Latics and England

Here's the report from the trip to Wimbledon... and a very enjoyable weekend in London. Looks like we will be struggling for new grounds next season though. http://www.ernieflag.co.uk/site/index.php/the-tour/5-on-the-road/195-season-9-afc-wimbledon

With Connor likely to clean up at tonight's awards dinner (though I actually think Clarkey should get POTS), is he put most influential loanee ever? I have very little doubt that we would have gone down without him which gives him a very strong claim on the title. The only real competitor I can think of is Luke Beckett. His goals completely turned that season around.

Assistant manager leaves 72 hours after Chairman announces nobody is leaving!!* *This is a light hearted observation, not a dig.

Yep. Amended!!

Good call. Lowest ever was 1910-11 when there were 85 goals. We are 10 short of that target. This is the OAFC record, I don't know what the absolute record is but I would imagine we would be there or there abouts for a 46 game season* *Christ, that's depressing

Now we are safe, I thought it was worth seeing if there is anything left to play for on Sunday. Clearly we can still finish above Northampton. A win would also give us more points (and potentially a higher finish) than we got last season which must be a step forward. A clean sheet gives Connor a share of the record If we concede less than 2 we will have had our 2nd best defensive season in this division (clutching at straws a bit now I accept) If we score 9 this won't have been our worst scoring season in this division (Ok, that's going too far)

A good, positive statement. Well done. Let's hope we can build and have a more successful season in 2017/18.

I presume someone is putting together an open letter with the alternative view. I don't see any scenario where the club could refuse to publish it.

Really? I would love to know how you come to that conclusion. I think you will find that there are a lot of fans of different clubs who take quite an interest in the dealings of their clubs. You should probably take a look at Charlton, Blackpool, Leyton Orient as three currently high profile clubs who's fans are taking a real interest at the moment. There are also strong fan groups at clubs such as Liverpool, Arsenal and them in Salford who closely monitor the way the clubs are being run. I don't think our fans are any different as a group than fans of other clubs. All will have some who show an interest in the running of the club and some who only care about 90 min on a Saturday as well as some who are somewhere inbetween. Personally, whilst I do have an interest in the runnings of the club, I believe that we have a Trust who should be able to monitor that on my behalf. My major concern at the moment is that what I am hearing is that the Trust is being hampered in that, hence I am taking more of a personal interest. It should never be forgotten that many of us were here through the Chris Moore era and will always have that at the back of our minds when asked to simply trust the custodians of the club blindly.

How does this not contradict the statement the club put out here? http://mobile.oldhamathletic.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/breaking-news-led-perimeter-boards-installed-3650171.aspx

A Bury win tonight works for me. Would like them to stay up and if Bolton could stay down that would be a big bonus.

Plenty of shit being mentioned on here but Starbuck is a class apart. Dreadful every time I saw him and it is stunning that someone that bad was able to cap it with a performance that people still remember as taking it to a whole new level at Springfield Park.

As mentioned in the 20 years thread, Villa won the Intertoto in 2001. Whilst it mightn't be the greatest competition, its prize of a place in Europe surely means it would class as success. Likewise, Everton qualified for Europe as recently as 2 seasons ago. I was surprised about Forest Green. I didn't think of them as being so established in the Conference

Taken straight from the Ernieflag report on this from a couple of years ago so it doesn't show the impact from Tranmere's relegation out of the league or our continued shrinking fanbase, but the fall in crowds isn't significantly worse for us than Tranmere. Ernieflag - Yearing for Success

Villa - Intertoto Cup winners 2001 Ipswich - Championship Play-off winners 2000

Yes, I thought of Pete and Eric as potential people to be in the 900s. I would imagine Diego would be high 800s

As we close in on 20 completed seasons in League one, I wondered whether there is anyone out there who has done all the games. There are a few I can think of who will have only missed a handful but I don't think I am aware of anyone who has a 100% record. Of the 915 games so far, I reckon I have probably done 700-750

I don't understand why people are having a go at the Trust here. For years we have been calling out for the Trust to look after the interests of the fans and communicate to us when there is something they feel we should be aware of. The Trust took up the role of representing those who had donated to the Tifosy scheme at an early stage and say that they had an agreement with the old CEO regarding access to details of the ring-fenced funds. Following a change in CFO, this access seems to have been lost. Subsequently, following a lack of visible progress with the scoreboard, the Chairman linked this fund to the purchase of advertising boards in a meeting with a group of supporters (the NNN meeting). It was not specifically stated that the fund was to be used but that was the intimation. According to the minutes of the Trust meeting with Mark Moisley, he also linked the purchase of LED hoardings to the Scoreboard fund cash. The Trust attempted (based upon their statement yesterday) to get direct confirmation as to what was happening from the Chairman and this was not forthcoming. When they discovered that the advertising had arrived and was ready to be installed they chose to make a statement expressing their concerns and frustrations. We may never know whether there was never an intention to utilise the fund or if plans changed following the Trust's statement. Either way, I believe that the Trust have done what the Trust should be doing. It is sad that the relationship between the Trust and Club appears to be somewhat broken but I would rather have them challenging those in charge than the situation we had previously where there appeared to be little or no challenge.

*Breathes in and begins to hold breath*

7.35 out of Piccadilly for me. Made the most of the Virgin sale a few weeks back. Not booked anything London to Southend but there's not much to be gained by doing that in advance.

Whether you are happy for us to have bought/leased/put down a deposit on these electronic boards, the key for me is the further breakdown in trust. There was a lot of scepticism when the Tifosy scheme was launched with large sections of the fan base unwilling to believe that the money would end up where promised. The role of a third party and subsequently the Trust helped convince people and a decent sum was raised. After now seeing the funds spent elsewhere, any future scheme is doomed to failure.

When we failed to pay Rochdale on time after the game at Spotland, we were told that they would have to wait because the priority was to pay HMRC. It follows logically that if we have subsequently missed a payment to HMRC then there must be other creditors we had put further down our priorities list. It is possible that they would have then been paid at the same time or shortly after we apparently made the payment to HMRC. The suggestion that we have other creditors to whom payments are overdue, however, doesn't feel farfetched.

Would be nice if there was some way the club could make some tickets available to season ticket holders at Southend on Saturday. I'm sure they won't go that quickly but I wouldn't like the risk of missing out as people buy on Saturday whilst a few hundred are supporting the team at an away game.

Vale have Shrewsbury on Friday and then Coventry on Tuesday. After those two games we'll have an idea as to how many points will be required. They have a real build up of fixtures though with their game at Walsall a week on Saturday already off with international call-ups.

That was a decent watch. It also means we can ignore everything the club puts out in the week and catch up on a Friday in one bite-sized chunk