Sunday 23 September 2012

Oxford Slip to Fifth Consecutive Defeat

Oxford United are in turmoil. Saturday's defeat to Bradford City saw United slip to their fifth consecutive league defeat. The feel-good factor that surrounded the club at the beginning of the season has been replaced by a  gloomy pessimism. Having been strongly linked with the vacant managerial job at Coventry City only last month, Chris Wilder is now fighting to save his job at the club. At the end of the Bradford game, a chorus of chants from the East Stand called for Wilder's head. How quickly football can change.

While a crippling injury list has hindered Oxford, supporters are growing increasingly frustrated at Wilder's inability to improvise. Wilder favours a 4-3-3 formation and this has famously worked wonders for United in the past, but on Saturday it was clearly a mistake to set out his team in such a fashion. The home side only had two fully fit central midfielders at their disposal on Saturday, and so Wilder ought to have played a 4-4-2. Instead, he rigidly stuck to his trusted formation and elected to play Tony Capaldi, a left-back, in the midfield three. Unfortunately for Wilder, the gamble did not pay off.



United's confidence is rock bottom. With senior players such as James Constable and Simon Heslop performing below-par, Oxford are in danger of becoming embroiled in a relegation scrap. This cannot be allowed to happen.

Wilder has been a terrific servant for Oxford, and fans will forever be indebted to the Yorkshireman for rescuing the U's from the wilderness of the Blue Square Premier League. But Wilder made costly decisions at the latter stages of the last year's campaign that cost Oxford a play-off place and is struggling to arrest an alarming dip in performances this time round. Another dismal showing away at Rotherham this weekend could see the writing on the wall for Wilder.

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