Ex-Staff Gary Rowett

[Carpy]

1.Gary Rowett

Position: Head Coach

Nationality: England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Signed: 20th December 2024

Departed: 23rd December 2025 | Departed Posts: 1st Post

Previous Clubs: Birmingham City (Interim), Millwall, Stoke City, Derby County, Birmingham City, Burton Albion

Stats: TransferMarkt

Instagram: garyrowett1

 

[Northernyellow]

No he wouldn't sign for Rowett and then spend the next 60 years wondering if he could have played at that level.
You always take the chance if you are offered it. Well if you don't want to spend the rest of your life wondering if.

I've had chats with quite a few professional (and ex professional) footballers over the years. I've also played in the same team as several ex pros. I would say that 90%+ of them follow the money ..

 

[Steve Gilbert]

What is this new utter bullshit metric I keep reading on here?!

We're 5 points worse off vs last season, after 11 games. That is the reality.

The fact that we only drew at home to Derby last season doesn't make beating them worth any more this season. A defeat at home to Portsmouth isn't made any more acceptable because we did so last season too. It really doesn't work like that, on any conceivable level. Six sides have changed, the other 18 will not be the same relative strength - so it's nonsense.

And that's before you even realise that the +4 you quote is completely false as it conveniently ignores the games against anyone 'new' - so we apparently write off zero points from Birmingham or Wrexham.

The only way your system will work is if we get to, at some stage this season, play bonus games against Luton, Cardiff and Plymouth to claw back the 12 points we've lost from them

Brilliant, so you agree with all the other points of my post, just not this one. Glad you are slowly coming round to realise it's not all bad under Rowett.

 

[Mad Dog]

Didn’t we do exactly that, with some success, against Coventry, Leicester, Bristol City and Derby? Like everyone else, we’ll have bad days and Wednesday was a bad day, but in about half of our last 8 games we’ve done exactly what you’re asking for?

We're clearly not gonna agree on this, but I ask you, given the fact we only escaped the drop by a 4 points last season, although an achievement at the time, and given the fact that we've now strengthened the side, but after 11 games this season, we're only 1 point above the relegation zone, at what point do we start thinking about a change of manager then?

 

[Bretch Hill]

Loose by one goal loose by two or three it’s still loosing no ?
Let’s see what tomorrow brings. I get both sides of the GR debate at the moment and as there seems not one stand out manager to replace him on the fence I stay. Not that any ones remotely interested I’m sure.

 

[werthersoriginal]

We're clearly not gonna agree on this, but I ask you, given the fact we only escaped the drop by a measly 4 points last season, and after 11 games this season, we're only 1 point above the relegation zone, at what point do we start thinking about a change of manager then?

Given that we have the smallest crowds and smallest revenues in the league, and among the smallest wage bills and transfer budgets, where do you think we should be? I actually think we should be performing better than we did on Wednesday, it's not all about finances, but it's not reasonable to expect a comfortable mid-table existence right now.

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

Loose by one goal loose by two or three it’s still loosing no ?
Let’s see what tomorrow brings. I get both sides of the GR debate at the moment and as there seems no one stand out to replace him on the fence I stay. Not that any ones remotely interested I’m sure.

I think that's the general consensus. For what it's worth, I'm a big Rowett fan and in no way want him gone at this stage.

But unfortunately people like to make it very binary on here and assume that you want the manager gone immediately if you raise valid concerns.

For clarity - I think Rowett has done a decent job, I'd like him to continue to - but I'd also like him to show more flexibility and in particular be braver when the opportunity arises.

Apologies if that makes it harder to pigeon-hole me - but all I really want is for OUFC to be the best version of ourselves, no agenda.

 

[Mad Dog]

Given that we have the smallest crowds and smallest revenues in the league, and among the smallest wage bills and transfer budgets, where do you think we should be? I actually think we should be performing better than we did on Wednesday, it's not all about finances, but it's not reasonable to expect a comfortable mid-table existence right now.

Bournemouth, the Oxford United of the Premiership refused to accept their limitations, and they haven't done too bad have they?

There's nothing wrong with expecting us to be aiming for something more in line with a lower mid table finish this season, rather than just happily accepting another relegation battle, and thinking Gary Rowett is god and irreplaceable.

 

[Northernyellow]

Bournemouth, the Oxford United of the Premiership refused to accept their limitations, and they haven't done too bad have they?

