Oxford United Chairman, Sumrith 'Tiger' Thanakarnjanasuth, wrote the following notes for the programme for the Crewe Alexandra game:
They say that third time is lucky, so I hope tonight we do finally get the chance to test ourselves against Crewe after two postponements. The first two games were frustrating to say the least, but we respect the rules and know this is a difficult time for everyone where the safety of players, staff and those lucky enough to be able to attend the games is our first priority.
It has been hard for Karl and the players to get any sort of rhythm going in the league. Last time we played here we were winners against Rochdale and in a perfect world we would have taken that into the Saturday and maybe started a run. Instead we played Peterborough in the FA Cup, then Walsall in the Trophy followed by a blank weekend. So two weeks since our last league game.
That is nobody’s fault but you can see the problems. It is almost December and we have yet to play a quarter of the games. We are going to have a very busy time for the next few months, right?
It will be busy in all areas of the club. On the recruitment side of things, we have held very constructive meetings over the last few weeks and identified areas we can strengthen and improve. I’d like to welcome Jordan Obita to the club; he is a very exciting player who I know all about from our time together at Reading. There will be other new faces in January but as you know we work a long way ahead of that and are already planning for the summer and for the window after that. Everything is done for the long-term strengthening of the side and the club.
Sometimes you cannot plan for what might happen and I’d like to pass on my best wishes to Cameron Brannagan who is back in light training and we believe will make a full recovery after an eye inflammation. Cameron is a very influential player for us and to have him missing because of something that affects maybe two people in the whole country each year is unbelievably bad luck. I want to state publicly that we want him back as soon as possible, of course, but we will not rush him; we will do the right thing according to the doctors and medical advice. We are one family, so we look after each other off the field as much as on it.
Finally, I’d like to ask for your help please. It’s not just on the pitch where we have been facing a challenge. Off the field we are working so hard to bring revenue into the club and I would like to ask you all to support us from home this Christmas. The club shop would usually be so busy in the next few weeks but for obvious reasons everything is online in the run up to this Christmas. Please, if you can, visit the online shop and buy home kits, gifts and presents in the next few weeks. Who knows: you might be able to wear that new shirt at a game sooner than you think.
Tiger
You can download the full programme at www.matchdayfix.com/oufc