Oxford United are on the search for a new head coach after confirming the decision to part ways with Des Buckingham in the wake of Saturday afternoon’s 3-1 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.

The U’s dismissal of Buckingham, has already been met with intense online scrutiny. Buckingham guided Oxford back to the second-tier through the League One play-offs for the first time in more than 20 years and they proceeded to make a strong start to life in the Championship.

A run of 15 league matches without victory seemingly confirmed the decision for Oxford, who find themselves down in 20th and are just one point above 22nd-placed Portsmouth.

However, given Buckingham took Oxford back to the Championship in the first place and was working with a considerably weaker budget and playing squad compared to the side’s counterparts, both U’s and neutral supporters have lambasted the call.

Nonetheless, Oxford will be looking forward and, as their hunt for a Buckingham replacement begins to take shape, Football League World explores three potential candidates who should be under consideration to take over at the Kassam Stadium…

Mark Robins

Another boss to have been controversially relieved of his duties this season, Mark Robins remains available following his contentious sacking from Championship rivals Coventry City, which was later confirmed to have been influenced by a fall-out with former assistant Adi Viveash.

Robins’ second spell with the Sky Blues saw him devote seven-and-a-half years of service, taking Coventry from the depths of League Two to within one penalty kick of promotion to the Premier League in May 2023, where they lost out to Luton Town in the play-off final.

He’s very much the manager who will commit to a long-term project, which fits the criteria of what you would imagine Oxford will be looking for after sacking Buckingham. Make no bones about it, Oxford are in a relegation battle and that may make it difficult for them to secure someone of Robins’ calibre, but it would be hard to see them succumbing to the drop with him in charge.

Widely renowned as one of the finest bosses across the EFL during his stay in the West Midlands, Robins could prove an inspired replacement and a sizable upgrade on Buckingham.

Steven Schumacher

Stoke City’s sacking of Steven Schumacher back in September went down as yet another hugely contentious call in the Championship.

The Potters were mid-table at the time of his dismissal, and he had won four of his opening eight games in the new season after steadying the ship to keep Stoke afloat last time out.

Stoke haven’t kicked on since replacing him with Narcis Pelach and their loss could be Oxford’s gain, though Schumacher is also being eyed to succeed Neil Harris at Millwall according to recent reports.

Schumacher would be a like-for-like replacement for Buckingham, with many parallels between the two.

Like Buckingham, he was also renowned as one of the most promising managers in the EFL not too long ago, he likes to play a positive, high-tempo brand of attacking football and has already experienced League One promotion, which he delivered on a modest budget with Plymouth Argyle as they beat Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town to the title in 2022/23.

The 40-year-old has been tipped for a number of Championship jobs following his dismissal in the Potteries, but perhaps a move to Oxfordshire would make the most sense.

He stabilised Stoke in the division last season and that’s exactly what Oxford would be desiring at this stage, meaning his recent history fits the bill too.

Tony Mowbray

Lastly, Tony Mowbray could be another appealing candidate to succeed Buckingham after successfully recovering from bowel cancer, which prematurely curtailed his time with Birmingham City earlier this year as he took time out of football to undertake treatment.

Thankfully, the 61-year-old now appears to be back in good health and he’s reportedly looking to return to full-time management, which should have a range of clubs in the second-tier on red alert.

One of those simply must be Oxford, who could do with his experience in a relegation dogfight but would also likely be extremely open to a manager renowned for his attacking style and trust in young players – which shone through in his most recent long-term spell with Sunderland.

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Mowbray has an extremely strong reputation in the game and still has plenty to offer in spite of his age. The former Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers boss has a continued record of success at this level and, with some fine-tuning of course, could turn around Oxford’s fortunes and have them competing higher up the table.