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

 

[Joey]

Can someone give me some names of managers who could realistically replace Rowett? All I’ve seen is everyone whinging saying anyone can do better at this point which simply isn’t true.

I don't know every manager who is out of work or available currently. I see your point to an extent but we're doing badly currently, just sticking with what you know because the fans can't name a new manager isn't a solid strategy.

I hadn't heard of Danny Rohl before he came in and kept Sheffield Wednesday up and didn't have a clue who Miron Muslic was but he would have saved Plymouth last year if they'd made the move earlier. I've been plenty critical of the senior leadership team but also their managerial appointments of Manning, Buckingham and Rowett were all good moves. This is where Ed earns his money and I've got no doubt he's already got a shortlist in mind. I took this thread off track the other day when I said I wouldn't be surprised if we were waiting for Pompey to sack Mous and I still think that's a possibility, I don't think that would be a downgrade from what we have currently.

 

[jaybeachjump]

I don't disagree with Rowett's Norwich plan. Keep it tight for 60, frustrate the crowd and then bring in the finishers should have been good enough to turn them over. Problem is, the players didn't make it out of the dressing room for the second half.
I'm not saying things are rosy right now, but a lot of the talk for Rowett's head is knee-jerk stuff. We need to add some depth in January and remember this season was always going to be a battle. Which managers on your lists are better suited to one of those?

 

[carefreeoufc]

I don't disagree with Rowett's Norwich plan. Keep it tight for 60, frustrate the crowd and then bring in the finishers should have been good enough to turn them over. Problem is, the players didn't make it out of the dressing room for the second half.
I'm not saying things are rosy right now, but a lot of the talk for Rowett's head is knee-jerk stuff. We need to add some depth in January and remember this season was always going to be a battle. Which managers on your lists are better suited to one of those?

Not dissimilar to Saturday. I don't know how the stats compare with other teams, but most of our goals conceded have come in the first 15 mins of the game or the 15 mins directly before/after half time. So, in 45 mins, we've conceded 18 in those periods compared with 6 in the other 15 min periods e.g. 16-30 mins, 61-75 mins and 76-90 mins.

We've only scored once between the 46th and 60th minute but conceded 6 times. We seem to come out in the second half and have an absolute mare, before we start to put things right. Breakdown below:

GOALS PER TIME SEGMENT (total)​
0-15​	GF​	4​
	GA​	6​
16-30​	GF​	5​
	GA​	2​
31-45​	GF​	4​
	GA​	6​
46-60​	GF​	1​
	GA​	6​
61-75​	GF​	1​
	GA​	3​
76-90​	GF​	3​
	GA​	1​

 

[tatabanya]

I personally don't want Rowett out, but can understand why some do. I do really disagree with the idea that it can't get much worse. It absolutely could. That in itself isn't a reason to keep him, but those who think sacking Rowett is a surefire way to get better need to have a rethink

 

[Nadi-]

I think there's a difference between wanting more exciting football and going gung ho, which would be suicide. We've played our best when we've been more assertive and tried to take it to the other team but far too often that isn't the case, especially away from home. I'm aware that it's easier said than done and there are two teams trying to do the same thing but we're also too passive a lot of the time

Agree that a lot of fans will overstate their own players abilities but disagree that means they aren't good enough. Brown is a good example, I'm not quite as high on him as some and don't think he's got enough to be playing for a top/playoff level team at this level but he's clearly a rock solid Championship defender. I wouldn't read too much into him not playing a game for Northern Ireland, especially as he played 90 minutes in the other (also who was the Kilmarnock player? Looks like it was a back there or McNair, Ballard and McConville against Slovakia).

When organised properly I've no doubt that the players I mentioned can hold their own at this level. There's a gap to the top teams but there are dozens of teams where they'd all be fairly regular. Not world beaters but it's down to the manager to get them set up in a way that maximises their strengths and minimises their weaknesses. I'm not asking for miracles, just for this squad to get to 50 odd points which they are capable of.

