LIAM Manning has hinted that more Oxford United players will be committing their long-term futures to the club sooner rather than later.
On Tuesday, Ciaron Brown became the fifth U’s player to sign a new contract with the club since the beginning of the season.
The 25-year-old Northern Ireland international’s previous deal was due to expire next summer, however United announced that he has signed a new ‘longer-term’ contract.
Simon Eastwood, Elliott Moore, Stephan Negru and Gatlin O’Donkor have also all penned their futures to the U’s in recent weeks.
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United head coach Manning said that addressing player incomings and exits was his immediate priority in the summer, however once the transfer window closed on September 1, his focus could shift towards tying down key personnel.
“We knew there was going to be a big overhaul in the summer in terms of players out and players in,” said Manning.
“We knew what we had in the building and the amount of work we had to do, to add to the squad in the summer.
“It was only natural that from a time perspective, sorting out the people in-house was going to take a little bit of time.
“Once we got the window shut, we could then prioritise making sure we reward and look after people that have done extremely well.”
The U’s flirted with relegation during the 2022/23 campaign, but despite the club’s generally poor showing on the pitch, Brown’s reliably solid performances saw him stand out.
So much so, he scooped both the players’ player of the year and the Andrew Knapton supporters’ player of the year awards.
Manning believes the former Cardiff City defender has shown further signs of improvement this season, with Brown handling the responsibility of playing a variety of positions.
“Ciaron in a difficult season last season did extremely well and to be fair to him, I think his levels have gradually improved over the course of this season so far having played left back, left wing back and the left of a three,” said Manning.
“He’s done all of it and his levels have continually progressed, so he’s thoroughly earnt the new deal, which I’m really pleased he’s signed.
“I’m sure in the near future, hopefully there might be some others.”
“We want to dominate the ball, we want to attack, we want to be hard to beat, and whether you do that with a three, four or five at the back is kind of irrelevant.”
— Oxford Mail OUFC (@OxfordMailOUFC) October 19, 2023
Liam Manning discusses formations and MK Dons comparisons #oufc https://t.co/ivUsS9Qtk5
One player who United will have available this weekend is Everton loanee Stanley Mills, whose straight red card against Bristol Rovers was rescinded.
Manning said: “It was definitely the correct decision. We did a lot of work to get it overturned. It didn’t feel like a red at the time.
“That’s probably the challenge we have nowadays. Rather than discussing things and whether they’re yellows or reds, the spectrum can be no foul to a straight red. It just varies too much in terms of the decision.
“It makes it difficult day-to-day, how to manage games in-house and what are the decisions that we’re giving in training, because we have to do everything to try and create the same level of consistency with our decisions, so that the players are prepped when they go into a game.”
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