Kidderminster Harriers 3 Yellows 1

Darren Ferguson’s firing from Peterborough raised the first credible threat to us keeping Chris Wilder at Oxford this season. Peterborough have ambition, a bit of money and a policy of recruiting from below. There was a casual enquiry, whatever that is, which was quickly repelled (Kelvin Thomas waving a burning stick as if to fend off a witch, springs to mind).

Presumably Wilder’s contract is a good one, it’s certainly unusually long for a football manager. Maybe there’s more to this than money. Professional football is a mercenary business, but perhaps Wilder does feel a loyalty to the club, perhaps he does see that’s he’s onto a good thing and maybe he and his family are settled where they are. In most other lines of business, these would be taken into consideration when other jobs are available. What is a surprise is that The Posh walked away so easily, especially when Mark Cooper was who they eventually landed.

We shouldn’t fear Wilder’s departure, in the same way we shouldn’t fear defeat. I had yesterday’s game against Kidderminster as a likely nil-pointer. Kiddy are a capable side, we were due a blip, the weather was bad and we’ve just come off the back of a titanic effort against Yeovil.

And it certainly could have happened at a worse time; if we’d lost to Yeovil, then we’d now be looking at two defeats in a row. Looking forward, we now turn into a period of six games with only two away and a run up to Christmas that looks like it’s got a few points in it for us. It’s been a turbulent week; but one that ends as it began – top of the league and with the best squad and manager firmly in place. We have little to complain about.