Thats Christmas done then...

Another Christmas done and dusted. To be honest that was one of the better we've had over the past 5 or so years, everyone got on well and I didn't get that stifling feeling where you just want to run far away. All in all a good family Christmas.

On Boxing day Oxford won at home for the first time since September 1376 (It feels like that long) spanking Notts County 3-0. Good, about time we won a bloody game by a big margin. Tomorrow us lucky Oxford fans get to go to another home game where the U's hope to limp past Mansfield who by all accounts are rubbish. Should be another decent win tomorrow but I won't be holding my breath until the game actually finishes and the points are safe.

On Tuesday I made my way out to Abingdon to watch the Town vs Utd Derby at Culham road. I love Town's ground, It would be fantastic to see 8 or 900 in it one day, it would make a good southern league ground if they painted it and got rid of all the rubbish lying around. Anyway Utd won 5-0 and totally dominated from start to finish, pretty good for an away performance although they are flying high in the league.

For reference, Abingdon Town are the home side and they are wearing Yellow and Green.

Tonight I am not sure whether I'll end up going down the pub or not. If It looks like I'm not going out I will take myself down to Bicester Vs Eton Wick which I'm sure will be a rubbish game but it quite important to Town's promotion hopes and in any case in something to do!!

Coup de la Ligue 1/4eme

Although I didn't report on this Bordeaux played Nantes at Parc Lescure on Tuesday in the 1/8eme round of the League cup and just as on Saturday it was a tight match. For the first time this season though, Bordeaux put away their chances and came out 3-1 winners. The draw for the quarter finals was made at 1800BST tonight and Bordeaux will face a trip to Nice where they have already won earlier this season. It will be a tough match but Les Girondins will go there as favourites and if they play to their strengths should be able to get the victory that will put them in the semi finals.

The rest of the quarter final draw saw Toulouse drawn at home Monaco, Nancy at home to Ajaccio and League 2 side Guingamp hosting Le Mans. Having already knocked Marseille and Nantes out at Parc Lescure and with either Toulouse or Monaco certain to be eliminated in the next round Bordeaux have a real chance to win this competition. I look forwarward to maybe having a chance to get over to the Stade de France for the final in May!!

Christmas Football

Christmas. Not only the time of year when fat girls think getting drunk and wearing skimpy Santa costumes makes them look sexy, but also the most crowded few days in the whole football calender.

Here are some of the best local fixtures over Christmas (although I can't print Oxford fixtures directly as the FA are anal about that sort of thing and you can guarantee some chancer will come across this and moan).

Dec.
Mon 26th : Oxford are at home to Notts County

Tues 27: Abingdon Town v Abingdon Utd(13:00); Rugby v Banbury(15:00); Didcot v Milton(15:00); Oxford City v Broxbourne Borough(15:00); Bicester Town v Prestwood(15:00)

Wed 28th: Oxford travel to Peterborough

Fri 30th: Bicester Town v Eton Wick(19:30); Didcot v Almondsbury(19:45)

Sat 31st: Oxford are at home to Mansfield Town

Jan.
Mon 2nd: Oxford travel to Chester City; Banbury v Kings Lynn(15:00); Abingdon Utd v Didcot(15:00)

Wed 4th: Banbury Res v Bicester Town (19:45)

Joyeux noel tous le monde!!

Girondins Bordeaux

The frequent updates of Bordeaux results and news that I put on here may seem strange as there seems to be no reason behind it - I shall explain where this obsession has come from.
Back in May 1999 I went on a Sixth form trip to Lourdes in South West France. Some hours into the excruciatingly long train journey from Calais we shot through a built up area and caught a fleeting glimpse of a football ground with a game going on inside. Later that night our sleeper train passed through Bordeaux St Jean station before coming to a halt for a few hours outside some gas works in the city suberbs. The next day in Lourdes I bought L'equipe and dicovered Bordeaux had won the Championship with a last minute goal the night before, putting 2 and 2 together I came up with 5 and thought that we'd seen Bordeaux's ground just as they won the Championship. I was to find out later that Bordeaux had been playing in Paris that night so I couldn't possibly have seen them but by then I had already vowed to go back and watch a match.
Finally last October I got to watch my first Bordeaux game, although it finished a disappointing 2-2 draw with FC Istres I thoroughly enjoyed it and have since been back to see them on two more occasions. In April me and my mate Richard (www.hoofsandhooves.blogspot.com) went to Paris as an away fan to see Bordeaux draw 1-1 in the capital and Oxford v Chelsea aside, it was the most amazing atmosphere I've ever experianced in football. I also got back to see them play Sochaux at home this Autumn and hope to make the October game a yearly 'Pilgrimage'.

