Following Tuesday’s disastrous defeat at the hands of local rivals Reading many supporters were muttering darkly about never returning to the Manor, at least for the remainder of the season. Whilst such sentiments are generally made in the heat of the moment, in fits of anger or depression or just plain frustration, it cannot be denied that things at the Manor must have reached a pretty drastic stage for fans of long-standing to utter such remarks.

There are a number of reasons for the decline of Oxford United which has seen the club sink to the brink of the bottom division for the first time in thirty five years, and to successive relegations for the first time in the club’s history. They are the culmination of various factors over several years, both internal to the club and affecting the whole of English professional football.

Part of the wider picture is obviously a direct result of the formation of the Premier League almost ten years ago, which has seen the top clubs get richer, from sponsorship and television revenue, whilst clubs at the other end of the league lose out, the resources in football being, if not finite then at least poorly distributed. Whilst this has always been the case to some extent the last few years have seen this situation exacerbated until now there is a serious danger of a number of clubs, from Barnet to Crystal Palace to Swindon to Bolton, going out of business.

The internal situation at Oxford United is equally complex and equally dangerous to the chances of professional football continuing in the city, at least at the level we’ve become used to in the last three decades. The club’s financial problems have been well documented since the departure of Keith Cox and the arrival of Firoz Kassam. If nothing else Kassam has removed, by virtue of the CVA, the bulk of the club’s debt and United now has a greater chance of monetary stability than it has had since before the arrival of Robert Maxwell. The remainder of the club’s debts are secured on the Manor ground, which can’t be sold until the new stadium is occupied by United.

This only goes part of the way to explaining the malaise which was symptomised against Reading. Obviously there is little or no cash available for new players, but the current squad should be good enough to keep the club in division two as a minimum standard. Denis Smith, for all his faults, probably does have the experience and the respect of the players to achieve survival even with the financial constraints. Kassam himself has said that relegation is not acceptable and so we have to assume that the will for survival is there in the boardroom. With the Pentith case due to be resolved for once and for all on Monday then we will expect this will to be translated into positive action should the result go United’s way.

What was witnessed on Tuesday night was pure fear. Fear of failure, fear of underperforming and fear of the future. All this combined to make these fears self-fulfilling, with the result that United are closer to starting in Minchery Farm in Division Three than anyone would hope. Ironically it could also be argued that the result owed something to the absence of Fear, but the midfielder’s injury is an excuse and not a fundamental reason for the debacle that was inflicted on us on Tuesday. In order for this not to happen again it is essential that this fear factor is addressed.

An essential first step is to offer new contracts to those players who are out of contract at the end of this season who are vital to United’s aspirations for the remainder of this season and next. These players include Mark Watson first and foremost, Joey Beauchamp, Rob Folland, and Pål Lundin. This in itself should remove some of the fear from key players. The next step is for a signal to come from boardroom level that the playing staff is worth investing in, by allowing the management team to go out and buy players to fill those positions most needing new blood, such as both fullback places, up front, central midfield and central defence. All United fans know where the weak links are, we have to assume that club officials share our analysis.

This comment has turned into a bit of a rant, for which we apologise. It’s a rant from the heart, though, and it reflects the feelings of many United fans who were skulking home on Tuesday evening. Whether or not the steps described above will actually happen remains to be seen, but Rage Online feels that if United are to survive in this division, and time is exceedingly tight, then these things must happen as soon as Nick Pentith is shown the door on Monday.