It seems the club knows nothing about this new investor, or at least nothing they're prepared to tell us. Perhaps Herd has been misleading Aberdeen, or perhaps the Aberdeen press is reading (incorrectly) between the lines. Anyway the big news according to the official web site is that it's time for silly wigs. Oh good.

Portsmouth have been plunged into further crisis (to use tabloid language, but in this situation it's probably appropriate) by the Co-operative Bank, who have opposed the club's application to call in the administrators. The bank are owed £350,000 by Portsmouth for the mortgage on Fratton Park. The bank originally gave a deadline of noon today for settlement of this sum, but have now extended this deadline until 9am on Monday. Failure to comply means that an administrative receiver will be appointed by the bank.

Ken Richardson was convicted on Wednesday of conspiracy to cause damage to the Doncaster Rovers ground - he hired some people to burn one of the stands down. Ken Richardson was, of course, chairperson of Donny at the time. Football always attracts the best people, doesn't it? I'm sure the thousands of Doncaster fans who have been mounting the anti-Richardson campaign will be pleased that matters have been settled, and that they have been vindicated in their point of view.

There have been more entries to the caption competition. No, there are no prizes.

NEW INVESTOR?

According to the Aberdeen-based Press and Journal, Oxford are set to pay the £450,000 transfer fee for Dean Windass owed to the Dons since the summer. The sum is reportedly likely to be paid within the next 48 hours. Apparently Robin Herd (yes, he is still around) contacted Aberdeen to assure them their wait for the cash is over. This,. they claim, is because a new investor is set to join the Oxford board today. Read the full story in the Press and Journal. Why is it that Herd speaks to Aberdeen, but not to Oxford fans?

FOUL has issued two press releases today. Read them on the FOUL page.

Oxford yesterday turned down a £700,000 offer for Dean Windass from Huddersfield (who are reportedly also interested in Paul Powell), with Malcolm saying that Deano would only be sold if he received "an offer too good to turn down".

There have been a number of entries to the caption competition, which can be seen here.

Apparently Chelsea had a number of valuables stolen from a training ground yesterday. Reports that Mike Reed was seen in the area, muttering about collecting his payment, are entirely unconfirmed.

Conference side Barrow were wound up in the courts this week. The future of the club now hangs in the balance. I'm not quite sure how all this works, but apparently the situation is that Barrow are in liquidation, and the appointed liquidator has given permission for the club to continue trading for now, whilst he assesses whther Barrow's assets exceed their debts. Read more at this Barrow site.

Keith Cox has declared that we shall have made enough money from the two Chelsea matches to avoid having to sell any more players this season. Apparently Oxford will earn up to £200,000 from gate receipts at the replay. Cox was quoted as saying, "Before the two games, it was certainly a possibility that we would have had to sell another player but that is no longer an issue." In a new feature called Cox's Promises, let us attempt to keep a record of such statements. Admittedly this should have started months (years?) ago, but it's not too late to start. So, Cox's Promise #1 : No more players will be sold this season. Cox also reckoned that more progress would be made on finding investors in the club this week. He used guarded enough language for this not to be regarded as a promise.

Contrary to reports in the press (and this site!), Oxford have not made an official complaint to the FA about Mike Reed's performance on Monday. Oxford will also not be asking the FA to provide a different referee for the replay, as they feel that clubs should not have the power to pick and choose referees. "Our view is that it would be counter-productive and that if clubs are allowed to pick referees for matches, then we are all on a slippery slope," said Keith Cox.

Kevin Francis was prepared to accept Reed's refereeing error as a mistake, but admitted he wished Reed would apologise to the Oxford players and fans. Francis said, "Everyone makes mistakes. It's whether you're man enough to stand up and be counted when you do make them, and that's all you can ask of him at the moment."

Portsmouth have today applied to go into administration, meaning that an independent administrator would be appointed to take over the day-to-day running of the club. The administrator's goal would be to find a buyer for the club. The administrator would also have control over all the clubs assets, including the playing staff. The High Court would have to agree to the administration request before it can go through. Portsmouth currently face a winding up order from the Inland Revenue, due to be heard on 3 February. Oxford fans should watch progress at Portsmouth with interest, as some believe going into administration would be the best way to solve Oxford's problems.

Please enter the caption competition if you dare. Send all captions to jamesb@ugsolutions.com.

Oxford 1 Chelsea 0 - a great result, but not the way history will record it. Thanks Mike Reed - mysterious decisions throughout the game, culminating in that decision. Danny Baker got sacked from the BBC for remarks he made after you gave Chelsea a (non) penalty against Leicester a while back. Do you support Chelsea, or do you merely get intimidated by big-money clubs? Jim Smith, summarising on Sky Sports, described Reed's decision in the following terms : "I feel they (Oxford) were cheated. The decision was an absolute disgrace."