Hopefully the title of this post will bring it up in search engines so fans in Bordeaux itself will see they have a fan base of at least 1 over here and if anyone else drops in I'd like to think you may take an interest in Les Girondins results - even if it's only remembering the name if they get into Europe this year.

LDV Vans

Sick of Cheltenham. As if being dumped out of the FA cup by them wasn't enough, we have to play them again tonight in the LDV Vans area quarter finals. Luckily it's away so I don't have to go (couldn't even if I wanted to) but I'll definately be attached to a radio tonight as this competition is pretty much the last thing we've got to look forward to (ensuing relegation battle aside). Talbot will play a strong Oxford side mainly because we're desperate for a win and don't really have a reserve side anyway but may be tempted to give Chris Tardiff a chance in goal. Billy Turley has in recent games been at best all over the place and at worst at fault for pretty much every goal we've conceded so the change is in my opinion long over due. Unfortunately Cheltenham seem to have their eyes on the area semi's as well as they have promised to field an equally strong line up. A pity as to be honest with a near first team squad they should beat us quite convincingly - Oxford are'nt exactly brimming with confidence at the moment due to being... well... bloody rubbish.
Anyway as usual, come on Oxford please try and win this one.

The Shadow of the Wind

"La Sombra del Viento "

DO judge a book by it's cover. Wandering around Tesco's one Sunday in search of value noodles this book caught my eye, on reading the back cover and seeing that it carried a decent story and had been recently translated from Spanish (thus cutting the chances of it being ruined by some all-American hero charactor) I decided to give it a go.

The story very basically is that a young lad called Daniel Sempere is taken by his father to a place called 'the cemetary of forgotten books' and told to choose any book and to look after it for the rest of his life. He picks out a story called 'The Shadow of the Wind' by Julian Carax and resolves to find out more about the author. As he gets deeper into the mystery of who Julien Carax is Daniel become entwined in a complex web of secrecy, lies and murder all driven by Julien's disappearence.

The book is so much more than the poor synopsis I've just given and really has to be read to be fully appreciated. Although the plot is essentially predictable once you get into it, the way the author Carlos Ruiz Zafon slowly builds his story is fascinating even if the climax seems slightly rushed. The Charactors themselves are the real sucess of the book though and I dare you not to care deeply about Julian and his lost love Penelope or Daniel and his floundering relationship with his father.

All in all it's a great book with all the gothic romanticism that can only have come out of Europe and if it is made into a film I hope it is kept in Barcelona and made in Spanish. No Los Angeles re-makes starring Bradd Pitt if you please, and 'Bea' would have to be played by Audrey Tatou (can she speak Spanish?). If you Liked 'The Beach' (book not film) but found the Da Vinci code too scientific and not nearly as poetic as such a story should be, then here is the book you've been missing.

If you stumble across this post with a search engine etc then feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you thought of the book.

Girondin Update

Bordeaux 0-0 FC Nantes Atlantique

The problem with 'derby' matches is that even when you get a decent result your still disappointed when you don't win. Although this game is labelled the Atlantic Derby, as far as rivalry goes Nantes fall well below PSG and Marseille for Bordeaux fans. It's still one of the bigger matches of the calender however (much bigger than the Toulouse 'Gironde Derby') and both sides will be a little frustated that they couldn't find the net. Once again results elsewhere were mostly kind to Bordeaux with Auxerre losing at home to Nancy and Lyon amazingly being turned over 3-1 on their own turf by Lille leaving Les Girondins sat in second place on Saturday night. RC Lens 2-0 win over Le Mans on Sunday pushed Bordeaux back down to third on goal difference but all in all going into the new year in a Champions League qualification slot after nearly getting relegated last year is a massive leap forward. I do not expect Les Girondins to fininsh the season in such a lofty position but they do seem well on course for a return to Europe in at least the UEFA cup.

