Not official minutes, but the best summary that I could manage live!
Update from Tim regarding the exceptional work carried out on and off the pitch throughout the summer.
Fantastic recruitment, 16 new signings, record transfer fee for Siriki Dembele. Record season tickets of over 7000 that would have been more had we not had limitations on how many we could sell.
Very good sales of all three shirts, and very happy to have finally got Baxi on board as club sponsors that had been bubbling away for several months.
Big improvements across the backroom teams, and huge thanks to Ed and Stevie for building and developing the footballing sides for now and the future.
We saw goodbye to Amy and thank her for everything she has done and wish her well for her new role. A replacement has been brought in and will start mid October.
Rosie recognised for all he has done and richly deserving new job role.
Steve spoke about the role of overseeing every year group with a view of supporting the first team in time.
Ed spoke about the over reaching role that he has that is beyond transfer business alone.
Looking to recruit further below Ed and Steve to build long term sustainability.
Developing greater infrastructure to mitigate against the situation we saw when Liam Manning left where several overs followed. It's import to support the head coach in their needs but also build club employees who can stay and develop across unexpected changes.
Looking to develop beyond Ed so the team below him can step in and cover, or build towards replacing him in time.
Good network of professionals to support recruitment including Shorty and Faz, but also others who have been in the game for a long time and are able to guide and support within the wider networking.
Young players developing through the club and make their way in to the first team, such as Tyler and Shandon Baptiste, but also to look at players like Cameron Brannagan who joins as a young lad but grows within our club. Pressures to keep promising young players as Premier League clubs are already looking at some of these players. Wanting Oxford children to play for Oxford.
Development within the women's game to hopefully breed young players at all levels to further the game.
Under 21s league doesn't sit within established category 3 requirements. We have joined an unofficial league that allows us to develop 16/17 year olds but also to give minutes to senior players needing game time. The club will look to use social media to advertise these games for people to attend where possible. Loanees going out need to work towardsthe Oxford United way and we look to send players to the right clubs, with the right managers, on decent pitches with decent support and facilities. They can be recalled at any time from non-league if needed,or if the move isn't working out for any reason.
Young players being recruited across every level all through the year. Local scouting and referrals, sometimes parents or coaches will signpost players. But the club will make the overall decision based on what they see not what they're told.
Youth game in England is changing with the Elite Player Programme that provides extra protection for those that we're working with. It offers greater protection and safe guarding for these players and the club.
Ambition to work towards being a category 2 academy and we're working towards this. This needs support across safeguarding, welfare, facilities, how we operate, framework around coaching and development and staffing that needs a lot of work and capital investment. Inside dome and full-sized 3g are big hurdles but TW thinks that SK is being modest about his involvement in this. SK said that he'd love a million pound but Ed gets all the money!
All players are supported at all levels to prevent overloading and excessive minutes to ensure they are treated properly.
Stepping up the league is great but we miss the EFL trophy for giving additional game time to squad players.
Ed spoke about recruitment and understanding the markets, what Des wants, where money is needed and where we may need to hold money back. Recruitment is all year round. Des has final say and we don't sign players he doesn't want. Grant ultimately signs off every day.
Everyone needs to earn the right to play, and whilst you want to work closely with loanees and their clubs, no one plays unless they add something to the team. Important to look after players and we have to remember that they are young men coming from all over the country and we have a duty to look after them.
The Oxford United way is important and is driven from the way that the board and stakeholders want the club to be seen, and they feel that this is also driven by the fans and our long term identity.
Everyone wanted a fourth stand but we would have lost money and a decision was needed about where we need to prioritise money. Ed actually feels like this is to our advantage and has helped create the atmosphere and fortress that we hope continues.
We expect to continue to make financial losses and it would be impossible to be competitive on the budget that we would naturally generate even with new income sources. We continue to be lucky to have the share holders and they love the club and are focused on our ongoing success. Speak with Grant almost daily and he is the conduit to the owners. Erick Thohir is an expectional owner and very supportive of everything we need as a club.
