Tuesday 22 July 2014 14:06, UK
Oxford have appointed Derek Fazackerley as assistant head coach and Mark Thomas as head of performance and recruitment analysis.
Fazackerley heads to the Kassam Stadium with an impressive CV, having been England assistant manager under Kevin Keegan and head coach at Newcastle. The 62-year-old has also worked under Sven-Goran Eriksson at Manchester City before spells at Blackburn, Bolton, Barnsley, Leicester and Birmingham. "It is a really exciting challenge," Fazackerley told Oxford's official website. "Michael Appleton is a good young manager with great ideas about the game and I would love to help him achieve success here at Oxford. "I am looking forward to getting out there on the training ground and working with the players as we build towards the new season." U's chief executive Mark Ashton said: "Derek is a genuine football person and we are delighted that he will be joining us. "To be able to call on his experience, his contacts within the game and his know-how will be invaluable." Fazackerley will join up with the squad on Monday alongside Thomas, who arrives from Portsmouth, where he was head of performance analysis for two years. He said: "I have worked with Michael Appleton before and he fully appreciates the input that we can give him through studying the vast amount of data that we can now supply. "There are exciting times ahead here at Oxford and I am delighted to have joined the club." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts