Career Yellow and Blue Blood: Season Three - Part Two (Completed)

[FuddledFox]

The opening day of the season, a day that all football fans look forward to and no more so than the Oxford fans as there club embarked on there first season in the English 2^nd tier for 19 years. Brentford away wasn’t the glamour tie that the fans would have wanted but no one was that worried as the coaches of fans made the journey down the M40 to west London.

For the first 78 minutes the Yellows where in dream land as despite Osawe having a goal disallowed in the 25^th minute the U’s found themselves 3-0 up with 12 minutes to go. Two goals from Ogbene in the 84^th and 86^th minutes made for a nervy finish and then a Neal Maupay goal in the 89^th minute completed the comeback for the Bees much to the annoyance of Oxford manager Foxy.

“Well for 78 minutes we played like Manchester City and the final 12 we turned into Oxford City! This is a real lesson for the lads and for me that in this division games are never over until the final whistle blows”

Spoiler

Despite the collapse in the first game the rest of the month went more to plan with comfortable wins in the League cup and then against promotion hopefuls Huddersfield and Norwich and an away draw against Sheffield Wednesday. The month finished with a tough penalty shootout win over Millwall in the League Cup.

September

The best performance of the month came on the first day of the month as the U’s entertained Middlesbrough at Grenoble Road. Two more goals for new signing Osawe and a first goal for the club for right winger Leko meant that despite Marvin Johnson returning to score against his old club the Yellows ran out 3-1 winners.

Spoiler

“I really felt that we where starting to find our feet in the Championship as we had some very good results this month and we where looking very very good in front of goal. I was pleased that we got into the fourth round of the League Cup as well as its great for the fans that we have a little cup run”

October

An away win at Southampton followed by a 3-0 win against Peterborough carried on the great start to the season  but that was about to come crashing down with an away trip to Preston on the day after Foxy’s birthday.

Spoiler

“Well it may have been a bit of a mistake on my part to let the lads talk me into letting them have a few bevvies to celebrate my birthday in the hotel the night before the game”

A draw at Bristol City followed before they got back on track with a 3-0 league win versus Sheffield Utd and a memorable giant killing against Premier League Wolves 3-1.

Spoiler

November

November meant the return of the Thames Valley derby as Oxford made the short trip to the Madejski Stadium to take on Reading.

“I think most Yellows look at the Swindon game as the biggest derby for the club but it has been a few years since we have played Reading as they have been playing at a much higher level than us so the fans I’m sure where hoping to put them back in there place. Of course we have plenty of history with Reading and not least the fact that we nearly became the same club in the 80’s when Robert Maxwell wanted to merge the two clubs to create the Thames Valley Royals. We put in a great performance after half time to beat them 3-1 and send our fans home happy”

Spoiler

December

Christmas was forgotten in Oxford this year as the club had a League Cup Quarter Final against Premier League Leeds Utd to look forward to instead. It was very tight game with very few clear cut chances and the two teams couldn’t be separated in 90 minutes. With the clock ticking down and penalties looking inevitable up stepped Stephy Mavididi who was in the team due to an injury to top scorer Osawe to score a winner 2 minutes from time and book Oxford into there first League Cup Semi Final since 1987.

Spoiler

Despite the cup distractions form remained good in the league despite a 1-0 loss to promotion chasing Norwich.

This left the table looking like this at the turn of the year with Oxford proudly at the top of the table by 2 points from Derby.

 

 January Transfer window

“With most of my in’s and out’s done in the summer and not much transfer budget left I decided that I didn’t want to do much business in January but with some creative accountancy due to our small wage bill I was able to raise £6.5m. I decided that I needed another creative midfielder and I identified transfer listed Daniel Barlaser as a perfect candidate. After some negotiation I was able to make him the clubs most expensive signing at £6.5m.”

    

“he is very technically gifted with good passing and dribbling as well as movement and creativity and at 21 can still improve. He is versatile as well as he can play wide left as well as through the middle.”

January

With the club sitting pretty at the top of the league going into the new year it was no time for distractions but that was easier said than done with a League Cup semi on the horizon versus Arsenal. The first leg was at Grenoble Road and depite going 1-0 down to a Aubameyang goal the Yellow fought back and equalised through Osawe to set it up perfectly for the return leg at The Emirates.

Spoiler

“We had to dig in for long periods of the game but when we got the chance it fell to the right man and it has given us a glimmer of hope for the 2^nd leg”

It was always going to be a tough ask going to The Emirates needing a result and that was made tougher when Welbeck scored after a minute. Again Oxford put in a spirted performance but this time Arsenal’s extra quality paid off as Reiss Nelson scored in the 69^th minute and then Welbeck got another in the 77^th minute to complete a 3-0 win.

