Oxford star Mark Harris reflects on Championship return, Wales recall and Erling Haaland
Oxford United striker Mark Harris has spearhead the club's attack following their return to the Championship and has even earned a Wales recall after opting to leave Cardiff City
by Dan Marsh · The MirrorWhen it comes to league goals in 2024, Mark Harris is in esteemed company.
Oxford United's leading marksman made a fine start to the new Championship season, plundering four goals in as many games.
In terms of goals for the calendar year, that tally, coupled with the 12 he notched in League One post January, was bettered only by the imperious Erling Haaland of Manchester City in the top four leagues of English football when Harris was minted as the Championship's Player of the Month at the start of September.
Haaland is a player who seems to have an aura of inevitability when it comes to goals, yet often finds himself on the periphery of matches. But while the Norwegian has bagged hat-tricks from just a handful of touches, Harris prefers to get his hands dirty up top.
"If you're taking home a match ball every week and you're having, what, six touches then I think that's probably fine," Harris quips to Mirror Football.
"Don't get me wrong, I would happily take six touches and six goals every week!
"Personally, as long as I'm helping the team, I don't really look at how many touches I've had or how much I've been involved. I'm just looking at helping the team - whether that's with assists, goals, off the ball work stopping goals as well from the front."
While Haaland is widely recognised as the kingpin of penalty box predators, Harris has amassed a variety of strikes during his renaissance in Oxfordshire over the past 18 months. His stunning 35-yard volley against Blackburn, for instance, is already guaranteed a spot on the club's end-of-season highlight reels regardless of how many he manages to notch between now and May.
His returns at Oxford - 23 goals in 60 games - are a far cry from the ones he accrued at Cardiff. It was a burning desire to establish himself as an out and out No.9, rather than a utility role, which fuelled Harris' desire to seek pastures new last summer.
Leaving wasn't a decision taken lightly, nor was it part of the masterplan: Harris spent more than half his adult life on the books at the Bluebirds and, like most academy graduates who come good, only had designs on making the grade at his club.
But circumstances dictated otherwise - not that he has regrets. "There's been a lot of examples where one striker at a club will play a lot of games, not score enough goals and he'll get written off," he explains.
"Scoring goals is a No.9's job and there was an element [that] wanted to improve my numbers. But it's not just about goals: I don't see myself as just a goal-scoring striker. I want to be involved in the play, even without the ball.
"I wanted to go somewhere where I could play in my position and hopefully show everyone what I could do. I know I didn't score enough at Cardiff, but there were factors behind that."
Instability, inconsistent game time and his own versatility all conspired against him in his attempts to nail down the striking role he coveted at Cardiff. But Harris has managed to live up his own prophecy since completing a free transfer to Oxford last summer.
His 19 goals last term - 15 of which came in League One - was a career-best tally and helped propel the U's to promotion via the play-offs. He has slotted back into life in the Championship seamlessly, as have Oxford, who are perched comfortably in the top half of the table ahead of both of the other promoted teams: Derby County and the title-winning Portsmouth side led by former club favourite John Mousinho.
The U's have already bloodied the noses of big-hitters such as Norwich and Stoke. Their most recent outings has seen them bank points against Burnley and Luton Town, both of whom were relegated from the Premier League last year. Harris is among those thriving under the tactical approach of Des Buckingham. It involves plenty of work, but the team's unwavering clarity and no-fear approach is reaping dividends.
"I think every person would have said we were going to finish 20th and going to be right down there. It's only October but we've had a good start," says Harris, who has no qualms about the underdog tag that Oxford bear and continue to defy.
"We've gone out and played with no fear. We've earned the right to be here, so why not just go for it? We trust the way we play and ourselves and the gaffer."
Not intent with resting on their laurels, Oxford have ambitions to build on promotion. They are looking to make up for last time following a 25-year absence from the second-tier and the long-term goal remains to establish the U's as one of the top 30 clubs in the country.
Plans for a new stadium are already in motion. On the pitch, they boast one of the most promising young coaches in the Football League in Buckingham, who has not only managed to maintain Oxford's trajectory since succeeding Liam Manning last year, but elevate it. Their recruitment in the summer was astute enough to give Buckingham, a hometown hero come good, the tools required to establish themselves at this level rather than just survive.
Those off-field factors added to the allure of the club when Harris was sounded out initially. But there's a difference between seeing grand ideas fleshed out on paper and making them reality. And for all the promise and stability that Oxford offered, dropping down a division meant there was an obvious element of risk attached to the move.
If promotion last year wasn't vindication, then a Wales recall in September surely is. After almost 18 months in the international wilderness, Harris won his sixth and most recent international cap in last month's 2-1 win over Montenegro.
He knows Wales' new head coach, Craig Bellamy, well from his Cardiff days where the iconic striker would lend his experience to the club's youngsters.
"You can't really beat playing for your country. To have [Bellamy] as the gaffer now is brilliant. Hopefully I can get a few minutes in the upcoming games and see how good we can do."
Oxford travel to Portsmouth on Saturday with the prospect of a gruelling winter fixture list on the horizon. Gaming sessions with team-mates involving Call of Duty and the new EAFC provide Harris with a release, though he prefers the former ("I'm not that great at it and I don't like not being great at something").
That's only if the opportunity presents itself between training sessions and golf lessons, though, as he bids to get his handicap down to rival Oxford new boy Will Vaulks.
Harris has come a long way in 18 months, albeit perhaps not on the golf course. He speaks with the assurance of somebody who has finally found his place; a player who has gone from utility man to main man.
Off the pitch, he's embracing a new lease of life since moving down to Oxford. On it, he remains as hungry as ever to make his mark during his time in one of England's most famous cities.
"I've enjoyed every single minute since I've come here really. It's definitely something you need [stability]. You play with more confidence and enjoy your football more: you don't need to be worrying or maybe stressing about certain things. I'm playing with a smile on my face again.
"When you're growing up, you always want to be playing for the team you're in the academy of but Oxford felt like the right step for the stage I was at in my career.
"I think I got it right in the end."
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