"Experienced pair of hands" - Oxford United close in on hire of 42-year-old: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Oxford United are close to appointing Grant McCann as their new manager after parting ways with Karl Robinson, as per Alan Nixon.

McCann has managed Peterborough United twice, Doncaster Rovers and Hull City in his managerial career so far with the latter two jobs proving more successful.

The Northern Irishman was dismissed by the Posh this season and replaced by Darren Ferguson after re-taking charge at London Road at the back end of 2021/22.

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McCann was performing well at Hull City last season before the Tigers chose to go in a different direction despite some promising results and performances, with Acun Ilicali bringing Shota Arveladze to the MKM Stadium.

We gathered the thoughts of a selection of FLW writers to see if they believe that McCann is the right appointment for the Yellows in the short, medium and longer term...

Ben Wignall

McCann is definitely a different type to the likes of Des Buckingham and Graeme Murty that were heavily linked - he's more the experienced League One manager that Karl Robinson was.

It did look like Oxford were going to go down a different route, but if they want someone that should get them in the hunt for promotion in one or two years time, then McCann is a good fit.

He was sacked by Peterborough in January for underperforming, but that is a club he has history with - Oxford would be a fresh start with a new squad and it's a relatively young one that he could improve.

It's unclear as to whether he will get backed in the transfer market this summer, and it's not a definite that he will keep them in League One as they are just three points above the relegation zone currently, but McCann will surely have enough about him to save United from relegation and then help them kick on in 2023/24.

Out of the options linked it's hard to say whether or not McCann is the right pick.

However, he is certainly an experienced pair of hands in the third tier and someone that knows the division from both a player's perspective and as a manager.

Indeed, he has been promoted from the third tier as both, and clearly Oxford are looking towards his Hull City promotion win as boss in 2020/21 as a sign he could get them moving in the right direction.

Things didn't quite go to plan at Peterborough recently, though, so it'll be interesting to see how things work out for McCann at the Kassam Stadium.

Marcus Ally

It feels quite difficult to judge McCann as a manager given the roles he has taken on so far.

Hull and Doncaster on the whole were very successful, and McCann was working with quite a young squad at the Keepmoat Stadium which may strike the right note at Oxford.

Player development has been at the centre of the Yellows' success in recent years and will likely be a box that needs ticking in this appointment, the Donny spell and top six finish in League One, which is very impressive given what has gone on since, could be working in his favour.

The Tigers job does reflect very well on McCann, despite suffering relegation from the Championship, and therefore his failure at Peterborough this term probably should not negatively impact his reputation that much, although it may feel like an underwhelming hire for Oxford supporters given the poor fortunes of his most recent role.

McCann would get time at Oxford which has to be seen as a positive and possibly at the end of the next season, if he can stabilise them in the third tier, would be a better time to judge whether he is the right manager to take them forward and compete for a place in the second tier again.