Spoiler

“We just didn’t have that extra bit of quality when it mattered in this game despite the fact we had two clear cut chances that we weren’t able to take. It’s been a great cup run and has left me wanting to take that extra step next year and get to Wembley.”

The Semi Final didn’t prove a distraction as the club continued its good form and also beat its third Premier league club as Newcastle where knocked out of the FA Cup.

 

February

That win over Newcastle set up a fifth round tie against Bournemouth but this proved to be one Premier League side to far as despite earning a replay the Cherries won 1-0 to move on in  the cup. In the league a depleted Oxford took on relegation threatened Sunderland, losing 2-0 at the Stadium of Light with Foxy getting all kind of abuse throughout the 90 minutes from one Black Cat in particular.

Spoiler

@samhardy

   

March

March is always a make or break month in the football calendar and it proved to be a very good one for the U’s with 5 wins and a draw in the 6 league games this month. One result stood out for Foxy in particular though.

“The best result this month for me personally was sticking three past Southampton to complete the double over them this season. My brother is a Saints fan so that gave me family bragging rights”

A 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace at the end of the month left Oxford on the verge of promotion.

 

April

A win at Cardiff in the first game of April would have seen Oxford confirm promotion and mean that they would go into the next match against local rivals Reading with a chance to win the league. In the end the pressure told as Cardiff came back from a goal down to win with a Danny Ward goal in the 2^nd minute of injury time and leave the U’s waiting for the promotion party.

Spoiler

Despite not being able to be crowned champions a win against Reading at Grenoble Road would confirm promotion.

“We would have loved to be winning the league in this game but that chance to beat your local rivals and confirm promotion was still a big incentive for the ladsand I didn’t need to give them much of  a team talk to pump them up before this game.”

If the Oxford players where nervous they didn’t show it as Ryan Ledson cracked one in after 10 minutes and then Barlaser made it 2-0 after 54 minutes. Things got nervous when Bodvarsson made it 2-1 nine minutes later but in the U’s hung on to confirm promotion to the Premier League and spark wild celebrations.

Spoiler

“What a feeling! Back to back promotions is great but I was still focused on the next game as I wanted to emulate Jim Smith and get the back to back league wins as well.

An away trip to Fulham would bring the Championship title to Oxford as a last gasp winner from Malvididi gave Oxford a 2-1 win and the title with two games to spare.

 

In the end a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest gave the Yellows a 100 points for the season but more importantly they had a shoot at the big time.

Spoiler

“I can’t wait to get started in the Premier League. We have given a good account of ourselves this season in the cups against Premier League opposition but lets not kid ourselves over the course of the season it is going to be tough”.

Season Stats

Spoiler

 

Challenge Points

League points: 100 points

Goal Difference: +56

Top Scorers goals: Osayamen Osawe 51 goals

Total: 207 points

Season 1 points: 227

Total after two seasons: 434 points

 

NEXT TIME ON YELLOW AND BLUE BLOOD: Oxford take on the Premier League.

Thank you for reading.

 

[RipRip]

Bloody brilliant! Very nice read mate. All the best in the Premier League. Can't wait!

[Taff]

Back to back promotions, what  job dude congrats, and now it's on to the big time

[Nucleus]

Premier league title next mate!  Cracking stuff, and a great read too

Shame about the Sunderland result!

Edited April 17, 2018 by NucleusNT

[FuddledFox]

Thanks for the comments guys.

5 hours ago, NucleusNT said:

Premier league title next mate

I will be happy just to stay up tbh

[samhardy]

Lovely updates and enjoying the career, enjoyed it even more after seeing you conceded twice to Duncan Watmore

17th on goal difference next season I think.

[FuddledFox]

7 minutes ago, samhardy said:

enjoyed it even more after seeing you conceded twice to Duncan Watmore

I only included that in the update as I knew you would enjoy it.

7 minutes ago, samhardy said:

17th on goal difference next season I think.

Probably tbf. Its tough to build a Premier League squad with the restriction of British players only

[Titjes]

Doing a fantastic job so far Foxy  Premier league will be a though one with Oxford  

[FuddledFox]

1 hour ago, Titjes said:

Doing a fantastic job so far Foxy  Premier league will be a though one with Oxford  

I am a quarter of the way through the season and it has been?.......interesting so far. Might not get an update out until the weekend or maybe next week but then again I might if I'm knocked out the VPL today.

[FuddledFox]

Author’s Note: I think before the third and final season starts I should remind you of what I need to do for the challenge I have set myself. So far I have completed the first two stages as I have emulated the achievements of Jim Smith in winning back to back tier 3 and tier 2 titles. I now have to emulate what Maurice Evans achieved and keep Oxford Utd in the top flight and win a domestic cup. Also to note that I can only sign British players to reflect how football was in England in the 1980’s.

