Boro v Oxford United
Saturday 29th March 2025
Kick Off 3:00 p.m
Well Diasborians I thought I would post our next preview early to try and drum up some interest and enthusiasm for the games ahead.
Meanwhile our manager MC wasn’t dissatisfied with the performance on Saturday against Luton. He named two players who epitomised Boro’, fight at the weekend,
Carrick said: “We knew we’d be challenged in a different way and Neto stepped up. I thought he was fantastic again. He took bangs, took whacks, stepped up, jumped up, showed character to face it again. He took the challenge head on. He's got about five or six different things getting treated at the minute! But he'll be all right.
“I thought he was immense today with Jonny [Howson]. We had to ride our luck at certain times, but I think we earned that really, with the spirit and the togetherness of the group. He's played a lot of games this season. He almost needed a rest for a couple of games at one stage. Since he's come back he's kicked on again.
“And then Sammy, I mentioned to him at left back, it was a challenging game for him. He probably hasn't played left back in a game of that type at all. He's played for the 21s, but that's a totally different type of game. So to do that on a yellow card, and defend - the big block towards the end from Sammy - it's what we needed today.”
Aston Villa loanee Iling-Junior made two huge blocks to protect his side’s goal in the game while again covering for Boro in a position not as familiar to him. Borges, meanwhile, continues his fine moment as he once again showed heart and nous in a bruising game at centre-back.
I must admit I have grown to like Borges after an inauspicious start with the Boro he has settled in and is trying to gain some rapport with the fans. He’s starting to play with some authority and composure and I’m sure he will prove to be an astute signing.
Iling Junior is one player that I never thought would make it but it just shows how little I know about players! His positional change to left back has been inspired and good tactical play by either Carrick or Woodgate.
I do hope they get the defence on a more stable footing, the left back position permanently sorted and the centre back positions of VDB and Fry making a lengthy partnership.
Whilst I have optimistically forecast the Boro sneaking into the playoffs in Sixth place I’m not holding my breath. Next season will again prove a transitioning period with HH, VDB, Glover, Dieng, Ayling, Lenihan, Dijksteel, Giles, Barlaser, McGree, Iheancho, Iling-Junior, Doak all probably leaving at the end of this season. Phew ! It’s quite a list isn’t it and a major rebuild ahead. Of course if we get promoted then quite a few will stay with Boro so now is the time !!
Turning to Oxford the U's picked up a crucial three points with a 1-0 home win over Watford to leave them 18th in the table and four points above the bottom three.
The league's relegation battle is shaping up to be a tight one, and their manager Gary Rowett was quoted as saying "I've said since I got here that you can't look around you.
"We have to concentrate on our own game and what we do. If we look after our own house then we will be fine, it's as simple as that."
He added: "You have to expect teams to put in performances and get results because we're coming down to the business end of the season."
In particular, Derby County, who sit 22nd, look to be finding form at a crucial time in the campaign having won their last three matches.
Rowett replaced former boss Des Buckingham in December, in the club's first season in the second tier for 25 years.
His arrival triggered an initial encouraging unbeaten run but then the U's endured a winless streak of nine league games, which came to an end at the Kassam Stadium at the weekend.
The U's were away for six of those games, including visits to promotion-hopefuls Burnley and West Bromwich Albion.
"It's been a tough period with a lot of away games," Rowett said."Before Saturday's game we had six away and three home in a period of nine matches, which is quite unusual.The break gives us a chance to breathe again, assess, and make sure that we make really good decisions when we come back and be as organised as we can be."
The U's have eight matches of the season remaining and will return after the international break with a game at the Riverside against the Boro who have a habit of slipping up against the lower placed teams.
The Oxford run-in includes home games against Sheffield United, Leeds United and Sunderland - three of the league's current top four.
It was interesting to see that Five Oxford United players were called up for their countries and Four of the squad were named in their full international side for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers and friendly matches.
Ole Romeny earned his first call-up for the Indonesia National Team, and travelled alongside teammate Marselino Ferdinan. Indonesia were in World Cup action, as they faced a huge match at the top of the group away to Australia on Thursday, and then took on Bahrain on Tuesday at home.
Mark Harris was back in the Welsh side for their first World Cup qualifiers, taking on Kazakhstan at home on the Saturday, and North Macedonia away on the following Tuesday.
Finally, Ciaron Brown was in the Northern Ireland squad for two friendlies against Switzerland and Sweden.
Also having recently returned to fitness last week, Ben Nelson was back for the England Elite Squad for games against Portugal and Switzerland.
Will Vaulks has been reported as saying that his long throw in tactics might not satisfy the football purists and may not be the Oxford Way but it is effective. The tactic has been more prevalent under Gary Rowett, with that evident in the 1-1 draw at Norwich City earlier this month.
