LIAM Manning’s sharp attention to detail helped him get the head coach vacancy at Oxford United.

The club’s chief executive Tim Williams revealed that approximately 150 hopeful candidates approached the U’s, in the hope of replacing Karl Robinson.

Former MK Dons and Charlton Athletic boss Robinson was sacked on February 26 after a dreadful run of form which included seven defeats in eight matches.

United’s recruitment process saw the club have conversations with less than a dozen potential new managers, before reducing that to a smaller number who were spoken to last week.

The club then handed the job to Manning, whose appointment was announced on Saturday morning, hours before the 3-2 loss at home to Derby County.

Manning watched the defeat from the stands alongside incoming assistant manager Chris Hogg.

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During the recruitment process, Williams was impressed by Manning and both his vision for the club in the short and long-term.

The U’s chief executive said: “What we saw was attention to detail – a stable, calm, measured approach to what needs to be done both this season and taking the club into the future.

“What Liam and Chris demonstrated to us very clearly was the ability to get us to the end of the season and retain our league position, but also that real attention to detail to what it means going forward – that’s why they’re here.”

Speaking during his unveiling to the press on Monday afternoon, Manning added: “I’ve been coaching a long time now, I started coaching at 21 so I’ve been doing it 17 years.

“You get to a stage when you’re quite clear on you and your philosophy.

“I’ve got a document that’s evolved, it’s probably about the 10th edition and is about 600 slides.

“It’s me and that’s the biggest bit, it’s not a presentation for the interview.

“It’s me, it’s how I live, it’s what I do, what we do, what we’re really clear and aligned on.”

Manning has also coached overseas, as director of coaching at New York City FC and also head coach at Lommel SK in Belgium.

On how his experiences abroad have helped shape him to becoming the manager he is today, the 37-year-old said: “Communication is everything for me, when it goes right and when it goes wrong.

“I think going to New York especially, with 42 nationalities across the whole academy, adapting my communication skills to find a way in.

“In academies in England, you don’t necessarily get that to the same volume.”