Ex-Oxford United star reveals key Aaron Ramsey advantages

The U’s head into the new campaign under former Arsenal and Wales icon Ramsey who was appointed to his first permanent head coach role in June, replacing Matt Bloomfield at Oxford.

It has been an eventful summer in OX4 with the club being hit with a temporary transfer embargo in early July, throwing a spanner in the works fresh into the 35-year-old tenure.

United return to the third tier after two years in the Championship as they were unfortunately relegated last season alongside Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday, finishing 22nd.

Former Yellows centre forward Saunders, who played 52 times for the club and scored 20 goals, is positive about Ramsey’s chances in with the embargo-hit U’s.

“It’s not an ideal situation for Ramsey having a transfer embargo in his first permanent managerial role, but it’ll certainly test his character, which is good for a young manager,” Saunders pondered.

“He’s a great lad, Aaron – one of the best in Welsh football and he had a fantastic playing career. 

“One of his best traits is being a born winner, he has a big winning streak in him, and he’ll invest that straight into Oxford from the get-go.

“He has experience of playing football at the highest level, the players should be looking to learn as much from him as possible, and I’m sure he’ll learn from managing them as well.

Oxford United’s new head coach Aaron Ramsey (Image: Oxford United)

“Oxford and Ramsey both seem committed to keeping as much of the current squad as possible over the summer, which is certainly a positive sign for him.

“The majority of those players are Championship standard, so I’d expect Aaron to still get a lot out of them in League One, even if he can’t sign any of his own players.”

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“Aaron has never experienced a transfer window as a manager before, which I think is another advantage for both him and Oxford,” the former Yellows goal scorer said, courtesy of LiveFootballTickets.

“If they had hired a more experienced manager who was set on bringing in certain players or desperate to uproot the squad and then was unable to do so, that could’ve created problems.

Former Oxford United striker Dean Saunders playing at Oxford City (Image: Oxford City FC)

“However, Aaron is a fantastic character, and I can’t imagine he’s letting it affect him too much.

“He’ll be focused on building a winning formula with the players he has at his disposal, as that’s the cards he’s been dealt.

“However, every manager needs a winning formula at any level of football.

“It’ll be a valuable learning experience for him, and I expect him to have a good season in charge of Oxford next year.”