Ex-QPR's Jim Smith's Oxford Departure - Very Gracefull Comments All Around

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Oxford United Official Jim Smith Steps Down as United Manager

Having had time to consider the Oxford United situation during a period away in Spain, Jim Smith has recommended to the Board that the time is right - before this season's promotion opportunity disappears - to make a change in First Team Manager. Nick Merry and Ian Lenagan have accepted Jim's recommendation and, as a result, Jim has stepped down with immediate effect and Darren Patterson has been appointed as Manager.

Nick Merry, Chairman said:

"We have always maintained that Jim Smith would put the interests of the Club before his own and decide when it was time for him to step down as Manager and concentrate on his Director's role full-time. Whilst Jim still feels there is a good chance that he could turn the season round, his experience has led him to recommend that a change in Manager now is more likely to produce the required result."

Nick continued:

"We respect and thank Jim Smith for his efforts for Oxford United and look forward to his future with us as a long-standing and valued member of the Main Board."

Darren Patterson takes over as Manager with immediate effect reporting to the Board and will have his first match in charge of the current First Team squad on Saturday. Discussions have started as to his Assistant but may not be concluded for some weeks.

Jim Smith said:

"Managing in The Conference is very different than at the higher levels and, consequently, has been more difficult, less enjoyable personally and unfortunately less successful than I would have liked for the Oxford United supporters. We came very close last season but not close enough. I feel the time is right for Darren to have the opportunity to manage the team in his own way and I'm delighted to be asked to continue to contribute to Oxford United as a Director helping with overall strategy."

Nick Merry, Chairman added:

"Concern about performances has caused many Oxford United fans to call for this change. Results and - particularly - reduced attendances have become a serious financial concern to all the Board including Jim. Having made the change, we would ask Oxford United fans to demonstrate in the most significant way their commitment to the Club by attending in large numbers starting with tomorrow's important FA Cup game." Oxford

OXFORD MAIL - FOOTBALL: Legend's return ends in disappointment By Jon Murray

They say you should never go back - we all know that - but in Jim Smith's case it was surely an exception.

Here was a true legend of a manager, one who had brought Oxford United their greatest years, who had managed the biggest clubs - like Newcastle United - at the highest level, and one who had such a vast knowledge of the game.

And his contacts were priceless. There aren't many bosses, for instance, who can simply pick up the phone and get straight through to Sir Alex Ferguson.

But the Messiah's second coming just didn't go to plan.

And after taking Oxford United up 25 places in the Football League in his first glorious spell in charge in the 1980s, from 5th in Division Three and into the First Division for the first time, he has this time overseen a slump in which the club has fallen 16 places, from 19th in League Two when he took over to 11th as they sadly stand now in the Blue Square Premier.

The Bald Eagle's 20 months in charge has been really up and down - on two occasions.
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There was the first very brief experience of trying to save a team that was on a downward spiral and shorn of confidence from falling through the Football League trapdoor.

They had to win their final game to stay in the Football League, and they were at home to a Leyton Orient side that also needed victory to clinch promotion.

The club's final match in the Football League was to be one of the most remarkable matches in their history, ending with both sides desperately committing players forward, kami-kazi style, in search of the three points. At one stage in the closing minutes Oxford had three forwards bearing down on goal against one defender. Seconds later, at the other end, Orient then had four against one.

And, with a certain inevitability, it was one of United's former players, Lee Steele, who scored Orient's winner in a 3-2 scoreline that spelled the end of Oxford's 44-year stay in the Football League and left home fans all around the stadium in tears.

To be fair, Smith was not blamed for the relegation. Most supporters felt predecessor Brian Talbot had done much of the damage, and the blame lay much more with previous chairman Firoz Kassam.

Off the field, United were doing things much more professionally than they had in the Kassam era, establishing a new training ground base at Milton, treating the players well with overnight stays, pre-match meals and introducing a big backroom staff, including a fitness trainer and masseur as well as physios and coaches.

So for the players, there could be no excuses. And United's life in non-League started well under Smith.

With an experienced defensive trio of Chris Willmott, Barry Quinn and Phil Gilchrist, no-one could score against them, and the U's were unbeaten in the first 18 Conference games, storming away at the top of the table with automatic promotion looking almost nailed-on.

But cold reality was soon to set in. The wheels started to come off in the middle of winter when key players picked up injuries - most notably Chris Willmott, Steve Basham and Eddie Hutchinson - and a 12-game winless run drained self-belief.

There's no doubt Oxford United blew it last season, and that was always going to be their best chance of bouncing back into the Football League.

Thanks in no small part to new loan signing Chris Zebroski, the U's managed a late three-win spurt to guarantee finishing second in the table and being at home for the second leg of the play-off semi-final.

A thoroughly professional performance and 1-0 win at Exeter in the first leg put Oxford halfway to Wembley, but once again they blew it. After Yemi Odubade had shot them two up on aggregate they seemed to go into reverse, and the Devon side clawed back the deficit then won 4-3 in an excruciating penalty shoot-out.

It might have been the time for Smith to step down then, but he was determined to have one more stab at getting the club promoted.

But Conference clubs no longer feared Oxford United.

The U's kept throwing away leads at home, most spectacularly against Torquay, which suggested that team spirit wasn't great, but it was away from home that Oxford United looked a sorry state of affairs. Defeats at Histon, Droylsden and then last week's five-goal hammering at Rushden made it a sad end to Jim Smith's second reign.

But the Bald Eagle will always have a special place in Oxford United's history for what he achieved 20 years ago.

And it's good that he has moved on now, before the slide drags on irreversibly, so that he can best be remembered by Yellows supporters for what he did in the 80s - as the greatest manager in the club's history. Oxford Mail


Oxford Mail -Jim Smith: Merry and Smith comments

Oxford United chairman Nick Merry said Jim Smith had stepped down as manager and had recommended Darren Patterson as his successor.

Mr Merry said: "We have always maintained that Jim Smith would put the interests of the Club before his own and decide when it was time for him to step down as Manager and concentrate on his Director's role full-time. Whilst Jim still feels there is a good chance that he could turn the season round, his experience has led him to recommend that a change in Manager now is more likely to produce the required result "We respect and thank Jim Smith for his efforts for Oxford United and look forward to his future with us as a long-standing and valued member of the Main Board."

Smith said: "Managing in The Conference is very different than at the higher levels and, consequently, has been more difficult, less enjoyable personally and unfortunately less successful than I would have liked for the Oxford United supporters. We came very close last season but not close enough. I feel the time is right for Darren to have the opportunity to manage the team in his own way and I'm delighted to be asked to continue to contribute to Oxford United as a Director helping with overall strategy."

Mr Merry added: "Concern about performances has caused many Oxford United fans to call for this change. Results and - particularly - reduced attendances have become a serious financial concern to all the Board including Jim. Having made the change, we would ask Oxford United fans to demonstrate in the most significant way their commitment to the Club by attending in large numbers starting with tomorrow's important FA Cup game." Oxford Mail