HOUGHTON THE FAVOURITE?

Well, it's only those rumour-mongers at TeamTalk who seem to think that Ray Houghton is the favourite for the Manor job, but you never know. They may be right for a change. Apparently there is "increasing media speculation" (generated by TeamTalk?) that Houghton is the chosen one.

IT'S SHREWSBURY AWAY

The Us were handed a trip to Shropshire to take on third division  Shrewsbury at Gay Meadow in the first tie out of the hat. Oxford City, who held Wycombe at Adams Park, were rewarded with a potential home tie against second division big-spenders, Wigan Athletic.

OXFORD 3 MORECAMBE 2

Oxford did just about enough to beat Conference side Morecambe, who played a full part in the match, and were clapped off by both sets of fans at the end. Ben Abbey scored his first for the club to win the match late on, with Lilley and Powell (with a rare header) the other scorers. Morecambe, 2-1 ahead at one stage, scored through Mark Wright (no, not that one) and the talented and speedy Justin Jackson.

A couple of messages to Mad Dog after his first match in charge:

1. 4-4-2. Always. This poncy wing-back formation is now long out of fashion!
2. Give a substitute more than the Denis Smith standard of twelve minutes. Please.

At a loose end tomorrow? Well then grab your banner and your scarf and head for North Carriage Drive, Hyde Park (close to Marble Arch) for about 11am. The Fans United march starts there. The march proceeds to Trafalgar Square, and will end in time for Barnet's FA Cup match. The future of lower league football depends on your commitment, so be there if at all possible.

MORECAMBE PREVIEW

Oxford's first ever meeting with Lancashire side Morecambe will also be Mickey Lewis' first as caretaker. He is without Steve Davis (five bookings), Paul Tait (sending off) and Steve Anthrobus (knee), and is likely to revert the side to the 5-3-2 system in which he is a believer. Powell and Folland will play as wing backs, with a central trio of Robinson, Watson and (yes) Whelan. Jamie Lambert is likely to be recalled into the midfield to partner Fear and Beauchamp, with Matt Murphy and Derek Lilley up front. However there is a possibility that Ben Abbey will make his first start up front, with Lambert on the bench. Mad Dog will also have to decide which goalkeeper he favours. The crowd is very much behind Lundin, but Arendse has impressed in his last two matches.

BANGER RETURNS TO OXFORD

Nicky Banger has put his possible move to Dundee "on hold", and returned to Oxford to determine whether a new manager is more receptive to his special brand of wing-play. He believes now that Shotton has left, he may have a future with the Us.

Personally I believe that a key test of the competency of any future manager (Lewis included) is that he should send Banger straight back to Dens Park.

ALLEN JOINS STOCKPORT

Chrissy Allen, who until recently has been keeping up his fitness by training with the Oxford squad, has joined Stockport on a month's contract. (TeamTalk describes it as a "loan", but which club is he being loaned from?) The man who recommended Allen to Stockport boss Andy Kilner was his assistant, Dave Moss, who had the same role at Oxford during the Horton years.

Moss said of Allen, "I worked with him for five years at Oxford from when he was a young boy until breaking into the first team as a 19-year-old. I'm not sure what's gone wrong with his career but he can be a very dangerous player with plenty of pace."

TAYLOR APPOINTED ASSISTANT

Mickey Lewis has appointed Les Taylor as his assistant for the duration of his caretaker role in charge of the team. Lewis said, "He's been in the game long enough, knows what he's doing and will do a good job for me."

HOUGHTON JOINS THE THRONG

Ray Houghton is the latest former Oxford player to announce that he'd like the manager's job. Houghton is currently player-coach at Stevenage, and is keen to move into management. He has said he would apply for the Oxford job "if they haven't got someone already lined up". Houghton has an agreement with Stevenage meaning he could leave without compensation if offered a managerial post.

Colin Todd has apparently said on Talk Radio that he's interested as well. Will any more former Us step forward?

BANGER SCORES FOR DUNDEE

Dundee could be on the point of taking Nicky Banger off our hands once and for all. Banger played for Dundee U21s (effectively reserves) as an overage player yesterday, and scored against Hibs U21s. Dundee manager, Jocky Scott, said after the match, "I am definitely interested. We will be having a talk about the financial aspects." Please, please sign him...

RESERVES WIN 5-0

The reserves trounced Gillingham 5-0 last night, with goals from Cook, Abbey, Shepheard, Whitehouse and (Simon) Weatherstone. Trialist Carl Henry did not play. The result was not unexpected as Oxford fielded a side with much first team experience, whilst only one Gillingham player (Roland Edge) had ever played for their first team.

