OXFORD United chief executive Tim Williams has heaped praise on Des Buckingham’s former club for the way they handled his departure.

Buckingham was appointed U’s head coach at the end of last week, marking a return to his roots for the Oxford-born 38-year-old.

United had to meet a release clause to secure the services of Buckingham from Mumbai City, although Williams did not reveal the figure for that clause when asked by this newspaper.

Williams did though commend the Islanders and parent company City Football Group (CFG) for the manner in which they dealt with the U’s.

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He said: “The one thing I do want to make sure that we do state is just how professional Mumbai were in dealing with this and dealing with Des’ departure, and how courteous and cordial they were.

“Also with regard to the City Football Group, the whole group of people who made this happen could not have acted in a more professional way.

“From inside our club, I extend that out to Faz [Derek Fazackerley], Ed Waldron, all the support staff, but also CFG and Mumbai, who were exceptionally quick and exceptionally professional in how they dealt with things.”