Manager/Coach Des Buckingham

uptheus said:
They said they’re not addressing the assistant manager/coach situation until the summer/end of season.
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Exactly. Hardly screams competence does it? It’s astonishing for two reasons:

1. You hired a manager (at a significant cost) who was always going to need help finding one. Why hire him at all if that was something you weren’t prepared to do as you’re essentially capping his potential before he’s even arrived.

2. We are still, somehow, around the play offs with an opportunity to stay there to the end. We’ve got the players to do it and competing in a league with no outstanding sides.

Negligence/incompetence beyond comprehension.
 
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CCYellow said:
And that's the fault of Des?

Even more reason for Tim and Grant to pull their finger out, or hire a DoF to do it for them.
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I'm not blaming it all on Des. The club is being ran like a Sunday league affair.
 
I really want Des to succeed, and understand the concerns raised about a lack of a clear plan and playing as a cohesive unit.

Let's be honest, when Manning was still here, I doubt many of us really believed the league table with Oxford in second was a true reflection. Results were patchy and had that feeling of one step forward (Derby, Barnsley) and one step back (Cambridge, Port Vale, MKD, Wigan). I suspect many of us suspected things would settle down and the bigger clubs would nudge their way past us.

Whilst Manning was here, the only significant injury was Browne. Right now, we have 11 first-teamers out, plus lost Beadle and Mills.

To say Des must go is for the birds. Firstly, it would be wholly unfair on him considering the hand he has been dealt (injuries, lack of backroom team, confusion with the board). And secondly, the money spent on bringing him here, and the inaction from the board regarding KR's dismissal, demonstrates we have to accept Des Buckingham is here for the long haul.

I would go further and say, we are nowhere near ready for promotion. We'd come tumbling straight back down. (Shef Wed, Blackpool). We need to build a squad and an identity for the long-term, right now, the club is not ready for the Championship.

Yes, this season does feel like a great opportunity being missed. But blaming Des Buckingham is not right, nor fair. Look how weak our bench was on Tuesday, we really are down to the bare bones.

So my questions are...
  • Why are we suffering so many injuries?
    Is our squad size limiting the chance of rotation causing us to 'overplay' our players?
    Why do we sign so many 'fragile' players?

  • Why has the board not appointed a proper Assistant Manager?

  • What on earth is going on with the Analyst position?

  • Does an OUFC manager have any say in recruitment? or is this solely the fiefdom of Ed Waldron?
Personally, I have written off this season. We ain't going to get promoted, and we certainly are not ready for promotion either. Top 30 club? Not a chance with our current senior execs.
 
oxfordkits said:
I really want Des to succeed, and understand the concerns raised about a lack of a clear plan and playing as a cohesive unit.

Let's be honest, when Manning was still here, I doubt many of us really believed the league table with Oxford in second was a true reflection. Results were patchy and had that feeling of one step forward (Derby, Barnsley) and one step back (Cambridge, Port Vale, MKD, Wigan). I suspect many of us suspected things would settle down and the bigger clubs would nudge their way past us.

Whilst Manning was here, the only significant injury was Browne. Right now, we have 11 first-teamers out, plus lost Beadle and Mills.

To say Des must go is for the birds. Firstly, it would be wholly unfair on him considering the hand he has been dealt (injuries, lack of backroom team, confusion with the board). And secondly, the money spent on bringing him here, and the inaction from the board regarding KR's dismissal, demonstrates we have to accept Des Buckingham is here for the long haul.

I would go further and say, we are nowhere near ready for promotion. We'd come tumbling straight back down. (Shef Wed, Blackpool). We need to build a squad and an identity for the long-term, right now, the club is not ready for the Championship.

Yes, this season does feel like a great opportunity being missed. But blaming Des Buckingham is not right, nor fair. Look how weak our bench was on Tuesday, we really are down to the bare bones.

So my questions are...
  • Why are we suffering so many injuries?
    Is our squad size limiting the chance of rotation causing us to 'overplay' our players?
    Why do we sign so many 'fragile' players?

