Following a battering at Bolton and win over strugglers, Port Vale, we take a look at some quotes from Oxford United head coach, Des Buckingham.
Des Buckingham Quotes From the Week
‘Small Details Make a Big Difference’
Ahead of Oxford’s trip to Bolton, Oxford United head coach Des Buckingham said small details play a key part in getting a positive result.
The U’s travelled north on Monday ahead of their Tuesday night fixture against the Trotters.
Buckingham said: “Small details make a big difference, whether it’s an opportunity on goal or a small bit of detail we make at a team meeting.
“We’ve got a lot of time between now and when we kick off tomorrow. We’ve trained, and everyone is fit and available.
“We’ll get on the bus and travel up to Bolton, and try use and that time to put ourselves in the best place.”
‘It’s Nothing We’ve Spoken Directly to Marcus About’
Oxford midfielder Marcus McGuane is out of contract in the summer and Des Buckingham has confirmed that conversations are yet to take place.
However, it is believed the club have an option for an additional 12 months, which is important as the midfielder has become a key part of the squad, making 40 appearances this season.
Asked about McGuane’s deal, Des Buckingham said: “It’s nothing we’ve spoken directly to Marcus about, as of yet.
“He’s in the starting XI for a reason and it’s important he continues to perform, and if he does that, he’ll put himself in a very strong position.”
‘It’s a Difficult One to Take’
Oxford suffered a 5-0 defeat on the road at Bolton on Tuesday night, but Buckingham claimed it was ‘not a true reflection of his side’.
He said: “It’s certainly not something I saw or felt coming. We’ve turned up on an evening where Bolton have played extremely well and we’ve played very poorly.
“When you come to teams like this, and they start the game that way, we need to at least match that, and we’ve not done that.
“We’ll get to the bottom of it for sure. It’s not one where I want jump to things right now.
“We’ll take the emotions out of things because the scoreline is not a true representation of who we are and what we are.
“We’ll make sure we delve very deep into it, to make sure it doesn’t happen again, and that we get ourselves well for Saturday.”
Asked if he was embarrassed by the scoreline, Buckingham responded: “If you get beaten anywhere 5-0 it’s an embarrassment.
“It’s a difficult one to take, and even more so because you’re on the TV and you’re trying to showcase what we do and how we do it.
“We weren’t able to do that for any part of the game. I thought they were better across every area, and we made it very easy for them at times.
“I’ll take responsibility for how we set the team up, and what we do, but we need to make sure we get everything right for the remaining games.”
‘It’s Picking the Right Time Now’
Having kept the same starting line up for the last three games, Buckingham hinted he could make changes ahead of the clash at Port Vale.
He said: “It gives us the ability to pretty much do what we want this weekend. We’ve got the ability to field almost two different XIs, which is a great problem we have.
“It’s not so much about that, but recognising what’s worked well for the XI that has taken to the field, and working out if we feel we can get an advantage by playing someone else because of the work they’ve been doing, or they may offer something slightly different to what’s been on the field.
“The players that haven’t been in the squad, I couldn’t have asked for anymore from them.
“It’s picking the right time now for them to step in, and I’m sure we may see some of that over the next couple of games.”
‘We Asked for a Reaction’
Oxford bounced back from their Bolton bashing with a 2-0 win over strugglers, Port Vale.
Speaking after the game, Buckingham said: “We asked for a reaction, but not an overreaction. We made some changes and I thought we controlled the game.
“It was an excellent professional performance that deserved three points.
“If we’re being critical, we probably should’ve scored more. We created a lot of chances and should’ve scored more, but we’ve done enough to come away from here with the three points, and that was the most important thing, on top of the performance.”
He added: “We changed the formation, and we really wanted to get at these, so we changed the formation to suit that.
“You have to react to Tuesday, but not make unnecessary change or change for the sake of it.
“We felt the players we put on the field suited our game plan. We weren’t expecting Marcus Browne or Tyler Goodrham, but they reported well after Thursday’s session, and both were made available on Friday.
“Their late inclusion obviously effects others as well, but we wanted to go for a very attacking bench.”
