Some More Oxford Transfer News

Before I post the results from this past weekend and Oxford’s match yesterday, I should mention that Oxford United completed yet another month-long loan signing. Yet again the loan is for a striker, but that is good since they are in short supply right now for the Yellows. The new signing is for Christian Montano, a 20-year-old from West Ham United. If you remember, short-term loan sensation Robbie Hall who was with Oxford earlier in the season was also from West Ham. Montano has been loaned out to other League One and League Two teams before. The club’s website on the deal can be found here, but it’s worth mentioning the article also mentions that he’s scored eight times in eighteen appearances for those League One and League Two teams. That’s not a bad goal scoring record at all, one that will be a very welcome option for Oxford up front.

One Less Yellow

I posted how Oxford United last week gained a loan while also having a loanee leave. Today things weren’t so even. Oxford didn’t sign anyone, but sadly had to say goodbye to Lee Holmes as his one-month loan ended. He played mostly in midfield for the Yellows but played a front striking winger as well. I’m a bit disappointed to see him go as he provided a good spark for the team, providing perfect crosses into the box or even scoring himself. Oxford management would’ve liked to keep him longer, but the funding just isn’t there. He was on loan from Southampton, and considering how well he did with the Yellows, they will be extending his contract there and will be using him more. Well, goodbye to you Mr. Holmes and good luck to you.

Back Down to Earth

As the post’s title suggests, things were not nearly as bright as they were last weekend. That doesn’t put me in the writing mood, so we’ll see how these match recaps go.

FC Nurnberg vs. Mainz – I was hoping to find a live stream of this match, but none of the feeds that I could find were consistent enough to watch; just the match tracker for me. It wouldn’t really matter too much though as Nurnberg would be down 1-0 almost before the match started. In just the first minute of the match, Mainz managed to quickly get two shots off, the second finding its way in the past Nurnberg’s keeper Raphael Schäfer. Der Club were obviously asleep with the first kick of the ball and had that early goal against for a rude awakening.

Things weren’t getting much better for Nurnberg either. They just seemed to be groggy and sleepy-eyed following Mainz run around them. (I gathered this from the few seconds of live stream I was able to see.) They managed a few feeble shots, but Mainz would stay in control. In the 22^nd minute, Mainz would firm up that control with a second goal giving them an early 2-0 lead. Nurnberg would muster a few more shots going into halftime, but nothing that wasn’t blocked by the Mainz defense or simply off target.

The second half was a bit better for Der Club with them finally getting a goal in the 62^nd minute, with Daniel Didavi scoring from a Hanno Balitsch free kick. Still, they had to continue to get a second goal to make things level. By the 71^st minute though, five Nurnberg players had picked up yellow cards so they couldn’t be too aggressive. They were helped in the 84^th minute though when Mainz’s one player with a yellow card (from the 6^th minute) was given a second yellow for diving and was sent off. Sadly, though it was too late to really help Nurnberg’s chances. Besides Didavi’s goal, they wouldn’t get another shot on target and the match would end as a 2-1 for Der Club.

Nurnberg still hold on to 9^th position in the Bundesliga but just barely. Wolfsburg is now even with them on points, but Nurnberg has a better goal differential. By better I don’t mean great, as Nurnberg has a -10 differential with Wolfsburg at -15. They coincidentally also have the exact same records up to this point but as fate would have it, these two teams also play each other this weekend. Chances are someone’s season record will change.

Oxford United vs. Bradford City – New loan signing Dean Morgan was put right in to the starting eleven, which I thought was a bit surprising. Not only was it odd because he hasn’t had much training time with the team, but he was favored in front of Oli Johnson. Johnson has been doing well for the Yellows I thought, but he was left on the bench. Even more strange is that Lee Holmes was brought up from the midfield to play in the forward line. The front three was Morgan, Holmes, and Rendell. I would’ve expected Morgan, Rendell, Johnson.

The first half was quite poor for the Yellows. Only two shots were made, which were at least on target. Bradford City were winning in the shot department for the half with six taken, all but one on target. Still nothing was getting in goal. The big story of the first half would not be a goal, but instead a red card… and for the second week in a row it would go against Oxford. Defender Damian Batt received a yellow card for bad foul in the 7^th minute, and then committed a second yellow card in the 40^th for another bad tackle. Two yellows equal red and Batt was sent off.

The beginning of the second have would have the storyline go from bad to worse for Oxford. Playing down a man, defender Jake Wright committed a foul in the box giving Bradford City a penalty. They placed the resulting shot perfectly to get past Oxford’s Ryan Clarke to go up 1-0. They wouldn’t let things end there though, scoring another goal just ten minutes later with a header from a cross to go up 2-0.

Asa Hall would score for Oxford in the 72^nd, finally putting them on the board positively, but they just didn’t have their shooting boots for this match. Only five shots were made for the entire game, not at all looking that impressive offensively. It may have been so many new faces on the pitch, the shuffling of players in the formation, or the amount of injuries catching up to the squad, but Oxford just didn’t have it. They would take a disappointing loss to Bradford City, 2-1.

In losing, Oxford still sit in 7^th position but only by technicality. Gillingham is even on points with them, but Oxford have a greater goal differential keeping them in 7^th. There are only ten games left in the season, not much time for Oxford to improve and try to cement their place in the promotion playoffs.

