KARL ROBINSON
The Oxford United boss on call-ups and the Checkatrade Trophy
OXFORD United manager Karl Robinson has urged the Football League to look again at the impact of international call-ups on lower league clubs.
While the Premier League and Championship shut down when there is an international break, the League One and Two programmes continue – unless a club has three players called up and requests a postponement.
But former MK Dons and Charlton manager Robinson believes just losing winger Gavin Whyte to international duty with Northern Ireland has a detrimental effect on his side’s chances of getting a result.
The 22-year-old joined Oxford from Crusaders this summer and has made a big impact at the Kassam Stadium, netting five goals and turning in some electrifying displays.
He also made a stunning start with Northern Ireland, coming off the bench to score with his first touch in international football in a 3-0 victory against Israel in September. He gained his second cap in a 2-0 defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina last month.
However, Whyte missed Oxford’s home games against Coventry (lost 2-1) and Plymouth (won 2-0) as a result and is now set to miss next Saturday’s home match against Gillingham.
Northern Ireland visit the Republic of Ireland on Thursday before hosting Austria next Sunday.
Regular
“He’s one of my star players and that’s something we’ve got to look at with the Football League,” said Robinson.
“When you have someone who is a regular and your leading goalscorer not available for selection for a competitive game, it makes you weaker. That’s frustrating.
“Some managers use people who aren’t even playing as an opportunity to get a game called off. You might have one player in your team who is going away but the other two might not be in your squad - but you can get the game called off.
“It’s frustrating when some managers use players who play for very obscure countries to do that. Yet we have one who plays for a major country and it has a big impact on our performance. I’m sure the Football League will look at it.”
Despite his annoyance at the situation, Robinson has nothing but praise for Whyte himself and how he’s adapted to English football.
“He’s been impeccable in how he’s started since he’s come in here,” he said. “We are very pleased to have him and look forward to working with him for the foreseeable future.”
Something else giving the 38-yearold reason for optimism is Oxford’s improved form. The U’s were unbeaten in six games in league and cup heading into yesterday’s FA Cup tie against Forest Green Rovers. They remain in the League One relegation zone, but appear to be on the up. And Robinson says there were reasons why they got off to such a slow start this term. “We had a new training ground and with the heat over the summer, we didn’t have the pitches available,” he said. That was difficult for us to adapt to. “The chairman’s been brilliant in backing me, but we had a lot of in- juries. From my starting XI, I didn’t have Jamie Mackie, Ricky Holmes, Samir Carruthers, Rob Hall. My goalkeeper (Simon Eastwood) got injured before the second game of the season.
“In total, I had six of my starting eleven out for a minimum of a month. We had relegated Barnsley away (lost 4-0), Portsmouth who were flying (lost 4-1).
Kind
“The fixtures weren’t kind at the moment we needed them to be with the injuries we had.
“When we see Premier League managers go without their star players, because they’re household names, the more evident it is when they’re not playing.
“It’s the same when you go down the leagues. We have our best players in our teams, but when they’re not fit it has an impact on performance and certainly an impact on results.
“However, I’ve done a lot of games and seen it all before. I knew I had players who could cope with the demands of a Football League season.
“Last year we finished 16th and we have an internal goal for this season that we’ve not moved. We’ve changed one or two things with the budget, we’ve put more money into the U23s.
“It’s a long-term plan. It’s an opportunity I’m really looking forward to and my goal-setting hasn’t changed.”
Robinson was speaking after Oxford’s impressive 3-0 win at Wycombe Wanderers in the Checkatrade Trophy on Tuesday night.
Cameron Brannagan headed the U’s into the lead with barely 20 seconds on the clock and further goals from Marcus Browne and Sam Smith wrapped up an excellent night’s work at Adams Park.
Excellent
The victory meant Oxford topped Southern Group F and will have a home tie in the last 32. The U’s were beaten finalists in both 2015-16 and 2016-17 and would love to have another crack at a Wembley final this year.
“I thought we were excellent from start to finish,” Robinson told The FLP. “Some of our passing was very good and some of our attacking play was impeccable.
“It’s a competition that I know quite well and this club knows very well. It gets a lot of criticism, but I think the Football League relaxing the rules was very clever. The fixtures have been put in at better times this year.
“The Football League sat down and spoke to the managers, spoke to the football clubs.
“They’ve tweaked how the tournament is run and I think every manager will tell you it’s much better this year.
“We get an awful lot of money from the category one academies and Premier League to be a sounding board for their young teams to learn a little bit more of the Football League system. That allows us to have better prize money in it and makes it more of a lure for the chairmen to want to win it.
“There are so many things that we can moan about in football, but sometimes these competitions don’t get the praise they deserve.”