One of Brian Horton's ex-clubs Oxford United were beaten 2-1 at the Moss Rose at the end of last season, courtesy of two own goals. It was October 1988 when Horton stepped up from assistant manager at the club, when Mark Lawrenson departed after a difference of opinion with chairman Kevin Maxwell. Horton had five good seasons at Oxford, bringing in a certain David Moss as assistant. Horton also gave Steve McClaren his start in football management at Oxford, when he made McClaren reserve team manager.
Last season, whilst the Silkmen struggled at the bottom of the table, Oxford were top of the table at the New Year. As they continued to battle for an automatic promotion place, Bristol Rovers announced that the U's manager Ian Atkins was moving to take over with them. Oxford Chairman Firoz Kassam suspended Atkins and brought in ex-Portsmouth manager Graham Rix. Atkins' departure started a dip in Oxford's fortunes and they finished adrift of even a play-off place. Leading scorer was Steve Basham with a total of 15 goals, 14 of them in the League.
This season, the club appear to be in a self-destruct mode as they lie 18th in the League with manager Rix under pressure to turn things around. This week their striker Julian Alsop was sacked after an "incident". Details were published in a major newspaper, but sensitivity forbids their repetition. Alsop is now at Northampton Town. The U's were boosted at the start of the season by the arrival of 20 goal man Tommy Mooney (not to be confused with our own Tommy Rooney) from Swindon Town on a free transfer. He is the current top scorer with 4 goals. Basham has just the 1 goal. Ex-Man City man Lee Bradbury also features for the U's and has 2 goals.
With the Silkmen's appetite for disappointment against struggling clubs, and with the FootyMAD preview forecasting an easy home win, expect anything on Saturday!
For the FootyMAD preview see MAD Specials Previews section on left