After falling behind with five minutes played, a long throw-in from Vaulks caused problems in the Canaries penalty box, and Mark Harris poached for the equaliser.
Vaulks said: “If you can really turn the screw against opposition and make it tough to play against, and I know that’s not always been Oxford’s way, but there are times when needs must.
“Look at Arsenal. How good are they at set plays? You have to use every trick in the book.
“When teams feel pressure, then they start to wilt, and that’s why it’s the best sport in the world.
You can go from cruising to a goal from a set a play, and momentum swings. It happens every week at this level, and that’s not down to technical ability.
“That’s down to the mentality, the switching in momentum, and that’s why we need the fans behind us because they bring that momentum, and together we can push to make sure we can have a few comfortable games towards the end of the season.”
So Diasborians what’s the score going to be ?…..?
Me.?
Boro3 here we come !
OFB
Excellent opener OFB, thank you. Talking of your entry for Part 2 of the challenge, I have raised a couple of queries, when you get the time could you please take a look.
Come on BORO.
Thanks for this long throw-in of a starter, ofb. It’s always very welcome to get a new intro to give us a new angle to discuss.
I’ve always had a sneaky admiration for a long throw - have we ever had an expert in this dark art at the Boro? Someone once told me that Michael Reiziger had been signed, partly because he had a long throw in him, but guess what? Yep, he injured his shoulder and couldn’t do it any more. Sound familiar?
OFB
Interesting comment that up to 13 players could be leaving at the end of this season. If that happened then it’s a complete new build. Initially , I thought ‘ oh dear that would be a disaster’ but when I look at the list of 13 players there’s a max of 6 I’d keep which includes Doak , who as we know will not happen.
Any advance in 6 ??
Philip of Huddersfield
👍👍
With the obvious Exodus of quite a number of players in the summer, although normally not what you really want , I think this time if recruitment is fruitful and that's the question, it could be a great opportunity to really make for an exciting 25/26 season,
Moving say ,Hackney and Azzaz , you could say RVB, bringing in revenue , I'd like to see us go 433 , signing midfield players who may not have the flare they have, but run all day, compete for the ball ,and can get it to the players at the top of the field, definitely a strong young RB, a proven CB, obviously a striker with 15 goals in him, I'd go after Sargent at Norwich,
These moves complementing others in the squad, it's a big opportunity, but like we say, it's Boro.
@original-fat-bob. Hope your not over medicating given your double post OFB. 😉
Thanks for your early starter for the Oxford game which has helped to put the last game to the back of my mind and I am keeping fingers crossed it doesn’t reappear in a nightmare.
Well I certainly don’t expect a repeat of the away score and feel we may just sneak it to keep the lingering “we are only three points outside the play offs” going; until the next two games which will probably put an end to another promotion dream.
Hope you are soon feeling 100% OFB, best wishes. 😎
Latest rumour
Crystal Palace are looking at appointing Kieran Scott as Sporting Director …..
would this be a good move ???
OFB
Re my spaced out reports ! many thanks for your best wishes unfortunately it looks like being a long haul (hopefully!). Just like quite a few of us Diasborians old age is catching up with me very fast !
OFB
@original-fat-bob - Are we on the same tablets, because my first few paragraphs typed in response have just vanished into the ether? Let's go again.
Best wishes for your health, OFB. Take care.
And thanks for your Match Preview. Cunningly posted to keep our interest strong at a time of a drought in Championship football. Well done!
I think that if Boro cannot defeat Oxford United at The Riverside, with Oxford in a lowly position and still looking over its shoulder to see how far the team stands away from the relegation places, then Boro should completely forget any dreams of promotion. Oxford United and the Premier League occupy different universes. I think even if one attempts to be objective about it rather than looking through entirely red-and-white spectacles, a home win MUST be achieved and probably in the scale of 3-0 or 3-1. If that doesn't happen and should Boro fail to win, then maybe it would be better for all our healths if we just accepted Boro will end up a slightly upper mid-table Championship team. A team that can win one week (sometimes against decent teams) and lose the next (even against teams that usually struggle). A team that will not threaten to be promoted any more than it is really threatened by relegation and, you never know, every few years will enjoy an excursion to the heady heights of Round 5 in the FA Cup even if that means an unexpected win against a Spurs, Fulham, West Ham or Palace followed by a slump against fellow Championship opposition in the next round.
But there are thoughts that nag repeatedly should Boro lose the services of THIRTEEN players over the summer as OFB has suggested (and that ignores the number of players to be sent out on loan or ones who have to be replaced due to long term injury). You can already imagine the comments as we enter October in a lower-than-expected league position:
1. It was a pity that A and B took knocks in their first training session. That meant they have not been able to play a part yet this season but our plans are for them to play a major role as the season progresses.