So lets get on and see how I did in the first half of the third season.

In the summer of 2019 the Oxford faithful got the news they had waited 18 years for. Following promotion to the Premier League the club was going to build the fourth stand at the bowling alley end of the ground. This would increase the capacity of the ground to 18,900 with the work to be completed in time for the new season.

Spoiler

The club also completed further improvements to the training ground to bring the standard up to average.

Spoiler

Transfers

With promotion to the big leagues surely Foxy would be looking to do a lot of business over the summer.

Foxy:” I want to keep faith with some of the lads that got us promoted back to back but of course I need to add some extra quality as well. That is easier said than done though as a lot of players see us as too small a club to sign for and don’t fancy a relegation battle. The two that really got away where Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham both on loan from Chelsea but then if they don’t fancy it I don’t want them at the club.

Two major players left over the summer with Dickie going to Birmingham and Myles Kenlock deciding to leave at the end of his contract and signing for Shrewsbury on a free. Both were a large part of our promotion team last year but they were unlikely to feature much this year so they left with my blessing.”

“I was lucky that the board have backed me with a good budget of around £28m and although I spent most of it on one player I think I was able to do some good deals.”

“Will was great for us last season in goal and with Wolves willing to sell I was delighted to bring him in to be our number one this season.”

“I needed another centre back as we only have Nelson and Streete on the books. I think Roberts is good value for money at £6m as he is a good header and tackler and physically he is quick and strong. He is also an intelligent defender who takes up good positions on the field and leads by example by putting the team first. He will be my captain this year.”

“With Kenlock leaving I needed another left back and Mings is a player I have liked for a few years and that Bournemouth seem to undervalue. He is a good defender first and foremost and can also play centre back although I feel he can get caught out of position at times.”

“I am always willing to take advantage of the loan system to bring in players and that what I have done with Campbell. He will provide some steel to a midfield that is heavy with ball players.”

“Reiss scored against us last year for Arsenal in the League Cup semi finals and he is a young player with a lot of talent. With his pace, dribbling and crossing I think he can give teams a lot to think about this season.”

Unfortunately Reiss suffered a bad injury in October and missed three months of football.

 “This was a real coup for the club and we smashed our transfer record to get this lad in. He is one of England’s young lions and has plenty of attacking threat as well as being able to play further back as a left back. I plan to use him as a winger for most of the season.”

The Sessegnon transfer made the big headlines for the club but I think it is Kasey who will be the big signing for us this season. He is comfortable wide right and left as well as through the middle and has an excellent range of attributes. I expect his to be a threat both creating and scoring as he will be our set piece taker this season.

Pre season

With the transfers complete the club embarked on there pre season friendlies, without Foxy of course. It wasn’t the most strenuous program of games for the club as they recorded a draw and three wins.

 

August

The club had a tough start to the season with an away game against Chelsea followed by a home game with champions Man City. The game against Chelsea showed what the club would be up against this season as they got thrashed 4-1. A week later the champions rolled into town for the clubs first top flight home game since 1988.

“After the game against Chelsea I don’t think anyone expected us to do anything other than be thrashed against Man City but I hoped the lads wouldn’t be put off by the occasion and would do themselves justice.”

Things looked bleak when City took the lead on 9 minutes through Bernardo Silva but Kasey Palmer got Oxford back into it 4 minutes later. In a close game Oxford gave as good as they got and could have won it when Mavididi scored with 7 minutes remaining but City proved why they are champions as Aguero got an equaliser two minutes later. 

The month was rounded off with home wins against Luton in the League Cup and Watford in the Premier league.

 September

If the yellows had any aspirations of staying up they would need to pick up points against the types of teams they faced this month. A comfortable away win at Wolves was followed up by a win at home versus Derby before a League Cup third round at home to Villa.

“I would love to win a cup this season and home ties give us a great chance to progress but saying that Villa are a decent team so it would be tough.”

The strong U’s team put in a great performance to win 3-1 and book there place in the fourth round.

The final game of the month was against Villa as well three days after the cup game but this time it was Villa, who had rested players mid-week, that ran out easy winners.

October

Following on from that lose against Villa form was a little mixed as the yellows could only draw at home to Brighton and then following a win at Leeds they suffered a home loss to Arsenal. The month was rounded off with a home game in the League Cup versus Sheffield Wednesday. The fans expected an easy win to make the quarter finals but it wasn’t quite that simple.

Despite having the bulk of possession and shots Oxford could only labour to a 1-1 draw and required penalties to get through. A relieved Foxy had this to say after the game.

