Former Bristol City and Swansea City head coach 'in talks' to replace Liam Manning at Oxford United

Former Bristol City under-23's coach Luke Williams is the front-runner to replace Liam Manning in the Oxford United hot seat, according to various reports.

The U's are on the hunt for a new manager after Manning accepted the offer of becoming the Robins head coach, just eight months into his post at the Kassam Stadium. Manning was appointed on a three-and-a-half-year deal, and has brought two members of his coaching staff to Ashton Gate. Chris Hogg has joined as assistant head coach, whilst James Krause has taken the role of first-team coach analyst.

As to who would replace Manning at the promotion-chasing League One outfit was a mystery, but now Notts County boss Luke Williams is being primed for the role. One of Manning's former players, Ruben Rodrigues who left the Magpies in the summer for Oxford admitted that Williams was his preferred choice.

He said to BBC Radio Oxford “I’ve seen Frank Lampard, which for me when I was a young kid, I was watching the Premier League and Chelsea, it’d be a legend coming in, but I don’t really look at Twitter or the odds. That’s the only thing I’ve seen.

“I hope Luke Williams, but I can’t say too much. I can’t say it because I love Notts County.”

Football Insider reports that Williams is in talks with Oxford about becoming their new manager. In their report they say that a deal is 'close to being agreed' having held talks over the last 24 hours. Craig Short has managed Oxford for the last two matches, and has won both games, but it looks like Williams is the preferred choice to take Oxford forward, despite reports linking Frank Lampard to the role.

The managerial merry-go-round works in funny ways as Williams was once a coach at Bristol City, and now he could be replacing the man who left Oxford to work at the club he was once at. The 43-year-old was head coach of City's under-23's for two years, before working alongside Russell Martin at MK Dons and later Swansea City. He has been at Notts County since June 2022, and led them to a play-off win at Wembley earlier this year, and boasts a 60.3% win percentage.