NATIONAL PAPER NOTICES OXFORD!

The Times carries the following headline this morning : Oxford are prime candidates for cup heartache. In fact most of the article is not even about the mighty Us. The gist is that there is an expectation that Morecambe have a good chance of an upset against us. Which I guess is fair enough. But the fact that Shotton has left is surely a reason why we might play better, rather than another ingredient in a recipe for disaster.

PALACE FANS FORM TRUST

Fans of Crystal Palace, still deep in the financial mire, have formed a trust fund in an attempt to help the troubled club. Manager Steve Coppell, who has pleaded for a fans' takeover, is thought to be supporting the trust. Recently it appeared that a "City consortium", put together by current owner Mark Goldberg, would step in to save the club. However the consortium has never materialised, and the club are as close to extinction as ever. For the second time this year, an embargo on incoming transfers has been imposed by the PFA.

You can read the full press statement issued by the supporters' trust here.

JOB QUEUE LENGTHENS

Mark Wright has been installed as favourite for the Oxford job after admitting he'd love the chance to enter management with Oxford. Wright commented, "I'm an Oxford lad who started off at Oxford United, so it's a job that would be very dear to me."

More worryingly, Denis Smith "Out", has said that he may be "interested" in the job if approached. That is if England don't call him first.

Others thought to be in the queue are Mark McGhee, recently turned down for the Reading post, and Nigel Spackman, who is reportedly an acquaintance of FK.

FIROZ PLEDGES CASH

On local TV news, FK promised that any new manager, once appointed, would be given cash to bring in his own players. He made it sound as if in order to attract a manager to accept a job with Oxford, he would have to promise money to spend. In the same interview (with Tim Russon of Central), FK said that his only agenda was to bring success to Oxford United. (All his talk of walking away if the multiplex deal wasn't approved must have been a dream then...)

HENRY ON TRIAL

Witney Town's star striker, Carl Henry, is training with Oxford. Henry, 26, has scored 17 goals for Witney so far this season. He had a prolific season (40 goals) at Combined Counties League side AFC Wallingford last season. He will play in the reserves against Gillingham tonight.

JUDICIAL REVIEW APPLICATION REJECTED

It's official. Pentith and Rail Properties have had their application for a Judicial Review refused. This could be the end of the road! The multiplex cinema now officially has planning permission, and thus the building of Minchery Farm can commence. Unless these Taylor Woodrow problems provide the next hurdle?

Firoz Kassam was very pleased with these developments, although he introduced a scary thought when he commented, "I hope that the guys do not decide to appeal." I hadn't considered the possibility of leave to appeal. That could cause further delay.

LEWIS WANTS JOB

Mickey Lewis has confirmed that he would like the Oxford job on a permanent basis after being appointed caretaker manager last night. Lewis said, "I'm enthusiastic, have just got my coaching badges and believe I could do a good job as the Oxford manager. But results while I am caretaker will clearly have a big bearing."

Other names in the frame seem to be Jim Smith, Ray Houghton, Garry Parker, Denis Smith (no!) and many, many others.

AGM NEWS

So what else happened at last night's AGM, apart from the big news?

• Oxford are having contractual problems with Taylor Woodrow over Minchery Farm;
• Scaling down of plans for new ground (initially) as time is short;
• Kassam will buy the Priory to use as a supporters' club;
• Abolition of shareholder discounts agreed, despite some objections;
• Gilly's transfer was defended - Leicester offered cash, and it was the only offer for him. Plus he wanted to go.

SHOTTON AND HARRISON RESIGN

Tonight Malcolm Shotton and his assistant Mark Harrison have resigned from Oxford United. Thames Valley FM have reported that Maurice Evans and Mickey Lewis are to take over on a caretaker basis.

The news was announced to the AGM by Firoz Kassam, after the pair had resigned just an hour before the event. FK indicated that he would not be making immediate replacement appointments, and would rather be "considering the options".

Most fans will be at the very least relieved, and some jubilant, at this news. Not many people fancied the idea of the former 80s hero being given an undignified push from the job. I wonder if Kassam has agreed a payoff with the pair, or whether they have resigned without financial reward. Few would begrudge Shotton getting at least a small sum after the way he stood by the club without pay during its time of trouble.

