Oxford United chairman Firoz Kassam has many talents -- but public relations is definitely not one of them.

The man who saved the club, got the new stadium finished and transformed the site around it doesn't always get the respect he deserves.

One of the reasons for that is his inability to engage in an ongoing dialogue with the fans -- or to appoint someone to do it properly for him.

The club is heading into another uncertain period, following the news that manager Ramon Diaz has quit, but the silence from the U's owner is deafening.

True, he has just arrived back in the country and is almost certainly in talks with Diaz's head coach Horacio Rodriguez about his future at the club.

He can hardly be expected to provide a running commentary on how they are going, or what he plans to do if Rodriguez and the rest of the backroom team follow Diaz.

But that does not excuse the refusal to make any sort of statement to the fans, who pay hard-earned money to watch the team week in, week out and deserve better than the usual 'No Comment'.

At the very least, Mr Kassam could reassure them that he is on top of the situation and has a clear plan of what he's going to do.

The impression seems to be that he does not and the revolving door in the manager's office is about to start spinning again.

For all his undoubted business nous, Mr Kassam often cuts his customers out of the loop (albeit unwittingly) and fans are left to feed off scraps of information and rumours.

There are other questions too -- the future role of Jean Marc Goiran, for example -- which we have asked today and hope will be answered soon.

In the longer term, communication between club and fans needs to be dramatically improved. It may be Mr Kassam's business -- but like it or not, the supporters have a big stake in it too.