Seriously, I hope Oxford appeal against Reed refereeing the replay, as Wimbledon have done in the case of Dermot Gallagher. After a decision like that it would be better for all concerned if we had a different referee...

The press speculation that a deal had been agreed with Huddersfield for Dean Windass seems to have been premature. Huddersfield are reported as being interested in Deano, but according to Huddersfield news sites, no deal has yet been done - the only player they expect to sign this week is Chris Beech from Hartlepool. The Oxford Mail reported that Leicester, Forest and Man City all had scouts watching Deano at last night's match.

Notts County have not yet signed Mark Warren from Leyton Orient - they are still merely "keeping tabs" on him. Maybe with the replay money we can sneak in and sign him?

There is a strong rumour that tonight's match could be the last in an Oxford shirt for Dean Windass, as Huddersfield are set to buy him for £700,000.

There were articles galore on Oxford in the national press over the weekend. It seems like when a club in the Nationwide league (or below) is struggling financially, they mere scraps of attention, but when the same club plays "glamourous Premiership" opposition, the coverage becomes overpowering.

The Sunday Telegraph thinks it knows why small clubs are struggling - increased wages and foreign players seem to be the key reasons in the eyes of reporter Owen Slot (I jest not). It's nothing to do with financial mismanagement and lack of distribution of wealth then? No, a little-Englander paper like the Telegraph would always blame foreigners. The article is typical of the right-wing press in lamenting deeply over a social problem, whilst nowhere coming up with a solution. Normally these solutions involve a less than totally free market, anathema to the Telegraph.

The Observer satisfies itself with a profile of Christophe Remy (as did Sport First), and hardly mentions the financial troubles. It is an interesting piece, and doesn't copy the cliches of other papers, but it would be interesting for at least one paper to go beneath the surface of the situation at Oxford.

The Express article says little of interest, briefly interviewing Cox, and listing the events of our troubled season. The Independent on Sunday meanwhile appears to think that the "fast-improving" Phil Whelan is key to our success (only true in the sense that he should remain in the stands) and features an interview with Les Robinson. There is more standard fare from the London Evening Standard, including the sort of crap line that marks lazy journalism : Elliott Jackson suggests he might get nervous, the Standard ripostes with "Not as nervous as the Oxford creditors, however."

Quite the strangest article comes courtesy of the Daily Mail. They chose to interview Dean Windass, and some of the things he says are mind-boggling. For example, "In the Premiership things are a bit too leisurely for my liking and we will bombard them and I think there will be a few fights on the way, don't worry about that." This remark sets the tone of the article. Windass also manages to come across as self-centred (doesn't he always?), saying, "I think I deserve another move from which I can benefit financially."

The upcoming match against glamorous Chelsea has meant that thousands of journalists have thronged to Oxford to see whether rumours that football is played there are true. There's an article in today's Telegraph (of the usual David v. Goliath variety - look, one club has loadsamoney and the other has none...), and a slightly better one by the eminently readable Jim White in today's Guardian.

Lack of money seems to have led to Oxford missing out on the signature of Mark Warren, after Leyton Orient agreed a fee of £40,000 with Notts County for the 24 year old defender. Is is now simply a matter of Warren agreeing terms with County.

FOUL have announced plans for the Chelsea match, which include printing yellow leaflets with "For Sale" on them. Fans can then hold these up towards the cameras, in a similar style to the SOS protests last season. (Maybe the cards should read "For Sale : Honest buyers only".) The giant scarf will also be making an appearance, after its trip up to Chester for Fans United 3. It will shortly be embarking on an after dinner speaking tour. A banner is also planned with the slogan, "Chairmen should be seen and not Herd".

Leyton Orient have refused to allow Oxford to take Mark Warren on a second month's loan, saying he is now only available on a permanent move. Oxford are unable to afford the fee of around £75,000 that Orient require. Notts County are poised to move for the player, who is out of favour at Orient after a rumoured bust-up with manager Tommy Taylor. Meanwhile, Everton have agreed to let us have keeper Paul Gerrard on a second month's loan.

Spare a thought for Portsmouth, as the first of the two winding-up orders against the club is heard in the High Court today. The firm that built their new 4500 seater stand are suing Portsmouth's parent company for an unpaid sum of £435,000. I've just heard in fact that Pompey averted this winding-up order by settling with TryBuild, the firm in question.

