wiseowl

deyres42 - agree - with one or two exceptions (e.g. the play-off year in 2007). The problem people like me have is that I was ecstatic about the purchase by FR. I was simply glad of the Latics having been saved from the abyss. I started going home and away again - every match. Pretty quickly, I formed the view that DU was not a good manager. I`ve watched football a long time and it was simply my opinion from years of watching. That opinion has not changed after a year of him being in charge and having watched us again recently. Have a read of all the positive comments on here pre-season; most of them probably justified after the significant investment. Then sit back and digest what has been served up by DU's teams - mediocrity... again. The biggest pointers for me (i.e. on judging DU) are our defensive frailties. If nothing else, a former England international and Premiership defender should have us as solid as a rock at the back, after a full year in charge, against generally poor non-league opposition. Keep clean sheets and nick the odd goal or two and the vast majority of fans would be relatively happy (as we would be higher up the table etc.). I certainly would despite the football not being the best; that could develop later. What particularly baffles me is the current argument from DU supporters i.e. "we've got an easy (easier) run of games coming up, so once DU has chalked up a few points from them, his position will be cemented." A ludicrous case to make. Of course we should be winning those easier games with the squad he has at his disposal. If we want to progress satisfactorily, it's not the "easy" games we need to be winning, it's the slightly "harder" ones; and we don't remotely look like doing that. If people are happy for us to be a mid- table, non-league club for the foreseeable future then "as you are". I don't think most want that to be the case, though, so the blindingly obvious needs to happen.

First and foremost, DU is a human being with feelings and family etc. The vitriol, from some quarters, towards him has been disgusting. If we look at matters objectively it is clear by now that he is not the manager to take us forward. I saw some appalling performances from his teams last season (e.g. Alty away the worst performance I have ever seen from a Latics team). As an early critic, last season, of DU, I have recently attended a couple of games to gauge if I was previously being too hasty in my judgement of DU as a manager. I wasn't. Despite significant investment, a full close season, superb stability around the club etc., the overall offerings on the pitch have been mediocre. Some people have been excusing the performances because of a couple of injuries to midfielders. Really? We can't cope with losing a couple of players to injury for a while? Lord, help us then. No, David Unsworth seems like a nice guy; it's just that he's not the man to take us forward unfortunately. We will not progress sufficiently as long as he remains in place. Lastly, someone needs to have a long chat with Frank Rothwell. We love what you have done for the Latics but no chairman should be getting himself involved with the fans in the manner in which he is doing.

He started here because a) nobody else wanted him as manager and b) his friends sorted him out with a nice, lucrative contract here. A lot of people are getting very giddy about the new season and I hope the groundswell of optimism is spot on. Of course we have had a more structured pre-season but, after the chaos of the past few years, that's hardly an achievement is it; it should be the norm henceforth. For me DU still has huge question marks over him, others seem to think he's suddenly a good, proven manager. He's not and HIS performance next season is absolutely crucial. He simply MUST get us off to an excellent start and maintain the momentum. He has no excuses (i.e. about the past regime etc.) to fall back on this time, that's for sure.

Stick by what I said in February. HV is an excellent, gifted player who could have been a real talisman for us. Most agree that we didn't need the money. If so, the decision is baffling. Nurtured correctly here, he may well have subsequently secured our financial future for years to come i.e. with what we could then have sold him for.

You "upped" the above comment by the attention seeker. The tale wasn't bullshit; it was the truth (as always is from me) - I was merely trying to illustrate that Sievwright did indeed live in Marsden and it wasn't something I`d made up. You and Monty have become a little pathetic tbh. Verging on '''keyboard bullies". Bullies have never intimidated me but I won't rise to the bait again - it really is sad when people are merely debating and adding to subjects on here.

George Sievwright (75), Carrs Street, Marsden, Driving while disqualified and without insurance. Fined PS110 with PS85 costs, PS15 victim surcharge and banned from driving for 56 days. Found this on the internet from Nov 2012 - may well be the same person - i.e. the footballing George would have been 75 in 2012. I await the apology from Monty.................... still waiting............................. This pretty much confirms George Sievwright (the footballer) does indeed live in Marsden - his middle names were Edgar Smollett - so George ES Sievwright is our man. I wasn't making it up Monty (and McFluff who "liked" Monty's post bless).

The conversation was sat outside the pub on a sunny day, so technically you are right, Monty. It was called The Shakespeare, on a Sunday afternoon and witnessed by my wife (whose interest was piqued because she knew someone called Sievwright up in Scotland). Why you think I would make something like that up is beyond me but never mind. Keep on being an attention seeker.

Got chatting to George Sievwright a few years back in a pub in Marsden. Gave me an interesting tale about Latics strip changing to tangerine in the 60s. Said it was because the manager at the time was a member of the "Orange Order" in Northern Ireland. He mentioned Jimmy Mcilroy (who was a Latics manager in the 60s) but the dates don't tie i.e. Sievright was not at Latics when Mcilroy was manager. Anybody shed any light on this (?) as it seemed very plausible from Mr Sievwright when he told me (although we'd both had a few jars!).

Jim Williams was living on Crossbank Avenue, Springhead at the time of this assault - which I recall as around 1973/4. He was out with 2 friends/neighbours and I think they were down Manchester/Ancoats; not Oldham. Jim, I was told, "ran off" leaving the 2 others to slug it out with the thugs who randomly attacked them. It certainly was not connected with "another woman" - his wife was an absolute stunner called Jenny. Jim/Jenny got divorced some years later and Jenny then married Bob Irving (ex ORLFC and British International) and they moved to Blackpool. Jenny still lives there but Bob sadly died of a heart attack whilst walking his dog in Blackpool one day in 1999.

