An open letter to the club

[oafcprozac]

I have always prided myself on my support for MY home town, team and club. When I first started following Oldham Athletic I could have easily chosen Liverpool or Everton the two top teams of the time. Or perhaps gone following United or City, both were in the doldrums but both were relatively cheap and all my mates followed one or the other. But, No. I chose my dads team Oldham Athletic. The team I fell in love with prided themselves on being a family club with a loyal fanbase that had been brought up on attacking football. Theyd been struggling in the second tier for 12 years but had always tried to play the right way and the number one aim was to entertain. Football like it or not is an entertainment business and the number one aim is goals. I was lucky I began supporting the team in 1986 and for the next eight years or so it was thrills and spills all the way, there were a couple of poor periods in late 1987 and late 1988 but overall the team won the majority of its home games, ok we were crap away but week after week you were guaranteed goals at Boundary Park. Another thing, the directors were local men, the players were contracted to the club and we had stability with a management team that wanted to win football matches played the right way. The ground was a dump, we didnt care it was ours and we were all in it together from the chairman to the tea lady.

Fast forward to the summer of 2003, my darkest days as a Latics fan but also some of the best. I was proud to be a Latics fan seeing how we rallied round and pulled together to try and save our club, the togetherness I felt in that 2003/04 season is something that will live with me forever. We knew the good times were well and truly behind us and the club was fighting for its very existence. Luckily three New York Businessmen rode in and saved the club from oblivion. They had great ideas to move the club forward, yet were halted and then delayed by a council lacking vision.

Still we began to move forward on the pitch and between 2005-09 we saw FOUR consecutive top ten finishes which saw the club in a good place and consistently in the right half of the league. However, eventually those frustrations off the field resulted in the Chairman walking away and around the same time saw John Sheridan sacked. Ever since our fortunes on the field have nosedived, the fanbase has become demoralised and half of those fans that worked so hard to keep the club afloat in 2003, the same fans that were simply happy to have a club have walked away. Washing their hands of a club that is only heading one way.

It wont happen They say, well ask Grimsby Town, Tranmere Rovers, Stockport County, Lincoln City, Wrexham etc. all similar sized clubs to us these days. Well it happened to them!

With each cock up we inch closer to oblivion.

2015 has been a nightmare for Oldham Athletic

Ched Evans Saga. Were these the actions of a family club, one I and my kids proudly support?

Lee Johnson to Barnsley. He was under contract, he stays until the end of the season. THE CLUB COMES FIRST.

Dean Holden being placed in charge. Just what was the plan here? IT smacked of little Oldham giving up and part of the reason we have only 3 wins in 28 league games. An unforgivable lack of ambition.

Darren Kelly A joke of an appointment handled pathetically and stinks of rying to save a few quid.

Re-signing: Croft and Wellens Both well past it jobs for the boys and obvious external interference.

Dunn: A mistake from the start.

The Stand: It should have been OAFCs moment to savour, it should be Simon Corneys legacy. Instead it will be remembered for delay after delay. It feels like an anti-climax when it should be celebrated for the wonderful achievement it is!

Barry Owen: Need I say any more?


I know times have changed in football and many clubs of our size live hand to mouth, I can cope with that. Thats the reality of 3^rd tier football however, the clubs very identity is at stake. A procession of loanees year on year kills any affinity people feel with the club. I assure you that, the team yesterday would not have witnessed such vitriol if it wasn't so top heavy with loanees and short term deals. Fans can see when players are holding back and not giving their all. That is a bare minimum we expect. Oldham is a hard working town but not a well paid town. £22 + travel + refreshments is a large chunk of your average Oldhamers income, they deserved more yesterday.