“That was frustrating tonight. We had all of the game but we are very toothless up front at the moment and we aren’t creating good goal scoring chances and its something we are going to need to look at.”

November

Two draws to start the month, the first at Norwich in a game Oxford would have loved to win against a fellow newly promoted side and then a good point in a 0-0 versus Manchester Utd. With Oxford sitting in 9^th and 7 points clear of the bottom three you would think Foxy would be happy with his side but he wasn’t.

“I feel like we are playing with the handbrake on. Our striker is too isolated up top as our midfield isn’t able to get close enough to him and we aren’t getting the best out of Kasey Palmer either. I’m sure we have more to give in this team and I am determined to find a way of bringing that out of them.”

When the team took the field against Spurs at the end of November the fans noticed something very different in the teams formation. Foxy had abandoned his favoured 41221 that had served the team so well for the past two seasons and instead was playing without a striker. Osawe was in the side but he was taking a position on the right wing and then cutting inside on his left foot in an inside forward role with then Sessegnon playing as a left winger and then Kasey Palmer in the centre attacking the box from deep.

Spoiler

The tactic worked as they ran out 2-0 winners over Spurs with goals from Palmer and Osawe.

 

December

December was going to be a very busy month as they faced a run of 7 games in the month that would put the small Oxford squad to the test. Foxy continued with his strikerless set up in a 2-1 win over Bournemouth at the beginning of the month before travelling to Merseyside to take on Everton in a match that no Oxford fan will ever forget.

“At times this season we haven’t got the rewards that our play has merited especially in front of goal but this game it all came together. Osawe and Palmer where simply unplayable all game and we blew Everton away.”

A disappointing loss to WBA followed the Everton game as the Oxford fans where brought firmly back down to earth. The club then booked its place in the semi finals of the League Cup as they beat Huddersfield 3-1. A solid 2-0 win against Newcastle just before Christmas gave the yellows some holiday cheer. On Boxing day the fans travelled back up the M6 to Merseyside to take on the red side of Liverpool but the result and performance was far less positive as they lost 3-0.

As has been the case most of the season the team bounced back in the next game as they beat Stoke 2-0 and then got a good 0-0 draw at home to 2^nd placed Chelsea.

This left Oxford in 6^th place at the half way stage of the season, 16 points clear of the relegation zone and with 32 points all but safe and only 3 points from a European spot.

Spoiler

How was Foxy feeling going into the new year with the club as good as safe?

“I don’t think we can look at ourselves as safe just yet as we need to keep pushing for as many points as we can. I would hope we can at least hold on to 6^th place for the rest of the season and the we have the League Cup still to go for and also the FA Cup as well so it should be an exciting second half of the season.

NEXT TIME ON YELLOW AND BLUE BLOOD: How high can Oxford finish and can they win one of the cups?

Thank you for reading.

 

 

 

 

[Nucleus]

Brilliant start to life in the Premier League! I’m wondering how you approach the league cup games now? Will you rest key players before those games so they can be fresh? You’re pretty much safe in the league

[FuddledFox]

1 minute ago, NucleusNT said:

I’m wondering how you approach the league cup games now? Will you rest key players before those games so they can be fresh?

Yes I am resting players before the two legs of the semi finals. I only have 22 players in the squad so with no injuries I can replace the whole starting XI although it isn't a second XI that is packed with quality. For example this is my back up RB.

Spoiler

but as you say we should be safe with points we have already so winning either the League or FA cup is my biggest priority now.

[Titjes]

Last season going great so far mate 😉

[PriZe]

Holy F nice going @Foxy!   

[Seth Anacondas]

Sess has been a must buy in every career recently. I blame the Championship Team of the Year, PFA Young Player of the Year and Vibe Community Dream Team for hyping him up.🤔

[FuddledFox]

1 hour ago, Seth Anacondas said:

Sess has been a must buy in every career recently. I blame the Championship Team of the Year, PFA Young Player of the Year and Vibe Community Dream Team for hyping him up.🤔

It's the first time I have ever used him and he has done well so far although he is starting to think he is bigger than the club which is annoying although he is probably right tbf. 

[Seth Anacondas]

12 hours ago, Foxy said:

It's the first time I have ever used him and he has done well so far although he is starting to think he is bigger than the club which is annoying although he is probably right tbf. 

It's good, you can sell him to Liverpool or Spurs - they will pay over the odds.

[FuddledFox]

As 2019 turned into 2020 the Oxford faithful only had one thing on there minds and that was the upcoming League Cup semi final with Manchester City. The yellows were huge underdogs as City where current Premier League champions and although they were currently 10 points behind there city rivals they had a team packed full of internationals and Oxford simply don’t.

January 15^th 2020 – First Leg at Grenoble Road.

