Analysis – Jerome Sale, BBC Radio Oxford sports editor
This decision would not have been a surprise six weeks ago – just after Oxford’s relegation to League One had been confirmed.
Matt Bloomfield’s arrival in January as successor to Gary Rowett didn’t come with much fanfare and his impact was gradual not immediate. He experimented with different systems, and certain players didn’t fit when he ultimately settled on one.
Results did improve, but ultimately not by enough to beat the drop. The team just ran out of steam in the final days.
But that still leaves the question: Why now, not then?
Since the end of the season there’s been a shift at the top of the club. Dusan Bogdanovic came in as chairman, an ex-pro player and agent, and whilst his experience in the English game is limited, there is every reason to expect him to want to be more hands on with the football side of the club than his predecessor.
So far there hasn’t been a single signing for next season, a situation which needs to change imminently. This was probably as late as they could leave a managerial change without the potential of recruiting for the wrong head coach.
And finally on the timing, I can only assume they have a replacement in mind, perhaps their availability plays into this.
They may have been relegated, but Oxford United remains a club with ambitions and one in a hurry. In the past month they have triggered mechanisms to expedite the judicial review process into their plans for a new stadium.
They took a risk on Bloomfield being able to keep Oxford in the Championship, but as with Luton the previous year he narrowly failed. They have decided not to take a chance on him in League One.
Sacking a head coach is the easy bit. As always when you change a manager, the real gamble and the real test comes with the appointment of the next guy.