There's nothing wrong with expecting us to be aiming for something more in line with a lower mid table finish this season, rather than just happily accepting another relegation battle, and thinking Gary Rowett is god and irreplaceable.

Bournemouth had a hugely wealthy (Russian) owner who pumped money into the club to get them into the PL. They were fined c. £5M under FFP rules as they made their way up the EFL. The EFL now apply points deductions for FFP breaches as well as fines. Also worth pointing out that the Bournemouth owner did not have to set money aside for a new stadium.

 

[90syeIlow]

Given that we have the smallest crowds and smallest revenues in the league, and among the smallest wage bills and transfer budgets, where do you think we should be? I actually think we should be performing better than we did on Wednesday, it's not all about finances, but it's not reasonable to expect a comfortable mid-table existence right now.

It was pointed out before that we don't have the smallest budget in the league, so why do you keep bringing it up?

 

[tatabanya]

We're clearly not gonna agree on this, but I ask you, given the fact we only escaped the drop by a 4 points last season, although an achievement at the time, and given the fact that we've now strengthened the side, but after 11 games this season, we're only 1 point above the relegation zone, at what point do we start thinking about a change of manager then?

When we aren’t regularly competing, which isn’t the case the the moment

 

[carefreeoufc]

We’re in a league of random results. Particularly this season, a QPR ST friend of mine said this was one of the maddest years he’s seen, he’s been watching them for 30 years.

We will lose, we will be sussed out, we will win, we will draw, there will be s**t games we should have won and good ones. Same as there will be s**t games we should have lost and those we won. The whole league is carnage.

Fair play, get rid of Rowett, roll the dice on a new manager (we won’t get the likes that are being suggested, just like we don’t the players) and see how we go.

That was 6hrs round trip on Wednesday, my frustration wasn’t at Rowett playing the same starting 11 nor playing every attacking player we had on the bench. It was the absolutely shambolic back pass from Cam (he tested Cumming more than their keeper) and our complete lack of effort in the first half.

Carrick comes in because we’ve paid him, do you reckon it stops Cam fizzing a ball at Cumming to lead to a back pass? Does it stop BdK hitting the first man? Does it stop Harris running round like a Sunday league player on ket? No.

Rowett needs to look at his performances and his decision making, I agree. So do our players. I genuinely think that if Rowett had followed Manning as opposed to Buckingham, we’d not have anywhere near the amount of complaints.

 

[werthersoriginal]

It was pointed out before that we don't have the smallest budget in the league, so why do you keep bringing it up?

I said *among* the smallest wage bills, as there is debate about that - someone did say that we’re quite competitive on wages but unable to pay big transfer fees or signing on fees. But the crowd and revenue figures are pretty clear. I don’t think that means we should just accept rubbish performances but we can’t throw our toys out of the pram if we’re around the relegation zone.

 

[90syeIlow]

I said *among* the smallest wage bills, as there is debate about that - someone did say that we’re quite competitive on wages but unable to pay big transfer fees or signing on fees. But the crowd and revenue figures are pretty clear. I don’t think that means we should just accept rubbish performances but we can’t throw our toys out of the pram if we’re around the relegation zone.

For me personally I don't mind being near the relegation zone as long as we're actively trying to play to our strengths. We do this very occasionally but not nearly enough and it's games like Wrexham that make me heavily question the coaching staff and what they're telling the players.

We all know that we are competing against much larger budgets and that the league will be difficult for us, but I do feel we could get more from this squad.

 

[Eric Blair]

I think that's the general consensus. For what it's worth, I'm a big Rowett fan and in no way want him gone at this stage.

But unfortunately people like to make it very binary on here and assume that you want the manager gone immediately if you raise valid concerns.

For clarity - I think Rowett has done a decent job, I'd like him to continue to - but I'd also like him to show more flexibility and in particular be braver when the opportunity arises.

Apologies if that makes it harder to pigeon-hole me - but all I really want is for OUFC to be the best version of ourselves, no agenda.

Damn you and your nuanced opinion

 

[Bitter]

Please stop with the "we have one of the smallest budgets" nonsense. We don't, and we are currently underperforming our budget by about half a dozen places. It's been pointed out on here numerous times.

That's not me criticising Gary Rowett, I'm on the fence with that, but it annoys me that so many of our own fans constantly propagate this myth.

Looking forward to seeing this budget spent.

 

[Colin B]

Looking forward to seeing this budget spent.

