Oxford United say that head coach Des Buckingham has left his role as head coach.
After an encouraging start to the campaign the U’s have struggled in recent weeks and have dropped to within a point of the Championship relegation zone.
Buckingham was appointed in November 2023 and led the club to promotion from League One via a play-off final victory at the end of last season.
“The club would like to place on record its thanks to Des for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him well for the future,” said a club statement.
“The appointment of a new head coach will be confirmed in due course.”
The U’s lost 3-1 at home to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, despite Greg Leigh giving them a17th-minute lead, and next weekend will travel to face promotion- chasing Leeds United.
by Jerome Sale, BBC Radio Oxford’s Oxford United commentator
When a team has won only once in 15 games it might seem strange to talk about the outright shock that cascaded through Oxfordshire within moments of this news breaking.
It is not about Des Buckingham being a local guy, or even the guy that took Oxford into the Championship for the first time in 25 years.
I did a phone in when of the 100 or so calls, text messages and social media comments we received after Oxford were beaten at home by Sheffield Wednesday, a grand total of one called for a change of manager.
Relegation always was, and remains, a possibility for a club that almost surprised itself by winning the League One play-offs following a late charge last season.
My initial thought is that the fans have been happy just being in the Championship – the club clearly isn’t.
