United Chairman Sumrith 'Tiger' Thanakarnjanasuth writes the following in this afternoon's programme:
Good afternoon everyone and thank you for coming to see us take on AFC Wimbledon. We may have reached 52 points last weekend but that does not mean we will be easing up over the next few weeks and with Wimbledon fighting for survival I hope it is another very entertaining game for you to enjoy.
I think the last few weeks have seen the real Oxford United: the side we knew we could be at the start of the season. So many factors have been involved but we are in great form right now and four wins in a row is fantastic from Karl, the coaching staff and the players. I thought Jamie Mackie’s goal against Bradford was dramatic enough but when Josh Ruffels scored against Wycombe in the last home game I have never seen such scenes here! What a moment, and there were similar celebrations at Walsall as well.
So on the pitch we are doing well and have come through some very difficult times. Unfortunately, off the pitch we are still experiencing some difficulties and it is so frustrating to have to try and explain two more problems which came to light recently. Firstly, money to pay wages was in the bank in this country on 26th March, which should be plenty of time to go through the required checks. Unfortunately, the checks took longer than ever before and that resulted in staff being paid later than usual. I felt terrible about this; we have some of the best and most loyal people behind the scenes here and we let them down. We have to work harder to make sure this cannot happen again and I thank them for their patience.
Soon after that story, we received the news that our landlords were prepared to chase their rent through the courts. That is their right but we were disappointed not to be able to sit down and talk it through with them; this is something we still hope to do as we try and find a positive way for us to work together.
Clearly, neither story covered the club in glory and raised concerns among fans. I understand that and we are not hiding the fact that we have made mistakes. All we can do now is keep working to try and build your confidence in what we aim to do. The aim remains to build a successful, sustainable club. We will learn so much from this season and we have a Board meeting in two weeks where we will discuss everything that has happened and everything that we need to do to be stronger and better next season.
For now, we just need to focus on the last five games, end the season on a positive note, and then we will truly move forward together.
Tiger
You can read the full programme online at www.matchdayfix.com/oufc