Brad Lyons

Jamal Lewis was one that looks like he’s back focused

 

[Foley]

Not dissimilar to Saturday. I don't know how the stats compare with other teams, but most of our goals conceded have come in the first 15 mins of the game or the 15 mins directly before/after half time. So, in 45 mins, we've conceded 18 in those periods compared with 6 in the other 15 min periods e.g. 16-30 mins, 61-75 mins and 76-90 mins.

We've only scored once between the 46th and 60th minute but conceded 6 times. We seem to come out in the second half and have an absolute mare, before we start to put things right. Breakdown below:

GOALS PER TIME SEGMENT (total)​
0-15​	GF​	4​
	GA​	6​
16-30​	GF​	5​
	GA​	2​
31-45​	GF​	4​
	GA​	6​
46-60​	GF​	1​
	GA​	6​
61-75​	GF​	1​
	GA​	3​
76-90​	GF​	3​
	GA​	1​

The one positive thing from.those stats is that we show a lot of bottle in scoring late goals. We keep going.

 

[90syeIlow]

So if it’s not Ed’s fault that the budget was cut then it is also not Rowett’s and he can only work with what he has got.

Yes but as explained numerous times, he can do better with what he’s got. Harris over Lankshear wasn’t Ed’s fault.

 

[Northernyellow]

I think there's a difference between wanting more exciting football and going gung ho, which would be suicide. We've played our best when we've been more assertive and tried to take it to the other team but far too often that isn't the case, especially away from home. I'm aware that it's easier said than done and there are two teams trying to do the same thing but we're also too passive a lot of the time

Agree that a lot of fans will overstate their own players abilities but disagree that means they aren't good enough. Brown is a good example, I'm not quite as high on him as some and don't think he's got enough to be playing for a top/playoff level team at this level but he's clearly a rock solid Championship defender. I wouldn't read too much into him not playing a game for Northern Ireland, especially as he played 90 minutes in the other (also who was the Kilmarnock player? Looks like it was a back there or McNair, Ballard and McConville against Slovakia).

When organised properly I've no doubt that the players I mentioned can hold their own at this level. There's a gap to the top teams but there are dozens of teams where they'd all be fairly regular. Not world beaters but it's down to the manager to get them set up in a way that maximises their strengths and minimises their weaknesses. I'm not asking for miracles, just for this squad to get to 50 odd points which they are capable of.

Chap called Brad Lyons. He's a midfielder but I'm pretty sure (I could be wrong) he played in the back four against Slovakia. Agree with Brown- he's solid Championship but not top end.

 

[ubermeistervonmeat]

Yes but as explained numerous times, he can do better with what he’s got. Harris over Lankshear wasn’t Ed’s fault.

Have to give you that one as it was a strange decision but a lot of the other vitriol being hurled at GR is well over the top - we all know some have never liked him

 

[Sutton Yellow]

Setting up the side in the way he did last night was about containment, but goals change games and when Norwich went in front we needed to change. Half time was a chance to do that.

Once again, the changes seemed largely pre-planned for 65 mins plus. Rowett is very slow to react to the shift in momentum in games. We should have been 3-0 down before our equaliser and we definitely got off the hook.

It is one thing to set up against strong sides with preprepared changes to manage intensity and energy when we don't have the ball, but Rowett takes the same approach against weaker sides and it's a failure to pick up more points and show some initiatve in those games that sees us where we are.

If he improves our results in those games, we'll do far better. If he cannot, he'll probably get the chop.

 

[90syeIlow]

Have to give you that one as it was a strange decision but a lot of the other vitriol being hurled at GR is well over the top - we all know some have never liked him

Is it over the top?

I mean he’s hardly spoken very highly about his team or given any faith to the quality of the players which is what angers me the most.

