Latics and England

and what’s the longest anyone has gone without correctly predicting a 1st goal scorer.

Latics 2 - 0 County H/t 1-0 O'Grady 4,099

Vale 3 - 1 Latics H/t 0-0 O'Grady 4,162

Carlisle 2 - 1 Oldham H/t 0-0 Surridge 5,587

Latics 2 - 1 Exeter h/t 1-0 Surridge 3,865

Latics 2 - 1 Bury H/t 0-0 Surridge 5,269

That was the one when we got off the coach bang on 19.45 and started legging it to the ground only to be stopped by the police with the words “There’s no rush lads you team aren’t here yet”. Ended up stood outside the ground waiting for the team to arrive when Al Fayad turned up. Two Mercs; one for him and one for the bodyguards. Quite ironic that at the time Mercedes were on his list of people responsible for Dodi’s death. You aren’t wrong about it being freezing. There weren’t many of us stood on that big terrace behind the goal. I remember Matt and I singing non-stop throughout most of the first half and through half-time pretty much on our own then in the second half suddenly everyone joined in. We’d obviously worn them down (or they’d worked out it helped to keep you warm). In the end there was a great atmosphere from the few of us there. It is funny how my mind plays tricks on me though as I could have sworn it was nil-nil. It turns out you are right (as ever).

Crewe 1 - 1 Latics H/t 0-0 Surridge 4,483

4th highest ground. Used to be 3rd after West Brom and Port Vale but I think Forest Green have crashed the party now

Latics 1 - 2 Lincoln H/t 0-0 Surridge 3,438

I'm sure you will get in. It will only be all ticket for away fans and I would imagine that any away fans in the home end would probably get moved into the away end.

Tomorrow will be the 20th time I have seen us at Tranmere. We have had a few years apart but to take those kind of numbers to a ground we have visited so many times is amazing in my opinion. 5 wins, 4 draws and 10 defeats suggests it isn't as happy a hunting ground as I though either.

4 people had Clarke so I’d argue that 5 of them had the balls to do it, it’s just that one one had the skill (not luck, surely) to support those balls. And this is coming from one of only four people not to correctly predict a scorer all season

Tramps 2 - 2 Latics h/t 1-1 Gardner 7,429

I did exactly the same as laticsmarra. It never crossed my mind that they wouldn't be open, though in retrospect I can see why they might not. I subsequently hunted through the website and couldn't find the opening hours and never found them so they definitely aren't prominent. I notice on the link that has been posted that the name of the ground is wrong which would probably have led to me questioning the accuracy even if I had found it. None of this is a big deal but it was a minor frustration and does reflect the way the club is being run.

Latics 2 - 0 Cambridge H/t 0-0 Lang 3,928

Notts Co 2 - 0 Latics h/t 0-0 5,187

It's taken a while but tonight Frankie has come out and said it... “It was embarrassing. The first-half performance is something I certainly don’t want to be associated with. My players won’t be like that again,” My favourite quote that we get from every manager. They will Frankie, and then again after that. I can't remember who said it 3 games in a row, I think it was either Robinson or Kelly.

Stevenage 1 - 1 Latics h/t 1-0 Gardner 2,326

It will, it just won't come from the club.

Northampton 3 - 1 Latics H/t 1-0 Gardner 5,038

Oldham 1 - 1 Cheltenham H/t 0-0 Gardner 3,638

Latics 1 - 0 Vale H/t 0-0 Baxter 4,398

Fan owned clubs are a fantastic concept in a league full of fan owned clubs. Unfortunately that isn't the reality. A fan owned club surrounded by clubs with benefactors are highly unlikely to succeed. It is difficult to raise the kind of money that would be needed to run the club in the first instance but the key is the amount needed to keep it running over a period if time. Not many people can afford to keep ploughing money in year after year especially as you know that you ultimately don't get any real benefit from it. I think most of the relatively successful fan owned clubs actually have one or two relatively large investors within that fan ownership. We might have someone within the fan base who would be that person to put the money in but I wouldn't want to gamble on it.

Come on, Simon's criteria for finding an owner had nothing at all to do with the best interests of the club. I'm sure he is sleeping quite soundly at night.