Oxford United chairman Nick Merry has accused Andy Burgess of "sour grapes" following the former U's player's newspaper attack on manager Jim Smith.

The left-sided midfielder, who returned to his former club Rushden & Diamonds at the start of this month, accused Smith yesterday in his weekly national newspaper column of demotivating the players at Oxford by constantly moaning at them.

Burgess, who was offloaded by the U's boss because he wasn't consistent or committed enough last season, said Smith was always complaining about the players' deficiencies and claimed he sometimes even slaughtered them in the team talk before kick-off.

And he believed the Bald Eagle had a personal grudge against him.

Burgess claimed that "every single victory last season felt like a defeat" and added that he believes United would never have dropped out of the Football League had they kept Darren Patterson in charge, instead of bringing in Smith.

"I look back at my time at Oxford with disappointment, because the fans and chairman deserve better," Burgess wrote. "I honestly feel that with Jim Smith in charge, the club is going backwards."

But Merry said Smith had his total and absolute backing and dismissed Burgess's claims.

"It's just sour grapes, isn't it?" Merry said.

"My only comment is that Andy was a very talented player and we wish him well at his new club."

Merry added: "We have strengthened our midfield with Luke Foster, Michael Standing and Danny Rose - all players who want to play for this club and who want to play for Jim Smith.

"In Michael and Danny's case, they are players who have played at the very highest level.

"When a player comes from Manchester United to Oxford United, that says it all as far as I'm concerned."

Smith, who has the best record of any manager in Oxford's history, refused to be drawn into a war of words.

"I'm not going to stoop down to Andy Burgess's level by responding to that," he said. "I have no intention of getting involved in a slanging match. All I'll say is that I certainly don't just slag off the players all the time."