EFL Trophy Pizza Cup Semi-final Oxford v Rovers

[Sparky]

“There is going to be justification for team selection and bearing in mind that there are players who have done so well to get us as far as we have done, there is going to be a rich reward for the players.”

Sounds like the side will be similar to previous pizza cup games. Hopefully CBT will get a run out.

 

[Sparky]

Some nice words from their manager Karl Robinson whose wife is from birkenhead

“It’s a wonderful club with a lot of tradition and I was looking forward to playing there last season but we never got to do it because of covid. In many ways they are the club who were most affected by that. It’s wrong that they ended up in League 2; they were the club most hit when the season ended but they certainly have players who belong in a higher division”

 

[Ian]

Win or lose, I'd be happy with a solid, competitive performance to take us into the next league game.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Some nice words from their manager Karl Robinson whose wife is from birkenhead

“It’s a wonderful club with a lot of tradition and I was looking forward to playing there last season but we never got to do it because of covid. In many ways they are the club who were most affected by that. It’s wrong that they ended up in League 2; they were the club most hit when the season ended but they certainly have players who belong in a higher division”

There's not a lot of sentiment in football, so it's always welcome to hear genuine empathy like that. I've misjudged Karl over the years.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

“There is going to be justification for team selection and bearing in mind that there are players who have done so well to get us as far as we have done, there is going to be a rich reward for the players.”

Sounds like the side will be similar to previous pizza cup games. Hopefully CBT will get a run out.

It will be weird if our second string gets us all the way to Wembley, but it's quite possible. Keith seems to be a loyal manager who shows loyalty to players who show loyalty to him. That's where Ferrier went wrong.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

There's not a lot of sentiment in football, so it's always welcome to hear genuine empathy like that. I've misjudged Karl over the years.

The cynic in me says it is easy to make comments like that before the game has been played. He has not always reacted well at the final whistle when we have turned his teams over !

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

The cynic in me says it is easy to make comments like that before the game has been played. He has not always reacted well at the final whistle when we have turned his teams over !

Let’s hope you are proved right at 8 pm tonight.

 

[Sparky]

The cynic in me says it is easy to make comments like that before the game has been played. He has not always reacted well at the final whistle when we have turned his teams over !

indeed I remember Robinson had a big falling out with manager Dave Artell at Crewe who is a bit of a character himself. Karl might one day fancy the PP hot seat so needs to behave himself

 

[aldoes mustache]

game on talk sport 2

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

A similar side to the Peterborough game but Vaughan, Clarke, Spearing and Feeney on the bench, plus Nugent. Still no sign of CBT.

 

[bigmart]

I think 4 changes from the last game

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Davies in goal, which suggests Murphy is injured.

 

[aldoes mustache]

good to see Nugent on the bench, happy with the team

 

[Sparky]

Heck of a bench!

probably the oldest bench ever put out!!

hoping we can keep them out and nick it on penalties. Shame no CBT

 

[ONIGP]

A similar side to the Peterborough game but Vaughan, Clarke, Spearing and Feeney on the bench, plus Nugent. Still no sign of CBT.

Heck of a bench tonight. CBT's naughty step must be quite a high one.

 

[Higgy]

Tough one for the manager. He will know some of the older. Guys need a rest, but if the named team can do the job/keep us in it, the quality is on the bench to help get the job done.
Let's hope O'Connor can show again he can do a job in Spearing's absence.

 

[Ian]

Happy with that. Gives some of the other lads a chance to shine with the big guns on the bench should it go a little pear shaped!

 

[Sparky]

Interesting hearing both the sky pundits saying we should have played a stronger side as so close to Wembley. Hill has never been there so they are surprised and think seeing Vaughan, spearing, Clarke etc on the bench will have given Oxford a big boost.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Interesting hearing both the sky pundits saying we should have played a stronger side as so close to Wembley. Hill has never been there so they are surprised and think seeing Vaughan, spearing, Clarke etc on the bench will have given Oxford a big boost.

I think Hill has the made the right decision personally, whatever the result. Plus, those pundits have not seen how well our second string have performed in the earlier rounds.

 

[Boz]

Davies in goal, which suggests Murphy is injured.

Particularly with Jones on the bench that seems likely and it's a blow because Joe seems more likely to save a penalty should we get to that point.

It's a stronger side than expected and a very experienced bench. Only time will tell if the blend of players starting works out right.