Oxford are having trouble in their attempts to prise Mark Warren away from Leyton Orient. Warren is out of contract in the summer, and seems unlikely to resign for Orient, but the club still want up to £75,000 for him at the moment, which is fair enough. Oxford cannot afford to pay anything for him, so the best bet looks to be for Oxford to renew the loan deal. This at least frees Orient from paying his wages for another month. Apparently Shotts tries to do a swap deal involving Whelan, but Orient were having none of it. Sensible chaps! The scary bit is that there are rumours that Notts County are moving in for him.

Keith Cox is under investigation by the Law Society for deals involving land around the Minchery Farm stadium. Law publication, The Lawyer, carries full details. Note that Cox uses the typical excuse of "being in meetings" in order not to reply to allegations!

Both Paul Gerrard and Mark Warren have reached the end of their one month loan spells, with Malcolm keen to keep both of them for a further month. Malc is eager to sign Warren permanently if possible.

Paul Tait made his debut for the Us in the 1-0 defeat at Grimsby. All I can say is that if Chelsea had spies there, they'll have gone home laughing...

Oxford supporters provided a wreath for the coffin paraded by Pompey fans before their match against Huddersfield. Pompey fans marched the coffin through the streets before the match to symbolise their club's plight. They also planned to spend the first ten minutes of the match in silence. Steve Claridge foiled these plans by scoring a goal within five minutes. Still I don't suppose they'll mind too much! I still think Oxford fans should organise a similar parade through the streets before a home match.

Oxford fans were also present at the Fans United 3 event at Chester on Friday night. FOUL representatives were meant to be parading the chain of scarves around the pitch at half-time.

Rumours that Ken Bates was prepared to donate Chelsea's share of the Cup gate receipts to Oxford are apparently unfounded. Now that's not exactly a surprise, is it?

FOUL have arranged meetings with the Oxford City Council Lib Dem group, with Andrew Smith MP, and with Chris Cowley of the Oxford Mail. They will also be represented at the Football Supporters' Association (FSA) parlimamentary reception at the House of Commons on Monday. There will also be an interview on SKY's Soccer Saturday, which is to run a feature on Oxford and Portsmouth.

If you're in the area (or feeling really eager) get along to Chester tonight for Fans United 3. The match (live on TV) is Chester City v Brighton & Hove Albion, with tickets available at the gates (which open at 18.30). FOUL will be represented at the match, and I believe our chain of scarves will be making an appearance.

A site well worth checking out is the Our Game page, which collects together news of various clubs in trouble, as well as examining fan power, and other issues in the game.

The official Birmingham City web site reports that Oxford have definitely signed their midfielder, Paul Tait. Tait has signed a two and a half year contract with the Us. Oxford managed to convince Birmingham to give Tait a free transfer, despite Birmingham formerly wanting £50,000 for the player.  Quite how Oxford have decided they have the money to pay new players when only a month ago they were giving free transfers to reduce the wage bill, I don't know. I know we're getting SKY money for the Chelsea game, but is this wise? Or do the board know something we don't?

Oxford have taken former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder, Michael Williams, on loan from Burnley. Apart from being extremely injury prone, there are doubts about whether Williams is actually any good. I seem to recall the Burnley entry in this year's Survival of the Fattest discussing his limitations at some length. I guess we can but wait and see.

Well done to Preston North End, the only club not to back the Premiership in its court battle against the OFT. As their chairperson, Bryan Gray, says, "I'm not against collective negotiations on TV rights, but what I'm concerned about is that the monies generated by TV have been used for the benefit of the Premier League clubs to the detriment of the Nationwide League." Exactly right. Why is it that the other 71 Nationwide clubs have been so eager to jump behind those Premiership clubs that are frightened at losing their share of the SKY money? It's not as if the Premier clubs have been helping the Nationwide clubs in the past. Let's face it, the Nationwide clubs have long since been abandoned - why should they be so frightened by the OFT ruling?

News just in is that Southend United are joining the "race" for Birmingham midfielder, Paul Tait. Tait is due to have further talks at the Manor this week, but now Southend have expressed their interest.

Oxford news really is thin on the ground at the moment, with the Oxford Mail reporting only that some players might have 'flu. (These players are apparently Paul Powell, Jamie Cook and Andrew Rose.) That's about the sum of it at the moment really. I guess it's a relief after all the crises last year.

Another club in fast emerging difficulties is Crystal Palace. Apparently Mark Goldberg is not all he claimed to be, and failed even to pay his lawyers when they helped him with his takeover of Palace. Transfer fees for various players remain unpaid. All this and they've got Terry Venables there too...

