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Post by waynetilling on Oct 21, 2019 15:26:23 GMT
Club Statement from the Oxford City FC Board of DirectorsFollowing discussions today we must announce that by mutual consent Oxford City Football Club and First Team Manager Mark Jones have parted company. It goes without saying this was a very difficult decision for the club with Mark's history as a player coach and manager at the club. We would like to thank Mark for his efforts and achievements during his time as manager. We wish him well with his future aspirations. Director of football Justin Merritt commented ‘Mark has given everything possible during his tenure as manager and there have been some amazing experiences particularly the FA cup successes. We would like to put on record our thanks to Mark for his professionalism, dedication and efforts with the club. We as a club are determined to continue our development both on and off the pitch with a view of achieving long term success’. In the short-term Director of Football Justin Merritt and Assistant manager Andy Ballard will lead first team affairs as an interim management team supported by goalkeeping coach Alan Foster and coach Ross Jenkins. An announcement on the recruitment process for a permanent manager will follow at a later time.
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Post by Shambles on Oct 21, 2019 15:44:28 GMT
Shambles
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Post by ChrisB on Oct 21, 2019 15:59:20 GMT
When results are not going well for a club (FA Cup excepted) I guess this outcome is always likely to be on the cards. I'm sure it must have been hard for the Board to come to this decision as Mark has been an OCFC man on and off for over 20 years and has played for and managed the 1st XI and Nomads for a long time. But City are not in a comfortable position in the league and it may well be that they felt it was time for a new manager with a different viewpoint to lift the team and produce positive results while still working within a very tight budget. The timing of the announcement is, however, surprising and not a boost for confidence just ahead of an important FA Cup tie, and, as always, one is left wondering just how 'mutual' the decision was.
When we lived locally and I could watch City/Nomads on a weekly basis I always found Mark to be a friendly, knowledgeable and forthcoming person and I wish him all the very best for whatever he may do next.
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Post by ObviousThrowaway on Oct 21, 2019 16:29:21 GMT
What braindead prat decided to announce this hours before the cup draw? Who saw an opportunity for a day of celebration and decided that what everybody needed was a sacking?
At least the timing distracts from how bad the statement is though. Maybe that was the plan all along?
That's obviously a joke. We all know there isn't a plan for anything. Ever.
Jonah has just achieved something borderline unprecedented and this is his reward? What exactly has he done wrong? Our league position isn't ideal but what do they expect from a club our size? What do they think somebody else will do differently?
Mark's management has brought a huge amount of money into the club, and what do we have to show for it on the pitch? I'll tell you exactly what - the ugly glow from a massive F**king scoreboard.
There's a feel this season that something has changed, and changed for the worse. I don't know what it is, but it has to be coming down from the top.
Fans can be harsh on managers but nobody was calling for his head. Everybody backed him except the people who at some point decided to exchange brains for power, and now here we are.
But hey, let's all enjoy the draw right? Fans are idiots and will forget about this as soon as we get that big league tie, won't we?
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Post by hedges on Oct 21, 2019 16:53:43 GMT
Something has gone on behind the scenes or off the pitch is my guess....we have had a large staff turnover as of late.
from a footballing perspective doesn't make any sense at all. As throwaway said we fans are harsh but noone was calling for his sacking and besides its a ridiculous time to do so. It might seem like we are pissed off but given the circumstances which everyone who comes regularly understands the club is in we are where we are and we are punching above our weight.
Just when I thought we got stability and heading towards an even keel as a club this S**t storm is thrown up and from past experiences over the last few years im not holding my breath we will get any real answers as to why and why now either.
Stupid decision.
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Post by City Gent on Oct 21, 2019 20:02:02 GMT
So disappointed to read this. I really do fear the Board have made an awful mistake.
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Post by Logistics on Oct 21, 2019 20:52:11 GMT
I think no matter what we think of the decision to part ways with Jonah, we have to simply look back over his time as City Manager and just take a moment to acknowledge what a wonderful job he did in just under 3 years at the helm.
