Monday 3 March 2014 11:32, UK
Oxford will not be rushed into appointing a new manager but are eyeing up some surprising targets, chairman Ian Lenagan has revealed.
Mickey Lewis has been in caretaker charge of the U's for over a month now since the departure of Chris Wilder to Northampton but after a bright start to life in the hot seat the 3-0 loss to Rochdale on Saturday saw them slip five points behind the automatic promotion places. But Lenagan is not panicking and says it is vitally important they get 'the right manager' in the coming weeks. "Whilst I want promotion this season, just the same way as every Oxford fan does, the long-term appointment of the right manager is more important and that's what we are going to do," he told the Oxford Mail. "There's no deflection because of Saturday, which isn't to say it's not very important and high in my priorities, but I'm more concerned to get the right manager." Lanagan received 60 applications for the post and revealed that they are also interested in managers currently in employment elsewhere. "You naturally put together a list of people who are in higher-level clubs and who are capable of managing a club like Oxford United," Lenagan added. "That's what we call the proactive list, because we know, without them even applying, from our research they are the type of people we are interested in. "They are not necessarily names that fans would instantly think about."