Will Goodwin damages knee ligaments — 101 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 101 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match17 Nov 2035
Tyler Goodrham wins it after the whistle should have gone
92 minutes played. Tyler Goodrham found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Gillingham went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Oxford United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Andreas Busch has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.25 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Nobody at Oxford United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Oxford United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Wojciech Szafranek will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Oxford United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Andreas Busch is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Stephan Negru was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Words at Oxford United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tyler Goodrham is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Boris Ivanov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Oxford United have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Oxford United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Leke Drake
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Oxford United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Oxford United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It needed Tyler Goodrham to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Fleetwood Town, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The words a physio says slowly. 85 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Oxford United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom1 Jan 2035
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Oxford United
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Oxford United have had the benefit of it.
530 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Oxford United, and it is not being withdrawn.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The words a physio says slowly. 127 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.17 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Oxford United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Oxford United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Words at Oxford United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mark Harris is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Oxford United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Oxford United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Oxford United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Plymouth Argyle defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Oxford United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
511 appearances across 14 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Jackson Smith was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Out, 0‑1 to Colchester United, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Oxford United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andreas Busch will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Oxford United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mark Harris was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 45 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Oxford United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Oxford United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad28 Aug 2034
Words at Oxford United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Siriki Dembélé is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The chase for Jackson Smith ended with $1.1M changing hands and Barnsley out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Mark Harris was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces14 Aug 2034
Oxford United spend $1.1M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $1.1M for Jackson Smith, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Queens Park Rangers will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Nazar Semenenko has pre-agreed a move to Oxford United, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Oxford United can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from MC Alger for Leke Drake was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Tyler Goodrham was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
Boardroom119% of the income goes out in wages at Oxford United
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andreas Busch will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Oxford United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Memphis Weghorst is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Oxford United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Gillingham will make the call about Leke Drake this week. Oxford United have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
In brief
SquadA muscle injury sidelines George Lloyd for 15 days
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Andrew Foster has agreed terms with Wigan Athletic for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Oxford United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jul 2034
Words at Oxford United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tyler Goodrham is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tyler Goodrham signs something — a contract at Oxford United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The terraces24 Jul 2034
Supporters make their feelings known about Leo Snowden
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Oxford United would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
“He needs to be playing at a level that matches him, and we are open to conversations.” Nobody says that by accident, and nobody at Oxford United misheard it.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Andreas Busch’s negotiating for him
Add another name to the list: Gillingham have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Leke Drake. The answer from Oxford United has not changed — yet.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ajae Patel will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Oxford United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Andreas Busch is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
A conversation is coming this week. Oxford United will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad17 Jul 2034
Words at Oxford United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Siriki Dembélé is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Jack Flower was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Stephan Negru was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Jul 2034
Words at Oxford United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tyler Goodrham is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom10 Jul 2034
127% of the income goes out in wages at Oxford United
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Oxford United now know that too.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Oxford United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Mark Harris was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
In brief
SquadTyler Goodrham falls out with a teammate over standards
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Charlie Hardy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Oxford United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Oxford United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2034
Words at Oxford United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tyler Goodrham is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 8.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.