 

[OX14]

I personally don't want Rowett out, but can understand why some dou. I do really disagree with the idea that it can't get much worse. It absolutely could. That in itself isn't a reason to keep him, but those who think sacking Rowett is a surefire way to get better need to have a rethink

Would it be better to go down with a manager who engaged with the fanbase and actually went into a game not trying to play for a draw?

Absolutely!


Leaving this here, Gary has to win on Friday to match inexperienced out of depth Des last season. Gary can say the league is stronger all he wants but he has had 2 transfer windows to improve this squad. .

Time for change to atleast give someone else a fighting chance.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Is it over the top?

I mean he’s hardly spoken very highly about his team or given any faith to the quality of the players which is what angers me the most.

Oh the irony of this comment. So the manager says it how it is when the team perform badly and the fans don't like it, those same fans though are ok to constantly slag certain players off and moan when the team play crap?

 

[90syeIlow]

Oh the irony of this comment. So the manager says it how it is when the team perform badly and the fans don't like it, those same fans though are ok to constantly slag certain players off and moan when the team play crap?

I see where you’re going with this, however that’s how every football club works. Fans will criticise players and/or manager how they please.

However, GR puts us into the box of being a small club who hardly deserve to be here, so that’s a limiting belief that runs through to the squad and doesn’t help us with our goal to stay in the division.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

I see where you’re going with this, however that’s how every football club works. Fans will criticise players and/or manager how they please.

However, GR puts us into the box of being a small club who hardly deserve to be here, so that’s a limiting belief that runs through to the squad and doesn’t help us with our goal to stay in the division.

I think you may have twisted Rowett's words there slightly. He was talking about going back to the under dog mentality which helped us stay up last season. Teams in this league will expect to turn up and beat us. For some reason our fan base really take it personally that we are seen as 'little Oxford' to other teams. Guess what, we are compared to nearly every other team in this league.
Embrace it and it makes it more enjoyable when you get last minute equalisers like last night against a side who, despite how crap they have been, still expected to roll us over.

 

[carefreeoufc]

The one positive thing from.those stats is that we show a lot of bottle in scoring late goals. We keep going.

It also shows a route to potentially picking up more points. If we can go some way to reversing the 46-60 minute period by scoring more than we concede, we’d give ourselves a much better chance of winning games.

 

[Canterburyexile]

Talk of Rowett’s dismissal is ridiculous. Full bloody stop. Who shall we replace him with? Oh, a seasoned professional with deep knowledge and experience of the championship with a track record of getting a tune out of a relatively underpowered squad? I wonder who fits that bill and actually wants to come to us? We’ve kicked ourselves in the boll0cks over the past couple of years on a number of occasions. None of them are down to GR as far as I can see.

If he buys 6 left sided wingers in January, sends Cam on loan to Port Vale and shags the women’s team then my view might change of course.

 

[uptheus]

It doesn't matter at this stage. I don't care if we're in the bottom three as long as we aren't cut adrift - we know we have to improve and win some games anyway.

We’re already starting to cut adrift…….

 

[carefreeoufc]

I swear, there’s posters on here who must have a Saudi IP address and Buckingham as their surname.

He’s gone, he’s not coming back, he said nice things, wore a hoody about mental health and made us feel good.

Rowett, like Manning, Appleton, Wilder and more have jobs to do. They’re not here because they’re boyhood supporters, absolutely no different to our players.

Rowett has one job to do, keep us up. As it stands, we’re outside of the relegation places (albeit closer than I’d like to be). I agree, there have been several games this season that we absolutely should have got more out of the matches and players, management, SLT should all be held to account.

Maybe it’s a poor inditement of me, but I don’t care if we scrape through this season and finish one place above the relegation zone playing the worlds sh!ttest football with a manager who doesn’t visit school children at Christmas. I just want to finish above the relegation zones and address management and recruitment in the summer.

If we approach Jan and we’re falling behind then we should absolutely revisit.

