Been thinking about the backroom staff organisation a lot this week and what it might say about the operation of the non-playing side of the club (in the absence of hearing much from the board). A few brief thoughts:
- My guess about the analyst is that he's on gardening leave and can't be announced properly yet (fair enough)
- Assistant has taken a very long time, true. Sounds like Des tried to bring someone from overseas but that didn't work out, and then it sounds like he's spoken to a few guys already employed over here. As with analyst, everything takes longer when someone is already employed.
- Given that most of Des' coaching career has been abroad it makes sense that he doesn't have a Chris Hogg type here and, unlike last year, Oxford didn't have a player with coaching badges ready to be an assistant (Mous). The point is, let's have patience because why rush what will be quite a critical appointment for a rookie manager we've invested heavily in?
- Another thing, as the club has rebuilt over the last year there has been a lot of staff changes. As KR became more of a dictator it seemed like a few familiar faces moved on quite quietly (Allen, Harris - a few others too in recruitment and medical team). Manning brought in some guys but LBS and Brown moved on of course. The point being that there's been a lot of staff churn in the last year and I don't blame the club if we're taking time to find candidates who might be looking to lay roots here.
- I understand Baldock is still around the club doing things and it wouldn't surprise me if he ended up having a role announced at some point before the end of the season.
I felt frustrated about the backroom staff situation earlier this week, but when I put it in these terms I start to question less what the board are doing. Personally, I'm not fond of the way the club's intent is communicated to fans, but I do respect that what we have seen over the last 9 months is a rebuild way ahead of schedule that has given us something to be excited about for the second half of the season. It's human nature to feel frustrated and angry when a good thing unravels a bit (mostly through bad luck with injuries!), but that good thing was built over the summer and should earn our trust and patience for some further rebuilding this month.