Former Oxford United head coach Gary Rowett has spoken out about his U’s dismissal two days before Christmas in the Championship.

Former Oxford United head coach Gary Rowett has spoken out about his U’s dismissal two days before Christmas in the Championship.

Former Oxford United head coach Gary Rowett has spoken out about his U’s dismissal two days before Christmas.


Rowett was sacked following a 1-0 defeat to Charlton leaving United in the relegation zone, with his successor Matt Bloomfield appointed last Friday.

In his first interview since his departure, the 51-year-old admitted he thought he could keep the Yellows in the Championship had he stayed in charge.

“Did I think I could keep Oxford up? Of course,” Rowett professed.

“We were pretty much on course, maybe just a bit below that so, of course, we needed an upturn.

“Yeah, a little bit,” the former Millwall and Birmingham City boss admitted when asked whether he was surprised at his sacking.

“But when you’ve been in this job for 14 years, you know that if you don’t get results then at some point any club that’s desperate to stay in the Championship – Oxford are no different. It’s the reason why they brought me in in the first place – at some point maybe has to roll the dice.

“As a head coach at Oxford, you accept that there’s going to be a point where you either get the backing and someone says…or they think ‘we have to take a gamble’ and the results maybe dictate that.”

Despite his dismissal occurring only a couple of days before the festive period, Rowett revealed he departed the U’s on good terms.

“It was pretty amicable,” he continued.

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“I had a really good relationship with everyone at the club in fairness, all of the hierarchy, but I remember chatting to Ed [Waldron] and I walked into his office that morning and I was fine.

“I gave him a big hug. I was fine with it all. I could sense it maybe and people have jobs to do and they have to do what they’ve got to do.

“Certainly, no hard feelings from my perspective. I genuinely hope that Oxford can turn it around because it’s a really nice club. It’s got such potential with the location and the new stadium.”


United have replaced the experienced boss with a slightly fresher face in the dugout in Bloomfield who is set to take charge of his first game this weekend against Bristol City.

“Going into the season remaining, you probably need someone with that experience,” Rowett said when asked about his replacement.

“If you look at the cycle of managers, often clubs will go a little bit different to the previous one, so probably needed someone a little bit younger, less experienced, thinks about things in a different way but maybe still can work with a similar group of players.”