Transfer news: Portuguese midfielder Paulo Costa has been loaned out to Crystal Palace. Costa is a talented player who for some reason never really hit it off at Bordeaux, but Palace manager Ian Dowie is keen to help him find his form and fire Palace back into the Premier league.

Darcheville has admitted that he would be keen to go to Rangers. Bordeaux chairman Jean-Louis Triaud has said that although he is not for sale in January he can go for free in the summer as he sees Darcheville as vital to Bordeaux's Champions League qualification hopes. The money Bordeaux would make by playing in the Champions League would dwarf any tranfer fee they would receive from Rangers.

Didn't want to be in the FA cup anyway...

Oh well. Oxford 1-2 Cheltenham another home defeat and out of the FA cup to a team in the same division as us. Not an entirely fantastic night. I can't fault the players for effort but I can fault the fact that we seem to have a team of professional footballers who are unable to string together the simple task of passing the ball to each other. I'm not going to bother writing an in depth review because to be honest it won't make very interesting reading, but in short we tried hard but weren't very good and Cheltenham deserved the win. The winning goal came from a free kick that never was but over the 90 minutes the only real shock of the night was that Oxford scored at all. Cheltenham were the only side showing any game plan more advanced than hoof it and hope something happens and at time we looked little more than non-league.
What is so frustrating about last night is that after we scored there was a 10 minute spell where took the game to them and to be honest frightened the sh*t out of Cheltenham. Unfortunately that soon petered out and once they got the second goal we might as well have walked of the pitch.

Although the desire was there, the hard fact is that Oxford are not very good. We have our days like all teams but there's no way we'll finish in the play offs or probably anywhere close. Our inconsistancy has ruined every season since we dropped in this horrible division and it seems it's going to ruin this year as well.

New Blog - Football Ground Guide

Basically I love football grounds. I love Old Trafford, I loved the Manor Ground, and I love a field with a couple of goals and a ramshackle terrace. Any football ground at any level gets the old "God I'd love to watch a game there" juices flowing. As an outlet for this slightly sad obsession I have laid the foundations of my own Ground Guide site where I can post a review and in some cases pictures of every ground I've visited.
My real love is for the English non-league game and therefore I will happily include any Southern league, Ryman, Hellenic etc ground that I visit to sit along the pages of league venues. Whilst there is no site on the web that will measure up to Duncan Adam's Internet Football Ground Guide, it's not as much fun to read someone else's reviews as it is to make you own so slowly but surely I shall build my own collection which can be found at:

www.footballgroundguide.blogspot.com

Obviously it's nothing but a title at the moment but I'll get there...

Girondins Update

Le Mans 1-0 Bordeaux

Oh dear, I can hardly be bothered to write this. Lets start wth some positives, second placed Auxerre lost in Marseille so Les Girondins lose no ground between them and secon place. The only team below them within real touching distance to record a win was PSG who moved up to sixth four points behind Bordeaux. The other top half teams battled out a series of draws leaving Bordeaux still sat in third place with a three point cushion over RC Lens who earned a good point away at local rivals Lille. Staying third is a positive but it was also a massive get out of jail card, Bordeaux simply cannot continue to play poorly and hope to get away with it. Le Mans are a poor side but as against PSG, Ricardo's men showed they have little attacking prowess. After coming close through Julien Faubert on 13 minutes Bordeaux seemed to be playing well but in the 21st minute Fernando who had hit last weeks winner against Lille got himself sent off and effectivly handed the game to Le Mans. Two minutes before half time Ismaël Bangoura finally broke the deadlock with a goal that ultimately condemned Bordeaux to theit third defeat of the season.

By all accounts Bordeaux offered no fightback during the second half and were eventually lucky to have only lost 1-0. In my opinion this was simply not good enough. Whilst they may have remained third in the league this week there needs to be a big improvement up front if we are to see Les Girondins anywhere near the Champions League places come the end of the season.

