OAKLEY HAS FAITH IN GLENN
"His arrival has changed the atmosphere at the club," said Oakley, "His training is more directed towards the games. He comes in on a Monday and tells us how we`re going to play on the Saturday.
"He`ll say: `This is the team. This is how they play. This is their system` He`ll get the tactics board out and run through a few things. Then he`ll go out on the training pitch and put those things into motion. He plans ahead. He knows what games are coming up and he knows how he`s going to prepare.
"When Dave Jones was manager, we came in on a Monday and we had a five-a-side game. Maybe on the Friday he would think about the game and our set-pieces.
"Maybe he (Jones) wasn`t as good a communicator with his players. That was just the way he was, whereas Glenn always wants to know what`s happening with players.
"I did have preconceptions about him after what he`d said about the disabled and what I`d heard about Eileen Drewery. But as soon as I met him, I thought: `What`s all that about?`
"He says the only thing I have to get right each week is my head - the mental side of the game. Then the rest will fall into place.
"I was pleased with that and I`m now asking him questions about what he did as a player to get himself right for games. He`s giving me feedback.
"If I make a couple of bad passes in the first five minutes, Glenn says I should go back to basics, just keep the ball moving before gradually building up to hitting longer passes and trying more things.
Oakley is not worried about the prospect of being forgotten in the England set-up, as U-21 peers, Rio Ferdinand and Emile Heskey have progressed to full honours, especially with a former England manager as his present coach.
Whilst it may be too late for team mate Matt Le Tissier, Oakley is not too concerned about his potential international future, adding: "Because I was in the Southampton first team, if I was carrying an injury when there was a midweek U-21 international I would always talk to the manager here. He wanted me for the Saturday, so I had to pull out of a lot of internationals.
"The England manager is always aware of what`s going on. If you`re putting in good performances for Southampton, he`ll know and eventually he`ll put you in the squad or his training sessions.
"I don`t think it`s a case of moving clubs just to be seen. I`ve got two years left on my contract, but you can make a high-profile move and then you might not even be playing every week because of squad rotation. You might play only one of every three games. That`s not really what I want.
"There may be a few changes in the personnel here this summer with the manager looking at what he wants. I can see Southampton growing."
Meanwhile, Saints keeper Paul Jones has admitted that there is a chance his back injury could end his career.
The 33-year-old custodian recently underwent surgery to remove a slipped disk, and is sure to be out for the restof the season - however he has been informed by doctors that there is a one in five chance he will have to retire from top-level football.
"The thing that worries me is that they say they say there is a 20 percent chance that I may not play again," Jones said.
