Oxford United Chairman Sumrith 'Tiger' Thanakarnjanasuth wrote the following notes for the visit of Burton Albion in Sky Bet League One this afternoon:
Today is Family Day and I hope some of you have brought your family to the game for the first time. We pride ourselves on offering a warm welcome to everyone and helping young fans become Oxford supporters for life is what this club is all about.
I was very fortunate to be able to bring my wife and three of my four girls to the last two home games and spending time with them while watching the matches was priceless to me. They know I have my Oxford United family as well, and I want to thank everyone at the club for making them feel so much a part of it.
We enjoyed Tuesday night and a very strong team performance to beat Leyton Orient. People sometimes criticise the competition, but we got so much out of that game.
We scored five goals, including Matty Taylor’s first of the season and another for Kyle Joseph. They are starting to build a good understanding and games like Tuesday will only help. There were some outstanding performances all through the team, we were able to work on new ideas with the team shape and, of course, what I felt most proud about, we ended the game with five or six Academy graduates on the pitch, which is what the competition is so often about.
The team is starting to gel and results show that. The first away win of the season came at Cheltenham a week ago and that was an amazing game. Seeing the celebrations, on and off the pitch, when Cameron Brannagan scored the winner was wonderful and reminded me of that game at Shrewsbury, the last game before lockdown.
Behind the scenes we have been working so hard as the transfer window closed. I don’t just mean we worked hard this week; I mean for several months. The Board, Karl, the recruitment team of Mark Thomas and Ed Waldron with Derek Fazackerley and Naythan Din-Kariuki, we all talk all the time and the level of detail and homework that goes into a transfer is amazing. We have phone calls, zoom meetings and so many actual meetings, all with the aim of adding the right players and strengthening the squad in the right positions.
Karl has the Board’s support and backing and as I get these notes together on Wednesday morning we have just about worked through the night. But I want to say just one thing. I hope we have one or two new faces today, but it is important to remember that if we sign a player, they need to make us better or stronger as a group. I lost count of how many players we have discussed and then said, ‘Well, is he better than what we already have here?’ Can we make a strong group even stronger.
I hope so.
Tiger
You can read the full programme online at www.matchdayfix.com/oufc