"I wish him all the best" - Reaction given to Oxford United, Gary Rowett update | OneFootball

FLW's Oxford pundit shares his thoughts on the Gary Rowett links.

This article is part of Football League World’s 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Oxford United are seemingly close to appointing their new manager with a deal for Gary Rowett to step into the dugout at the Kassam Stadium potentially imminent.

According to John Percy, the U's are in ‘advanced talks’ with the former Derby County and Birmingham City boss, who would bring the Championship experience Oxford’s board are looking for.

Oxford controversially sacked popular boss Des Buckingham on Sunday with the side sat 20th in the Championship table.

Buckingham, a boyhood U's fan, had previously been a part of the club’s coaching staff under Chris Wilder during the early 2010s, before taking charge of Wellington Phoenix, Mumbai City FC and New Zealand’s youth teams.

Buckingham led the U's to a shock promotion last season, masterminding play-off victories over Peterborough United and Bolton Wanderers to secure second tier football for Oxford for the first time in 25 years.

Oxford urged to move away from the sentiment of Buckingham

The sacking of Buckingham certainly came at an unexpected moment. Oxford are on a run of just one win in their last 15 games in the league, but a promising start, consisting of three wins from their first five games, has ensured they still remain outside the relegation zone at present.

A victory over Norwich City on the opening day, as well as a home draw with high-flying Burnley have shown that in flashes, Oxford do have what it takes to compete at this level of football. However, they definitely must improve if they are to avoid an instant return to League One.

With the talks to bring Rowett to the club seemingly nearing their conclusion, we asked our resident Oxford United fan pundit, Andrew Taylor, for his thoughts on the links with Rowett.

Andrew said: “We need to move away from the sentiment of Des Buckingham now and focus on the new guy coming in. If it is to be Gary Rowett, give him our full support and hopefully he can guide us to safety and bring an upturn in our form.

“Hopefully he can add to the squad, and he has some Championship contacts that can bring him some new players that are very much needed at this point.

“Hopefully he can bring success and I wish him all the best.”

Rowett needs to improve Oxford’s squad

If Rowett is to be the man to take over Oxford’s bid for Championship survival, he’ll immediately face a pivotal month on his hands in January.

Oxford desperately need more goals in the side if they are to avoid slipping back through the Championship’s trap door.

The U's have scored more than once in just one of their last 12 games and even that came as part of a crazy 6-2 home defeat to Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough.

Their top scorers Dane Scarlett and Mark Harris have just four league goals apiece, and Oxford are lacking a proven goalscorer at Championship level, which will surely be an immediate priority for Rowett.

45 points has been enough to secure safety in three of the last four Championship seasons, (barring last term when Birmingham were relegated with 50), with just 18 points to their name at the minute, if Rowett is to take the reins at Oxford, he needs to bring an improvement, and he needs to bring it quickly.