There’s 21 points to play for between now and Jan, including games against Swansea, Charlton and Blackburn. Things could look very different (good or bad) in a few weeks.

 

[Fanatica]

Craig Short might want to keep some game plans in his glove box... just in case...

 

[90syeIlow]

I swear, there’s posters on here who must have a Saudi IP address and Buckingham as their surname.

He’s gone, he’s not coming back, he said nice things, wore a hoody about mental health and made us feel good.

Rowett, like Manning, Appleton, Wilder and more have jobs to do. They’re not here because they’re boyhood supporters, absolutely no different to our players.

Rowett has one job to do, keep us up. As it stands, we’re outside of the relegation places (albeit closer than I’d like to be). I agree, there have been several games this season that we absolutely should have got more out of the matches and players, management, SLT should all be held to account.

Maybe it’s a poor inditement of me, but I don’t care if we scrape through this season and finish one place above the relegation zone playing the worlds sh!ttest football with a manager who doesn’t visit school children at Christmas. I just want to finish above the relegation zones and address management and recruitment in the summer.

If we approach Jan and we’re falling behind then we should absolutely revisit.

There’s 21 points to play for between now and Jan, including games against Swansea, Charlton and Blackburn. Things could look very different (good or bad) in a few weeks.

Was the goal purely to survive this season?

I thought that the board and manager wanted us to push on from last season when it feels like we’ve regressed with a better squad than this time last year.

 

[carefreeoufc]

Was the goal purely to survive this season?

I thought that the board and manager wanted us to push on from last season when it feels like we’ve regressed with a better squad than this time last year.

Was that the board that said they hadn’t changed the summer transfer budget?

Of course they’re going to tell us what they think we want to hear. In the same way a player turns up from some random part of Europe and says they’ve always wanted to play for Oxford, love the place and are really excited about the project.

I think some of our fan base decided (way too optimistically for my liking) that we should be pushing on and looking for a finish around 12-14th with very little regard for the teams coming up and teams coming down.

Im pretty sure even Williams said in the summer (possibly last season??) that we’d come up earlier than expected and it wasn’t an issue if we were relegated. Hardly pushing on.

I appreciate that my view might seem negative, but I just want to survive in this league by hook or by crook whilst we build a championship squad of players that can push on.

 

[Carpy]

I personally don't want Rowett out, but can understand why some do. I do really disagree with the idea that it can't get much worse. It absolutely could. That in itself isn't a reason to keep him, but those who think sacking Rowett is a surefire way to get better need to have a rethink

Of course it isn't a guaruntee that we do better, but something has to give, so either we go on a spending splurge in January to raise the bar, or we have to find someone that can get better out of the squad that we do have. GR hasn't been able to do this so far.

 

[MJB]

Before last night's game, I was getting Cardiff away vibes. Ie: a new manager for the opposition who were in bad form, leading to a general expectation from our fans that we should be getting three points. And it turned out quite similar too. Concede first, look second best, grab a late equaliser against the run of play.

I guess that typifies how Rowett sets us up away. I personally think that's the right approach to pick up points on the road, but then I don't go to away games so I can appreciate that travelling supporters in particular will not like that level of prgamatism.

The real difference this season is our home form which feels significantly worse than last season. I think that also plays into feelings towards Rowett, given that these are the games that the vast majority of our fans actually experience.

Personally I'd stick with him (and certainly until the end of the year, at which point a further nosedive in form would mean that should certainly be reconsidered). It's interesting that many are citing Ed repeatedly just in relation to transfer policy, as fundamentally it is he who would make the call on whether to sack the manager (subject to SMT/Board approval), as was the case 12 months ago. He got that call right, so we'll all have to hope that he similarly makes the right call again, whichever way he's inclined to think.

 

[ubermeistervonmeat]

Was the goal purely to survive this season?

I thought that the board and manager wanted us to push on from last season when it feels like we’ve regressed with a better squad than this time last year.

