Latics and England

I would be surprised if they brought more than a hundred or so. When you consider the cost of getting from Peterborough to Oldham and the requirement for at least half a day of work, I don't think that saving £15-20 will be the deciding factor for many. There will be a few locals who will go in the away end I would imagine which might boost it a bit. If you supported Rochdale, Bury, Bolton you would probably choose to support Posh tonight rather than us.

Diego is the undisputed king of away travel guides but clearly Ernieflag is the only place to go for reliable Boundary Park info. ?

I have seen plenty of people being turned away despite the car park being half empty. I am also fairly certain the price list when you go in no longer includes the cost of an 'on the day' car.

I take it you didn't read it then

I have done a quick guide to Boundary Park for those making their first visit or returning after a while on Tuesday. http://www.ernieflag.co.uk/site/index.php/bloggs/14-oldham-athletic/193-a-guide-to-boundary-park

I can't see that there is much of a cost to the club. The number of people who would have paid to get in will be minimal, especially against Posh who would have brought under 100. If this is correctly marketed I think we could pretty much fill the ground. If people think it's going to be a huge crowd (by our levels) with a great atmosphere they will want to be there. Ultimately, you need to make people think that they will be missing out by not being there.

I expect a decent following. 1st time we have played there on a Saturday and anot increased confidence amongst fans. Add in a number of debuts and I think we could end up with the best part of a thousand. Massive game as we will be 6 points adrift of safety should we lose. That goes to show how important yesterday's 3 points were too.

Played 13 minutes for Bromley a couple of months ago against Chester and hasn't been in their 1st team squad since. In Shez we trust

Here's the report from yesterday's trip to the Kassam featuring a hard-fought point and a cracking pub http://www.ernieflag.co.uk/site/index.php/the-tour/5-on-the-road/192-season-9-oxford

Our own Diego Sideburns gives his view of the trip to Lincoln here http://www.ernieflag.co.uk/site/index.php/the-tour/5-on-the-road/191-season-9-lincoln-city

When you decide to get a new contributor to the site it's always good to know that he will deliver on time. That said, it's actually a good report despite the disappointment on the day. http://www.ernieflag.co.uk/site/index.php/the-tour/5-on-the-road/190-season-9-bolton

As has been said above, this is impossible to answer without having a clear view as to what is being suggested. The problem is that there really doesn't seem to be a consensus regarding what the fans want or what people see as possible. I look at some other clubs with organised protest groups and am not convinced that their situations are worse off than ours (Charlton being a prime example). They do, however, seem to have a goal that they are all working towards. What I am convinced of is that Oldham Athletic cannot move forward under the current ownership. I don't believe that the new stand can become enough of a money earner to allow us to compete at the top end of League One and even if it could, the time that it will take to pay off the money spent on building it will mean that this would be in the medium to long term. It is 100% fair to say that Simon Corney has presided over a period of stability in terms of league position and that the grass isn't always greener. It is quite possible that if he left (whether 'forced out' or otherwise) we would be in a worse position than we are right now. The fans need to ask themselves whether they would be prepared to take that risk. For what it is worth, I am getting towards the point at which I am prepared to take the risk. I am seeing an owner who is failing to do what is best for the club, after many years when I might have disagreed with him but was convinced that he was doing what he thought was best. I can't support something with no clear aims but I am supportive of the fans working together to try to achieve a better future for the football club.

The Joke Trophy has its own disciplinary system therefore suspensions picked up elsewhere can't be served in its games and suspensions picked up in it can't be served outside of it. I love the comment about Corney not caring about this game. I have little doubt that this is the biggest game of the season for him so far. This is where the money is

At the end of last season most people seemed more than happy to see us completely revamp the squad. As we now enter November, I wondered how many of last season's most regular starters we would rather see back at Boundary Park. Select as many as you want

If we weren't going to be in this situation, Steve Evans might have taken up our offer

You are probably right. Good opportunity for some shooting practice being missed though

Yesterday was the first time in a long time that I was in the ground to see us warming up pre-match. I was stunned to see our shooting practice. We must have been scoring one in ten, if that. I know it's only the warm up but what's the point in doing it if we are just going to shoot waywardly? Shooting when unchallenged should be the most natural thing in the world for professional footballers. None of them seemed in the slightest bit bothered about smashing them into the back of the stand again and again.

As far as I am aware, the game is at Ewood. The clubs were told they had to play them at home (although I don't think West Ham are). Are you sure you are not getting this mixed up with the Lancashire Senior Cup game against Blackburn U21 which probably is at Leigh.

I think it is hilarious that they have claimed that this is about improving the England team by providing a platform for young players in a competitive competition, then they organised the second round of matches for a week where all the young England players are on international duty. There are so many reasons why their reasoning is a joke, but this sums it up.

Completely agree about it being the hope that keeps people going to games. The lack of belief that we have a chance of achieving anything has to be the main reason that we have seen crowds slide continually. It has often been stated that the growth of the Premier League and the strength of the Manchester sides are key factors in the reduced crowds at Boundary Park. The facts just don't back this up though. If you look at what's happened to our crowds since we were taken over in 2004 and compare them to what has been experienced at Rochdale and Bury this is evident. Both our local rivals suffer from the same external factors as us so you would think they'd have seen something similar. In the following chart, I have taken 3 year averages for attendances to flatten out any one off benefits or hits due to promotions and relegations for Bury and Rochdale. As you can see, whilst we have seen a reduction in crowds of almost 40%, both our closest rivals have actually seen an increase. Although Dale saw a fall following relegation back down to League 2, they never dropped far below their starting point and after a reduction in line with our own for 3 years, Bury have seen relatively sustained growth ever since. The three towns are fairly comparable in my view. Much as we might like to claim otherwise I don't think the people living in each are significantly different to each other so I would expect them to act in the same way as each other. Our crowds are dropping for two reasons, and two reasons only; the quality of football on the pitch and the likelihood of it improving any time soon.

This has taken me a month to get round to, but trying to take my mind of Latics has finally given me the spur tonight. As aways, the football plays only a small part in the report but I hope you enjoy hearing about Sam's one and only game in charge http://www.ernieflag.co.uk/site/index.php/the-tour/5-on-the-road/189-season-9-slovakia

I'd be very interested to hear what he would class as a successful season this year (or to put it another way, what he would class as failure).

Certainly doesn't sound like a coach

Just read the new rules for this competition. Any suspensions picked up in it will not carry over to the league or other cups. In other words matches aren't being treated competitive games. The more I see about it, the more ridiculous it appears.

Out of interest what do you mean by 'really gone for it'? Are you suggesting we have a squad which should be challenging for promotion this season?