Highlights I can think off the top of my head include that magnificent run last year that saw 6 wins in 7 just before Christmas, the five straight wins I believe was the best since the Hoops joined the National League in 2012.
Of course though, we can't ignore the FA Cup successes. Of course, he became only the second manager in City history to win a match in the Competition Proper, setting a new club record in the process by beating Football League opposition, before obviously coming so close to earning a first ever appearance in the Third Round Draw, albeit sharing a ball number with Notts County.
And then of course last year, it nearly happened again!
I believe if I've worked it out correctly, Jonah never managed to lose an FA Cup Qualifying Match - A record that saw him win 9 out of 10 matches, the other of course a draw against Hemel Hempstead. Now that's definitely a record that all non-league managers would be seriously envious of!
Obviously with any manager at any club, we experienced the lows, but we also experienced the highs, and there were plenty of them!
So a huge thanks to Jonah for everything he did for the club, and certainly wish him all the best as he looks for his next challenge!
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Post by Rijs on Oct 21, 2019 21:37:52 GMT
Gutted and shocked by a stupid decision. Jonah has been the best manager we have had in my 20 years as a supporter. He took over when we were in a bad place, has kept us playing a level above where we should be resources-wise, and brought us two great cup runs. He has done all that with the club in debt and with, we all suspect, a very limited budget as an understandable result. As several have said, despite our poor start in the league no-one has called for his head because we know the above and we believe in him and like him--obviously more than some of the board do. To take him out when we had a great chance of a third year of glory is just cruel. If there is a sound reason for it that no ordinary supporter knows, the club should have the guts to tell us.
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Post by ChrisB on Oct 22, 2019 8:12:19 GMT
Echo Rijs's and Logistics's comments above. Mark produced several memorable 'highs' whilst in charge in his calm and understated manner and his contributions to the Club over many years will long be remembered by the supporters. His will be a very hard act to follow. There is a short report of an interview with him in the O.M. HERE. No doubt (hopefully?) more about the decision will emerge soon. |
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Post by Ooooo123 on Oct 22, 2019 11:53:55 GMT
Paul Mulvaney And Rob Tutton joint managers coming in apparently.
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Post by toocoulson4schoolson on Oct 22, 2019 15:31:57 GMT
Paul Mulvaney And Rob Tutton joint managers coming in apparently. Nice to see people maintaining their sense of humour in these trying times |
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Post by OWHH on Oct 22, 2019 20:42:30 GMT
It turned the cup draw at the clubhouse into aa bit of a wake:
Not getting a league club didn't help.
Can I say I was surprised, No, not really, he had said in recent interviews that its a results business playing well, and being unlucky with decisions doesn't get you points, not my words, his. He told me after Dartford he was under pressure, I just thought the timing was unfair he should have at least been given until November taken past the cup tie then who knows results can change in the league.
But that decision has now been made we have to move on and back the team.
I wish Mark all the best for the future. COYH.
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Post by shutler on Oct 24, 2019 14:38:56 GMT
Absolutely stupid decision 😡
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Post by toocoulson4schoolson on Oct 24, 2019 18:46:26 GMT
I'm still struggling to make sense of this. Its bewildering. The only time I've heard anyone suggest that Jonah might be sacked was in the context of "wouldn't it be ridiculous if..." and the timing only compounds the sense of total unreality.
At first I thought this must be a big-picture decision based on a perceived lack of progress over the past 3 seasons, but last season was a significant improvement in terms of league points and 12th place seems like over-achievement for a club our size. If this decision has been based on a sense that Jonah should have somehow been doing better, than that is a decision which needs questioning.
So is it purely a reaction to our league form so far this season? We're 4 points behind where we were this time last year, and all it would have taken is one competent referee in either of our last two league games to bring that down to 3 or even 1. Performances have been fine considering the injury issues, and we're not going out and getting smashed: instead, we generally look like a side who are just one goalscorer away from turning these draws into wins and narrow defeats into draws.
It doesn't feel like there's anything screaming for a change of management. When you factor in yet another cup run, I only see reasons for faith in a manager who has served us so incredibly well.