A virtual full house witnessed Oxford's 0-0 draw with Bristol City on Saturday, mainly owing to the fact that it was a "voucher day" at the Manor. Rumours circulated that Chelsea fans were trying to get into the match in order to obtain the ticket stubs. A black market in these ticket stubs seemed to have sprung into existence.

There are rumours that Chelsea have agreed to hand over to Oxford their share of the gate receipts. This seems unlikely to me, as "Cuddly" Ken Bates is not famed for his compassion and generosity.

Oxford have signed defender Mark Watson on an 18 month contract, after he impressed whilst on non-contract terms. So we're signing players again! No news on the Paul Tait situation though.

The SOUS auction, held last night, is thougt to have raised over £8,000 for their fund. The highest price raised by an individual item was the £1,100 paid by FOUL for Les Phillips' Milk Cup Winners' Medal. £1,100 was also paid for Mark Gardener's (ex-Ride) guitar.

TAIT TO SIGN?

Paul Tait is having talks with Malcolm Shotton, with a possible £50,000 move to Oxford on the cards, according to the Official Birmingham City web site. Midfielder Tait, 27,  turned down a loan move to Oxford last month, insisting he wanted only a permanent deal. He has been on the Blues transfer list since the start of the season. Blues manager, Trevor Francis, said yesterday, "Paul will travel to meet up with Malcolm Shotton tomorrow morning at Oxford. I imagine that they are keen to take him on a permanent basis, but I will know more when they have had a discussion."

Oxford are apparently set to make £200,000 from the 4th round clash with Chelsea, with £50,000 from a share of the gate receipts, and the remainder from SKY TV. Bad news for the match, though, is that Joey Beauchamp's three match ban for his sending off at Portsmouth includes the clash with Chelsea.

Good news for Oxford is that both Martin Gray and Phil Gilchrist came through the reserves' 1-0 win over Arsenal yesterday, and both could be in contention for Saturday.

Reports are circulating that there are away ticket allocation problems for Saturday's match against Bristol City. The match is not all-ticket for away fans, yet there are apparently only 2,200 terrace tickets available for an expected travelling contingent of 4000.

SKY have chosen Oxford v Chelsea as their live match for the Monday (25 Jan) night, with an 8pm kickoff. Apparently this will net the club around £150,000 of Rupert Murdoch's hard earned dosh. These days we always seem to play well on SKY, so maybe it's a good omen!

The SOUS (Support Oxford United's Survival) Auction takes place on Thursday, with various Oxford and football related goodies up for grabs. Details can be found at the Official Web Site.

Oxford showed that they are learning how to rip off their supporters just as well as other clubs by significantly raising prices of tickets for the Chelsea match. The price of a terrace ticket for a non-member is a ludicrous £17 (members £14). The club would argue that since they can fill the ground at this price, it is justified. Some people already struggle to pay the prices though. The club is potentially alienating parts of its core support. But that's what football's all about these days, isn't it?

Well I'm back from a Christmas break, so I'll try to summarise what has happened in the meantime :

Oxford got a plum fourth round draw at home to Chelsea in the FA Cup after winning 3-1 at Crewe in the third round. There should be a sell-out crowd at the Manor for this one. Hopefully Cox will not decide to switch the tie to Stamford Bridge to make more money! The prices at Chelsea are absolutely crazy...

Oxford got a feature on Football Focus shortly before Christmas. It was a reasonably balanced feature - better than I imagined. Sadly though there seemed to be a undercurrent of "this is inevitable for the smaller clubs", rather than any suggestion of radical solutions.

Here is a report on the meeting FOUL had with Keith Cox and other Oxford directors/staff. This covers evreything from ground issues to the various potential buyers, and is well worth reading.

Oxford were handed the highly dubious distinction of being named as the first club to stage a pay-per-view fixture, when our home match against Sunderland on February 27 was moved back to 6pm kick off for this purpose. Hopefully hardly anyone will pay to watch this match on TV. Pay-per-view has flopped in other Euorpean countries - let's hope for a similar result in this country. Rupert Murdoch is quite rich enough already...

I didn't get to the Portsmouth match, but I belive that the planned protest by Pompey fans was called off after appeals by the new chairperson and Alan Ball. A Pompey fan did come on to the pitch and push Joey (when he had been sent off for a bad foul), but this is obviously not what I mean by protest.

I received an excellent book for Christmas - The Football Business by David Conn. It takes an in depth look at the new business people involved in the game, and at how football has been affected at all levels. Highly recommended!

This page is maintained by James Beard.