FORMER Oxford United captain Adam Murray has been appointed assistant manager of Turkish giants Besiktas.

It sees the 40-year-old team up with new boss Valerien Ismael, who he worked under at Barnsley and West Bromwich Albion.

Besiktas are one of the biggest clubs in Turkey with 21 top-division titles to their name, but lie eighth in the Super Lig with eight games of the season remaining.

Murray joined United from Macclesfield Town in January 2008, going on to score 11 goals in 97 matches.

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The midfielder became captain for the 2008/09 campaign and was an ever-present as the U’s finished seventh in the Blue Square Premier.

Murray was a regular in the first half of the following season, but a back injury meant he played his last game in January 2010 and missed out on United’s charge to promotion via the play-offs.

He was released before the club’s first campaign back in the Football League.

Murray’s new role is the latest step in a promising coaching career, which has included managerial stints at Mansfield Town and Boston United and two stints as caretaker boss of Barnsley.

Working under Ismael, he helped the Tykes reach the Sky Bet Championship play-offs last season and followed the former Bayern Munich man to West Brom in the summer.

Murray was assistant boss at the Hawthorns, but left when the Frenchman was sacked last month after just seven months in charge.

He briefly took a coaching role at Port Vale under fellow ex-United player Andy Crosby, who has stepped in as acting boss with Darrell Clarke on bereavement leave.