Who'd be a football manager?

I felt for Oxford manager Chris Wilder last night after the defeat against Fleetwood.

He correctly identified a marked lack of confidence in some of his players and that must be a major worry with the club only nine points above the drop zone and teams below them like Bristol Rovers, York and Saturday's opponents Plymouth, managing to pick up points.

Oxford are currently on their worst run since September and have only managed one draw in the last five games. Fortunately there are several sides below them showing poor form as well - so they might just dodge the relegation bullet.

According to Wilder, he is down to "eighteen bodies", but he seems at a loss to understand why "the boys can't replicate what they do in training" come match day.

And with your own fans jeering you at both half time and full time, their collective fragile confidence is bound to be dented further.

A good example of this low sense of self belief (correctly picked up on by Wilder)  came last night in the first period when fans' favourite Alfie Potter lost two men, drifted in from the right, gave himself room with a dip of the shoulder and then ... laid the ball off to Deane Smalley when he should have fired in a shot from just inside the box with only the keeper to beat.

Striker Smalley looked as surprised as everyone else in the stadium as the unexpected pass flew across his eye line. Potter's body language gave him away. He knew he should have taken a punt.

Wilder now has several problems. 

First he needs to get the team back into winning ways. Easier said than done, but they've done it once before this season and so it is possible. Of course this time they have little to play for as the play-offs are a distant dream. Too many teams above them have too big a head start.

He also needs to get the fans back on his side.

I've always felt that it's a strange situation at Oxford as Wilder never seems to be too far away from being slagged off by a large proportion of the fans ... even when they're winning! 

This is a man who tries (and has succeeded in the past) to put on a good football show for the supporters and who also managed them back into the Football League after several years in the wilderness of the Conference.

It won't have escaped the notice of the directors last night that only 5,000 people turned up and - on current form - people aren't going to rush to the turnstiles to invest their 'hard earned'.

And if he wants his lads to 'play' their way out their current predicament, he needs to provide them with a decent pitch to do it on - and that just isn't going to happen.

Apparently London Welsh - the rugby club sharing the Kassam Stadium - were training on the pitch this week. Whose decision was it to allow that? Surely both codes would benefit from leaving the pitch for match days and training elsewhere? Especially given the weather we've been having. 

Wilder would be well within his rights to blame the pitch, the players and the lack of depth in the squad, but I fear that his future may lie elsewhere if Oxford lose on Saturday.

The boardroom may just decide that the squad have enough in their locker to stay up, but that a new face at this stage would give the players a lift and - more importantly for them - bring back the punters for the final home games of the season and whet their appetite for the next campaign.

If this is to happen, I for one would wish Wilder all the best for the future. I think that he has proved himself to be a good manager with the potential to become a better one. There's no doubt that the experience will have taught him a lot about the job and himself.

Despite the jeers - and with fans being fickle animals - I think he will ultimately be looked back on fondly by the U's faithful for giving them league football again. But at the moment a change might be as good for him as it appears it might be for them.

And so who will replace him? Has Michael Duberry got his coaching badges? Does Gary Waddock need a job?