It's a collective failing - Batt

9:30am Monday 11th February 2013 in U's News Photograph of the Author By David Pritchard, Chief Sports Reporter covering Oxford United. Follow us on twitter: @oxfordmailoufc. Call me on 01865 425458

Damian Batt gets in a shot on Saturday Damian Batt gets in a shot on Saturday

DAMIAN Batt says it is up to the whole team to take responsibility for Oxford United’s goalscoring problems, writes DAVID PRITCHARD.

The U’s again created the majority of chances, but failed to make the most of them in a 2-0 defeat at home to Bristol Rovers.

It stretched the side’s winless run to four games, during which they have scored just once.

Batt, who made his 150th start for United, was among the players to come close.

James Constable had the best chances, but the full back insists it is no good blaming individuals – it is up to the whole team to deliver.

He said: “We have to take our opportunities, it’s us as a team.

“There’s no-one we can point out, it’s the collective – the starting XI and the players that come on.”

He added: “It’s a very hard defeat to take, I think everyone who was at the game saw how well we played, but again we didn’t come away with the result.

“It had to stop a long time ago and we’re producing performances which deserve victories, but we’re not getting the wins.

“It’s as frustrating to the players as it is for the fans, but we need to turn it around.

“We keep saying the same old thing.”

On the other side of the back four, Liam Davis also got forward during a good spell for the home side in the second half.

The 26-year-old struggled to explain the result, but admitted it was a concern to again have nothing to show for their efforts.

He said: “It’s a disappointment for everyone because we put a lot into the game and dominated but we just didn’t find the back of the net.

“It’s happened once and it’s happened again, so we need to get out of the habit of playing well and losing.

“You do that by carrying on doing the right things, maybe taking some more shots and being positive.”

Comments (2)

1:32pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Manor Born says...

You only deserve to win if you take the chances you create. We created good chances, but we failed to take them. Bristol Rovers had 4 chances 1 early in the first half, a penalty and two one-on-ones with the goalkeeper. They took two of them and deservedly went home with the 3 points.

The problem is the same as all previous years and one that hasn't been addressed despite it's glaringly obvious solution which almost everyone has said: Get a specialist coach. Apparently it is Chris Wilder currently doing this job (according to the Chairman at the fans forum). Explains a lot. How many goals did this defensive midfielder score in his career? 14 in over 400 League games. And this is the man showing our so-called strikers the art of forward play. Would have proved to be a far more prudent investment than our all singing and dancing fitness regime...
You only deserve to win if you take the chances you create. We created good chances, but we failed to take them. Bristol Rovers had 4 chances 1 early in the first half, a penalty and two one-on-ones with the goalkeeper. They took two of them and deservedly went home with the 3 points. The problem is the same as all previous years and one that hasn't been addressed despite it's glaringly obvious solution which almost everyone has said: Get a specialist coach. Apparently it is Chris Wilder currently doing this job (according to the Chairman at the fans forum). Explains a lot. How many goals did this defensive midfielder score in his career? 14 in over 400 League games. And this is the man showing our so-called strikers the art of forward play. Would have proved to be a far more prudent investment than our all singing and dancing fitness regime... Manor Born

7:57pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Richard Wickson says...

Manor Born wrote:
You only deserve to win if you take the chances you create. We created good chances, but we failed to take them. Bristol Rovers had 4 chances 1 early in the first half, a penalty and two one-on-ones with the goalkeeper. They took two of them and deservedly went home with the 3 points.

The problem is the same as all previous years and one that hasn't been addressed despite it's glaringly obvious solution which almost everyone has said: Get a specialist coach. Apparently it is Chris Wilder currently doing this job (according to the Chairman at the fans forum). Explains a lot. How many goals did this defensive midfielder score in his career? 14 in over 400 League games. And this is the man showing our so-called strikers the art of forward play. Would have proved to be a far more prudent investment than our all singing and dancing fitness regime...
I quite agree Manor Born, I too have been saying the same for a good few seasons because as you well know its not a new problem or one that has just happened since Wilder became manager, it's the reason we dropped into non-league and with teams like Plymouth, Barnet and Bristol Rovers all improving could possibly happen again. I am astounded to hear that Wilder coaches the forwards but it is now obvious, they all look like players who might just achieve 14 in 400+ games, Craddock impressed me early on but has since become as bad as the rest, Midson came with an excellent record but our style of play didn't suit him and he rarely got a run of games. Lenaghan has to take some of the responsibity but for me the spectre of Kassam bleeding the club dry is where the big problem is, although even with unlimited funds I don't think Wilder could assemble a team capable of scoring regularly, he really must go before the possibility of relegation becomes a reallity. Wilder out now!
[quote][p][bold]Manor Born[/bold] wrote: You only deserve to win if you take the chances you create. We created good chances, but we failed to take them. Bristol Rovers had 4 chances 1 early in the first half, a penalty and two one-on-ones with the goalkeeper. They took two of them and deservedly went home with the 3 points. The problem is the same as all previous years and one that hasn't been addressed despite it's glaringly obvious solution which almost everyone has said: Get a specialist coach. Apparently it is Chris Wilder currently doing this job (according to the Chairman at the fans forum). Explains a lot. How many goals did this defensive midfielder score in his career? 14 in over 400 League games. And this is the man showing our so-called strikers the art of forward play. Would have proved to be a far more prudent investment than our all singing and dancing fitness regime...[/p][/quote]I quite agree Manor Born, I too have been saying the same for a good few seasons because as you well know its not a new problem or one that has just happened since Wilder became manager, it's the reason we dropped into non-league and with teams like Plymouth, Barnet and Bristol Rovers all improving could possibly happen again. I am astounded to hear that Wilder coaches the forwards but it is now obvious, they all look like players who might just achieve 14 in 400+ games, Craddock impressed me early on but has since become as bad as the rest, Midson came with an excellent record but our style of play didn't suit him and he rarely got a run of games. Lenaghan has to take some of the responsibity but for me the spectre of Kassam bleeding the club dry is where the big problem is, although even with unlimited funds I don't think Wilder could assemble a team capable of scoring regularly, he really must go before the possibility of relegation becomes a reallity. Wilder out now! Richard Wickson

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