AGM TONIGHT

Oxford United's Annual General Meeting (AGM) is held tonight. Firoz Kassam will talk about his plans for the future, which should be interesting, although with the Judicial Review still hanging over the club, he might not yet have the future worked out himself yet. Will Kassam say anything about Minchery Farm, Malcolm Shotton, the team, etc.? Possibly. But presumably most of his speech will be made up of telling shareholders about progress made through the last year. And there's been a fair amount of that.

SHOCK COPPOCK NEWS

Geoff Coppock was the fans' link to the board. Or so is claimed in today's Oxford Mail in a piece that questions Firoz Kassam, his actions and his motives. Apparently FK is poised to ask shareholders tonight to approve his plans to do away with the position of "special director", designed to be the link between supporters and the board. Geoff Coppock formerly held this position. Apparently. So why didn't any of the fans know about this then?

MARCH UPDATE

Steve Merritt has just let me know that plans for Sunday's march have changed since the bumpf I received was written. SKY moved Barnet's home FA Cup tie to the Sunday, so they've rescheduled the march for 15 minutes earlier to ensure that Barnet fans can get back to Underhill for the match. So here are the updated details in full :

Next Sunday (31 October) at 11.00am a Fans United march will take place in London. Organised by the Keep Barnet Alive campaign, it is a chance for fans to make the authorities and the general public aware of the problems facing football in this country, especially the parlous situation of many lower league clubs. It is hoped that many Oxford fans will be able to attend. Details are as follows :

11.00am Assemble on North Carriage Drive, Hyde Park (close to Marble Arch)

11.30am Depart Hyde Park

The route of the march is down Park Lane, through Picadilly, and down the Haymarket to Trafalgar Square. There will then be a rally in Trafalgar Square, with speeches from representatives of clubs in trouble. A letter of protest will be presented to No 10 Downing Street.

Please do come down in numbers. Bring banners for your own problems. We have
organised this over three months and we have done it for all clubs, not just
us. With Sky being there we will get direct coverage. If all of you guys
come with your own axe to grind we will all get maximum publicity and
united, we stand the best chance of change.

ONE OUT, TWO TO GO?

Nicky Banger has fled the country. The out-of-contract Oxford winger-cum-striker has gone on trial to Dundee, and could play for them today. I hope he plays well, so that we are finally rid of him. He was in fact named on the bench for yesterday's match, but at 2.25 Dundee called to say they wanted him, and he departed immediately. The club had to appeal for Simon Weatherstone over the PA, in order to fill the final place on the bench!

More scarily, a "mystery" club has made a bid for our only consistent defender, Mark Watson. If we lost him, we'd be relegated. Of course, we look as if we may be relegated anyway...

Also, Bristol Rovers manager, Ian Holloway, is reportedly interested in Jamie Cook. Unlike Malcolm Shotton. It is thought that a player plus cash deal is being considered for Cook. Well we have had a lot of trialists from Rovers recently.

FANS ARE "OUT OF ORDER"

According to Malcolm Shotton, fans are "out of order" for booing Andre Arendse. Shotton said, "For some reason Arendse has become a bit of a scapegoat for the fans. This is unfair, he was excellent against Scunthorpe and in our other recent matches. To blame him is out of order, there are ten other players out there and to single out the goalkeeper is pointless because all it will do is destroy his confidence."

Maybe, Mr Shotton, you should be relieved that the whole team and your good self are not constantly being booed.

Arendse did fairly well yesterday, after one shaky early moment (is communication his big problem?), but the South African still looks second best to Lundin. The Swede has not featured since he made remarks to the press about his dissatisfaction with recent team tactics. This could, of course, be coincidence.

INTO THE RELEGATION ZONE...
(OXFORD 0 LUTON 1)

Oxford suffered their fourth consecutive league defeat yesteday - going down 1-0 to a Luton side, who scored early and then sat on their lead. Oxford were awful until the introduction of Lambert and Anthrobus as subs. Lambert's crossing and the Bus' aerial presence injected some threat into the Us, and an equaliser would not have been a surprise, though it would have been undeserved in the context of the match as a whole. But it didn't come. And Oxford slipped into the bottom four.

TWO WEEKS = FOUR DEFEATS

So what of consequence has happened in the two or so weeks that I've been away?

• The Judicial Review (JR) decision still under review - a Justice Jowett still deciding whether the JR should be held;
• Four defeats, including exit from the League Cup, with reportedly terrible displays;
• No goals from open play (Murphy's penalty against Millwall the sole contributor to the scoresheets);
• A home tie against Conference side, Morecambe, for next week's FA Cup First Round - potential for embarrassment?

