Oxford United CEO on shock timing of Bloomfield sacking

The U’s parted ways with Bloomfield on Saturday almost two months after the end of the club’s second season in the Championship which saw them relegated.

The former United boss had a positive impact on the team’s form but was ultimately unable to prevent Oxford from dropping into League One.

Ex-Arsenal and Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey was announced as Bloomfield’s replacement on Tuesday evening with the new boss unveiled to the press on Wednesday morning alongside Williams and head of football operations Ed Waldron.

“Timing-wise, these decisions are not easy,” the club’s CEO declared.

“Decisions like this don’t happen overnight and should not happen overnight and I think we are here with a great reflection of that.

Oxford United CEO Tim Williams (left), head coach Aaron Ramsey (right) (Image: Newsquest)

“I don’t want to be changing managers every six months and I don’t think anybody in the club wants that to happen. But I think what we’ve also got to realise is that it is an incredibly fast moving, very volatile business that we’re in and sometimes you do need to make those difficult decisions.

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“Whilst the timing of moving away from the previous head coach may seem a little bit rushed and a bit quick, I would disagree with that. I think that what we want to do is take stock of where we are, what we need to do next season and make sure we’ve got the right people around us to do that.

“There was an awful lot of change at the ownership and board level. Inevitably, that is going to take some time for settling down. It’s going to take us time in the club to get used to what that change looks like and how that goes forward.

(Image: Nick Potts/PA Wire)

“I think the time that’s been taken has actually been the right time for us as a group on the ground here in Oxford to work out what the ambitions are going forward, which are mercifully unchanged from where we were towards the back end of the season.

“But equally, it’s very easy to make a very snap decision. You can be criticised for making very quick decisions that don’t go well.

 “We’ve made a very well thought out decision here. You’ve got to make sure that you are doing what is the best thing for the squad, for the club and for where we want to be going forward.

“I think we’ve got to the right point at the right time and made the right decision.”