The Oxford United Herald
Squad14 Sep 2026
Mark Harris damages knee ligaments — 41 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 41 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market14 Sep 2026
Will Vaulks hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Oxford United can pretend not to have heard.
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Oxford United's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Oxford United has to find a result from somewhere.
Match12 Sep 2026
Charlton Athletic take the points off Oxford United
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Oxford United
Ruben Roosken and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Oxford United are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by David Barnes to a room that had heard them before.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Oxford United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian De Keersmaecker is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Jamie Cumming
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
In brief
- Player ratings Off the pace: Siriki Dembélé
- The dugout Siriki Dembélé is still paying for one afternoon at Oxford United
- Player ratings Off the pace: Stephan Negru