Didcot 4-4 Mildenhall (aet)

Unlike most, I look forward to when Oxford play away at some far flung place as it it gives me a weekend off to find a local game. The plan had originally been to take a long trip to Kingston-upon-Thames to see the set up at AFC Wimbledon, but Friday's Christmas Party followed by new extended opening hours made travel to London early the next morning pretty much out of the question. Not to be beaten by a self induced state of morning messiness I thought long and hard in my recovery position and remembered that Didcot were playing someone in the FA Vase. Didcot it was then, after a bit more sleep of course...

On arriving in Didcot I was chuffed to find the football ground directly behind the railway museum and there was time enough to buy an over-priced steak pasty before a slow walk over a playing field to the ground. The Loop itself is not as impressive as I had hoped. Basically it's the main stand at Thame with three sides of fencing. In one corner of the ground is a tiny little terrace but it looks silly so I opted for ground level standing. (Footnote: At any level -NEVER sit down at football it's stupid.)

Anyway the game itself was a blinder. Didcot took an early lead and went in at half time 1-0 up and looking in control, but amazingly with 20 minute left they found themselves trailing 1-3. What followed was one of the most enjoyable fightbacks I've witnessed at a live game. With 6 minutes to run Didcot got the second goal that put them back in control of play but a string of missed chances had the majority of the 362 strong crowd thinking it wasn't their day. Finally deep, deep into stoppage time Concannon bundled home the rebound from a Paul Powell shot to take the tie into a period of Extra time that had seemed impossible not 10 minutes before. Amazingly seconds into the restart and Mildenhallhad scored again. 30 minutes of frustration followed as Didcot once again dominated play but couldn't find the back of the net. Just as all was seemingly lost a second dramatic last minute equaliser was struck home by Paul Powell to force the Replay.

Pictures of the game are in the previous post.

Pictures from The Loop.

The main stand just after kick off

View of the dugout's

Looking towards the far end of the ground

Close up of the main stand

Mixing it in the wall before a Didcot free kick

Mildenhall players appeal for the goal kick

Looking towards the tiny covered terrace

Blurry action shot late in the second half

The main stand at night. (Notice the smoke from Didcot Power Station in the background)

Girondins Update

Laslandes demands loan move

Fans favourite Lillian Laslandes has become frustrated with his role as a substitute and has asked to be loaned out for the second half of the season. Laslandes hopes to use his time on loan to keep himself sharp and match fit as he does does feel being on the Bordeaux bench is helping either himself or the club. He said in an Interview with L'Equipe that when he comes back he hopes to be at the right level to fulfil his last year of his contract with Bordeaux .

Marseille and Strasbourg are known to have been chasing his signiture earlier in the season and now Ajaccio and Nice have expressed an interest. Having played for Nice two seasons ago Laslandes is keen to back to the fiery atmosphere of the Stade du Ray but confessed he sees Ajaccio as a challenge worth looking at. He told L'Equipe "If I am loaned , I am attracted by Ajaccio and Nice. I need to feel emotion, defending a shirt and a town. For example I won't go to Strasbourg, even if it is a good club."

I wish Lillian all the best in his quest for a sutible loan move and look forward to him returning to Bordeaux next season in deadly form.

John Lennon, 25 Years gone.

There's no way that today Thursday 8th December could go by without mentioning the 25th
anniversary of the death of John Lennon, in my opinion the greatest songwriter this Island has ever produced. I can honestly say hand on heart, that my whole obssesion with music and every CD I own can in some way be traced back to the Beatles. They have been my favourite band since the age of about 7 and Lennon's songs in particular have had an effect on me and my whole outlook on life more than anything else I can think of.

I rate 1966's 'Revolver' as the greatest British Rock album ever released and Lennon's 'She said she said' and 'Tomorrow never knows' from that album could be two of the most influential songs ever written.

Thankyou John Lennon for being a major influence in my life. As long as your songs are played you'll always live on.

If your bored...

Click on this. It's just a silly website with a load of daft tests.

Pretty funny when you get into it - one of those websites to turn to when your bored at work!!


http://www.queendom.com/tests/minitests/index.html

Yes!!! An Away Win!!!

Cheltenham Town 1-2 Oxford United

Having suffered a November which yielded no league points and a draw at a conference south club (Eastbourne Borough) December is already looking that little bit better. Cheltenham's Whaddon Road is becoming something of a happy hunting ground for U's fans recently as Saturday's brilliant draw in the FA cup was followed up by a magnificent away win. This was our second consecutive league victory on the Robins turf. Talbot opted to play the same 11 players as started saturday and once again they performed better than prehaps in any other game this season. Eric Sabin and Steve Basham in particular caused Cheltenham no end of problems and ultimately scored the Goals that won the tie.

