The latest developments at and around the Manor have once more called into question the future of Oxford United, just when the club needs stability more than ever. Les Wells successful application to seek a judicial review into the granting of planning permission for the multiplex cinema may in itself just be a storm in a teacup, but it is whether or not this leads to any delays in the stadium construction that is the cause for concern. This presumably depends on whether or not Firoz Kassam is advised on how good a case Wells has, and whether or not he is prepared to take a risk.

Throughout Kassam’s involvement with the club he has been advised by Oxford City Council officers that Wells was not a serious threat to the stadium and that he had no case. However, Council advice has been shown to be flawed in the past (eg Nick Pentith’s judicial review and Thames Water’s covenant) and Kassam must by now be very wary of listening to their promises. Now Birse are on a very tight timetable to get the ground ready for next season and any delays could lead to the deadline being missed.

Should Kassam feel that he has no choice but to halt construction until he knows the outcome of a judicial review then United’s future is, once again, in jeopardy. With United unlikely to receive another dispensation from the FLA to play at the Manor next season there don’t appear to be any options available for a league standard venue to play at. Also, given the history of the development, one has to wonder whether or not Birse would consider returning to site once they had left.

As if all this wasn’t enough Kassam had to suffer the added distraction of Joe Kinnear’s departure. No-one could blame Kinnear for leaving if, as he claimed, his health and family life were suffering due to his continued involvement with the club. But if, as is alleged, he had already lined up a move to Luton Town to perform a similar role then the man’s integrity is blown away. Kinnear may not be football’s most pleasant character but he is well respected throughout the game and his presence at the Manor undoubtedly led to the arrivals of Phil Gray, Andy Scott and Robert Quinn as well as the various loan deals that have occurred since he came. It also gave United a higher profile than they would have otherwise have had considering their league position.

If, as has been rumoured, Kinnear were to take David Kemp and Alan McLeary with him to Kenilworth Road, this could prove to be a mixed blessing to United. Kemp has certainly failed to endear himself to United fans, mainly due to his continued omission of Dean Whitehead and his preference for Neil Cutler over Richard Knight, and the continuing run of poor results since he took over hasn’t helped. The real concern is who would replace Kemp if he were to jump ship (analogies with rats purely coincidental). Denis Smith has lost all credibility amongst Oxford supporters (and Firoz Kassam too, allegedly) whilst Mike Ford failed to impress during his brief interim spell in charge (although the players at least showed more motivation). Many fans preferred option, Steve Cotterill, has already turned United down (twice) and, given the U’s league position, there can’t be many suicidal potential bosses out there ready to chance their arms, and their careers, on what is effectively a lost cause.

Rage Online would like to see a unique socialist experiment and have the team managed by a players collective. That way, when things go inevitably wrong, they could all blame each other equally, they could all share in determining tactics and they could all determine team selection democratically, by drawing names at random from a hat. This could be a wonderful opportunity to change the face of football forever and, if nothing else, it would make it almost impossible for the crowd to chant for the “Manager Out!”.

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