Oxford United has confirmed that former Head of Recruitment Mark Thomas, will be replaced by Ed Waldron, as confirmed by the club.
Announced in late February that Thomas will depart for a role at Derby County, the U’s will have a new man running recruitment in Waldron, who has been with the club for the past few seasons.
Formerly joining Oxford in 2017 under the performance analysis department, Waldron left for a brief stint in France with Ligue 1 side Bordeaux, but returned to United a year later.
Taking control of a new look department, Waldron will be replacing Mark Thomas, who was with the Yellows for nine seasons. During that time, Thomas built a modern recruitment department which helped take Oxford from League Two to a consistent League One club.
The news comes with the recent appointment of Liam Manning as manager, with an overhaul in place in an attempt to avoid relegation from the division.
Currently sitting one spot above the relegation zone with nine games remaining in the season, Oxford is two points clear of fellow strugglers Accrington Stanley, with games in hand on teams around them as well.
While they will be looking to finish the season strong to stay in League One for the eighth consecutive season, recent form has gotten the U’s to this point, as they are without a win in their last 11 league games.
Speaking to the club in his new role, Waldron said: “I am honoured to be given the chance, we have built the department over the last few years and the structure and resources are all here to build success, we know that.
“I have spoken a lot with Liam Manning and he has been brilliant. We have a lot of work to do this summer but we will be going back to a model that plans for the next three windows and beyond.”
CEO Tim Williams also added: “Grant and I have worked more closely with Ed since Mark’s departure and whilst we had been looking further afield realised quickly that the right person was sitting alongside us. Ed will be supported by a very strong team around him.
“He is knowledgeable, thorough, has an encyclopaedic knowledge of players and is known and respected throughout the game. He fully deserves his chance and I would also like to state how proud we should be as a club to bring in young people of a very high calibre who work so hard and then get their opportunity to step up and play a major role in shaping the future of the team and the club.”
Writer’s View
With Thomas already out of the door for Derby, the appointment of Waldron looks promising for Oxford.
Coming from an analytics background, the way of modern recruitment is heading that way with advanced statistics being a good base to understand a player’s performance.
Like most recruitment appointments it’s hard to judge a person on their past success with fans not knowing all the behind-the-scenes action, however, with Waldron being an in-house promotion, the club will have a good understanding of what he offers with his past work with the club.