Maybe somebody else will come in and revolutionise things in a way my tiny football fan brain can't even begin to comprehend, but right now I can't really imagine what there is to revolutionise.
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Post by Rijs on Oct 24, 2019 22:05:41 GMT
Under normal circumstances you would expect Chris B's post about the First Round draw to have attracted many views and quite a few replies this week, but it is singularly lacking in both, and that surely is not just because we have not, this time, been drawn against a League team. Instead, this thread has been getting the attention, for reasons well expressed by toocoulson4schoolson above. In fact, the views on the thread are unanimous in supporting Jonah and expressing a mixture of shock and bewilderment. If nothing else, this shows the board has probably underestimated the gap between their views and those of the club's fans. They will have reasons for their views, but we do not know them and they are not saying. This leaves us to assume that they know those reasons will look inadequate or partial under scrutiny. We may be wrong in assuming this, but our error cannot be corrected by board silence. In view of his record and the limitations he was under, we assume there must have been something other than a disappointing start to this season in the NLS to cause a club that has rarely sacked managers in the past 20 years to do so now. As the club statement hides more than it reveals, I challenge the board to tell us the truth, or at least the reason why it cannot tell us the truth!
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Post by Detail on Oct 26, 2019 21:20:08 GMT
If Justin Merritt thought that his column in todays programme was going to make people understand the decision that was made on Monday, then I'm not quite sure what he was thinking.
It felt like the normal 'generic rubbish' that clubs spout when they get rid of a manager and actually ends up raising more questions than it answers.
"It wasn't a knee jerk response"... Well that suggests that they've been considering this for a some time prior to this week, which makes it even more baffling.
"A decision based on a number of key factors and with the long term progression of the football club in mind"... So Jonah wasn't thought to be the long term solution for the club... Why?
You'd think think that anyone who knows that they have reasons that they are happy with in order to sack a manager, they'd be more than happy to stand in front of a group of people and explain the exact reasons as to why they sacked him.
I can think of two reasons as to why they'd go into talking with this corporate nonsense - one is because they know that they don't have any ground to stand on with the decision they made, or the other is because they don't have the bottle to explain themselves.
We're going to have to assume the worst with these decisions in case the board come out and explain themselves. Are the club running into financial difficulties again? That debt that was being paid off has gone suspiciously quiet again.
But presumably they'll use todays result as a justification for making this decision - but with all due respect to them Slough were clearly having an offday.
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Post by ObviousThrowaway on Oct 26, 2019 22:37:53 GMT
If Justin Merritt thought that his column in todays programme was going to make people understand the decision that was made on Monday, then I'm not quite sure what he was thinking. It felt like the normal 'generic rubbish' that clubs spout when they get rid of a manager and actually ends up raising more questions than it answers. "It wasn't a knee jerk response"... Well that suggests that they've been considering this for a some time prior to this week, which makes it even more baffling. "A decision based on a number of key factors and with the long term progression of the football club in mind"... So Jonah wasn't thought to be the long term solution for the club... Why? You'd think think that anyone who knows that they have reasons that they are happy with in order to sack a manager, they'd be more than happy to stand in front of a group of people and explain the exact reasons as to why they sacked him. I can think of two reasons as to why they'd go into talking with this corporate nonsense - one is because they know that they don't have any ground to stand on with the decision they made, or the other is because they don't have the bottle to explain themselves. We're going to have to assume the worst with these decisions in case the board come out and explain themselves. Are the club running into financial difficulties again? That debt that was being paid off has gone suspiciously quiet again. But presumably they'll use todays result as a justification for making this decision - but with all due respect to them Slough were clearly having an offday. Absolute nonsense from Justin. It's about long term progress not short term results? Last season was the highest ever finish in the league and 3 cup runs have brought in probably 200000 quid. If that's not enough long term progress then what would be? Do we think were going up? The only way for Jonah to of not met expectations is if the expectations were stupid. So are they stupid or are they lying? We started slow and they panicked. It's that simple. |
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