Manager/Coach Des Buckingham

[Northstandboy]

Manager Stats (Click Below)

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[Steve Gilbert]

Bristol city weren't second in the league when Manning took over them. Big difference there.

We were 2nd but in Manning’s last 5 games we scraped a win vs Bristol Rovers that most said we were lucky to win, we got a point against Blackpool which most fans thought we didn’t deserve, we lost to Wigan in one of the worst performances I’ve seen an Oxford side play for a long time, a point at home to Wycombe that we needed a 96th minute penalty to get a draw and then a win against a very very poor Lincoln side.

The signs were there long before Manning left that he wasn’t going to be able to sustain a top 2 place.

 

[Followtheox1]

Manning had a whole pre season to put his stamp on the team, he also had the end of last season to assess what was needed and then had time to put things in place to then have a good transfer window.
Comparing Des’s start to how Manning was doing at the start of this season is unfair on Des.

Tim and Grant also have not helped Des out by the ridiculous situation around appointing an assistant manager.

I doubt he wouldn’t want the role but it wouldn’t have been a bad idea, if they weren’t going to get Des an assistant in, to put Faz in that role short term to add some experience.

The question I have about Des needing some experience is surely that is what is Craig Short offers? I understand the importance of an assistant manager but to say there is no experience in there is untrue.

 

[Jster]

I sometimes wonder how much there are actually "good" managers, and how much it's all down to luck, circumstance, and other combinations of events outside their direct control. Even the likes of Alex Ferguson could easily have been sacked after a couple of years at Man U, and we'd all be remembering him as just another failed Man Utd manager who'd had success at Aberdeen. Arsenal fans were calling for Wenger's head by the end, despite all he'd achieved. Pep, well he's always been at one of the biggest/richest sides in a country. Wonder how he'd fare at a league one side.

I'm sure there is more than a little skill involved, but I suspect a load of other factors matter as much, if not more.

 

[Carpy]

Have added a poll

 

[Joey]

On the flipside, Des came in with a ready-made team in second place and 3pts off the top with a game in hand. Not many managers are appointed under such luxuries. Although injuries have been a problem ever since, the defeat against Cheltenham was a taster of things to come little did we know.

Was that wildly different to the defeats against Cambridge and Wigan under Manning? I'd suggest not, the squad we have struggled against those sort of teams regardless of manager. Not giving Des a free pass here but that wasn't completely against what we'd seen before this season.

 

[Davox]

The thing that I’m most concerned about with Buckingham is that he doesn’t seem to have a signature/style of playing in his teams.

He’s had nearly 20 games now and we should be able to identify what a Des Buckingham team looks like. Robinsons teams were constant pressing (sometimes foolishly), centre backs dribbling out from the back, stretching opposition with wide players and committing lots of players forwards.

Mannings features were pressing as a team when the ball reached about 35 yards from their goal line, high defensive line and full backs bombing on, very few long balls, also well when we were leading, switch to more defensive, counter attacking style with 3 centre backs. (This was from my perspective, I accept some people may disagree)

With Buckingham though, I can’t identify what his team is trying to do. Sometimes, some players press and others don’t, sometimes we sit deep, sometimes the line is higher and it seems random, really like the players don’t have team instructions and he really doesn’t change when we’re leading to close games out. Maybe that’s part of his style but it doesn’t seem deliberate.

Maybe this is partly because he hasn’t had a summer transfer window to get his own players in. He’s had a window now though, and if over the next 10 games we still can’t identify his signature/style of playing, then I feel we won’t progress and we should re-recruit in the summer.

 

[Swaby39]

I went bold and said no, not the right choice. It's not him, it's us.

We're not a club that is set up for a young coach with raw potential to come and strut his stuff in the safety of a comprehensive, aligned structure that'll help steer him. The job description at the club due to incompetence at the top asks too much of someone with Des' CV. There's no danger he gets sacked anyway and I'm not saying we'll never get there with him but I'd suggest the ultimate timescale for promotion would be end of next season and I can't see that happening. I think we'll lose some players this summer having missed a big opportunity this year. I just can't see us being one of the best 3 sides next year.

 

[Scotchegg]

Br

Bristol city weren't second in the league when Manning took over them. Big difference there.

Bristol City have dropped 4 places since Manning arrived, Oxford have dropped 5 places.

Hardly big differences.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

LDLDWLWLWWLLDD

League form under DES!

The wins were against a woeful Burton Albion at home, Cambridge United, Charlton (thank you wondergoal) and the absolutely awful Carlisle.

If you're not having doubts about him, that's hard to understand.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

People are trying to defend the indefensible with Des. The table when he arrived:

 

[chromeyellow]

Just vote and move on instead of making the same observation over and over again.

 

[SteMerritt]

LDLDWLWLWWLLDD

League form under Manning.

The wins were against a woeful Burton Albion at home, Cambridge United, Charlton (thank you wondergoal) and the absolutely awful Carlisle.

If you're not having doubts about him, that's hard to understand.

Take a breath, read it again one hell of a typo

 

[Carpy]

Just vote and move on instead of making the same observation over and over again.

You realise this is a forum for debate right?

 

[chromeyellow]

Yes, but debating is not making the same observation over and over again, and ignoring any point raised by anyone else.


When @wanderingyellow is capable of acknowledging that Manning had many more players available to him ( including for example, a fit Greg Leigh) and that he had the benefit of choosing some of his own players, and a summer to work together with them then we could have a debate.

So far, it’s just him posting that league table

 

[Wandering Yellow]

When @wanderingyellow is capable of acknowledging that Manning had many more players available to him ( including for example, a fit Greg Leigh) and that he had the benefit of choosing some of his own players, and a summer to work together with them then we could have a debate.

