Much Better Last Night

[unsworthlatic]

I thought we were a lot better on and off the field last night and there are plenty of positives to take from that performance

 

Rachubka - slow down for their goal but dealt with some very tricky back passes and cam out well at strikers feet second half, good save in the end off the free kick, improvement

 

Brown - improved a lot from saturday's performance, kept the ball well especially second half playing into winny's feet and starting forward movement. Also very good at covering centre backs

 

Wilson - Grew into the game, looked shaky first 15 minutes or so but once he got going there seemed to be some understand between him and George

 

Elekobi - Enthusiastic as always, again not too sure about the closing down of the cross for their goal but very solid second half against an in form striker

 

Mills - A bit better, again improvement on Saturday, linked up well with Forte and listened to shouts from the centre halfs. Crossing on occasion was okay but need to see more

 

Winchester - very energetic and always looks for a pass to feet to a blue shirt, very good footballer and tired, hence being taken off, did very well

 

Jones - A lot give him stick, I think he is a good footballer, possibly still growing into the cm role and still learning, good corner for the goal, not strong enough in the tackle but can improve on that

 

Kelly - A lot won't agree and compare him to Korey (which is unfair) but improved a lot tonight, saw bits of a footballer creeping in. Needs time to get back to the player he was

 

Forte - Made some very good runs again, provided a very good option out wide and give the defenders something to worry about as he's very direct

 

Philiskirk - Nothing on the player we saw before his injury last season but tried very hard, great run and cross first half and challenged and won quite a few balls in the air

 

JCH - Looked a lot better especially first half, got into the right positions, stayed on his feet, should have scored but was great defending, big improvement in my opinion

 

 

Off the pitch the supporters were a lot better tonight. They didn't get on the backs of the players at 1-0, kept supporting the team throughout and it was a lot better second half when the stewards used some common sense to move the Vale fans into one block and let the Oldham fans stand up and sing. Much better, however the singers didn't help themselves as when we scored they ran to taunt the Port Vale fans

 

I came away relatively pleased last night, not as such with the result but in the manner we got the result, the effort was there throughout, desire to win the 50/50's was much better and the fans responded. It is however quite possible that we will be 5 games into the season without a win if you play it on paper, that we have PNE and Donny away but football isn't played on paper. Also for people who want to worry now about our league position after 3 games or even 5 games in remember this that I was informed of last night (not old enough to remember)

 

1989/90 season:

 

Blackburn 1-0 Oldham

Oldham 1-1 Watford

Oldham 2-2 Swindon

Newcastle 2-1 Oldham

 

First four league games, two points. Not comparing, not by a long chalk but just saying that sometimes the best seasons don't start off the way you would like them to

 

Onto Preston on Saturday! Come On Oldham! #oneteamonedream

[TheBigDog]

It seems that there were some signs of the team beginning to find some cohesion and style - a long way to go yet but promising.

Check the 'post match reaction thread' for a generally more upbeat feedback following last night's game.