I can honestly say in my 30 years of supporting the cub I have never felt so detached from the club, The fans, owners, directors, management, coaches and players have never felt so distant. Why? Well just what is our aim as a club? What is the vision to move the club forward? What is the vision to make the club sustainable in a way that will see crowds improve? Some fans are gone for good BUT there is a big interest in the club in Oldham, many fans cant afford it or are lapsed but a modicum of success or even consistent attacking football will see people return. Make the product marketable with a team the fans can identify in and some will return.

How do we change things and move forward?

(1) Have an owner that is either here more often or delegates true power to the board can the present directors be trusted to do this?! If not show true desire to find a viable owner that can do the above.

(2) Develop a manageable vision statement how the club will move forward in the next THREE to FIVE years

(3) Employ a manager and coaching team with an ethos of attacking and scoring goals not simply to go out and not lose. Like it or not this has been the ethos of our last FOUR full time managers.

(4) Insist home grown talent gets a chance on merit. Contracted players are OUR players so why the need for a constant stream of short term deals and loanees? Emergency loans should be just that. Not used as an excuse to bin the previous managers contracted players.

(5) Reintroduce reserve team football to help develop our own players and keep the squad fit.

(6) Stop treating the fans like idiots with the constant criticism in the press.

I do have sympathy for a lot of what Simon Corney has had to put up with in the last 6 years since his partners pulled out but if we keep with the present board we will continue to stagnate and slip towards oblivion. I know Simon doesnt want that and Im sure one day he will be very proud of his legacy the North Stand. Will he be as proud to see us struggling in league 2 next season, because with the current board and management structure it is inevitable?

I feel we have reached a tipping point over the last few weeks, fans are voting with their feet the Millwall attendance will be sub 3,000 I guarantee it. After what I have seen at Chesterfield and yesterday with fans arguing with themselves and the reaction the players got. You know what I simply dont want to be part of such a toxic set up. So with a heavy heart Im going to take a break from following the team I love away from home initially, until I see a change in atmosphere and maybe even home games too, season tickets or not.

I know I'm not alone, there's a close group of about ten of us that go everywhere that number has dwindled massively over the last month - many of us have missed only 6 games or so in the last three years and when lunatics like us are fed up and walking away, I really do think it is time to sit up and take notice.

Edited November 29, 2015 by oafcprozac

[Buckshawlatic]

Superb post - I suggest you actually send it into the club as I imagine most give this place a wide berth these days

Edited November 29, 2015 by JWhite101

[Simoncorneyisgod]

Love to see someone send similar letter sent to the rarely wrong in a bid to put more pressure into actually getting a response!

 

Would do it myself but this is written much better than what i could muster

[oafcmetty]

No point. You'll just get a snarky reply from Simon who has clearly given up.

[losesome]

Excellent post and yes you must print it off and send a hard copy to SC.

I have supported Latics for over 50 years and never , and i mean never have i felt so angry as when i left Crewe.

 

Not only demoralized but very angry at the performance i had just witnessed.

Dunn demanded a reaction from his players after Tuesday and if that's the reaction then it could't be any plainer that the players don't

want him either.

 

The only thing i would question in your letter is the point of delegating more power to the board ,

yes that should be done in future but NOT to the current crop of misfits that form the board at present.

[Buckshawlatic]

No point. You'll just get a snarky reply from Simon who has clearly given up.

I agree, they will read it and then use it as an excuse not to have to buy toilet paper for the day.... But at least they'll read it

Edited November 29, 2015 by JWhite101

[oafcprozac]

Don't worry, it'll get read, The Chairman regularly reads this forum.

[Magic Mikey]

Excellent post and yes you must print it off and send a hard copy to SC.

I have supported Latics for over 50 years and never , and i mean never have i felt so angry as when i left Crewe.

 

Not only demoralized but very angry at the performance i had just witnessed.

Dunn demanded a reaction from his players after Tuesday and if that's the reaction then it could't be any plainer that the players don't

want him either.

 

The only thing i would question in your letter is the point of delegating more power to the board ,

yes that should be done in future but NOT to the current crop of misfits that form the board at present.