FANS UNITED MARCH NEXT SUNDAY

Next Sunday (31 October) at 11.15am a Fans United march will take place in London. Organised by the Keep Barnet Alive campaign, it is a chance for fans to make the authorities and the general public aware of the problems facing football in this country, especially the parlous situation of many lower league clubs. It is hoped that many Oxford fans will be able to attend. (Sadly I can't.) Details are as follows :

11.15am Assemble on North Carriage Drive, Hyde Park (close to Marble Arch)
11.45am Depart Hyde Park

The route of the march is down Park Lane, through Picadilly, and down the Haymarket to Trafalgar Square. There will then be a rally in Trafalgar Square, with speeches from representatives of clubs in trouble. A letter of protest will be presented to No 10 Downing Street.

BUILDING COULD START WITHIN WEEKS

Firoz Kassam has said that building of the new ground could start within 4 or 5 weeks, but this is dependent on the High Court ruling in Oxford's favour and rejecting the call for a Judicial Review.

ABBEY FEE JUST £16,000

A reliable source from Crawley has let me know that Oxford paid just £16,000 for Ben Abbey. Of this, just £10,000 went to the financially struggling club, with the remainder going to the player himself. A clause in Abbey's contract with Crawley stipulated that he should receive half of any transfer fee, but he settled for £6,000 in order to complete the deal with Oxford.

So it sounds as if we took advantage of Crawley's financial situation in order to get Abbey at a knock-down price. (Crawley were at one time looking for £45,000 for their chief asset.) We're just as bad as all those clubs who have ripped us off over the years. Great.

Abbey has been confirmed as scorer for the reserves on Monday, not Frankie Bennett.

TONY WRIGHT REJECTED

Swindon have rejected former Oxford midfielder Tony Wright after he had an extended trial there. The player, who came up through Oxford's youth ranks, and was at one time a highly-rated prospect, is now set to quit the professional game.

BARNET NEWS

Barnet have resubmitted a planning application for stadium development at Copthall. A previous application was turned down by John Prescott. The application is for a 9,999 seater stadium. The main difference between this and the earlier application is that the new plans do not include athletics facilities, thus decreasing the effects on the local area. Controversy surrounded the rejection of the previous proposals - outwardly they were rejected because the plans affected green-belt land, but later it emerged that the government had earmarked the site for Olympic development.

More than 200 Barnet fans marched from North Finchley to Underhill on Saturday. The organisation of the march was praised by both poilce and public.

PALACE EXPULSION THREAT

Crystal Palace have been threatened with expuslion from the Football League over unpaid debts owed to Juventus and Strasbourg. Palace owe around £5 million in transfer fees for Attilio Lombardo and Michele Padovano (Juventus) and Valerian Ismael (Strasbourg). The consortium planning to take over the club has said it cannot afford to pay the full amounts, and is hoping to come to a percentage agreement with the two clubs.

COUNCIL AGREES LAND DEAL

Yes, last night at 10.45 pm, the City Council finally approved the Minchery Farm land deal. Oxford gets a new ground, FK gets his cinema, and everyone is happy. This is what FOUL has been fighting for during the past 10 or 11 months, and it's been achieved! An excellent result ahead of my holiday abroad...

So that just leaves Pentith and his friends. His friends being the public body known as British Rail Properties. (This is one of the few bits of British Rail that escaped the Tory sell-off.) They own much of the Oxpens land that Pentith hoped to develop, which is why they are his bed-partners in this attempted Judicial Review (JR). We'll have to wait and see whether Pentith's request for a JR is agreed to by the appointed judge, and whether Kassam will start work on the new ground in the interim.

Note that the Council and club still have to agree a deal with Thames Water over their land covenant, but hopefully this should not present a major hurdle.

1997/98 ACCOUNTS REVEAL BIG LOSS

The club accounts for the financial  year ending in June 1998 reveal a loss of £3.25 million. Another fine year under the stewardship of Keith Cox, it would appear...

RESERVES LOSE

The reserves lost 3-1 at Barnet yesterday, with trialist Frankie Bennett getting the U's goal. Ben Abbey played in attack, and trialists Fua and Darren Lonergan also featured.

LEONI RECALLED

It has been confirmed that Stéphane Leoni, the Bristol Rovers full back whom we had on trial for the last week, has been recalled by his manager, Ian Holloway. Their first choice right back, Trevor Challis, has had a recent knock, and Holloway requires Leoni as cover.

