Football Season Review

Oxford entered the new season with plenty of question marks surrounding them, having decided to give Pep Clotet, Gary Monk's assistant at Swansea and Leeds, his first stint as a manager of a club. Clotet conducted a squad clear-out during the summer and brought in numerous players from unknown in a bid to get the U's to start keeping the ball on the ground and start playing a more continental brand of football. For a while, it was an approach that worked, as Oxford lost only one of their last seven games and were in the play-off picture until mid November. However, what followed was a steep decline, as the U's won only 3 of the 11 games they played between mid November and mid January and a 2:1 home defeat to Bury, who were winless on their travels prior to that game, caused the boss to part ways with Clotet, who later reunited with Gary Monk and became his assistant manager at Birmingham. What followed Clotet's dismissal was a two-month search for a new manager during which the U's kept struggling to get results and got themselves dangerously close to the relegation zone. Their search finally ended in mid March, when Karl Robinson took over only hours after resigning from his post at Charlton. With the sides hovering around the relegation places so late in the season, the goal set in front of Robinson was to keep the U's up and he delivered, as Oxford survived their survival with a game to spare. The former MK Dons and Charlton manager is now set to oversee a major summer squad overhaul. The U's have already lost wantaway midfielder Ryan Ledson to Preston and have released as many as eight players, with Robinson set to bring in several new recruits over the coming weeks.

Player of the Season: James Henry