Liam Manning was unveiled as Oxford United’s new manager prior to Saturday’s game, with the current CEO explaining the reasoning behind the appointment, as reported by the Oxford Mail.
A side that’s no stranger to the play-offs in League One, this season has been in stark contrast to what has come before. The U’s have suffered massively, with relegation back to League Two becoming a possibility dur to their disasterous form.
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Karl Robinson’s nearly five year reign at the Kazam Stadium came to an end with the U’s sitting 19th and lingering perilously above the drop zone, with the former West Ham United U23’s and MK Dons boss Liam Manning taking over the reigns in an attempt to stave off relegation.
According to Tim Williams, there were more than 100 names that were in the pipeline to become boss of Oxford, but his preferred choice was Manning.
Manning worked wonders at the Dons, taking them from continuous mid-table mediocrity to 3rd in League One, with only a late dip in form seeing them miss out on promotion to the Championship.
His end to his spell as manager turned sour, with the club second bottom at the time when he was sacked, but what has shown that he can galvanise a struggling outfit, something he’s coming into do at Oxford.
When quizzed about Manning’s appointment, Williams explained:
“What we saw was attention to detail – a stable, calm, measured approach to what needs to be done both this season and taking the club into the future.
“What Liam and Chris demonstrated to us very clearly was the ability to get us to the end of the season and retain our league position, but also that real attention to detail to what it means going forward – that’s why they’re here.”
Writers View
Manning can galvanise this Oxford side who are on a down after their recent form, so his arrival could have came at the right. A change of personnel could have came, with Manning bringing fresh impetus and new beginnings to the U’s squad.