Newcastle United vs. Arsenal – The Toon met the Gunners for a Monday match in the Premier League, so sadly, as it happened during my normally busy Monday workday, I was able to follow very little.

Alan Pardew put out much the same starting eleven for Newcastle’s 4-4-2 formation, except for one change. Instead of January signing Cisse up front with Ba, it would be Ben Arfa starting. Athough normally a midfielder, he has shown some good form and hustle in recent weeks so I think it was a good decision.

Ben Arfa would prove to his manager that it was indeed wise to start him too. He would juke for some space on the right hand side of the box and fire an exacting shot to put the Magpies up 1-0 in the 14^th minute. Sadly however, the lead would not last long as Arsenal would find Newcastle resting on their laurels from that goal. Oh, and I mean the lead was quite short, as Arsenal’s leading man Robin Van Persie would level for his side in the very next minute. It had to be one of the quickest levelers I’ve seen… or read about on a match tracker.

The match would be quieter going into the break, but things would start getting scrappy and chippy in the second half. Looking back at the match tracker, it also seemed to be all Arsenal. I mention shot totals a lot to show the progress of one team over the other, but this half of the match would be ridiculous. Arsenal would take seventeen shots, compared to Newcastle who struggled with just one. It looked like Newcastle though were going to be able to hold off for the draw as the official ninety minutes were up. Five minutes of stoppage time were added though and in that fifth minute, Arsenal’s defender Vermaelen would find the game winner. The match would end a 2-1 loss for Newcastle… and a third 2-1 loss for my teams this weekend.

Newcastle’s position in the league remains unchanged, still in 6^th place. They are five points down from Chelsea in 5^th and five points up from Liverpool in 7^th. Liverpool have played one less match however, with that one match being played tomorrow against Everton, so they could catch up to the Toon a bit in points before next weekend’s fixtures.

One Yellow Comes, One Yellow Goes

Last week Oxford United picked up another month-long loan for a striker. With Constable out on red card suspension (through next weekend’s match at Rotherham), along with Craddock, Pittman, and Potter all injured, they needed another option up front. The Yellows brought in Dean Morgan from League One side Chesterfield. Morgan is 28 and has seemed to jump around the English lower leagues. Still Oxford’s club site mentioned he played a “big part” in getting Chesterfield promoted last year, so hopefully he can do the same for Oxford. (You can read Oxford United’s article on the loan here.)

Today (Monday) Mehdi Kerrouche’s one month loan ended and he goes back to Swindon Town. He found much less playing time while he was with the Yellows than I thought he would, just one start and three substitutions according the club website.

I’m a bit behind in posts, so stay tuned for this past weekend’s action recap.

A Yellows Job is Never Done

After Oxford’s massive win over Swindon Town on Saturday, they had to quickly bounce back to play 4^th place Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday. I was a bit concerned that Oxford may have put too much effort out for the Swindon match and would be dead on their feet for this still important match. Striker James Constable was also out of the match as he was serving his suspension from his red card against Swindon. As concerned as I was though, come Tuesday I basically forgot about the match. I couldn’t have followed it too deeply as I was at work at the time, but I didn’t even do periodic score checks as I normally do. Flat out, I forgotabout the match until I was ready to go home for the day (a few hours after match’s end) and then just saw the final score.

From looking at the match tracker though, Oxford were on fire early. Midfielder Lee Holmes was on top form again, but this time instead of assisting goals, he was making them himself. He didn’t waste any time either as he scored with the match’s first shot – in the first minute of the game. As his shot was from the right outer edge of the 18-yard box, it must’ve been a well placed blast for goal.

Oxford took four shots in the half, with three being on goal. All three of those were taken by Lee Holmes. He was that on form. With that said, it wasn’t too surprising that one other shot of those three made it past the Shrewsbury keeper. In the 38^th minute, Holmes hit another blast from the other side of the box to put Oxford up 2-0. Following that, Oxford’s keeper Ryan Clarke would keep out Shrewsbury’s sole first half shot on goal to keep the 2-0 lead into the break.

Shrewsbury though were looking more threatening as the match resumed however. They had the first two shots of the second half and it would be that second shot that would find its way to the back of the net. Oxford could still sit back a bit and play defensively at 2-1, but not nearly as much as they would if it was still 2-0. Throughout the rest of the half though, it looked like they would pull through with the win. They really didn’t do anything offensively – just two shots (by Holmes of course) – and just sat back and attempted to hold off the eleven second half shots from Shrewsbury. I say attempted because Shrewsbury’s last shot of the game, in the fourth minute of stoppage time made things level at 2-2. The shot at the death of the clock was taken from yards outside the 18-yard box. Lee Holmes’ shots must have been impressive, but this one had to have beaten both of his. It either must have had some wicked curve or was just struck with so much power to have beat Clarke from so far out. Impressive as it may have been, it sadly took away the win from Oxford and instead they had to settle for the draw.

The Yellows still sit in 7^th position, but the draw allowed 8^th place Gillingham to make up ground. They won their match over Barnet and now only sit a single point behind Oxford. This weekend’s fixtures will make things more clear – hopefully further cementing Oxford into that 7^th spot.