What do you think is paying for our current players (including the ones out on loan at other clubs that we're still paying)? Magic money beans?

 

[carefreeoufc]

What do you think is paying for our current players (including the ones out on loan at other clubs that we're still paying)? Magic money beans?

Old programmes and pin badges in the Quad bar surely?!

 

[OxfordBoy]

A one off result, the original post stated a brave talented manager who would have a go, Buckingham is and did. Even in that 6-2 defeat we had chances to score more, Harris sitter springs to mind.

This is an insane bit of revisionist history

Some of the performances in that final run for Des were as bad as anything we’ll ever see under Rowett and I am incredibly confident we’ll never pick up as few points under Rowett as we did during that run either

Rowett is far from perfect but pretending the football was good under Des for most of last season is just a flat out lie

 

[Eric Blair]

This is an insane bit of revisionist history

Some of the performances in that final run for Des were as bad as anything we’ll ever see under Rowett and I am incredibly confident we’ll never pick up as few points under Rowett as we did during that run either

Rowett is far from perfect but pretending the football was good under Des for most of last season is just a flat out lie

I’m a huge Des fan boy and I don’t think I’ll ever see another manager like that with such a connection to the fan base. Even I have to admit the football was awful much of the time.

 

[90syeIlow]

I’m a huge Des fan boy and I don’t think I’ll ever see another manager like that with such a connection to the fan base. Even I have to admit the football was awful much of the time.

I think Des had the right ideas but he didn’t have the personnel to deliver nor the experience to coach it effectively to the players.

I couldn’t understand why the players couldn’t make the most simple passes though, it’s like there was a misunderstanding of where the pass was supposed to go and I wonder if the coaching was too confusing.

 

[Cass63]

Don’t tell me you’re one of those who considers consistently avoiding relegation as an achievement, it just shows that he’s a relegation battle standard manager.

Like Sam Allardyce, who always prided himself on never getting relegated, like it was some sort of achievement, but I’d be more concerned about why you’re always in a relegation battle in the first place!

I think we got promoted ahead of where our owners were expecting so weren’t prepared properly for it, stayed up probably against the odds, had an awful pre season off the back of an ego trip by the owner and will be hoping to stay up till we play at the new stadium, that to me will be success

 

[PottersRightBoot]

What do you think is paying for our current players (including the ones out on loan at other clubs that we're still paying)? Magic money beans?

What is our budget, Colin?

 

[Jackinthebox]

What is our budget, Colin?

13.8 M per year if you believe this-

Every Championship club's annual wage bill and where Wrexham rank as £12m hole discovered

This is nuts... Every Championship team's wage bill for 25/26 👀

www.thewrexhaminsider.com

 

[Colin B]

What is our budget, Colin?

A little bit higher than in the article linked in the post above this.

 

[LeftSideBoy]

Been told that Rowett has gone and a foreign manager has been lined up.

With the January window around the corner, the timing would make a lot of sense..

Thohir can’t be pleased with what he’s seeing on the pitch, and I’m sure that Ed and Scott aren’t too happy with the football that we’re playing this season. Yes the summer window was a bit of a mess, but on paper, we have signed players that should have us higher up the table. I’m not suggesting we should be in the top half, but in my opinion, sitting 3 points above the bottom 3 just isn’t good enough. That 3 point gap can disappear in a weekend. Then what? We won’t be able to Rowett ball our way to safety again..

Thohir absolutely HAS TO keep us in this division. It’s in his (and the clubs) best interests to do whatever he has to do, to make sure that happens. Rowett did a good job for us last season, but we should have parted ways in the summer - I’m surprised we didn’t, but I guess that was for financial reasons.

If we go down this season, the value and saleability of the club will plummet. Selling the vision to investors while playing in the 3rd tier of English football, suddenly, becomes extremely difficult. The ramifications are massive, so I would not be surprised if what I have been told, turns out to be true..

 

[Oxford84]

Been told that Rowett has gone and a foreign manager has been lined up.

With the January window around the corner, the timing would make a lot of sense..

Thohir can’t be pleased with what he’s seeing on the pitch, and I’m sure that Ed and Scott aren’t too happy with the football that we’re playing this season. Yes the summer window was a bit of a mess, but on paper, we have signed players that should have us higher up the table. I’m not suggesting we should be in the top half, but in my opinion, sitting 3 points above the bottom 3 just isn’t good enough. That 3 point gap can disappear in a weekend. Then what? We won’t be able to Rowett ball our way to safety again..

