THE decision to end Pep Clotet’s reign as Oxford United manager will almost certainly have come as a surprise to the Spaniard.

While pressure had been growing since the 7-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic last month, as late as last week he was talking about the future.

This month Clotet, chairman Darryl Eales and assistant head coach Derek Fazackerley made a whistle-stop visit to Europe on transfer business.

When asked about the trip last Thursday, the U’s boss indicated the player was not on the wish list during the January transfer window, but instead had been marked out as a possible target for next summer.

He said: “We wanted to do that because it was something that helped us prepare for the future.

“It happened to be that week day was the best for us three to go and they could receive us.

“Nothing really came out of that. We all wanted to make that trip so we had that contact for the future if needed.”