Five to midnight for United

Firoz Kassam, Les Wells and Oxford City Council officers met last night to thrash out a deal acceptable to all parties to resolve the outstanding issues standing in the way of completion of Minchery Farm. Completion of the deal is now dependent on the elected Councillors giving their approval at the next meeting of the Strategy and Resources Committee on Tuesday and ratified by full council on Thursday. Kassam has said that if this approval is not forthcoming then he will have had enough and he will walk away from United. This is because the Council has still not completed transference of the land to the stadium company, so Kassam is effectively building on land he doesn't own, which is obviously a risky strategy and one which Kassam is not prepared to continue funding, at a cost of £1.5 million a month.

There are still a number of possible reasons why this latest deal might fall down, especially if the Council, or at least a majority of Councillors, decides that it is unable to pay its contribution of legal costs so far incurred, or if the District Auditor determines that this is unacceptable. This really does look like the last chance for the club; Kassam has revealed that the Manor has already been sold, with possession being taken by the new owners in August, so if Minchery Farm is not ready for occupation in time for the new season the club will have nowhere to play next season.

Rotherham preview

United welcome top of the table Rotherham to tomorrow's early kick-off five players short of a full squad. Leading scorer Phil Gray is on international duty for Northern Ireland, whilst Rob Folland is kicking a ball around for Wales under-21s tonight. Matt Murphy and Dean Whitehead are both suspended following their dismissal against swindon whilst Robert Quinn is not yet fully recovered from the injury he picked up against Millwall. This obviously leaves the midfield a bit short so presumably Chris Hackett, Paul Tait and Peter Fear will start with either Paul Powell or Joey Beauchamp on the left wing. Up front it is likely that Andy Scott will play, partnered by either Steve Anthrobus or Manny Omoyinmi, goal-scoring machines none of them. There is unlikely to be a goalkeeper on the bench, Phil Wilson having a dislocated finger or something, although Jon Murray's sensationalist comments in yesterday's Oxford Mail were totally without foundation as League regulations allow for a team to bring in a goalkeeper on loan after the transfer deadline if they have no-one else available.

Rotherham could be starting with Wiiiiiil in their line-up, as former United player Brian Wilsterman returns to the Manor for the first time since his move to Yorkshire. The popular Dutchman is sure to receive a good reception from the home fans, who will be looking to him to produce one of his regular game-losing errors. Rotherham supporters are generally pessimistic of their chances of winning tomorrow, but Rage Online fails to share that pessimism and believes that the Millers will aid United in their quest for March relegation by winning 3-1.