COUNCIL MEETING TODAY

Yes, it's finally come. October 4th. The day the Council meets to ratify the Minchery Farm land deals (if all goes to plan). The meeting is at 2pm - I'm not sure when it is likely to finish. We are last on the agenda, so the outcome should not be known until early eveing. Today could be remembered as a big day in United's history.

MILLWALL GAME GETS GO-AHEAD

The Millwall match on Saturday has been given the go-ahead by Millwall, despite a third player being called up for international duty.

PULIS UNIMPRESSED

There's nothing like a bit of hyperbole to start the week. Take it away, Tony Pulis. "In seven years as a manager, they are the worst three goals I've seen. The first one was Mickey Mouse. Disneyworld stuff. Half of our players went missing. It's not all about the beautiful game, it's about rolling sleeves up and working. They're spoilt rotten, so you'd expect them to have a right go, but no. The three goals were nothing short of pathetic. It was park football."

Not a happy bunny, I think you'll agree. It gets worse (or funnier, depending on your viewpoint). "I've got to bring in new players - The current ones keep on making the same mistakes every week. They won't change, I think they'll go on doing it - Well, I know they will. We can't have it - It was a disgrace."

RESERVES AT BARNET

The reserves take on Barnet (away) this afternoon, 2pm kick-off. Ben Abbey will play his first full match for the club, and Bristol Rovers winger-cum-striker, Frankie Bennett, will also feature. It seems Ian Holloway has had his way and recalled Stéphane Leoni, as the Rovers right back has not been named in the side.

However we do have another right-sided defender on trial - Irish player, Darren Lonergan. Is this the same Darren Lonergan who was at Macclesfield Town last season? I'm not sure. Anyway, he currently plays for Waterford United in Eire, after being released by Macclesfield at the end of last season. He has also been on the books at Oldham, Bury and Stalybridge after starting his career at Waterford.

The tabloids are circling around Joey Beauchamp again, eager to create a story. Derby is their chosen link this time. It was Everton (who coincidentally played us) last week. Whom will it be next week?

DODGY KEEPER
(OXFORD 3 BRISTOL CITY 0)

This match will be remembered as the first Manor appearance for two notable players. One was late Oxford sub Ben Abbey. The other was 21 year old Bristol City keeper, Stephen Phillips. Three times he made a mess of it, and three times his team was punished. At the other end, Pål Lundin had an excellent game, making crucial saves with all parts of his body. The first half should have been about 3-0 to City, but for the contrast in keepers. Unsurprisingly the visitors' heads dropped in the second half, and their defending became as dire as Oxford's was (Lundin apart) in the first half.

Derek Lilley had his best game yet for the club, and Beauchamp and Lambert impressed on the wings. But the Tait-less midfield was too lightweight. Why did we not close the City midfielders down? They were given more time and space than they could ever have dreamt of.

Somehow we kept a clean sheet. And got three points for the first time in over a month. Fifteenth and rising?

BRISTOL CITY PREVIEW (no longer all-ticket)

Oxford have renewed injury doubts ahead of tomorrow's clash of the relegated teams, with Paul Tait and Steve Davis (flu) particular doubts. Tait is least likely to play, and if he misses out, Matt Murphy will revert to his preferred midfield role, with Derek Lilley returning to partner Steve Anthrobus up front. If both Davis and Mark Watson - still recovering from a leg injury - are fit to play, Shotton could choose to revert to a flat back four. New signing, Ben Abbey, will make it no further than the bench, as he has not played in three weeks. He gave Shotton a scare shortly after signing, after a freak accident in which he smacked his head with a cricket bat, whilst playing against the youth team! Lundin is likely to return in goal,  although Arendse has got back from his South African international match. He starred in a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia.

City will be without their first choice midfield pair of Paul Mortimer (suspended) and Paul Holland (injured), so Carl Hutchings and Brian Tinnion are likely to deputise. The side have struggled to score since selling their prize striking asset, Ade Akinbiyi, to Wolves.

MILLWALL MATCH IN DOUBT

Next Saturday's match at home to Millwall is in doubt as Millwall might have three players involved in international squads. Currently Richard Sadlier (Eire U21) and Mark Bircham (Canada) have been named in national squads. Additionally Joe Dolan is on standby for Northern Ireland U21. If he is added to that squad, next week's match will be postponed. Rules state that any side losing more than two players to inetrnational duty can ask to have their game postponed.

Oxford's Rob Folland has been named on standby for the Wales U21 squad.

This page is maintained by James Beard.