MALCOLM Shotton insisted last night that he is not bitter about his departure from Oxford United - and he wants to continue his career as a football manager.

The former United boss spoke at length in an exclusive interview with the Oxford Mail, the first time he has broken his silence since he resigned on October 25.

And Shotton stressed that, despite a 21-month reign which saw the U's lose a large proportion of their games, with no money to spend on players, and difficulties with managing director Keith Cox and then chairman Firoz Kassam, it hadn't put him off management.

"I don't feel bitter," he stated. "Things didn't work out for one reason or another, but I don't regard it as a bad experience.

"I made friends with, and met, some very nice people along the way, and the letters I've had since I left have shown what a lot of the fans felt. They have been top-class. "There's been a lot of good come out of the time I've had at Oxford and it hasn't taken anything away from my desire to be a manager.

"If anything, it has made me more determined to be more successful," he said. "Of course, that would be easier if it were to be somewhere where there aren't so many things going on behind the scenes, and where there is some money for players."

It has never been revealed whether Shotton and his assistant Mark Harrison resigned voluntarily or were sacked, and whether they would be compensated for the remaining 20 months of their contracts.

At the time, chairman Firoz Kassam did say: "It was a decision I had to make."

Shotton wouldn't disclose what happened at that Monday afternoon meeting just hours before the club's annual meeting.

"It's for me to know and others to find out," he said. "I'm in contact with the League Managers' Association. Everything's sorted out, so I don't want to say anything that would mess it up."

After taking a break from the stresses of day-to-day involvement with a club, Shotton is back doing some part-time spying.

"I'm doing scouting work for two or three clubs," he said. "It's nice just going to watch games and look at players.

"It is a release and in many ways, a relief. There were so many things going off at Oxford which I couldn't talk about. All I know is that I could write a book about it and it would be a big seller!"

Shotton admitted that, with the way events turned out, it was one of the best decisions of his life not to move his family down from their south Yorkshire home to Oxfordshire.

On many occasions, he and his wife Treda looked at houses near Oxford and they had even secured a place at Abingdon School for their son Matthew to finish off his studies. "With the way things turned out, I'm certainly glad I didn't move down," he said. "Matthew's got two years studying his A levels without big upheavals.

"We'd actually put a fee down for him at Abingdon School but they were aware of my position and the governors of the school were absolutely brilliant and agreed to return the fee in full."

Meanwhile, Shotton's successor is now expected to be announced next week.

And speculation that it could be John Rudge seems off the mark, according to Shotton.

"No, I'm sure it won't be him. With the Icelandic takeover at Stoke, and now that Gary Megson's gone, Rudgey's more involved than ever there," Shotton said.

Story date: Saturday 20 November

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.