Tickets had sold out in hours and the stadium was packed to its full capacity of 18,900. Oxford had to right there luck at times in this match as Man City had the majority of the shots but 4 minutes from half time Kasey Palmer broke the City defensive line and was able to slot home past the ‘keeper to give Oxford a 1-0 win. The U’s defended solidly throughout the game and they would need to do that and more in the 2^nd leg at the Etihad.

Wednesday 29^th January 2020 – Second leg at the Etihad Stadium

The Oxford fans made the trip north on an unseasonable warm Wednesday at the end of January full of hope more than expectation. No one expected anything other than the Man City juggernaut crushing the Ox. The game followed a similar pattern to the first leg with City having the majority of the shots but they were unable to create that clear cut chance they needed and Oxford where finding chances for themselves as well. The deadlock was broken when Kasey Palmer put a freekick straight at Bernardo Silva or then smashed it forward and caught Will Norris off his line to score from 75 – 80 yards. This meant the game was heading for extra time.

The pressure finally told on some of the Oxford players in extra time as defensive midfielder Allan Campbell went in two footed on Julian Draxler to receive a straight red and in the resulting protests Daniel Barlaser said too much to the ref and also received a red to leave Oxford with 10 men for the rest of extra time. Man City seemed to still struggle to break down the Oxford defence though and Oxford where still breaking out and getting forward and no more so than in the 108^th minute. Kasey Palmer whipped in a corner and in the resulting melee in the box Reiss Nelson tapped home to send the Oxford fans delirious in the away end. City seemed all out of ideas as Oxford started to waste time in the final minutes as they booked there place in the final for the first time since 1986.

 

The final would take place on Sunday the 1^st of March and would see Oxford take on Tottenham at Wembley. In the build up to the game we asked Foxy to keep a diary of his experiences of the League Cup final  and he agreed. So this is the 2020 League Cup final through the eyes of Oxford manager Foxy.

Saturday 29^th February 2020

7.00am: I was into the training ground early as I simply couldn’t sleep anyway. My assistant Derek Fazackerley  and first team coach Paul Anthrobus where in not long after me as well. We decided to take another look at some of the players we should look out for in the Spurs team.

The two obvious players to look out for where Harry Kane and Dele Alli. These are the two stand out players in a Spurs team that have struggled this season and currently sit below us in the table in 9^th place.

Spoiler

We did feel that the team had some weaker links as well such as Goalkeeper Thomas Glover and the central midfield pair of Karol Linetty and Nabil Bentaleb. The strength in out team is in central midfield and we decided that we would go with our strikerless formation to try and dominate this part of the pitch.

Spoiler

9.00am: The lads where in for some light training and physio work. I let Derek and Paul lead the session so that I could look over the players and assess the players fitness levels and player body language. As expected the lads where buzzing but I’m still concerned by Ryan Sessegnon who’s morale is poor. He has decided he wants to leave the club but I was never going to let him go half way through the season and there was simply no interest in him from any other clubs anyway. Luckily he is a professional lad and hasn’t let it effect his performances, he’ll go far this lad.

Spoiler

Our head physio came over for a chat during the session to let me know his assessment of the squads fitness. It’s looking pretty positive as most of the lads are fit but it looks like Reiss Nelson and Allan Campbell won’t have recovered enough from the injuries they have to play any part in the final. We have had a tough couple of month’s with games Saturday, Wednesday since the beginning of January. I am glad I rested most of my best XI in the midweek lose to Arsenal as it means our crucial players go into the final fresh.

Spoiler

11.30am: The bus to the hotel picks us up from the training ground. We have decided to stay at Bisham Abbey national sports centre as its on the edge of London and the players can take advantage of the facilities this afternoon. Luckily its only an hour on the coach so not too long to wait for lunch.

1.00pm: The entire team and coaching staff sit down for lunch. The lads are having lots of grilled chicken and healthy energy stuff. I’m having a massive bowl of pasta with loads of sauce and definitely pudding! After lunch the whole squad take a stroll round the grounds which I enjoyed as the gardens are very nice but I’m not sure the players where too bothered. I give the squad the rest of the afternoon off to get some rest which I think translates to them all going off to play some FIFA. I decided I wanted to get some rest but I couldn’t sleep so I watched some videos from previous Spurs games.

10.00pm: After dinner, steak for the coaching staff and more healthy protein and carbs for the players. The players are sent to there rooms to try and get some sleep whilst me and the other backroom staff have a couple of beers in the bar.

 

Sunday 1^st March

11.00am: After breakfast I get the players all together to go through a few details they need to remember for the game. Who they are marking, set pieces etc. They are all a little quieter this morning and I can tell there are some nerves this morning.

12.30pm: Time to board the bus for Wembley. On the journey we notice a number of Oxford fans with banners on the motorway bridges to cheer as on.  

