July 1999, just a week before the start of 1999–2000. Return to Oxford On 3 February 2000, Smith was appointed manager of Oxford for the second time in his career, with the club 21st in the Second Division. He re-signed striker Nigel Jemson from Ayr United, and kept Oxford in the division as they ended 1999–2000 in 20th place, one place and one point above the relegation zone. He signed a one-year contract extension in the summer of 2000, but fell out with chairman Firoz Kassam. He later admitted that the signings he made on a limited budget, which included Ian McGuckin, Andy Scott and Rob Quinn, were not good enough. Smith resigned on 2 October 2000 after a terrible start to 2000–01, a season which ended in Oxford being relegated in last place. He continued to work as a scout for the club under Dave Kemp and then Mark Wright. Wrexham Smith returned to management on 8 October 2001 with Wrexham on a two-year contract, replacing Brian Flynn who had resigned after 12 years in charge, with the club 23rd in the Second Division. He was tasked with keeping the club steady whilst it struggled with financial problems. He decided to cut back on the club's youth coaching spending, and as a result Wrexham's youth structure was downgraded from an Academy to a Centre of Excellence. He signed goalkeeper Marius Røvde, midfielder Jim Whitley, and gave striker Hector Sam his debut, but failed to keep Wrexham away from the relegation zone. With relegation confirmed, new signing Lee Jones scored all five goals in a 5–0 win over Cambridge United, leaving cause for optimism at the Racecourse Ground. He signed wing-back Paul Edwards and held on to most of his key players for the 2002–03 season. Wrexham had a good start to the season and Smith won the Manager of the Month award for September 2002 after a sequence of four wins and two draws. A slump followed but Wrexham recovered from a poor October 2002 after coming from behind to beat AFC Bournemouth on 9 November, as strikers Andy Morrell and Lee Trundle formed a good partnership, with Jones an impact substitute. Wrexham dropped out of the play-off places following a sequence of draws in March 2003, but new signing Scott Green scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Hartlepool United on 18 March, the first of a