Latics and England

Here's the report from the trip to Ewood. http://www.ernieflag.co.uk/site/index.php/the-tour/5-on-the-road/200-season-10-blackburn Off the back of it I would be interested to know whether my views on rivalries are a fair reflection. What season did you start watching Latics and who are the three clubs you most dislike? For me it is: 1989/90, Man Utd, W*nky Wanders and B Rovers

Why would Pochettino give a toss if Spurs weren't playing there? That would be a fair accusation against the FA or Football League but it's a bit harsh on Pochettino. As it is, there is absolutely no chance that Spurs will play a first team.

Presumably if the Rochdale - Millwall game is postponed tomorrow it guarantees that our game at Spotland gets rearranged. There is a full fixture list next midweek so the first available date for them to play the game would be 5th round day.

I presume most who've been to Blackburn before will be going to an alehouse they used to frequent. Is anyone hoping to tick off any of the other verses?

Over the last month we have had such an unsettled side with players leaving, players returning, players arriving but not eligible to play, a phased release of players being cleared to play and now another influx of players the manager presumably knows little about. We don't have a midweek game this week so it is vital that Richie assesses his new squad and works out who can and can't play together. It isn't easy because there will be players he likes who now don't fit in. Unfortunately we don't have time on our side to try out a number of options so it needs to be figured out in training and then we need to stick with a formation and core team.

I find it unbelievable that we didn't take Ripley back when he went to Bury. I can only assume that it wasn't possible because of the position the takeover was in at the time as I am sure he would have picked us over Bury. Jonny is excellent in speeding up the game and creating opportunities from the back. That worked wonderfully whilst we were on a good run. It's not what we need right now and his weaknesses are being painfully exposed.

I agree that we have been in a battle for most of the season but I think around the time of the win over Rochdale we had got ourselves out of it and could righly start looking at the teams above us. Clearly the results since have shown that wasn't the case. You are spot on that the last 2 escapes have been firmly built on a string defence. It wasn't always good to watch but it was effective. I hope that Richie has learnt from that. We are told that the two Nantes defenders are either here or on their way. It's to be hoped that they are decent.

We've been in a relegation battle for a few weeks now but I think results around us have really brought it home today. No team has stayed up with less than 50 points since 2011 and the current points total of the clubs just above the drop zone suggest that this season will be no different. Based on current points per game it looks like 52 or 53 points could be required. This means we probably need 7 wins and the odd draw or 6 wins and a good few draws from our remaining 16 matches. It's still very doable and we are in a much better position than we have been at this stage in the last couple of seasons. We need to pick up quickly though or there really won't be much room for error.

Here are my thoughts on a few things we need from the new owner once we finally get the deal over the line. http://www.ernieflag.co.uk/site/index.php/bloggs/14-oldham-athletic/199-dear-abdallah

What an opportunity this would be for Abdallah to pop in for 15 min, meet a few fans and maybe set out his high level plans for the club.

My view is that TTA had the best of intentions when they first came in and improved the club's fortunes following the dark days of administration when Moore left. We will never know what would have happened had the original planning application for BP been successful but after it was rejected, things started to head south. Lots of mistakes were made (largely listed above so I won't repeat them) and by the time Blitz and Gazel departed Corney was out of ideas. The structure of the ownership of club, land, stand etc. meant that the club couldn't possibly become competitive. The lack of ambition in recent years has done untold damage with the fan base being depleted annually. For me, it was the Ched Evans fiasco that finally convinced me that the best interests of the club was no longer the main driver for decisions being made. It was something that was always going to cause further split in the fan base. That couldn't possibly be for the best. I appreciate much of what he has done and I do accept that never having been relegated during Simon's reign is an achievement but I would Rgue that of you never gamble, you'll never lose. Good luck to him in the future but for the sake of the football club I hope we have a clean break.

They are offering a reduction to their season ticket holders as a thankyou for buying a season ticket. This is something they are more than entitled to do. As a goodwill gesture (presumably after talks with Latics) they have extended the offer to our fans. It appears that there are people on here who would prefer it if we were all charged the full price.

What's the issue? They are offering discounted tickets to our ST holders. That's a good thing surely? £7.50 is a cracking offer. If you are a season ticket holder and want to go, get a ticket. If you aren't a season ticket holder then £15 isn't too bad. If you don't fancy it but rethink when you wake up on the day you are still getting change from a score. It makes a refreshing change from the days when their season ticket holders would get the deal and we'd all pay £17.