Excellent reporter, very well respected and, of course, became editor of The Chron. I do miss The Chron (in paper format) it was about the only thing that held people like our local councillors to account. Sad when a town the size of ours loses its daily evening paper.

nz - I didn't completely ignore anything. I made reference to yarddog's post, where he (correctly in my view) pointed out that "close season income" may not be as critical now as it was under previous incompetent owners. I was merely setting out some cold, hard financials. fluffy my old mate - no I have not purchased one but will be attending via POTD from the first game. I went to the last game to say farewell to Peter Clarke - and enjoyed the experience. Realised I missed it all - suppose I always did really. I just hope DU encourages a better brand of football next season and/or more success. I think his performance last season was mediocre to say the least. Not swayed by a few meaningless end of season results. Let's see what he comes up with.

Yarddog makes a valid point I think. From a financial perspective (and IF cash-flow isn't seen as an absolute necessity in the "close season") then season tickets (and early bird offers particularly) are not actually very good business. To illustrate, let's take a stable "home" attendance every game of 6,000 fans and let's split the fanbase 30%, 20%, 25% and 25% across the various ages/price bands. If all 6,000 fans had an early bird season ticket, then the equivalent matchday turnstile income from home attendance would be £38,031, which extrapolates to £874,713 per season. If all 6,000 fans turned up and paid on the day, matchday turnstile income more than doubles to £77,100, which extrapolates to £1,773,300 per season. Even accepting higher overheads for handling some cash etc, it's a massive difference and would provide much more room for better wages/players etc. So, all things being equal, there is a strong argument to be made that the best way to financially support your club is to attend every game and pay on the day. That's the most beneficial support of all in financial terms. I know "real world" factors come in to play but in strict financial terms, season ticket holders are not the financial saviours that they are often portrayed to be - or like to see themselves. Let's be honest, you buy an early bird season ticket to save yourself some dosh NOT as some noble gesture to financially support your club. If supporting your club financially was your true motive, then you'd happily pay £552 for your adult season ticket (i.e. the POTD price x 23 matches).

Nice tribute and I shall go along to express my thanks to him. Also give me chance to see how we are performing under DU now, having been a detractor from the early days and having given up going for a while because I`ve been bored stiff with the football.

Really? Having been visiting someone intensively for a while now in hospital, I can tell you that some nurses should not be paid in washers. Not all angels by a bloody long chalk. It used to be done "for the love of the job" etc. - not anymore it ain't. P.S. I have witnessed some excellent nurses too - just way too many incompetent and being carried now - the NHS has major problems - and it's nothing to do with bloody funding.

Agree - the city centre itself never really took off as a residential district until the arrival of "the pink pound" - then, many cotton warehouses started to be turned into apartments etc. The "City of Manchester" area, however, covers from Higher Blackley in the north to Woodhouse Park in the south and then incorporates such places as Longsight, Chorlton, Levenshulme, Ardwick etc. - i.e. suburbs where the majority of its half million or so live. Also, let's not forget, the place was named after a pair of breasts for good reason lol !

Again, it's confusion quoting either a) the actual population of the city boundary or b) the "Greater" metropolitan area. The City of Sydney's population is about the same as Oldham's (Sydney 220,000 at the last count). The Metropolitan area of Sydney accounts for the 5 million plus.

Indeed, thanks to a re-drawing of Melbourne's city boundary. The mistake a lot of people make over here is in saying Manchester has a population of over 2 million etc. Utter nonsense as that includes all the satellite towns such as Oldham, Bolton, Wigan etc. Nothing to do with bloody Manchester. When comparing the ACTUAL cities themselves, according to the 2022 census, Manchester is only the 6th largest in the UK and much smaller than Birmingham, for example. In fact, it lags behind Leeds and Sheffield too.

Agree with Dave - Commonwealth Games is Mickey Mouse stuff compared to Olympics. I volunteered at the games and the number of people (not native to Manchester) who were shuttled in and out to the stadium who expressed the view "what a shithole Manchester is" was startling. It also doesn't have the infrastructure to host an Olympics. Places like Prague and Amsterdam have cheap, efficient public transport 24 hours a day, which isn't full of fare cheating druggies etc. who make everyone's life a misery. In Manchester you'll have to fork out circa £40, for example, to travel to Oldham once the trams/buses stop. Despite all the hype, Manchester is a small city of just over half a million - it will never host an Olympics.

?? Monty was quite correct - it should have been THERE and not THEIR. Or, for some, "It should of been..."

Peter Clarke - nothing but respect for him. Time waits for no man and Clarkey is only human. If, however, scores of players for Latics over the years had shown his grit, determination and professionalism, we probably wouldn't be in non-league, even in spite of shit ownership for a long time.

I thought Tommy Wright was just average as a player. I thought Ousmane Fane was a decent player for us.

I`ve reached the conclusion that we simply have no say, whatsoever, in the matter. I am glad that results are improving, although I have this morning spoken to someone who went to Chesterfield. His words honestly quoted, " Unbelievable. He's the luckiest manager alive because we were slaughtered at football in reality." I wasn't there, so no idea if this is exaggerated but he's not one to go over the top normally.

Class player and one hell of a prospect. Madness to have let him go - but hey, Unsworth and co. know what's best for the club - apparently.

Great shout