The King is dead. Long live the King.

Jim Smith's unceremonious reign at Oxford United ended abruptly yesterday when Darren Patterson was paraded as the club's seventh manager in three years.

The Bald Eagle had started to look more like a rabbit in the headlights in recent weeks and most fans agreed action was needed to reverse an alarming decline.

In a statement issued by the club, Smith said managing in the Conference had been "difficult, less enjoyable and less successful" than he would have liked.

That may be true, but one wonders exactly how much Smith, 67, really wanted to quit.

Let no one be in any doubt about what he achieved for our football club, but there is no room for sentiment in football.

Smith may be long in the tooth and have seen it all in spells managing clubs like Portsmouth, QPR, Newcastle and Derby County, but a man cannot live on past glories.

The truth is he could not cut it in non-league - and it was beginning to show.

The 5-0 humiliation at Rushden & Diamonds marked a low point in the club's history and followed defeats at Histon and Droylsden.

In appointing Smith's assistant some may argue that Patterson is tainted by association.

However, the 38-year-old former Northern Ireland international is his own man and insisted he would live or die by results on the pitch.

He is confident, lively, enthusiastic, brimming with ideas and has proved his mettle managing the youth team and in stints as caretaker boss. And he is loyal, too.

Patterson, twice before overlooked for the top job at United, could have sloped off long ago after receiving offers elsewhere.

But he didn't because he knew his chance would come along soon enough. And now is his time.

Good luck. We're all behind you, Darren.

Let's kick off this new era with an FA Cup win today.