settle down and I'll begin…………..

Off the pitch at the Aldershot game saw the first appearance of the Ultimate Yellows which I think was pretty successful. It was slightly marred by the attendance of some of the more unsavoury members of our support but otherwise it was just good to have a good time at football for a change. Admittedly I was not having a particularly good time for most of the first half with the way OUFC were playing but the second half was largely a barrage of noise and colour which gave the Red and Blue Army a run for their money. However, possibly my favourite thing of all about the UY has been finding and tagging myself in the photos which have appeared on Facebook. It's like the best game of Where's Wally ever!!

On the pitch, the Aldershot and Histon games were very alarming. I felt the performances drew direct comparison to the Graham Rix era. Too many players out of position, playing a formation they did not seem to know. This led to confusion, finger-pointing, arguments and general disarray. After Histon I felt as angry as I did at the 4-0 defeat at Southend a couple of years ago because all of the problems were self-created and with no real reason for it to happen. It just seemed ridiculous to include Gnohere and Robinson after what had happened with Aldershot but bizarre team selections do seem to be a trend this season which brings me nicely to Marvin Robinson.

Now, this is a situation which I really don’t understand. For two games he was called upon by Jim Smith to lead the attack and played poorly as we all knew he would. Then, all of a sudden he's gone to Cambridge, seemingly (fingers crossed!) never to return. If Jim was simply playing him to put him in the shop window then I think that is a hugely irresponsible thing to do. Although we cannot guarantee what would have happened if the team selections had been different against Aldershot and Histon, it is fair to say that playing Marvin, when it was known he was not good enough, might have cost us valuable points. This situation currently leaves us ten points adrift. At least now he has gone and it is no longer our problem. I suppose the equally baffling thing is that Cambridge wanted to take him! They really need to look long and hard at their scouting system. I guess all we can do is apologise to Cambridge supporters for lumbering them with Marvin but they can take heart in the fact he now has a suspension to sit out!

Last but not least in this week's rant are Salisbury City FC. I do not know what they feed those players pre-match but it seems to turn them into a shocking bunch of unsporting, petty thugs. It even seems to extend to the management. There are dozens of examples of their unendearing behaviour including, but not limited to, the pointless goading of the crowd after the goal when they could have enjoyed the moment with their own supporters, the constant whinging to the ref, the assistant manager vs Matt Day incident, and of course the terrible red card challenge at the end. However, by far the most petty thing was that oaf deliberately standing in front of Turley towards the end of the 2nd half so that he could not line up his wall properly. Gamesmanship is one thing but this was just truly awful sportsmanship which only served to rile people up as opposed to giving Salisbury any sort of advantage. I think we can safely say that nobody went home with a good impression of Salisbury that night although one thing does amaze me. I know they're all part-time players but it is just such a coincidence that they all work in the banking industry…………….

And so to the York game, which is one I shall miss due to the Sunday move. Games I miss tend to be wins though so maybe it is not such a bad thing.

COME ON YOU YELLOWS!