2.00pm: We have an hour until kick off and as the players warm up on the pitch I take a look at the team sheets. I have gone with my best XI that I can with only Campbell missing out due to injury and being replaced by Ball in the anchorman role. Spurs look strong with those four really good attacking players but I feel they lack some pace at the back and the midfield two aren’t so strong defensively and I hope we can exploit the space between the CM and CB’s.

 

2.50pm: The time that every English manager dreams of, leading a team out at Wembley. I am determined to enjoy this moment as I may never get the chance again to lead out the team I support in a major cup final. Coming out the tunnel I look across to the Oxford end and see it is packed and the noise they are making is incredible.

I have done all I can to prepare the players and now they need to go out there and get the job done. Just for these few minutes I feel strangely calm but I know that will change in a few minutes when the game kicks off.

3.00pm: I manage a quick hand shake and a few words with Spurs manager Roberto Mancini just before kick off but the noise in the stadium from both sets of fans is such that I cant hear a word he says and I doubt he heard me either.

2 mins: The game starts with both teams trying to get some early possession. Spurs put a ball down the line for Moura to chase but he can’t reach it before Mings and so cynically trips him to receive the game’s first booking.

 8 mins: We have made a positive start to the game and we get a quick succession of corners but we can’t take advantage of them.

20 mins: The game has had few chances so far. Some good wing play from Sessegnon as he manages to get a cross in which is cleared only to Ruffels but his shoot from 20 yards is put wide.

22 mins: Two corners from Spurs but we hold strong at the back. We have been the better team in the first 20 minutes but haven’t taken advantage and Spurs are starting to get into the game now.

30 mins: GOAL!!! Sess gets down the wing then plays the ball inside to Palmer who plays a pass into an unmarked Osawe who takes a couple of touches and then fires past Glover.

We need to focus now. We have been the better team but Spurs are too dangerous in attack and we have had a habit this season of conceding quickly after scoring.  

34 mins: GOAL 2-0!!! A flowing passing move with Sess and Palmer involved again and then Barlaser with the final pass into Osawe who fires home his and Oxford’s second goal.

We are turning it on now and Spurs don’t seem to know how to handle our passing game and the lack of an out and out striker.

40 mins: Harry Kane finds a little space and gets a shot in from 25 yards and despite being straight at Norris he spills it but Marc Roberts is there to clear it away.

43 mins: GOAL!!! We are in dream land now as we take a 3-0 lead. Sess is involved again as he lays a pass to Ruffels who smashes it into the top corner from 25 yards. What a moment for Ruffels who was out of the team earlier in the season but has fought his way into our starting XI and now to score in a Wembley final for the club who’s youth system he has come through is amazing.

Half time: I need to calm the players down a little at half time to make sure they realise this game isn’t over. We need to focus and make sure we finish the job.

47 mins: We start on the front foot as we win a couple of corners that we can’t take advantage of and then Spurs counter but Barlaser fouls Bentaleb to slow Spurs down and receives a yellow card.

50 mins: We are still pushing forwards and Palmer takes a shot form the edge of the area but its straight at the ‘keeper.

64 and 73 mins: We are frustrating Spurs now and it shows as first Vertonghen and then Linetty go into the book.

88 mins: Spurs a desperate for a goal now and they are pushing men forward. Some good play from Rose and Janssen plays in Bentaleb but he puts his shot straight at Norris from 10 yards.

93 mins: We are wasting time with some possession play and the Oxford fans are singing there hearts out as we have got this won now. Looking across the Spurs end is emptying and I suddenly feel strangely calm. I am going to achieve my goal and emulate the achievements of Jim Smith and Maurice Evans as we are almost certainly safe in the league despite my concentration on this and the FA Cup in the last two months and we are going to win the League Cup with a chance of FA Cup glory this season as well.

To a chorus of “Oxford till I die” the final whistle goes and Oxford Utd are 2020 League Cup champions.

  

Foxy Proudly showing off the trophy. It can only be assumed that the EFL thought Man City would be in the final and win hence the sky blue and white ribbons.

NEXT TIME ON YELLOW AND BLUE BLOOD: We round up season three.

Thank you for reading.

[Cockers2505]

Brilliant @Foxy what an end to a brilliant personal challenge and career to yourself, well structured, written out and enjoyable to read, ashame they couldn't do the same for real, your safe this season, we can't say the same currently, I can't believe we will be playing Sunderland

Congrats mate

 

[Ashez]

I've never felt so guilty before in my time on Vibe! Unfortunately I fell behind in this but I've just caught up and what a well written and dramatic journey you are having! I found myself gripped and this take on a career felt so fresh! Congratulations on the promotions and the cup mate, that's some achievement! 

