OXFORD United’s chief executive has revealed the club received approximately 150 expressions of interest in the head coach role following the sacking of Karl Robinson.
United parted ways with Robinson on February 26 after a seventh defeat in eight matches, in the 3-0 loss at home to Bristol Rovers.
The club then undertook an almost two-week recruitment process, before hiring former MK Dons boss Liam Manning.
Alongside Manning will be Chris Hogg as his assistant manager, with Hogg also his number two at MK Dons.
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However, Manning’s announcement on Saturday morning didn’t include details of how long the contract is.
When asked about the deal, chief executive Tim Williams wasn’t able to disclose the length of the contract but confirmed it was ‘long-term’, however the exact duration of it would remain confidential.
Discussing the appointment of Manning, Williams said: “We always knew that the process to get a new guy in was going to be diligent.
“We weren’t going to do it in a hurry but we also weren’t going to take too much time over it.
“We were absolutely inundated with responses, we almost didn’t have to go looking.
“I think we had something like 150 people come and approach us.
“What was really important to us was that we got the best of a sporting recruitment process – we had Ed Waldron and Derek Fazackerley involved – and then we also put in some what I’d say corporate discipline in that.
“We made sure we were vetting properly and understanding who they were, doing background and due diligence, and asking the right questions of the numerous people that we know in the industry.
“I want a team that’s smart, intelligent and adaptable, and able to solve problems and find ways to win games.”
— Oxford Mail OUFC (@OxfordMailOUFC) March 13, 2023
New #oufc boss Liam Manning discusses why he took the job and his playing stylehttps://t.co/BjS1IrLsoz pic.twitter.com/nvZliQgaHU
“We did a full review of every single candidate that we took to a first stage.
“We had something like eight or 10 people in the first week, and then whittled that down to a few people we saw last week.
“The quality of the presentations that were given was absolutely outstanding, and we’ve got two outstanding guys here, but we did see some incredible candidates as part of this process.
“I think we got the best of both worlds, we didn’t have a knee-jerk reaction just to get somebody in the building.
“What we did was follow a very diligent process to get the right people in the building.
“I said it in my programme notes on Saturday, recruiting people is really easy but recruiting good people takes time.”
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