Oxford United’s chances of being promoted were severely damaged on Tuesday as they lost 5-0 against Bolton.
Before giving up three more goals in the second half, the U’s trailed by two goals at the break.
These are three topics of discussion from the match.
Unchanged Team But Different Results
Des Buckingham started with the same lineup for the third straight game.
Even though the match at Portsmouth ended in a loss, it was undoubtedly the team’s greatest effort since the head coach took over.
Although it was a poorer showing, Buckingham defeated Cheltenham later on, so going into a match against a team that has been inconsistent recently, it would make sense for Buckingham to start unaltered.
But the outcome was drastically different, and it appeared as though there were whole new players.
Buckingham Lost the Fanbase?
With that, how can the same starting lineup go from going toe to toe and deserving something against the league leaders to struggling to get past a relegation-threatened team to getting absolutely battered against Bolton?
There have been small groups of the fanbase that have been calling for the manager to go, but this result seems to have made those groups all the more vocal, with further support.
It was a catastrophic display from start to finish. Defensive errors, no shots on target and no clear identity on a style of play. Maybe he has finally lost the fanbase.
No Shots on Target
Oxford failed to have a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes. Mark Harris, who is now without a goal in six games, having scored six from his previous seven, was provided with nothing.
The wingers in Owen Dale and Josh Murphy have been arguably the best players in recent weeks but were unable to get on the ball.
The midfield duo of Cameron Brannagan and Marcus McGuane were unable to get any passes together going forward, while Ruben Rodrigues yet again failed to make any sort of impact.
Oxford spent £400,000 on a striker in January in Will Goodwin. Yes, he hasn’t really hit the ground running, but he probably needs a run in the team.
With a lack of attacking impetus and major errors in defence, it was only going to go one way against the Trotters.
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