‘In jeopardy’ - Gary Rowett makes Oxford United admission ahead of Coventry City clash
Gary Rowett was warned his Oxford United players that places in his starting line-up are in “jeopardy” following their club’s latest run of form.
The U’s are preparing to take on Coventry City who, in contrast, are one of the form teams of the Championship with seven league wins out of their last eight lifting Frank Lampard’s men to a point and place off the play-off places. Oxford, meanwhile, have drawn three and lost three of their last six matches, scoring only once during that period.
United initially saw a bounce in results when Rowett was appointed head coach, collecting five wins and two draws from seven games. But the squad is now being tested, and last weekend’s trip to West Bromwich Albion saw Rowett make five changes to his starting XI.
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One alteration was enforced, as Joe Bennett replaced the injured Greg Leigh, but elsewhere, Alex Matos, Tyler Goodrham, Matt Phillips and Ole Romeny came in for Will Vaulks, Ruben Rodrigues, Siriki Dembele and Mark Harris, respectively.
Rowett said after the 2-0 defeat at The Hawthorns: “I said to the players in there afterwards that the way the game works, for the first nine games, players who have predominantly started the games have deserved to stay in.
“I asked them to make sure if you’ve got the shirt, you fight to hang onto it and make sure no-one gets it. What we’ve probably done in the last two or three games, I don’t think we’ve done enough. I don’t think there are that many of the starters that have done enough to say ‘I have to be picked’.
“Therefore your place in the team is in jeopardy. What I’ll do is keep faith in players, but there will come a point of course when you have to mix it up. I think because we’ve had a set team for a while, it felt like the right day to mix it up and give people an opportunity.
“I’m not sitting here saying that the five players who came into the team didn’t take an opportunity. I think it was a more general view of the performance, not just the five players coming in.
“Particularly in the forward areas, I would say that I don’t think we’ve quite looked bright enough for many of those players to say ‘I have to be picked’, but at the same time, those are the players that got us those early wins and draws, and therefore my job is to get the best out of these players."
He added: “I can’t go and sign another 10 players, so I have to try and find solutions in a way to get the best out of them. Obviously every player has to earn the right to stay in the team and they have to perform.
“Sometimes as a manager, you have to give them that continuity and that chance to build performances. I have to try and find ways to get the best out of them, in terms of what position I play them in and how I treat them day-to-day.”
