The manager I rejected due to his accent
OXFORD UNITED received 130 applications for their vacant manager’s position following the sacking of Karl Robinson.
There is often a deluge when you are in the market for a new manager and they range from the qualified to the deluded. I never had as many as Oxford but maybe that was just me. I do remember Steve Cotterill phoning relentlessly and telling me he had carried out scouting reports on the team. The problem was, I couldn’t
take him seriously because of his west country accent and he ended up irritating me. Talking of accents, Jacques Santini was in the offing before he made the choice to go to Spurs.
I also recall Ralf Rangnick being punted at me — there’s a bullet dodged! Others were a total waste of time. They had picked a Fantasy Football team and thought they could manage a real football team. Oxford may have had 130 people wanting the job but only a handful will be of interest, no matter what division you are in.