John Terry is reportedly in the frame to become the new manager of Oxford United, who recently sacked Des Buckingham following the club’s poor start to the season
John Terry is in the running to take over at Oxford United, potentially setting up an awkward reunion with a former Chelsea team-mate.
The former England captain, 44, is one of the frontrunners for the job following Des Buckingham’s departure on Sunday. If he lands the role, he’ll manage ex-Blues midfielder Josh McEachran, who joined the U’s in 2023.
McEachran might have a thing or two to say to Terry given comments the Chelsea legend made about him on the Up Front With Simon Jordan podcast earlier this year. During the episode, Terry told a story about former manager Andre Villas-Boas trying to assert his authority during Chelsea’s pre-season tour in Asia, ahead of the 2011/12 season.
He said he felt affronted at being given an economy seat on a flight to Hong Kong while McEachran and other youngsters enjoyed first-class privileges. “When AVB came in, I’ll give you a little story, we were going to Hong Kong. We get on the plane and I’m sitting in economy, on a 13-hour flight. And we’ve got Josh McEachran, Nathaniel Chalobah [and] a couple of other young players all in first class,” Terry recalled.
“This was part of AVB going, ‘No player is bigger than me – everyone is the same’. He made it so that if you flew out first class you had to fly economy, or premium economy, going the other way… so I’m going, ‘We’re not going anywhere until these young players go back in economy and the first team players that have built this club to where it is go back in first [class].
“AVB comes up [and asks me], ‘What’s the problem?’ And I say, ‘We’re not going anywhere until the players move’. And to be fair to the young players they were going, ‘JT, this is really uncomfortable. We’ll go back’. And I go, ‘No, no. This isn’t your decision. He [AVB] has to own it. This was one of his first things [Villas-Boas did] in front of everyone.”
At the time, McEachran had only just broken into the senior squad. The young midfielder had dazzled under Carlo Ancelotti during the 2010/11 season and looked poised to become the first Chelsea academy graduate since Terry to establish himself as a first-team regular.
But as Terry’s anecdote suggested, life under Villas-Boas was anything but easy. McEachran struggled for game time and made just two appearances in the Premier League before being loaned out to Swansea in 2012. He spent the next three years being farmed out to clubs like Middlesbrough, Watford and Vitesse before ending his 14-year association with Chelsea by signing for Brentford in 2015.
He then moved to Birmingham City in 2019; however, his career hit a snag due to injury issues, limiting his impact at the club. In 2020, McEachran moved to MK Dons before switching to Oxford in 2023. His first season saw the club climb to the Championship, but a rocky start to the current season threatens to send them back down to the third tier.
Currently sitting 20th in the table, they’re only just above the relegation zone on goal difference after securing four victories in their first 20 matches. A loss to Sheffield Wednesday over the weekend – their fifth in six games – was the final straw for head coach Buckingham, who had been at the helm since November of the previous year.
Terry isn’t the only contender for the Oxford job. Gary Rowett, former boss of Stoke and Birmingham, is also in contention, as is Mark Robins, who was recently replaced by Frank Lampard at Coventry.
If Terry lands the job, it will mark his debut managerial role. The legendary centre-back has previously served as an assistant manager under Dean Smith at both Aston Villa and Leicester, as well as an academy coach at Chelsea.
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