Edited April 22, 2018 by Ashez

[Seth Anacondas]

Congratulations, Sess being heavily involved is the cherry on top. Brilliant formation too: A diamond and strikerless combined.

[Nucleus]

Brilliant @Foxy! Nice to see such a different approach to writing a career. It’s people like yourself that have motivated me to write in more detail in my careers. Congrats again!

Edited April 22, 2018 by NucleusNT

[Woody]

😁 what a great write up! 

Reading through it, it almost felt like i was there to witness pure greatness!

I could hear the fans roar as every goal went in....brilliant!

Well done @Foxy and well done Oxford!

[FuddledFox]

7 hours ago, Cockers2505 said:

Brilliant @Foxy what an end to a brilliant personal challenge and career to yourself, well structured, written out and enjoyable to read, ashame they couldn't do the same for real, your safe this season, we can't say the same currently, I can't believe we will be playing Sunderland

Congrats mate

 

Thanks I'm glad you have enjoyed it. I think we will be safe this season and then we can welcome @samhardy and his mates to Grenoble Road next season.

6 hours ago, Ashez said:

I've never felt so guilty before in my time on Vibe! Unfortunately I fell behind in this but I've just caught up and what a well written and dramatic journey you are having! I found myself gripped and this take on a career felt so fresh! Congratulations on the promotions and the cup mate, that's some achievement! 

I'm glad you have caught up and that you have enjoyed the update style as much as I have enjoyed writing them. I'm not what I have enjoyed more tbh playing the game or writing the updates😁

6 hours ago, Seth Anacondas said:

Congratulations, Sess being heavily involved is the cherry on top. Brilliant formation too: A diamond and strikerless combined.

The strikerless has been a bit hot and cold this season but it worked perfectly when I needed it to. 

6 hours ago, NucleusNT said:

Brilliant @Foxy! Nice to see such a different approach to writing a career. It’s people like yourself that have motivated me to write in more detail in my careers. Congrats again!

Thanks for your kind words and its cool to think I have played a small part along with others in motivating you to write about your careers.

1 hour ago, Woody said:

😁 what a great write up! 

Reading through it, it almost felt like i was there to witness pure greatness!

I could hear the fans roar as every goal went in....brilliant!

Well done @Foxy and well done Oxford!

That's awesome to hear thank you😀. The one thing I left out was my colourful language as according to Mrs F I swear a lot when I play FMM but that sounds like a load of bulls**t to me as she doesn't know what she is f***ing talking about.  

[Woody]

11 minutes ago, Foxy said:

That's awesome to hear thank you😀. The one thing I left out was my colourful language as according to Mrs F I swear a lot when I play FMM but that sounds like a load of bulls**t to me as she doesn't know what she is f***ing talking about.

Women eh....i nearly threw my phone last night i was getting that frustrated but i shouted 'f#$*ing b@$¥@£ds' instead! 😂

[FuddledFox]

With the club sitting in 6^th place in the table going into January and a league cup semi-final to look forward too as well thing where looking positive for the yellows going into 2020. The club and fans were rocked by an interview by Ryan Sessegnon where he revealed he wanted to leave the club to further his career.

Spoiler

In the end no bids came in for him and he would at least see out the seaso with the club.

This was the situation in the table going into January with the U’s needing 8 points to reach that magic 40 point mark and safety in the league. Many fans and commentators where putting the club down as safe already and there was talk of a challenge for Europe.

 

January

An excellent January saw the club get into the FA cup fourth round with a 2-1 win over Burnley as well as make the League cup final in dramatic style versus Man City. In the league a good point was earned away at Watford and a disappointing lose a Derby but the highlight was an away win at Man City. Goals from Curtis Nelson and Kasey Palmer gave Oxford a famous win and dealt a huge blow to the chances of Man City retaining their title.

With four points picked up and a cup final to look forward to manager Foxy was delighted with their work this month.

“This was an excellent month for us. To play Manchester City three times and win twice and draw the other has really given us all confidence that we can stay in the top half of the table and perhaps be challenging for that top six position. The result against Derby does put things in perspective though and we can’t take anything for granted in this division.”

February

A draw at home to Villa and an away win at Brighton saw Oxford reach the coveted 40 point mark although they couldn’t build on those results as they lost the next two games against Leicester and Leeds before bouncing back against Wolves.

Spoiler

“Reaching the 40 point mark is great but we still have so much to play for this season and I needed to remind the players of that as they seemed to switch off in the Leicester and Leeds matches.”

In the cup the club moved into round six as they beat first Ipswich in round four and then local rivals Reading in round five. Oxford’s small squad was really being put to the test with successive midweek games and a lot of rotation was happening and no more so than in the final game of the month away at Arsenal when Foxy made 10 changes to the team with the weekends League cup final in his mind.

