NEW Oxford United owner Sumrith Thanakarnjanasuth plans to go with his instincts as he hopes to make a swift managerial appointment.

A new man might have been at the helm already, but the process was delayed when it became clear the takeover deal would go through last Thursday.

The Thai businessman, known as Tiger, has been kept informed of developments and held a meeting with board members yesterday to discuss the situation.

While former Wales striker Craig Bellamy has long been the clear odds-on favourite, it emerged yesterday the club are still looking at three other candidates.

Thanakarnjanasuth is aiming to confirm an appointment shortly, particularly with him leaving the UK on business later this week.

“We will try to finalise within a day or two,” he said.

“I don’t want to choose any wrong manager.

“I just like the managers that have a good personality, all the players accept him with some new tactics and training.”

The 55-year-old has gone through the process before, appointing Jaap Stam when he was part-owner at Reading in 2016.

The Dutchman steered the Championship side to the play-off final in his first campaign in charge, at which point Thanakarnjanasuth left the club.

He said: “I talked to six or seven guys face-to-face and my last two candidates were Jaap Stam and Erik ten Hag (now at Ajax) and finally I had Stam in the team.

“You can bring in world class managers but there is no guarantee that you are going to be a success.

“There’s your common sense – track record, past record, performance, personality, management, is all involved – but I think 30 per cent is your gut.”

The owner’s unveiling came five weeks to the day that Pep Clotet was sacked.

While Darryl Eales at the time stressed United were in no rush to make an appointment, it is clear the process – led by board members Steve Dolton and Dave Jones – has been held up in the last few days by the takeover.

Eales said: “We have made a lot of progress on the next manager – who we think is the right person, and who would fit in with the club, because that’s the over-arching requirement for me.

“But once the deal happened on Thursday, the reality is it is Tiger’s decision.

“Rest assured we have offered our four-pennyworth and advice, but Tiger has got to make the right appointment from his perspective.

“If you had asked me ten days ago, I would have said the managerial appointment would have happened first.

“Then things happened quickly.

“But once Tiger said to me last Monday the deal would go through that week – last Monday, it was impossible to go forward because it would be unfair on all parties.”

l United special: Pages 30-31