2. C and D joined the club right at the end of the Transfer Window and were not able to take part in our Pre-Season so it may be a month or two before we can expect to see them at their full level of performance. We're confident they will rise to the challenge as the season goes on.
3. E and F will take time to get used to the way we have set the team up to play but we have high hopes they will fit into the plan.
4. G and H have only short-term accomodation at present but are looking forward to being able to move into their new homes, which means it will be possible for their families to move up here to be with them. We all know it's difficult to join a new club without the support of family and we expect they will blossom when these steps have been taken.
5. Obviously I, J and K have moved here from Montenegro, Moldova and Morocco respectively and was always going to take a while for those players to settle down in a new home in a different part of the world, but they are already making friends and over the next few weeks you will see them grow into their roles here at Boro.
Of course, by that time, the dream of promotion (or is it Boro's perennial nightmare?) will seem further away than ever as Boro languishes in 14th place as the new team struggles to make sense of the new season. Meanwhile at least two of Leicester City, Southampton and Ipswich maybe together with your choice of Leeds United, Sunderland, WBA and Coventry (basically whoever lost out in this season's Play-Offs) will be disappearing from vision at the top of the table at the speed of light. Their speed of travel making ALL of their shirts appear a fetching shade of Doppler red, whatever their traditional kit colours.
Re my spaced out reports ! many thanks for your best wishes unfortunately it looks like being a long haul (hopefully!). Just like quite a few of us Diasborians old age is catching up with me very fast !
OFB
OFB rage against the machine do no go quietly into the night
Thanks for an interesting opener, OFB.
This is another game we simply must win. No ifs, no buts.
Let’s hope we get some of the walking wounded back - especially in the back four - and that those who are away for international duties come back unscathed.
Thanks Bob for a timely and interesting leader. You're right that we don't make the best use of our throw-ins. Our default mechanism, as with our overall play, is to go backwards. The theory is that we retain possession and that it allows us to reset. The effect is that it allows the opposition to reset and denies us the opportunity to catch our opponents on the hop.
One of the major differences between ourselves and Leeds this season has been that Leeds go straight for the jugular from the kick-off, making the maximum use of their intimidating crowd to ensure that the opposition do not settle.
As a result, Leeds frequently get an early goal and sometimes more, giving further encouragement to their supporters, greater confidence to their players, unsettling the opposition and compelling them to come out of their defensive shell.
What has been too frequently frustrating for Boro supporters has been the extent to which our early enthusiasm has become quickly dissipated by our fiddling around at the back whilst our opponents get used to their surroundings and are given time to settle into their defensive formation.
A great post by Dormo, who has predicted precisely what will happen next season on a month by month basis.
The huge turnover of players this Summer, expected, predicted and encouraged by Scott at the beginning of the season guarantees that we will have a new and unsettled squad come August.
If Carrick is still at the club, he will do a decent job in improving players, settling them in, and eventually playing decent football.
If we have a new coach on board we could easily become relegation candidates.
There was a good discussion started by Philip last month about the secret of Liverpool's success this season, in which the squad's work ethic, their cohesion, and their ability and willingness to run and cover for one another were all given due consideration.
For me, however, all of those qualities are a by-product of the remarkable fact that Slot signed only one player all season, and that was Chiesa, who has scarcely played. Slot inherited a remarkable squad from Klopp, it is true, but he had the good sense to leave it alone and to resist the temptation of all new managers to bring in their own favourites and stamp their own identity on the team.
And how it has paid off.
We, by contrast, are working with a model that means that by next August we will be back again at square one with a host of new faces, a list of the desirable players that we failed to land and a rolling out all of the familiar rhetoric so prophetically articulated by Dormo.
Oh, sorry, OFB. I meant to wish you well. Hope you’re feeling ok.
Yes, best wishes, Bob. Hope you are back to your normal ebullient self soon
And many thanks to all for your too kind responses on the Luton thread
@lenmasterman - Ah, yes! I'd forgotten to mention the bit about the "long throws". It is really more than ridiculous for some "football purists" to decry the use of the long throw. Of course it might seem a little vulgar for teams filled with multi-million pounds players from all around the globe to do anything other than to finesse the ball into the back of the opponents' net after a minimum of 15 quick and accurate passes, each taken immediately under control by the receiving player. In a similar way there are those who decry the long ball or putting the ball into the penalty area for a powerful header to be aimed at goal. It is as if direct football or having a "real go" at the opposition (as per Leeds United) is somehow a lesser breed of football to the one that others admire so much.