March

With the League cup in the cabinet the players seemed to take there feet of the gas as they failed to record another win all month. The loss at Old Trafford to champions elect Man Utd could be accepted but a loss to Norwich and throwing away a 2-0 lead at Bournemouth could not. The biggest disappointment would come at the end of the month as Leeds visited Grenoble Road and came away with the win and a place in the semi-finals.

Spoiler

“We had done so well all season but the wheels seemed to come off this month and to go out of the cup in the way we did to Leeds was a real kick in the teeth. Although we didn’t create much in the game we had the better of the match and we should have at least got a draw. The whole club needs to stop living on the glory of our League cup win and get back to winning football matches.”

April/May

The poor run of form came to an end at the beginning of April as the U’s recorded a much needed win at home to Everton. This was followed by another loss this time to WBA before the club recorded a win, Foxy’s 99^th win in charge of Oxford versus Leicester.

Spoiler

With three games remaining in May Foxy had plenty of chance to get that 100^th win in charge of the club but it simply wasn’t to be as they drew with Stoke 1-1, lost at home to Liverpool 1-0 and then had an exciting 3-3 draw at Newcastle. The Newcastle game was the perfect opportunity to record that 100^th win after goals from Osawe, Sessegnon and Mavididi gave Oxford a 3-2 lead but a header from Mitrovic in injury time got the point for the Magpies.

Spoiler

This left Oxford in 9^th place at the end of the season.

So how did Foxy reflect on the season.

“I would have taken 9^th place at the start of the season but after the start we made up until March to finish 9^th seems a bit of a disappointment to be honest. We only gained 21 points in the second half of the season but some of that can be explained by the sheer number of games we had and the lack of quality all the way through our squad. Winning the League cup was the undoubted highlight of the season. I think winning manager of the year did reflect the job I have done this season.”

 

Spoiler

 

Oxford’s biggest problem was putting the ball in the back of the net consistently through the season although Osawe did manage to be the third top scorer in the league.

Spoiler

With Foxy out of contract at the end of the season it was an uncertain time for the club. As we went to press Foxy’s future was still uncertain but he did have this to say.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my three years at the club and the success we have achieved. I am as yet unsure about my future but I do know that I have other challenges that I want to take on in my career.”

If this is the end of the road for Foxy and Oxford it seems appropriate to take a look at his attributes as Oxford manager.

 

Strange to see only 12 for domestic player bias considering I only signed British players and 90% of them where English.

 

This is our best XI from Foxy’s time at Oxford but did he agree.

“I don’t agree with Mavididi up front at all. Yes he was good but Osawe scored 73 goals in two seasons compared to 30 from Mavididi. I also would have liked to see Ledson and Brannagan in the midfield.”

Oxford United Golden Years Challenge Score

Season one: 227 points

Season two: 207 points

Season three

53 league points

+7 goal difference

Total: 60 points

Final Score: 494 points

Thank you for reading

[Seth Anacondas]

Not a bad finish coming from League One. If the wheels are falling off, I would make radical changes to my team (drop underperforming players, change my default instructions) But maybe an overreliance on loans impeded that. Sess not getting into the all-time XI was robbery.

[FuddledFox]

On 27/04/2018 at 04:55, Seth Anacondas said:

Not a bad finish coming from League One. If the wheels are falling off, I would make radical changes to my team (drop underperforming players, change my default instructions) But maybe an overreliance on loans impeded that. Sess not getting into the all-time XI was robbery.

As I said in part one I did make a change of tactic but I think the team ran out of steam as the season went on. In this second half of the season I focused very heavily on both cups and then made a lot of changes in league games but obviously defeats lower morale and losing can become a habit then. The squad was quite small and with a range of player abilitys from Premier league quality (Palmer and Sess) to League one/ two ( Canice Carrol my 2nd choice RB who actually performed well when needed). With a budget of £25m and no players that the AI would pay good money for I had to rely on loan players especially as I was restricted to British only players as I would never have afforded to buy players of Kasey Palmers quality as well as Sess.

 

[Woody]

This has been an enjoyable read so far...

I'm longing for those European Thursday nights, playing against eastern europeans no one has heard of.

Kiu skip...your doing a sound job 👍

[FuddledFox]

On 28/04/2018 at 14:38, Woody said:

This has been an enjoyable read so far...

I'm longing for those European Thursday nights, playing against eastern europeans no one has heard of.

Kiu skip...your doing a sound job 👍

I might come back to this in the future but for the moment I want to concentrate on my new save. The lure of leading the Yellows in Europe is a draw though so I expect I will comeback to this at some point and of course keep you all updated.