Shooting blanks

Oxford and Luton fought out a goalless draw at the Manor tonight; a point which leaves the U's still rooted to the foot of the table. Andy Linighan made his debut for United to become the club's oldest ever player, replacing Matt Murphy from Saturday's starting line-up in the centre of a five-man defence. Murphy didn't even figure on the bench, although John Robertson did, coming on to replace the injured Paul Tait ten minutes into the second half and Manny Omoyinmi replaced the disappointing Jamie Cook with twenty minutes to go. Dean Whitehead hit the post and Derek Lilley the bar, although by the end Oxford were probably the more thankful to have kept a clean sheet. There were no bookings. by referee Rob Styles, but there was an attendance of 4,537. A match report will appear here tomorrow.

Bournemouth also drew 0-0, at home to Wigan, whilst Colchester went down 1-0 at Brentford. Bristol City drew 1-1 at Millwall, swindon's game at Swansea finished goalless, and Oldham beat Wycombe 2-0. Port Vale drew 2-2 with Northampton, for whom Marco Gabbiadini scored the second goal.

John Durnin scored both Kidderminster's goals in their 2-1 win at Darlington. Meanwhile, Steve Perryman has announced his intention to resign from Shimizu S-Pulse at the end of this season. 48 year old Perryman turned down an offer of another year's contract at the club with which he won the Asian Cup-Winners Cup last season.

Announcement of an announcement

After the game chairman Firoz Kassam addressed the assembled multitude, ostensibly to inform them that there is to be a press conference this Thursday when “two very exciting announcements will be made”, presumably concerning the new ground and the management situation, although speculation that it involves topless catering at the Manor may not yet prove unfounded. Kassam also hinted that he and his family had received threats from disgruntled U's fans who he told, along with the media which published inaccurate stories just to stir up debate, to “piss off”. Kassam also called for the stay-away fans to return, comparing the £200 outlay for a season ticket with the millions he has invested into the club. Not the most eloquent of statements, but it seemed to strike a chord with the faithful.

Amongst the speculation as to whom the vacant managerial position will be taken by names suggested included Mike Walker and Lenny Lawrence, although today's Oxford Mail insinuated that Chesterfield boss Nicky Law was an object of United's affections. Hopefully all the guesswork will be laid to rest on Thursday.