  • Why has the board not appointed a proper Assistant Manager?

  • What on earth is going on with the Analyst position?

  • Does an OUFC manager have any say in recruitment? or is this solely the fiefdom of Ed Waldron?
Personally, I have written off this season. We ain't going to get promoted, and we certainly are not ready for promotion either. Top 30 club? Not a chance with our current senior execs.
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I’ve liked this post because you managed to list some good arguments to support Buckingham and avoid using the f*****g ‘he’s one of our own’ one 🙏😁
 
Do the players know what they are supposed to be doing, yesterday we lost the ball on the halfway line to give their bloke a free run down the left to cross the ball for their goal, nobody went with him, what were the back four doing apart from looking at each other to blame.
Sorry, i dont think Des is your man.
 
Williams and his puppet Benson appear to be more concerned with creating division and scoring points against long standing supporters, rather than putting in a support structure for a young, inexperienced manager

Mean spirited, insecure and thin skinned comes to mind.

Do your job properly, and get your priorities right.
 
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.
 
RyanioBirdio said:
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.
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Are they leaving of their own accord, Ryan?
 
Swaby39 said:
The assistant manager situation is farcical. The importance of this is dictated by the manager you choose. If we’d appointed a Gary Rowett-type and said hypothetically his normal number 2 couldn’t join him, you can understand them taking some time to go through other alternatives and trust in Rowett to hold things together in the mean time - he’s experienced enough.

But when you appoint someone essentially coming out of football’s best university, you MUST accept responsibility for putting someone next to him who can plug the inevitable knowledge gaps. With that will be some cost and anybody worth having will need persuading. This should all have been factored in as a subsequent condition of hiring Buckingham.

The fact we haven’t is just more to the pile of mounting evidence that various parts of the club are being completely neglected at the hands of a CEO that’s out of his depth.
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Spot on.

Williams and Ferguson are both accountants by trade, aren't they? I'm sure they are probably doing some useful things in the background, but clearly neither of them appreciate that in those type of leadership positions, you're responsible for being 'the face' and setting the tone for the rest of the club. Grant can't really have any presence around the club given he's based on the other side of the world, whilst Williams seems to be much more interested in getting himself interviews and appearances on podcasts. It fits nicely with his "I was at Inter Milan and Man U' routine, when what I would hope he would realise is that the easiest way to impress people is to simply show them how good you are, rather than repeatedly tell them. Given how little either have given the fans then it's not a massive leap to assume they've left hard-working and well intended club employees in the lurch.

As you say, it didn't take much to see that Buckingham would have needed support bringing in and they should have been on that the moment they knew Des was their man. This is why, although I understand why people are sceptical about Buckingham given his start so far, I think any talk of him not being up to it is premature. I also don't think getting rid of him (not that I've seen much talk on this) is doing OUFC any favours, because any new manager is likely to be in the same boat as Buckingham unless they have their own staff, but even that would paper over the issues that have been exposed under Ferguson and Williams. They are the problem I want resolved first and foremost.
 
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Steve Gilbert said:
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.
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Is it up to the board to appoint an assistant manager?

Des is terrible. He’s tactically inept, inspires no confidence and has absolutely no signs of a plan or style of play.

Maybe no coaches want to work for him? Does he have any contacts in this country?
 
Cookie said:
Is it up to the board to appoint an assistant manager?

Des is terrible. He’s tactically inept, inspires no confidence and has absolutely no signs of a plan or style of play.

Maybe no coaches want to work for him? Does he have any contacts in this country?
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He has worked in football in this country for over 10 years. Of course he has contacts here.
 
Cookie said:
Is it up to the board to appoint an assistant manager?

Des is terrible. He’s tactically inept, inspires no confidence and has absolutely no signs of a plan or style of play.

