Oxford United's next opponents, derby rivals Swindon Town, were in turmoil last night with reports that Steve McMahon is considering his position as manager after the club axed four of his coaching staff.

Shock waves swept through the Wiltshire club, who entertain Oxford tomorrow, following the dismissals of reserve team manager Ross MacLaren, chief scout Les O'Neill, youth team coach Tommy Wheeldon and part-time goalkeeping coach Peter Williams.

Others to get their P45s are financial controller Andy Cheesman, ticket office assistant Gary Darby, promotions manager Dave Hollister and a part-timer in the lottery department, George Bristow.

Swindon chairman Rikki Hunt said the redundancies had been forced on him.

"I have a duty to make sure that we can at least break even. By the end of the 1998-9 season we intend to take £500,000 from the running costs of the club."

The move to get a tighter ship echoes the financial review made by Oxford United just under a year ago when they slashed costs. They made just two people redundant.

McMahon has been under considerable pressure all season with Town fans unhappy at a lack of success on the field, although that pressure eased on Saturday when Swindon beat Bristol City 3-2 for their first home win in the league since January.

Hunt, a personal friend of McMahon, has said he would never sack the former Everton, Villa and Liverpool star, who has been boss at the County Ground since November 1994 but now it's McMahon who is casting doubt on whether he will stay.

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