nzlatic

To answer your question above and in relation to Kitching, how I’d react as a player would depend entirely on what he has said to me in private or to the squad in private, not what he’s said in a post match interview.

Yeah I've read that prediction elsewhere. I've no desire to bookmark anything. I'm sure if that happens you'll be the first to point to it! But to go back to my response, I don't understand the point you're making then. You said "Even if half the squad can be changed he’s still got a half squad he’s said numerous times isn’t good enough". I took that to mean you saying he's called all the players not good enough. If that's not what you meant then I don't know what you did mean. You can call a collective thing shit, but not mean that each individual is shit. Hawaiian pizzas are shit, but I don't mean every ingredient is shit in itself.

He’s never once said that every player in the squad is shit.

I guess I disagree that sweeping changes are needed and that the chances of them happening are miniscule. It's defeatist for starters, which I'd rather not be. But I also don't think either of those things are true. We wouldn't have needed to convert many of our draws to wins to be in the play offs (4 to be exact) and that's with a squad that had some major positional gaps. So I don't think we're a million miles away from competing higher up. I also think there's plenty of scope for moving players in and out. Most of the contracted players who we may be wanting to move have had decent careers elsewhere. There's a lot of time for them to make advances over the summer and I don't think it requires recruitment to be perfect to do so.

You've missed the last bit of what @Frankly Mr Shankly has said. Are there better as back up for what they would cost? Not can we afford better full stop. He might get rid of them all too, who knows. But if he does decide to keep them it doesn't necessarily mean we're fucked. Which is what some people seem to take from it.

The reality is we need a squad of around 24 players. We now have a squad of 19 and a number of that squad will leave as they are clearly not in his plans: Kofi Moore (probably a season loan) Joe Nuttall Alex Reid Mark Shelton Kurt Willoughby That brings us to 14. I don't think we'll stop there either. I think more will go out of what's left. Which for the sake of argument brings us to 12 players. If we want a squad of 24 then that's another 8 signings, plus the 4 rumoured from the out of contract list. That's still a massive change from where we were last week. But with 16 of the 24 in my hypothetical situation being existing players who have worked with Mellon, that brings an element of continuity when it comes to what he expects from his players.

Some folk seem to think that Mellon’s grand plan is to move out a few of the in-contract players just so he can resign a few of the out of contract players. And that’s it. And they’re losing their minds about it Its ridiculous. Desperately seeking something to be furious about. Or to find “evidence” that backs their view that Mellon should be sacked. There also seems to be some thinking that any player retained, resigned or signed is an automatic first team starter. Do the sums… 11 players can start a match, the squad will be something like 25 players. Not all of them can start! Let’s say we move 4 players on and resign the 4 rumoured out of contract as squad players. Then we’d probably be signing half a dozen more to complete the squad. Those ones being the missing pieces to improve us. Seems to make sense.

It’s like saying you know what good food is because you eat at Michelin starred restaurants. You don’t know how to choose the ingredients or how to cook it! Mellon has a track record of delivering promotion when given time and resource. That’s why I’m very comfortable with him being kept on.

No they didn’t. 43% of votes went to the tories but they won a massive landslide thanks to our wonderful voting system. I’m not sure how pleased Mellon would be being compared to them either

They’ve left that ambiguous haven’t they! All released?!

Was wondering this myself. Ones that weren’t given a chance here but went on to play higher. I’m struggling to think of any.

Because different players flourish under different conditions.

McGahey can cover CB and CDM though so it’s like having 4.5 centre backs.

It’s probably both. You see it in all sports, you’ll get ones that win a title so their goal is achieved and they then fade away, mission accomplished. But you also get ones who are serial winners. They’ll keep going as winning is like a drug. Same with the workplace - you’ll have people trading off a success for years and coasting without the drive to build on it. Sorting one from the other is the tough part!

Agree. Most of our signings were well received by our fans. But maybe that’s where the naivety of Unsworth came in last summer - he was looking at it more superficially. Someone experienced like Mellon will hopefully look for more this summer.

Part of the issue and what makes it hard to understand is how many are affected in this way? It might not be that many but enough for it to spread. I wouldn’t have thought Conlon would fall under that bracket but he plays that way. So maybe it’s like an infection? And the answer I suppose is to either cut it out or introduce something to fight that infection. Or both. Im just guessing here by the way. But something is wrong when it comes to the mental side of our game clearly.

Irrespective of my opinion on the subject, I’d rather the NL represent the views of their member clubs than make unilateral decisions on stuff like this.

Yeah i agree. He doesn’t often look to go back, he sometimes tries to beat a man or try a forward pass. Doesn’t always come off which becomes frustrating but I can see his uses as a squad player.

If the rumours are true about McGahey getting a new deal then I’m guessing it would be because he sees in him a mental strength that others don’t have. So would rather have him as a back up for central defence or defensive midfield. Even if he is limited as a player.

I think playing for Oldham in the national league is comparable to playing for the top premier league teams. Relatively of course. You’re expected to perform and you’re expected to win the league. That’s a huge difference to playing for someone who would be delighted with a play off place so needs the right sort of player who can handle it. Added to that, there was an extra layer of pressure on Lundstram particularly because a lot of our issues early this season were partly blamed on him being out injured so by the time he came back we’re all expecting to see a world beater. Those side of things need work on too as well as physical attributes. I think he looked a lot better when he came back after Mellon gave him a break. So I’m hopeful he can kick on next season. That’s why recruitment is so crucial and probably so difficult this summer. We need more players who will keep moving forward when the pressure is on (metaphorically and literally!) and not ones that will shrink like too many of ours have done this season.

Is that stat referring to Premier league teams or any team where someone from a league or 2 below plays a higher club? A non league team playing Portsmouth in the first round for example would be pretty exciting for them.

I was going to say exactly the same. When we equalised against Everton at home if you’d have offered me a choice of a replay or extra time and penalties then I’d have taken the replay. It isn’t just about the best chance of progressing it’s watching our club play at a ground like that. The “magic” of the cup and all that.

Crowds went up in league 2 didn’t they? He didn’t do a single positive, proactive thing for the football club. His ownership was an unmitigated disaster. He assumed he knew it all and surrounded himself with people who blew smoke up his arse while they were busy feathering their own nests. He didn’t reverse the decline, he accelerated it. Yet you seem to be more critical of the way the club is being run now.

Wow.