GARY Waddock says he has no regrets over becoming Oxford United head coach despite a tough start.
Since his appointment last month, the U’s have lost six of their seven games.
It has seen them slip from sixth place to missing out on the Sky Bet League Two play-off places, making Saturday’s final day trip to Northampton a dead rubber.
Within a fortnight of taking over, the former Wycombe Wanderers boss admitted the task of achieving a play-off place was harder than he had imagined after assessing the squad’s confidence levels.
But Waddock, who was appointed with a view to the club’s long-term success, had no hesitation when asked whether taking the job had been a mistake.
“Not with one hair on my body do I regret it,” he said. “This is a fantastic club and a fantastic opportunity.
“I was the fortunate one who took over and now I’ve got an opportunity to change things around.”
The U’s chief is expecting a busy summer as he attempts to restructure the squad and recruit his own targets.
Next week, the club will decide on which players whose contracts expire this summer will be offered new deals and who will be released.
But the rest of the squad will also be assessed, with Waddock suggesting last week no-one was safe.
“Change needs to happen and I don’t know how many ins and outs it will take to get that,” he said.
“Big decisions need to be made and they certainly will be.”
He added: “All I can say to our supporters is decisions will be made. Judge this football club at the start of next season and the type of football I would like to bring here, because you’ve not seen that yet.
“I want to bring some pace, I want to bring people here who have ability and want to show how brave they are in possession.”
One area which has given Waddock encouragement so far has been among the younger players.
Josh Ruffels and Callum O’Dowda have been regulars, while last week the club offered professional terms to James Roberts and Sam Humphreys.
Waddock said: “We’ve got some good things going on here.”
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