Sorry if I have missed this in another thread. Very interesting interview with Shez just after 7.30 this morning. His tone was very different from the interview he gave on the day he left. He referred to feeling he should have got more time which was a move from it being his decision to go. It doesn't stop it being by mutual consent but does indicate it wasn't 50/50. He talked a lot about having players forced upon him. 8 players turning up at a training session that he knew nothing about and by the following day we had signed 6 of them. He said we should give Wellens the job and interestingly referred to having a good relationship with the "ex-owner" until the "new bloke came in". He held his hands up that he screwed up with the keeper situation and recognised that has played a big part in our poor start to the season. There was also a on it so subtle dig when he was asked if the new owner had any money with something along the lines of "well, It's not like anyone at the club is getting paid". On the plus side, It's not every morning you get to listen to "Boys in Blue" on your drive to work... Not that any of them actually knew what the song was.

You must remember to be a little wary. Ngoo probably fits into the category of "cult hero after one game"

Funny how people see this completely differently. My experience is that 90%+ of our away following do go to home games. The way I see it we are little Oldham, we don't have many fans but ghose thst we do have are passionate about the club with loads of them caring enough to travel round the country. Of course it is ultimately meaningless and I would much prefer to be more successful with lower followings. It's still something to be proud of though.

I think Shez is the right man for the job and I think it is telling that he is still getting so much support from the fans despite our start to the season. That said, if we have new owners (and for what it's worth I do think that is still a big 'if') they have to have a manager they are happy with. The owners will be judged pretty quickly so they need to have everything in place to give them what they see as their best chance of success. It is also worth considering that whilst Shez is the best man for the job, that presumes we know what the job is. Just because he is the best man to keep us up, he might not be the best person to take us up. This feels a bit like when Chris M**re took over and dispensed with Stitch. Hugely unpopular but the right decision. In my view, the one thing I am sure about is that the manager needs to have English lower league experience.

I actually expected it to be more unpopular than it appears to be. I fully understand that there are fans who think that questioning the Chairman is somehow failing to support the club. He has considerable goodwill stored up after investing when we desperately needed the money. I think you are being unfair with your "13 years" comment. I genuinely believe that for many years, we had a chance of progressing. I have been where I am now for probably the last 5 years. On the back of two of the three leaving we did need some security and stabilisation which Simon provided. That has long gone as a strategy though.

Well said. I agree with almost everything. Sadly I even agree with your last paragraph. If it is true that a large proportion of our fan base are not overly concerned about results, we are finished. It has to be primarily about the football and that means dreaming of success.

I appreciate this might not be universally popular but here are my thoughts on why it may be time for a change at Boundary Park. I could have written this at any time in the last 5 years but I have finally reached the point where I can't hold back any longer. I hope those who disagree will read it before rejecting it out of hand. http://www.ernieflag.co.uk/site/index.php/bloggs/14-oldham-athletic/198-time-for-a-change

How about... The money was never available but people started getting carried away be unfounded rumours and Simon Corney made similar statements to ones he makes every summer which turn out to be hot air? Our inability to find any money right now after failing to land Ripley suggest that there was never a chance it was going to happen. You would imagine that Wilson is on considerably less than it would have cost us to secure Connor so that should leave a surplus. On the face of it, it hasn't. The logical conclusion is that the money required was never there. Comments from Shez at the time gave the impression that he thought the funds were there.

It's not crap, though, is it? That's how football works. Terminating a contract means paying off the remainder of that contract. It is a million miles away from how the 'real world' works.

And he's going to keep paying you whilst not expecting you to do any work. He's also going to do everything he can to help you find another job and supplement your salary for the next couple of years if you have to take a cut... I think it would go down ok

I imagine Corners response to this will be positive... "Hearing you loud and clear John. You need some new players. That isn't a problem, we should set up a meeting to discuss. Actually there is already a meeting in the diary as I set it recurring a couple of years back. 2nd week of January I believe."

I'd love to know what Shez actually means by needing 5 or 6 players... Does he think that is what we need to be able to stay up? Would that mean we could be comfortable and finish mid table? Does he think that would give us a play-off place? I don't think we have ever actually been told what the ambition is this season. Presumably Shez has been set a target by Corney. Is that what he is trying to achieve or is he looking to his own ambition above and beyond that?