Not at all, they were great times when he was here but I just don’t think he’s the best fit for this club, at the moment. That’s all. I’m siding with the pragmatists and realists on here rather than the incurable romantics.
What a ridiculous thing to say, there's no romanticism involved, just like there's nothing pragmatic or realistic about your opinion.
Manning, McCann or whoever it ends up being, could go on to have much success with us, but if they don't hit the ground running, they're not gonna get as much patience as someone like Appleton, who I believe would keep us up, and due to his previous time here, would have credit in the bank, and would be given time to rebuild, even if the unthinkable happened this season, and we went down.
That opinion is not down to romanticism, just simple respect and appreciation of how good he was first time round, as a reason for believing he would be just as successful again this time.
During his first time here, Appleton was a reliable, no nonsense and ultra professional manager, with excellent contacts within the game, attracting some of the best young up and coming talent in the country, these kids and their agents were actively seeking Oxford United out to come and play for him, as he was transforming their careers, taking them from fringe players, and b team players, to first team regulars, who have now gone on to have careers playing in the Championship, Premiership, and even Europe in some cases.
He turned us into a serious club, with genuine, serious ambition, but he left because the funding was no longer available, which was gutting, but he left us in fantastic shape, on the pitch, but all that hard work has been undone and ripped to shreds in recent seasons, and needs fixing.
The funding that wasn't there before is available now, even more so in fact, and these are the reasons why many of us would've liked to see him return, as with the resources he'd now have available to him, he could achieve great things here.