If that was what the board wanted why did they take the tools to deliver that away from those who needed them

Truth is they want the ground more - am sure we can probably see the point of that but we can't get it all

 

[Swinny]

Despite the supposedly stronger division this season (better teams have come up, but the teams at the top aren't as good), we are also a better team through recruitment and gaining a season of Championship experience. I'd suggest its not too ridiculous that those 2 things could mostly cancel each other out and finishing in roughly the same position as last year could be seen as par - and all fans would be happy with that. Luckily we've got a few extra spaces below us on that metric to have a "bogey" season and still stay up...but we're allowed to be disappointed if we do slip down a little, even if 21st ultimately makes the cut.

I'm rubbish at golf and analogies, but essentially I'm saying I don't think it's unrealistic for people to believe we should be in a better position than we are, and GR's negative tactics and outlook contribute to that.

 

[Essexyellows]

Blokes barely been here 12 months and changing him won`t improve things overnight and then its rinse and repeat.

There is a level of mental strength in the squad I haven`t seen for a very long time.

Not long ago that would have been a defeat, but we rode our luck and mugged them in the 96th minute which plenty of other teams have done to us.

TG`s shot in the first half goes in we could have won it.

Fine margins.......... as they say keep the faith nothing is won in November.

 

[unification]

Was that the board that said they hadn’t changed the summer transfer budget?

Of course they’re going to tell us what they think we want to hear. In the same way a player turns up from some random part of Europe and says they’ve always wanted to play for Oxford, love the place and are really excited about the project.

I think some of our fan base decided (way too optimistically for my liking) that we should be pushing on and looking for a finish around 12-14th with very little regard for the teams coming up and teams coming down.

Im pretty sure even Williams said in the summer (possibly last season??) that we’d come up earlier than expected and it wasn’t an issue if we were relegated. Hardly pushing on.

I appreciate that my view might seem negative, but I just want to survive in this league by hook or by crook whilst we build a championship squad of players that can push on.

Spot on. When you have Mad Dog frothing like he has rabies that we should be finishing 14th-17th, it's hard to argue with a viewpoint so overoptimistic.

The stats bear out - since the end of the 2014-15 season, 33 teams have been relegated from the Championship. Eight of those has been promoted from League 1 the season before and only lasted one season. A further six of those had only lasted two seasons in the Championship.

So, 42% of teams promoted from League 1 are back there again within two seasons. Also, when you reel off the names of the sides which have spent only brief spells in the second tier in that time - MK Dons, Wigan, Barnsley, Rotherham, Blackpool, Plymouth and Peterborough - you can kind of understand why our name is likely to be in there in the future too. When the likes of Sunderland, Blackburn and Ipswich got promoted from League 1, they didn't come back down - they sorted their issues out and stayed up in the Championship or went beyond as Sunderland have. It's clubs in a certain bracket that do occupy the bottom slots and we're in it.

That's not to say to give up and accept a relegation will happen. 58% of League 1 sides stay up after two seasons after all. But it does give credence to not expecting increasingly improved seasons just by staying up the once.

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

Talk of Rowett’s dismissal is ridiculous. Full bloody stop.

It's not 'full stop' though, is it?

You're entitled to your view, but it's ridiculous to not be open to the possibility that a manager with 3 wins from 17 games is in a spot of bother.

'Full stop' is unnecessarily dismissive (just as it would be if someone said 'he has to go, full stop').

There is a debate to be had, we're having it. I, for one, am conflicted (as I was with Buckingham last season).

If we were rock bottom on single digits - he'd be gone. If we were 16th on 22 points they'd be no conversation.

We're neither. It's in the balance. It's a good debate. Full stop.

 

[uptheus]

Do we still believe that Rowett wants to still be here?

There’s rumours on here that he’s trying to get sacked (might have some weight based upon his starting 11 last night), but do we/most really believe that’s what he wants or is it utter BS?