Stadium remains in the planning stages with no real changes and we are still looking towards February for a decision.
The focus of the club remains on developing players and the coaching, training and development is exceptional at this level. Young players are consistently transitioning to the first team squad within training to further their development. You won't know what a player can do until they're given a chance and that offers no guarantees. How much someone wants it, how they handle the pressure, and whether they can adapt to the level needed is the test.
How do we establish good people that are the characters we are looking for as well as their playing abilities. We talk with coaches and people that may have shared a dressing room with them. We do a lot of one to one meetings to establish how we can work with players. Masilino has come in on talent and whilst we have some contacts this is not someone who is forced on the club. It gives us the opportunity to look at different markets and see potential from all over the world, and we're looking at how he develops. He remains one for the future.
Support remains in place for those that don't make the grade, including partnerships with education providers and further education. We have 4 within the academy doing their A levels to ensure that they have additional opportunities, and this has required working with tutors and support networks. We look at coaching skills, life skills, refereeing courses, money management. Only 600 nationally get into scholarships, we have a duty of care to all of those that don't make it.
We recruit for development as well as the here and now. It's important that we're looking towards the future but this is a different negotiation than we would see with those who are already established. There aren't any clubs or agents we can't work with and Ed works to minimise this.
Injuries are a reality of what we work with, but we are constantly looking at who we recruit, what are the expectations, medicals and scans take several days. But its about getting the balance right with risks sometimes part of this. Depth improvement is essential but sometimes you also need the magic and Josh Murphy is a great example of someone who played less than we would have wanted but you would trade everything for the 2 goals at Wembley. Some of the players that we sign wouldn't be at Oxford if it wasn't be for previous injuries.
Updates are made regarding injuries but its difficult to do this every time someone is injured or has any setback. The needs of the player is also important and sometimes we have to protect a player who may still be coming to terms with something that could be career threatening. Sometimes less is more.
Ed spoke about his emotions at Wembley and his pride for the players, and wanting to share that moment with everyone who he had seen us grow and develop together. The Sunday morning he was already sending Erick the Championship list. Tim said that he was just incredibly proud of the club and the 35000 fans that came out to Wembley. He wasnt sure we'd win but was certain we wouldn't lose because of everything that we'd built in the weeks before this. The strength of character from everyone was incredible. Steve spoke about his pride in Oxford United but also Oxfordshire and how this became his home. He was a fan on the day, one of us, making history.
Links with Oxford University like the Ceri Evans days before? Difficult to get a foothold into so many individual colleges that are much smaller than the entire entity that is the University of Oxford. Unfortunately the standard of the pitches we now use are significantly better than anything the University could offer.
We have links with Oxford City and want to eventually build our own 3g pitches etc. We are always looking to reach out further with facilities, players and supporters.
Recruitment is variable but there are some factors that reflect age, experience, length of contract. Dembele was someone where we were adrift of valuations for a long time but as the window was closing Birminghams value dropped and got closer to what we were looking at.
Data is hugely important but is also extremely expensive and needs to be used right and relevant to our needs. It has to meet our needs as a club, and we need to ensure that Data and the feelings of the recruitment team match. Always learning, and no regrets but we're always looking to improve and explore markets that others are not fishing in.
Important to ensure that club, players, staff and fans continue to work as closely as possible, but this will never be perfect and fans forums are a starting point to work from. Communication is never easy and sometimes things come out later than the fans would ideally want.
Needed to adapt to a new manager mid-season but Des was brought in because of his similar background to what the club wanted. This meant getting to know Des and build trust, and January came round quickly. The proof was more about the summer than January but continues to evolve.
Tried to become less reliant on loans and bring in players for us to develop ourselves but there is flexibility to do more work in January if needed. We don't need to sell players but we do need to consider all players individually - but their valuations have increased significantly.