Maybe no coaches want to work for him? Does he have any contacts in this country?
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I would argue that Des’ CV suggests that he must have some decent grasp of tactics. The problem seems to be conveying his ideas to the players. It’s clear something hasn’t clicked yet. Do the players trust him? Is he getting the help he needs from the coaches already established? Does he need to grow a set of cojones and be more assertive? Kick some arses..? 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
Cookie said:
Maybe no coaches want to work for him? Does he have any contacts in this country?
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I can only assume that most are already employed and/or settled and it's a tough time of the year to be filling such a role. Probably cling on til summer and then see who's available. This is the danger when you bring in a manger who has no staff at hand but even with Des's appointment; it was also a torrid time of the season to be filling such a critical role with the position we were in.
 
East Stand Fan said:
I can only assume that most are already employed and/or settled and it's a tough time of the year to be filling such a role. Probably cling on til summer and then see who's available. This is the danger when you bring in a manger who has no staff at hand but even with Des's appointment; it was also a torrid time of the season to be filling such a critical role with the position we were in.
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Suggest they (Des) don't/didn't want to waste any more energy on chasing this one when he felt he had enough support around for the foreseeable. It is entirely possible that this will be revisited in the close season. As for asking Faz, well am surprised he has the energy for what he does do already! Though might give Hodgson a run for his money😀
 
Swaby39 said:
Exactly. Hardly screams competence does it? It’s astonishing for two reasons:

1. You hired a manager (at a significant cost) who was always going to need help finding one. Why hire him at all if that was something you weren’t prepared to do as you’re essentially capping his potential before he’s even arrived.

2. We are still, somehow, around the play offs with an opportunity to stay there to the end. We’ve got the players to do it and competing in a league with no outstanding sides.

Negligence/incompetence beyond comprehension.
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Are we at the Crystal Palace style fan demo stage yet?
 
CCYellow said:
Is the answer you're looking for Des?


Which Number 2 did Appleton, Clotet and Robinson bring in? Or does the last manger mean most to you?
Lots of people here were saying when Manning left that we shouldn't allow a new manager to bring his own team in, as they all needed replacing when Manning left.
This lies on the Chuckle Brothers. Not Des.

So is it Tim or Des who is responsible for hiring a new assistant? (Hint: It's not Des, or at least, at any other FL club, it wouldn't be Des)
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Appleton brought in Fazackerley as he realised he needed experience alongside him. The fact that was his most successful period as a manager probably tells a story.

Robbo brought Shaun Derry and Craig Short who have both been. Football league managers in their own right, and his biggest success to date was working alongside Richie Barker who had managed also.
 
I was looking to see what BC fans currently thought of Manning, and saw this comment which is pretty much identical to what I've seen about DB from us!

"I don’t think sacking LM is on the agenda - for one I don’t think the board would, and for two, what’s the point. Ignoring hyperbole, we aren’t being relegated so I’d give him the season to see if he can adapt to this level, as I really think he’s struggled - he looks like a rabbit in headlights currently"
 
Jster said:
I was looking to see what BC fans currently thought of Manning, and saw this comment which is pretty much identical to what I've seen about DB from us!

"I don’t think sacking LM is on the agenda - for one I don’t think the board would, and for two, what’s the point. Ignoring hyperbole, we aren’t being relegated so I’d give him the season to see if he can adapt to this level, as I really think he’s struggled - he looks like a rabbit in headlights currently"
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Bristol city weren't second in the league when Manning took over them. Big difference there.
 
Jster said:
I was looking to see what BC fans currently thought of Manning, and saw this comment which is pretty much identical to what I've seen about DB from us!

"I don’t think sacking LM is on the agenda - for one I don’t think the board would, and for two, what’s the point. Ignoring hyperbole, we aren’t being relegated so I’d give him the season to see if he can adapt to this level, as I really think he’s struggled - he looks like a rabbit in headlights currently"
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OX14 said:
Bristol city weren't second in the league when Manning took over them. Big difference there.
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But still goes to show that taking over another manager's team in the middle of the season isn't straightforward.
 
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