So far, it’s just him posting that league table

Des hasn't had it easy with injuries, I don't think anyone is arguing that he has. I also think the club hasn't got the support around him that he needs. I've acknowledged that in several posts.

However, the results speak for themselves, as do the performances. If you're not at least having doubts that it's the wrong appointment I find that hard to fathom.

 

[Scotchegg]

You realise this is a forum for debate right?

Yet we've also added a poll which tries to pigeon hole numerous aspects of a debate into 4 categories that can then be used to evidence the voice of the forum.

 

[Carpy]

Yet we've also added a poll which tries to pigeon hole numerous aspects of a debate into 4 categories that can then be used to evidence the voice of the forum.

How many options would you like? 8? 12?

 

[Joey]

It isn’t just the assistant and analyst situation that Buckingham has had to put up with. Harry Routledge has been gone as HoP for a while and I believe his replacement has either just started in the last few days, or is about to start any day now. That has been dragging on for many weeks yet nobody has said a word on it. There have also been exits on the admin side including some very loyal and long serving members of staff, with more to come before the season is out.

The club is a complete shambles at the moment.

This is the jist of what I said below last week.

He certainly hasn't been. Manning had Hogg as a trusted right hand man, we spent months chasing people, offering them pay cuts and getting turned down before just sort-of-but-not-really giving it to Hackett. The way it was announced was a giveaway that it wasn't our first choice and we were about 10 games into Des' reign by then.

Another member of the backroom staff also left around the time Des came in but he still appears on the website and I've seen no notification that he's gone. I suspect when the new guy is in next week we'll see a "he replaces x with immediate effect, we thank x for his services" message from the club as if he's been here the whole time and we've not been another man down while Des is trying to fill those roles and manage the team. I've not seen much of a plan on the pitch under him but he's been stitched up by a board who are either absent or not up to it.

As you say, Routledge has been gone since late November/early December. His replacement was all agreed and was ready to be on the bench last year but Tim never sorted it (Des did most the chasing himself) and now won't be starting until this week. This is troubling on a few fronts.

1) The complete lack of urgency to get some help for Buckingham, despite having someone qualified and ready to go well over a month ago.

2) The fact it was left to the manager to sort out, at a time when we had loads of injuries, games coming thick and fast and we hadn't sorted out any other backroom staff for him (in particular, see assistant manager)

3) No mention at all that a senior member of staff has left. As of 5:30pm on Sunday 4th Feb his name is on the club website so unless you knew about it you'd not even have any suspicion that we're a staff member down.

In all scenarios, the obvious question if you've got an open mind is "if that's the case, what else is happening?" Buckingham having to chase up senior management to appoint staff who want to come here is bad enough, what's to say that wasn't the case with an assistant as well, or any of the other staff Ryan mentioned? Put that together with the two month search for an assistant and it all fits with a board who are out of their depth, not working hard enough or both. Regarding them not mentioning anything about outgoing staff, unfortunately incompetence is the best case scenario here. Just as likely is that they know it won't be well received so won't bother telling us, either because they don't want the hassle or they simply have too much contempt for us. How's planning permission for the new stadium going, that's crucial to our very existence? Still looking at being submitted November 2023? Or is there actually a chance it won't be ready and maybe we might have to groundshare? Was that announced at a forum, website update or an open letter to fans? Nah, just mention it offhand in an Athletic article and see if the plebs pick up on it.

I took some stick for suggesting we'd offered people paycuts to join as assistant and didn't want to say too much more. To be fair I don't expect to put some pretty outrageous claims on and be believed just like that, even with the context of the Hackett is-he-isnt-he fiasco in the background. That said, if the other part of my quoted post turns out to be true then I'd hope those posters will also have an open enough mind to consider the rest of it might be as well. I won't say who but it was the same person who told me all this information at the same time and was pretty astounded themselves. I don't see it as particularly likely they'd have said something so specific and then completely fabricated the rest.

Buckingham has ultimately been set up to fail by the cowboys in charge. Comparisons with Manning aren't fair, even if we were second or third when he left most can see we were slightly fortunate to be there, were scoring more than our play would suggest, had few injuries and avoided playing a lot of the top teams. More importantly though he was allowed to arrive mob handed with a trusted assistant, analyst and coaches so he could stamp his authority on it. I don't like the story at all of how he allegedly treated Wayne Brown but he was able to be ruthless and give himself some authority. Buckingham has come highly regarded but relatively unknown and walked into a bit of a old boys club with Short's stock very high and was given no back up at all. Not a dig at Short or any of the staff we have currently but it's basically Des stick, combined with a pretty crap set of circumstances he was in a hiding to nothing. Unfortunately I already think he's got an uphill battle on his hands to gain the full trust and respect of the team and if he does fail he'll have a black mark against his name when it should be at least as much on his bosses.

Tim and Grant were weak when allowing Robinson to decimate the club from the inside and then stay so long, wish washy with Manning's contract and downright incompetent throughout the entirety of Buckingham's reign so far, all with a nice undercurrent of arrogance whilst the stadium project that will keep us alive quietly runs into problems out of sight. They're very dangerous people to have running the club.

 

[Bicester Yellow]

Think we will see big changes in the summer. I’m happy to give Des at least a couple of seasons, if we get promoted to the championship before any new stadium it will be an overachievement with the sides who are in and around us. No point in changing managers every 5 minutes. It won’t help anyone.

 

[Pgyellow]

So isn't there anyone from the ownership group that's monitoring them? I mean beyond a brief stopover and glad handing.