After only 11 frantic minutes the tie was already at 1-1, with Basham having given Oxford the lead on 9 minutes only for a Bradbury blunder to let Cheltemham equalise less than two minutets later. Both sides were only interested in winning this game and getting the upper hand going into next weeks cup replay and like a real floodlit midweek game no quarter was asked and no quarter was given. Four minutes before the break Oxford re-took the lead slightly against the run of play after Eric Sabin headed in the re-bound from his own shot which had been pushed onto the crossbar by the Cheltenham keeper. Most of the second half was taken up with the home side attacking like madmen desperately tring to preserve their 6 game unbeaten run, but Oxford held firm and despite a few late scares hung on to claim their first league victory since 7th October!!

Well done to the lads but a special mention must go to the 488 Oxford fans who made the trip for the second time in four days. They sung their hearts out for 90 minutes and were richly rewarded with a brilliant result.

Modern Technology

Now I'm no Luddite. In fact I'm absolutely fascinated with the digital Camera revolution, it's opened a whole new world of photography to the masses, but unfortunately for me it also involves a bit of computer work. I have tried and tried to get a simple programme installed on the computer which will enable me to download the Cheltenham pictures so I can email them around and post some on here. However after much messing around and finally instaling the software, it insisted that I had no Camera attatched to the USB port when I quite clearly did.

In summing up, I am at this time unable to put my Cheltenham photo's onto the computer which is a pain because I will probably be the only person in the world who is unable to work out how it's done. Without the Pictures I don't want to do a review of the game as I don't want to get bogged down in to reviewing all the Oxford games I go to. That would just be tedious.

Girondins Update

Bordeaux 1-0 Lille OSC

Champions league?? Am I having a laugh?? Maybe not. By all accounts Bordeaux played quite poorly and were matched by this season's Champions league's surprise package Lille in every department. Yet once again as has been the case so often this season Les Girondins sneaked home the winner. In many games this year they have looked a much poorer side than their league position would suggest, yet still the results go Bordeaux's way. Surely now almost half way through the season, it's fair to say that Coach Ricardo's defensive style just may earn Bordeaux a place in next season's UEFA Champions League. After needing a result in the final game of last season to stave off relegation, it would be an incredible turn around for this under-acheiving sleeping giant.

The game itself was a tight midfield battle. With Bordeaux strikers Marouane Chamakh and Jean-Claude Darcheville missing and Lille playing for the draw, it seemed like the game could go on for weeks and neither team would take the points. The late introduction of Vladimir Smicer however seemed to swing the game in Bordeaux's favour, as with 10 minutes left on the clock he played a major part in sealing an unlikely win. The Czech Republic midfielder controlled a pass from Julien Faubert, turned on a sixpence then put Fernando Menegazzo through on goal. The Brazilian then obliged by thumping the ball past Tony Sylva and into the back of the Net.

Another good win for Les Bordelais but they are still unconvincing as an attacking force. Next Saturday they are away at mid-table Le Mans where a good result must be achieved.

Oooh a day in the Costswolds...

What can be more exciting than an FA cup local derby!! Potentially lots of things, but tomorrow the U's travel across the Costswolds to Cheltenham with a place in the 3rd round at stake. Our hosts have bestowed a mighty privilege on us oxford fans, we will become the first bums to grace the seats of the re-built Whaddon road end. Much as i love terracing this was a rubbish one, with no view of the game, large open spaces where no one could stand, and no roof. I won't be sorry to see it go. You just couldn't create any sort of atmosphere on no it matter how hard you tried as it was far too disjointed to get everyone singing at the same time.

Anyway, Cheltenham v Oxford blah blah blah, there's an excellent preview on both clubs official websites so I'm not going to waste the time repeating the same facts. What is good news though is that the digital camera will debut here (along side the new seats) so I have a chance to spend 90 minutes p*ssing about with technology rather than watching the game. Hopefully I'll be able to get some good shots as we are in the corner of the stand.