New era but old recruitment please

As an Oxford fan for a quarter of a century it takes a fair bit to get me carried away anymore. Don’t get me wrong, the love for the club is still as strong as ever but I no longer dance with delight after every signing.

As a kid you believe that each player coming to the club will somehow become a stalwart, a legend who will take the club to heights not seen for years. The reality is that most players stay for a year or two and then shuffle off to another club without making any sort of impact.

This trend has been pleasantly bucked over recent years as Oxford found a recruitment policy that has unearthed many gems that have still shuffled off to another club two years later but the difference this time is that we are making a substantial profit on them. Not only does this help the club financially but it also sends out a message to young players saying “you go to Oxford, you progress.”

This has seen players like Kemar Roofe, Marvin Johnson, John Lunstram and most recently Ryan Ledson come through the club and be sold for a profit. We have also produced some pretty good academy graduates during my time as well. Players like Chrissy Allen and Joey Beauchamp were just coming through when I first started my addiction to all things Yellows and we are still getting the occasional player making the grade. Callum O’Dowda is our most recent success but it is harder to produce your own players now as there is less protection for clubs at our level with Brentford opting out because of the ease in which Premier League clubs can pinch promising talent just as they are about to make the grade.

More Ledson’s less Tiendalli’s

Although we are entering a new era the recruitment policy needs to hark back to the past. To be exact, it needs to be Appleton esc. We have to continue the brilliant work he started and make sure that Oxford becomes a club known by both young players and teams with money as the place to go.

The Premier League academies are bloated with talented youngsters who will never see a Premier League pitch unless they watch Match of the Day and we need to take advantage. Ryan Ledson is a prime example. He would never have got close to the Everton first team but, thanks to a spell with Oxford, is heading in to the 2018/19 season looking at getting some serious second tier minutes. There will be plenty of other Ledsons out there.

Our recruitment strategy that had been so successful took a temporary hiatus under Pep Clotet whose decisions in the transfer market were mirrored in failure only by his selections on the pitch. My views on Pep are not entirely negative as I do think there was a good manager in there if he had been given time to learn but perhaps at another club would be better.

Many of those recruited by Pep have now gone and the transfer policy appears to be returning to the tried and tested with the addition of Cameron Brannagan from Liverpool and Rob Dickie from Reading.

Let’s hope this continues under the new ownership. It is a new era this coming season for United. The first full campaign under Karl Robinson as well as the first full campaign under Tiger’s ownership will be another chapter in our recent history. Our new owner is still a bit of an enigma to many – no one appears to fully understand how much he is worth.

Speaking to Reading fans the opinion generally is that Tiger has wealth but not enough to run a football club at a high level. He will instead use his contacts to bring in new investors and sponsorship. That is already happening at Oxford with the head of Singha beer jumping on board and now seemingly looking to take a stake in the club. Pavin Singha spoke to iFollow about his intention to use the brand of both his beer and our city for mutual benefit, something that, as a club, I feel we have never taken full advantage of.

Same old problem

These early moves are all good as is the new kit sponsorship (yes I thought it was a dragon too) but now we need to kick-on on the field, easier said than done. Our problem as a club remains the same as it has since 2001/02. We play in a stadium that costs us a fortune and yields very little in return. Now I am not saying we should have stayed at the Manor, romantic as that may seem, because we knew the club had to move in order to grow but our situation with Mr Kassam has never been beneficial.

It was all too apparent to many (see my interview with Les Robinson) that Mr Kassam was not a man interested in taking the fans on a journey and allowing them to dream. Rather, he was more interested in getting planning permission for his entertainment complex and hotel. We have finally recovered on the field to the level we were at when he first became involved with the club but it pains me that he still has us by the short and curlies when it comes to the stadium.

I maybe being naïve but I would love Tiger to make this a priority and try to find a way of bringing the ground into club ownership. Imagine the extra revenue from events hire, concerts and even naming rights (the Singha Stadium already has a nice ring to it) that the club would benefit from not to mention the savings on rent.

The 2018/19 season will be an exciting one for the club, whether it will be successful very much depends on the players Karl Robinson brings in.

I have seen many transfer rumours on social media but unless I can find a credible source I tend to ignore them (note if D3D4 put out any rumours of our own then rest assured there is a credible source) and it appears, like the appointment of our Karl Robinson, we will have to be patient for new players too.

Samir Carruthers is a good start and Cameron Norman comes with a glowing reputation from Linnets supporters but we need at least seven or eight more especially now Rothwell has joined Ledson in the departures lounge.

League One should be much tighter than it was last season with only Sunderland capable of matching the budgets of Wigan and Blackburn so there is plenty to play for and I for one can’t wait.

Enjoy the World Cup and as always COYY.

words James Richards, D3D4 Football