Oxford United man must firmly fend off any Cardiff City advances amid manager hunt: View | OneFootball

The U's manager must look to stay at the Kassam Stadium, despite reportedly attracting interest from Cardiff.

Oxford United boss Des Buckingham is attracting interest from Cardiff City.

This is according to Football Insider, who believes the Bluebirds have Buckingham in their thoughts as a potential successor for Erol Bulut.

Since that report emerged, Bulut has gone on to be fired, with the Welsh side taking action following their 2-0 home defeat against Leeds United on Saturday.

The Whites may be one of the favourites to secure promotion, but Cardiff have made a very poor start to the campaign and with this in mind, it was no major shock when it was announced that Bulut had been dismissed.

Currently in relegation danger, Cardiff need a manager who can come in and make a real impact if they are to avoid battling the drop throughout the 2024/25 campaign.

Having been in danger of going down during the latter stages of the 2022/23 season, they will be keen to assert themselves as a solid Championship outfit again, something they looked to have done under Bulut.

But he struggled during the early stages of this term and they are now on the prowl for a new boss.

Oxford United have shone under Des Buckingham

When Liam Manning left Oxford last year, it was unclear whether the club was going to continue to be able to push for promotion.

They did endure some low moments under Manning's successor Buckingham, with fans clearly unhappy with him after their home loss against Leyton Orient in late February.

But during the latter stages of the campaign, they were able to pick up some crucial results and results on the final day allowed them to finish in fifth place, setting up a play-off semi-final tie against Peterborough United.

Winning that tie 2-1 on aggregate, with some excellent defending helping them, they then faced Bolton Wanderers in the final.

On paper, Bolton were probably the favourites to come out on top, even after their semi-final second leg defeat against Barnsley.

But Oxford executed their game plan superbly, defending well and also looking threatening going forward, with the U's winning 2-0 at Wembley.

A Josh Murphy brace guided them to the Championship, but he could have scored even more on the day. However, all that mattered was promotion and they were able to achieve this.

Even during the early stages of this season, they did well, outclassing Norwich City on the opening day and almost taking a point away from Coventry City.

Securing home wins against Norwich, Preston North End and Stoke City, they are in a reasonably good position at this point, and they could have earned another point or three at Bristol City last weekend.

Unfortunately, Mark Harris' miss was a sliding doors moment, but they could be proud of their first-half performance at Ashton Gate and it should give them plenty of confidence.

Born in Oxford, playing for the U's during his youth career and managing to get the best out of his players at the Kassam Stadium, Buckingham is continuing to write a special story at Oxford.

Judging by their performances so far this season, they are more than good enough to stay up, with their summer recruitment helping them.

Some of their players from last season have also been able to step up to the plate, with Ruben Rodrigues doing a magnificent job at this level despite the fact he was competing in the National League with Notts County not so long ago.

Cardiff City isn't the right destination for Des Buckingham

There are a couple of Cardiff-related reasons why Buckingham shouldn't make the move to the Welsh capital.

Firstly, the Bluebirds' owner Vincent Tan isn't afraid to hire and fire managers regularly, and if Buckingham endures a tough period at the Cardiff City Stadium, he could be sacked. That could end up being detrimental to his career.

As well as this, Cardiff are in deep trouble after winning just one point from a possible 18 in their opening six league games.

There's a huge amount of work to be done if the Bluebirds are to escape the drop and register a respectable finish, and this is a risky job to take because of their current predicament.

Buckingham should stay put.

Not only are Oxford in a better position, but he has built up more credit with supporters and the board and that should help to keep him in a job if he struggles at some point this season.

He is also getting the best out of the players he currently has and even with Cameron Branaggan out of action, the U's will be confident of picking up more points in the coming weeks.

Buckingham also risks damaging his reputation at Oxford if he moves to a league rival - and that's the last thing he will want to do - considering his connections to the area.

And after seeing how much stick Manning got at Ashton Gate last weekend, he will be reluctant to move on.

Stay put, Des.