Absobloodylutely

[24hoursfromtulsehill]

Don't worry, it'll get read, The Chairman regularly reads this forum.

 

Really? Excellent.

 

Dear Simon

 

How's about you return to the orthodoxy of paying the going rate for the club's football management group? It's what most other football clubs do and what you used to do. You obviously thought that not paying managers and backroom staff was a worthwhile incentives innovation. It's now clear that your experiment hasn't worked, even if it had a sound enough rationale on paper.

 

Yours

 

24hoursfromtulsehill

[yarddog73]

Don't worry, it'll get read, The Chairman regularly reads this forum.

He can't read it anymore because he is so far removed from what the fans are feeling, I mentioned it weeks ago that he is going to be shocked at the amount of season ticket sales they will lose at the end of this season and I stand by it, general consensus now amongst the fans we have left is that we are sick to death of being had for fools by the club.

[Flemboy]

I 100% echo the feelings.I have followed home and away since the days of the likes of Barrow,Workington,Darlington and Chester.We have for most of the years played attacking football with passionate I have no problems with losing if effort has been shown.I am now going out of blind loyalty only.I feel soo

Rry for the likes of my son who has not seen any success apart from the FA cup.Poor performance after poor performance takes it out of you until you feel ...why do I bother?

[BP1960]

I 100% echo the feelings.I have followed home and away since the days of the likes of Barrow,Workington,Darlington and Chester.We have for most of the years played attacking football with passionate I have no problems with losing if effort has been shown.I am now going out of blind loyalty only.I feel soo

Rry for the likes of my son who has not seen any success apart from the FA cup.Poor performance after poor performance takes it out of you until you feel ...why do I bother?

Smaller tighter squads, attacking football, a kit we can idenify with, it can happen again.

[Dave_Og]

I may get slaughtered for this but who cares.

 

Obviously I still have an interest but I felt pretty much this way back in 2003 and the reason I felt this way was nothing to do with owners, directors, chairmen or players. It was to do with the fans. It was the reaction that I saw when SAFE was having a go and the reason I felt that way was the propensity of fans to sit on message boards behind pseudonyms and criticise, criticise, snipe a bit and then criticise some more without doing anything about it themselves. It has carried on and on through the sorry history of the trust where doubtless many people had good intentions but got little support and plenty of criticism and it carries on now with the keyboard warriors criticising everything and doing nothing (that is not aimed at anything on this thread by the way).

 

I recall lots of threads talking about starting a new club if it came to that but have no memory of anyone ever saying that they would actually do it and I recall lots of threads filled with people criticising trust directors but rarely were there volunteers to actually do anything constructive.

 

There is a recurring theme here and this board is part of it as it is even during decent time it is filled with carping comments and selfish whinges rather than anything constructive, useful or even witty (one or two poster excepted)

 

And yes, over the last year I do think that the board has made an almighty cock of things.

Edited November 29, 2015 by Dave_Og

[BP1960]

I may get slaughtered for this but who cares.

 

Obviously I still have an interest but I felt pretty much this way back in 2003 and the reason I felt this way was nothing to do with owners, directors, chairmen or players. It was to do with the fans. It was the reaction that I saw when SAFE was having a go and the reason I felt that way was the propensity of fans to sit on message boards behind pseudonyms and criticise, criticise, snipe a bit and then criticise some more without doing anything about it themselves. It has carried on and on through the sorry history of the trust where doubtless many people had good intentions but got little support and plenty of criticism and it carries on now with the keyboard warriors criticising everything and doing nothing (that is not aimed at anything on this thread by the way).

 

I recall lots of threads talking about starting a new club if it came to that but have no memory of anyone ever saying that they would actually do it and I recall lots of threads filled with people criticising trust directors but rarely were there volunteers to actually do anything constructive.

 

There is a recurring theme here and this board is part of it as it is even during decent time it is filled with carping comments and selfish whinges rather than anything constructive, useful or even witty (one or two poster excepted)

 

And yes, over the last year I do think that the board has made an almighty cock of things.

