Nobody will be moaning at controversial Oxford United decision that shocked many | OneFootball

Des Buckingham was sacked by the U's in December, despite taking the club up to the Championship. But, Gary Rowett has changed the team's fortunes.

Oxford United's season has been revitalised over the course of the last month, and they have gone from a team that looked destined to be involved in a relegation scrap to a comfortable mid-table side.

The U's are currently 14th in the Championship table, nine points clear of the relegation zone.

They came from behind on Tuesday evening against Luton Town to win 3-2 in what was yet another excellent performance from Gary Rowett's side.

Out of the three sides who came up from League One last season, the Yellows are the highest in the league table, and they have left Derby County and Portsmouth in their wake with the two clubs who won automatic promotion heavily involved in the battle for survival.

Many had written off Oxford throughout the opening months of the campaign, but a decision made in December has paid off massively, despite its controversy when it was first made.

Oxford have improved greatly since Des Buckingham was sacked

Des Buckingham's connection to the U's runs deep, and he was able to live his dream and help guide the club to the Championship through the play-offs in the 2023/24 season.

A lot of work was done in the summer to build the squad to be ready for the challenge that the second tier brings, but despite a bright start, performance levels dropped and in turn results started to get worse.

Oxford had dropped to 20th in the table by the time Buckingham was sacked on 15 December, with the team just a point ahead of the relegation zone. There were a lot of questions surrounding the decision, and many believed that the 39-year-old deserved more time to turn the club's fortunes around.

However, it was a decision that has paid off greatly, with the Yellows bringing in the incredibly experienced Rowett to help fight against relegation.

He has done so excellently, and the threat of the drop has been staved off, and a mid-table finish looks to be an extremely realistic ambition for Oxford now, after relatively low expectations when the season had first started.

The former Birmingham City and Derby boss has made his side difficult to beat first and foremost, and they now have an extremely solid platform to build from going forward because of this.

Oxford's future is bright

While the U's unbeaten run will come to an end at some point, they have put themselves in a superb position for the next few years. They look incredibly likely to secure their Championship status for a second season, and this summer will allow Rowett the chance to build his squad to help fit his style even more.

Bringing in more experience will be the key to Oxford pushing up the table further in the next couple of years, but there is an extremely exciting project now ongoing at the Kassam Stadium that players will want to join.

The most important thing for Rowett in 2024/25 is to ensure that his team can stay away from any battle down at the bottom, and the steps that they have made together in the first month have only helped this.

What was once an incredibly controversial and surprising decision to sack Buckingham has proven to be a superb one, and supporters will now look back on it without regret.