Oxford united FC
Premier League hero names Aaron Ramsey as future Arsenal manager
Saunders has made his admiration for Oxford head coach Ramsey evident as he tips the former Wales international for managerial success.
Ramsey arrived in OX4 in June and has impressed during the U’s first six League One matches, winning three and losing just once as the team sits pretty in 10th with numerous games in hand on the teams above.
The early positivity has come despite being hit with a temporary transfer ban in the summer, only improving the ex-Arsenal man’s pedigree early in his managerial career.
Fellow countryman and former Oxford forward Saunders coached Ramsey with Wales for three years at the same time as five-time UEFA Champions League winner with Real Madrid, Gareth Bale.
Saunders exclusively told the Oxford Mail, on behalf of BetSelect: “When you’re in your first job and they put a transfer embargo on you straight after taking it, it’s like tying your hands behind your back because obviously something’s wrong with the team.
“When they get relegated, the morale’s wrong or you’ve got to work out how can you get this team to bounce back from the disappointment that’s hanging over them.
“Leicester couldn’t get over the disappointment of getting relegated and you end up getting relegated again.
“I think his presence has lifted the club.
“Everyone knows how ambitious he is as a manager.
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“And he’ll probably be thinking to himself, ‘I want to be manager of Arsenal one day’. That’s not a slight on Oxford, but he’ll probably try and do as well as he can.
“If he gets Oxford up to the Championship and the timing’s right, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up manager of Arsenal one day.”
Ramsey has drawn plaudits from fans and onlookers alike not just for how impressive the U’s have been on the pitch, but for his professionalism off it throughout the transfer embargo and transfer sagas in recent months.
The 35-year-old has always been recognised as a standout athlete, captaining Arsenal on occasion as well as Wales.
“And I have to say, if my daughter come on with Aaron Ramsey, I wouldn’t be disappointed,” Saunders added.
“What a nice lad. He is a nice lad and always respectful.
“He’s had a great career and he broke his leg when he was young playing for Arsenal and eventually got over it and had a great career with Wales.
“He’s always been a student of the game and I’m not surprised he’s doing well.”
The striker scored the first goal in a 2-1 win over Notts County, marking his 150th game for the club with a goal.
Harris joined the Yellows in 2023, helping the club achieve promotion to the Championship in his first season, scoring 19 goals, before two years in the second tier.
The 27-year-old has bagged 32 goals and nine assists in total since arriving in OX4 and has started all seven of Oxford’s league fixtures this season under Aaron Ramsey, scoring four times.
“To play 150 games for this club, very proud moment,” the Wales international expressed after the win at Meadow Lane.
“I’d be lying if I said I thought I’d make that when I first came here, but I’m over the moon to make that.
“Great achievement; nice to put a goal with it and, more importantly, a win.”
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Harris’s goal in Nottingham showed his striker’s instinct, pressing high to be in a good position to intercept goalkeeper James Belshaw’s poor pass and slot home.
“It was just about gambling, I think, pressing with Tyler [Goodrham]),” the former Cardiff City man continued.
“We like to press when we haven’t got the ball.
“I think I was going to their centre half, but I saw him look just before he made the pass.
“I thought I’d gamble on it and luckily I did and he played the pass, so it was just about keeping my composure and starting it past him.”
The U’s captain directed the ball into the bottom left corner with a sweet finish to give his side a second at Meadow Lane.
Oxford had hit on the counter attack after a period of pressure from the hosts, Luka Lynch sprinting up the pitch with the ball before playing a lovely pass to the skipper.
The goal was Brannagan’s second of the season after notching away at Stevenage in August.
Speaking to the media after the match in Nottingham, the 30-year-old said: “I’ll be honest, I was putting my head down and sprinting at one stage.
“I was probably thinking about stopping, but luckily enough I carried on.
“To be honest, when I got there, my legs had gone. So I just thought, ‘I’m going to hit it as hard as I can’, and luckily enough, it went where it did.
“I was done in when I got there.
“I just about made it to the fans,” he joked.
The former Liverpool midfielder continued: “It was fantastic.
“From front to back, we were great.
“We’re going to need that all season because it’s a tough old league at times, especially when you’ve got to grind out results.
“It’s a good three points away from home.”
Oxford maintained the majority of the possession in the first period before the percentage evened out to 50 per cent over the course of the 90 minutes.
“First half, we controlled the ball very well.
“Second half, obviously, they had their spell.
“The gaffer mentioned it in [the changing room], I think the big thing today was off the ball.
“The way we were, it was hard to beat and aggressive in all certain situations.
“Off the ball was fantastic today and we need to keep that to get the right results.”
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Alongside Brannagan in midfield were Louie Sibley and Tyler Goodrham, a different partnership to Kai Andrews and Jamie McDonnell who started the previous League One fixture with the Yellows captain.
With McDonnell out for a number of weeks with a hamstring injury and Andrews featuring off the bench following a busy international break with the Wales Under-21s, names in the midfield have chopped and changed in the early stages of the season.
“We’ve got a great squad,” Brannagan admitted.
“It’s a shame to see Jamie go down with a hamstring [injury].
“People have stepped in and been fantastic. It’s been enjoyable.
“We work on different things every day and how we can improve.
“We’re going to need everybody in the squad.
“There’ll be young lads that get more minutes because we’re going to need everybody.”
The U’s beat the Magpies 2-1 on Saturday in their first League One game back after the international break.
Mark Harris scored the opener on his 150th Oxford appearance before Cameron Brannagan found an all important second with two minutes remaining.
Martin Paterson’s side found a consolation through Rory Finneran in stoppage time but it was not enough to stop a comfortable Yellows side from taking the three points back to OX4.
Former Arsenal midfielder Ramsey was pleased with his side’s away display.
“It’s always difficult when you have that much control in the first half and perhaps things do become a little bit more easier than expected,” the ex-Wales international admitted.
“There’s a chance for complacency and things like that to come in, but I didn’t see that today.
“I just saw that they got a little bit more joy from the long balls and maybe that swung it a little bit, but then, regardless of that, I thought we stuck to it really well and everything that they threw at us today, we had answers for and that gave us the chance to go on and win the game.
“I thought we controlled the game really well. We really asked them a load of different questions and it’s difficult to come to places like this.
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“We knew we were going to have to stand up to some of the pressure that they put you in at some point in the game, but I thought we were terrific without the ball today.
“Real intensity in the way that we press, a real togetherness, connected as a team and defending the box really well.
“We pride ourselves a lot on what we do without the ball. We want to be the best in the league at that, in terms of how we measure that.
“Again, we were excellent in that.
Former #OxfordUnited coach Craig Short here at half time 🙌 Short left the U’s recently after six years with the club. He also played for Notts County for three years. #oufc https://t.co/Ng82xEYlWX
— malachi (@MalachiObrey) October 10, 2026
“It’s going to be super important for us, with the teams that we face in this league, that we have that side of it as well, because without that, we wouldn’t be able to do what we want with the ball.”
Harris’ goal in the 18th minute came from an error from Magpies goalkeeper James Belshaw with Oxford putting the pressure on high up the pitch.
Belshaw gifted a pass to the Welsh striker who was perfectly placed to intercept and slot home.
Ramsey continued: “We want to win the ball high up the pitch, where we’re closer to their goal. For us, that’s super important.
“Again, with the right intensity, the right pressing angles, we can win the ball back in dangerous areas.
“Sparky won it back, and I’m delighted that he got another goal.”
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