Yes, I love a dribble (STOP IT you boys at the back!) but I also have no issue with Route One. Players are alllowed to kick the ball, to deflect it with the knee or other parts of the body apart from the hands, or even to flick the ball over an opponent and recover the ball at the other side in order to carry on with the ball. The game is NOT all about keeping possession by going back, sideways, forward, back again (and rinse and repeat several times). The game is about scoring goals, or saving goals against, by using all of these skills and tactics, WHERE THE SITUATION REQUIRES IT. Not sticking rigidly to one method, irrespective of how the game is going.
There is a time and place for all these methods to be used. Sometimes having a long, fast and low trajectory throw (for example) is a good tactic and it might make an opposing player take risks in defensive positions to avoid giving away a throw-in. And, if you are lucky, much hilarity might ensue.
Discouraging a long throw in football would be like discouraging a fast serve or asking a tennis player not to use a lob because, you know, it's really not cricket and the tennis club members think it bad form to use such tactics...
Thanks Len I was told today at Heart Clinic I need surgery so hopefully will get back to better health soon.
Many thanks for the best wishes from my Diasboro friends.
OFB
So sorry to hear about your situation, Bob, and hope everything goes according to plan at what must be a very worrying time. But we are all here with you on the blog wishing you well every step of the way. With all good wishes.
@original-fat-bob Your current health predicaments make your starter an even better production. Here’s hoping your surgery goes well - have no doubt, we’re all rooting for you here.
Your final paragraph explains perfectly why we will always struggle to make a strong and viable challenge at the top end of the league. The current business model precludes it. Maybe the Chairman endorses the model because it is financially beneficial and if so then so be it. But it does most probably mean an end to ambition and a tacit acceptance that the Premier League is not for the Boro. I find that infinitely disappointing. How do you feel?
Get well soon Bob.
Good luck with the op, OFB. We all wish you well and the speediest of returns to full health.
@original-fat-bob All the best, mate. I am sure you will be better soon.
So the epidemic is spreding. Soon we all be crocked at this site - like the ten Boro players.
Hope you are after the International break, OFB. All the best.
Up the Boro!
We must do like Oxford did twelve months ago.
The BBC is/are (I cannot decide 😆) writing:
"And then there were eight. A year ago it looked like Oxford United were going nowhere in League One, but their final eight games of the season produced five wins and two draws and helped them sneak into the play-offs."
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cq5zp5ln49zo
So we must do the same - win five and draw two, and the playoffs are there to look forward to. So this means we must beat Oxford next.
Up the Boro!
PS. Are there any who has studied in Oxford among the bloggers?
Morning OFB,
Sorry hear about your condition and health problems, please get well soon, particularly for your family and yourself. Then there's us lot, the misfits on Diasboro of course, we need you too! Exceedingly well done with the starter, it must have been hard to muster any form of concentration.
Oxford? Who knows which version of Boro will turn up. In truth I don't care that much it's unimportant compared to your health so just get well as quickly as you can and keep us posted.
Best wishes,
UTB,
John
PS Jarkko, Newcastle for me I'm afraid. Did they win something the other day?
@original-fat-bob sorry to hear your news and hope that your surgery is sooner than later and that it will make a big difference for you going forward. Even more respect than usual for your extremely well researched and presented opener, especially given your current relationship with the meds!! Who cares about football just so long as as everyone stays healthy.
Re NUFC .... I seem to recall (but maybe imagining it) that for many of their support the (as was then) Carling Cup was not a serious cup to win when we lifted it. Lots of fuss about nothing after Liverpool managed to lose the (as is now) Carabao Cup final, shortly after having failed against PSG. Does that Carabao Cup win get you into next season's European competitions? If not, I can't see the Barcodes making it into Europe through the league this year. Good luck to them though. I don't begrudge them their success at Wembley, just as I would hope their fans wouldn't begrudge it if it was us in that position again.
Re Oxford. Well, I suppose we should look at every single game we play as a 'must win' fixture, otherwise what's the point? I would like the excitement that we could make it into the playoffs, but I am now quite relaxed about this being probably less likely to come to pass than otherwise. Whatever the result of this next 'must win' game, so long as the team plays with some spirit and for each other, I will be content enough.
Re health. Following my knee replacement in January, I am now 10 days recovering from a HALO procedure. I'll not describe that here, but will leave it to you to look up on Google if you are unfamiliar but interested. All I can say is that I don't think I have ever been in so much discomfort and that discomfort is persisting. Consultant did say definitely two weeks, but possibly three before I feel the benefit. I didn't believe him, but it looks like he knew best! I will be fit enough to compose the opening for the Leeds thread. I wonder what the mood music for that will be.
Ouch! Sounds really uncomfortable, Powmill. Let's hope you can give the Boro a few standing ovations over the next few games. Best wishes for a speedy recovery
@jarkko - Apparently they are banned from the site. Something to do with their version of blue being FAR too dark.
@forever-dormo They are of course, 200 years older than their upstart rivals in Citeh colours.