Thohir absolutely HAS TO keep us in this division. It’s in his (and the clubs) best interests to do whatever he has to do, to make sure that happens. Rowett did a good job for us last season, but we should have parted ways in the summer - I’m surprised we didn’t, but I guess that was for financial reasons.

If we go down this season, the value and saleability of the club will plummet. Selling the vision to investors while playing in the 3rd tier of English football, suddenly, becomes extremely difficult. The ramifications are massive, so I would not be surprised if what I have been told, turns out to be true..

Im going to say no chance that is true.

 

[londonyellow]

Been told that Rowett has gone and a foreign manager has been lined up.

With the January window around the corner, the timing would make a lot of sense..

Thohir can’t be pleased with what he’s seeing on the pitch, and I’m sure that Ed and Scott aren’t too happy with the football that we’re playing this season. Yes the summer window was a bit of a mess, but on paper, we have signed players that should have us higher up the table. I’m not suggesting we should be in the top half, but in my opinion, sitting 3 points above the bottom 3 just isn’t good enough. That 3 point gap can disappear in a weekend. Then what? We won’t be able to Rowett ball our way to safety again..

Thohir absolutely HAS TO keep us in this division. It’s in his (and the clubs) best interests to do whatever he has to do, to make sure that happens. Rowett did a good job for us last season, but we should have parted ways in the summer - I’m surprised we didn’t, but I guess that was for financial reasons.

If we go down this season, the value and saleability of the club will plummet. Selling the vision to investors while playing in the 3rd tier of English football, suddenly, becomes extremely difficult. The ramifications are massive, so I would not be surprised if what I have been told, turns out to be true..

Unless Rowett left on his own terms, this seems pretty unlikely

 

[LeftSideBoy]

Im going to say no chance that is true.

Pretty definite response to something you have absolutely no knowledge of?

They sacked Des, a hometown hero that got us promoted to this division for the first time in 25 years. Do you really think the board would give a b*****s about getting rid of Rowett? They want results and he is underperforming. Rowett reports to Ed, and like I said, he can’t be happy with what he’s seeing. The football, for the most part, has been shite, and it’s very unlikely that it’s going to get any better. Milwall and Stoke fans were singing songs about his style of fooball. I am inclined to agree with them!

Gary Rowett is not as good as it gets for Oxford United…

 

[Oxford84]

Pretty definite response to something you have absolutely no knowledge of?

They sacked Des, a hometown hero that got us promoted to this division for the first time in 25 years. Do you really think the board would give a b*****s about getting rid of Rowett? They want results and he is underperforming. Rowett reports to Ed, and like I said, he can’t be happy with what he’s seeing. The football, for the most part, has been shite, and it’s very unlikely that it’s going to get any better. Milwall and Stoke fans were singing songs about his style of fooball. I am inclined to agree with them!

Gary Rowett is not as good as it gets for Oxford United…

Yep its just my opinion that he hasnt gone already, like you say.

Of course they could get rid of him anytime they like and of course Rowett isnt the best we could ever get.

 

[EastStandKieran]

Been told that Rowett has gone and a foreign manager has been lined up.

With the January window around the corner, the timing would make a lot of sense..

Thohir can’t be pleased with what he’s seeing on the pitch, and I’m sure that Ed and Scott aren’t too happy with the football that we’re playing this season. Yes the summer window was a bit of a mess, but on paper, we have signed players that should have us higher up the table. I’m not suggesting we should be in the top half, but in my opinion, sitting 3 points above the bottom 3 just isn’t good enough. That 3 point gap can disappear in a weekend. Then what? We won’t be able to Rowett ball our way to safety again..

Thohir absolutely HAS TO keep us in this division. It’s in his (and the clubs) best interests to do whatever he has to do, to make sure that happens. Rowett did a good job for us last season, but we should have parted ways in the summer - I’m surprised we didn’t, but I guess that was for financial reasons.

If we go down this season, the value and saleability of the club will plummet. Selling the vision to investors while playing in the 3rd tier of English football, suddenly, becomes extremely difficult. The ramifications are massive, so I would not be surprised if what I have been told, turns out to be true..

I'm not going to dismiss what you are saying but if the foreign manager turns out to be Jaap Stam or Patrick Kluivert we might aswel call it a day now

As for Rowett leaving I personally think he will still be here at Christmas draining any excitement out of going to watch us