Jerome Sale column: Oxford United begin search for new head coach
- Published
Oxford United fans have had very little to cheer about this season
It is five years since Oxford United were last looking for a new manager, so the particular journalist skillset required to navigate the situation took a few moments to fire up last weekend.
Only four managers who were in position at an English Football League or Premier League club when Karl Robinson surprised many people by leaving Charlton for Oxford in March 2018 are still there - two have won the Premier League since.
The writing had been on the wall for Robinson.
Oxford's run of games, with few goals and fewer points, would have done for most managers at most clubs long before Robinson's tenure was ended by a Sunday morning virtual board meeting and a four paragraph statement that followed.
The outgoing manager spoken a lot about "clarity".
Losing 3-0 at home to a team who themselves were without a win for a month gave exactly that.
The decision was a formality.
Moving on from Robinson
There cannot have been many, Robinson included, who did not know it was only a matter of time until the axe would fall.
His recent interviews had moments where he was presenting a preferred view of his legacy, rather than a case for keeping his job.
That legacy includes two play-off campaigns, a League Cup quarter-final and a style of football that - when it worked - was some of the best the Kassam Stadium had ever seen.
But by Monday morning the world - or at least Oxfordshire - had moved on.
The discussion was about who would replace Robinson and that is where the perspective that comes with experience of the past and understanding of the present needs to weave together.
Clubs usually go quiet when they are in an interregnum - that time between leaders.
Robinson had been the mouthpiece - at times the only spokesperson - for Oxford.
Others will fill the void at these times.
No clear frontrunner
Oxford sacked Robinson after eight games without win
Agents will try to push their guy in the media.
Stories that X was wanted by Oxford were first being published while United were almost certainly still discussing the sort of manager they want - firefighter? New breed? League One expert? Fan favourite? And the sort of contract they would be prepared to risk (it is always a risk).
People look to the bookmakers' odds but when it comes to League One managers, I don't know why.
Patrick Kluivert was the odds-on favourite to replace Pep Clotet at Oxford in 2018, while Robinson's name barely featured in the conversation.
Oh, and then there's the Oxford 'legends'.
To be fair, some names warrant the term legend without the quotation marks, but discussion of a return for anyone who has had success as a coach or a player at Oxford in the past is usually unduly amplified.
Oxford's League One future on the brink?
United's board are finding out in practice what I suspect they always knew in principle - that sacking a manager is the easy bit.
CEO Tim Williams said last week on BBC Radio Oxford's Five Minute Fans Forum that "recruiting poor people is really easy, but recruiting the best is not".
He was talking about the shortlist for a head of recruitment role, but it was an insight into the thought process at boardroom level.
Their mission is to be right, rather than quick.
United have slumped to 17th, five points above the relegation zone and with most of the clubs beneath them having games in hand.
The caretaker trio of Craig Short, Leon Blackmore-Such and Wayne Brown could buy the board some time if they can stop the rot at Lincoln this weekend.
If they don't, the need and the clamour for a new face in the dugout at the Kassam Stadium for the visit of Derby on March 11 will intensify.
