Oxford United relegated to League One after two years in Championship

By Jerome Sale, BBC Radio Oxford

In the end, Oxford ran out of steam.

It feels like they have been playing high value games for months – maybe even since the moment they arrived in the Championship two years ago. It takes its toll.

What went wrong? It is not one big thing it is lots of things, the ill-fated pre-season tour of Indonesia and a stop-start summer transfer window probably contributed to a slow start from which United never recovered.

The managerial change probably came too late.

I do not buy, however, that the club has been too focused on the stadium project.

It is essential for the future and the football side of the club is largely siloed from that department.

Oxford were never going to have the top budget in the Championship, but they did not have the worst by any means.

Going forward there is lots to consider, Oxford is unrecognisable as a club from two years ago.

The crowds are almost 50% up, the atmosphere at games has been dialled up too – despite the fact that they have been winning fewer games.

There is still an unwieldy squad with few players out of contract, but equally when assessing Oxford’s ability to bounce back, it is unrealistic to expect some of the top talent not to seek to stay in the Championship by sealing a move.

For Matt Bloomfield this is awful deja vu. As with Luton last year, he has improved a team’s form, but not by quite enough.

Luton stuck with him last summer, only to let him go early in the next campaign. What will Oxford do?

Do Oxford revert to a model which served them well previously in League One when they were more often than not play-off contenders?

Does style once again become a priority when survival should not be an issue (though there are no guarantees)?

Has two years in the Championship changed the U’s forever or was it just them dressing up?

I doubt we will have to wait until August to find out – the clues should start coming pretty quickly.