I hope I'm one of the constructive ones Dave. I'll settle for witty though.

[bigfatjoe1]

It's actually become stressful watching the team. It's been poor in the past, let's not kid ourselves. But stressful?

I've been going since 1975, but i'm so depressed about the whole thing (manager, coaching staff, poor team playing poor soulless football, lack of investment, no Caddy End), that i'm going to have a break. I'm not motivated into making the 220 mile trip when i see players so lacking in pride, passion and drive, led by a novice so obviously clueless that he's now asking the players what he should do in training and resorts to criticising supporters when he has himself been utterly abject.

 

What a incredibly :censored: year.

[NewBlue]

What can fans do when Corney owns 97% of the club and is desperate for a return on his investment?

 

Serious question. Other than fan-owned, which we don't have enough fans for, or through the trust, which doesn't seem to wield much power in the scheme of thing, what can be done?

[TheBlueNoodle]

I've said this on here before, but as a 24 year old supporter I just don't see the point in going. I've seen absolutely sod all success whilst I've been supporting this club which I love to my bare bones (for some insane reason)

 

I'm not interested in climbing the leagues or setting the cups on fire, I just want to see 11 players who will put their all in for the shirt. The only one I see doing that is Liam Kelly but there's only so much sideways passing can do. The greatest professional I've ever seen play for this club was Paul Warne. :censored: me that bloke ran his goddamn socks off every second of every game. Why? Because he :censored:ing cared.

 

This current group of players aren't even fit to pull on our shirt if that sorry display yesterday was all they could muster against, let's be fair, a terrible crewe side.

 

My point being is this: I know of 4 people personally that have :censored:ed latics off and started supporting city, and whilst I find this abhorrent and treacherous, can you really blame them? This club Is in my blood and I wouldn't even consider switching my allegiances, but I'm so disinterested in the club after this shambolic season that I just don't give a :censored: anymore. That was my last game for a long time I think. I work 45 hours a week in a Wetherspoons for minimum wage, £20 is a chunk of my wage for me when all my bill come out.

 

This club is dying a death and in my opinion, things will only start getting better with a new board/set of owners. How that's going to happen I don't know, and I just don't care.

 

Finding it very difficult to keep the faith

[doctor evil]

Smaller tighter squads, attacking football, a kit we can idenify with, it can happen again.

I think we have bigger problems than the kit ATM.

[the_mighty_bosh]

Really? Excellent.

 

Dear Simon

 

How's about you return to the orthodoxy of paying the going rate for the club's football management group? It's what most other football clubs do and what you used to do. You obviously thought that not paying managers and backroom staff was a worthwhile incentives innovation. It's now clear that your experiment hasn't worked, even if it had a sound enough rationale on paper.

 

Yours

 

24hoursfromtulsehill

 

If I had any upvotes remaining this would get one.

 

His method worked relatively well with Dickov and Johnson, but the hiring of Kelly and Dunn were two risks too far due to the state of the rest of the club. Without an established manager in charge relegation is looking extremely likely.

[Kusunga_Is_God]

The constant secrecy from fans aswell. Like we can't handle the truth because we're beneath them, :censored: off.

[BP1960]

I think we have bigger problems than the kit ATM.

True, thinking long term.

[RobOAFC]

The constant secrecy from fans aswell. Like we can't handle the truth because we're beneath them, :censored: off.

 

What secrecy from fans?

[mickjagger]

 

What secrecy from fans?

 

Exactly we do not know because it is a secret

[palmer1]

Smaller tighter squads, attacking football, a kit we can idenify with, it can happen again.

If you can't identify with a kit matching the most successful kit in the clubs history then that ain't going to happen.

 

I don't identify with a kit from the 60s by the way.

 

A small issue & the very least of our worries

[Monty Burns]

Kit is decent.

Not much else is.