sempreazzurro

I've been following latics man and boy for over 35 years now, and this forum for a good long while - voyeuristically... but need to get this off my chest. I feel deep despair at present. Following 30 years of decline, and with the club having teetered on the brink, I feel - as do we all - profound gratitude that Frank has stepped in, and gifted us a platform on which we can build. For the first time in ages I have been looking up the league hierarchy in real hope, if not expectation. I even bought myself a new replica top for match days, and was looking forward to this season with real optimism, especially given how strongly we finished the previous term. Realistically, I know we need to accept that the journey (back to where we need to be as a club) will be long and not without it's bumps... but I can't help but feel that the initial goodwill of the fans now has been utterly exhausted. It's been a poor, poor season. From where I stand, we have regressed. It's obvious that the recruitment has been less than perfect, but, on paper at least, we have a group of professionals who should have had more than enough to get us out of this poor league. Something, though, is rotten - in the mindset of the whole group (including the manager), and in the relationship between the playing staff and the fans. Whatever cancer this is needs cutting out, quickly, because it translates into performances and results which are beyond piss poor. I don't need sexy football at this point. Before the pinch-me years, there was some pretty uninspiring fare served up at BP, and I still turned up, and since, obviously, but what I have seen this year has been beyond bad. I'm no DU apologist. He never had a rapport with the fans, and, after the start we had this year, his position was untenable: however I personally think he was getting a better tune out of the squad than MM. I went to watch us at Borehamwood, and what I saw was structured and disciplined. Either team could have won it, but I think we defended well and looked promising in the final third. There was some width. Basically, I came away not feeling too negative. In the final analysis, in his 9 league fixtures, his return was 7 points, and SEVEN of those games were against opponents who were amongst the stronger teams in the division (in that they all finished above us). Tricky fixtures, in hindsight. In the final leg of this season, when it really counted, MM has managed to return 5 points from the final 9 games, against mostly poor opposition. This from a guy with 'experience' and a 'track record', and a squad which should have been super-motivated. I have never liked this guy. I find him dour and uninspiring. The team has developed a distinct imbalance, we hoof it, we don't seem to play with any discernible tactics (the recent draw vs.Chesterfield being a rare exception), and without the required energy or fitness levels. Even during our purple patch, we were being found out. I know we ended up winning 3-2, and the second half was exciting (thanks in no small part to the width an energy of Wigan's Stones), but the first half at Solihull Moors is without doubt the worst football I have ever seen from an Oldham team. It was dire. I thought we couldn't get any worse than we were when I saw us at Meadow Lane last season - but this was just another level of shit. I have experienced some bad performances and results over the years (e.g. losing 7-0 at MK, but that was almost funny; just a really bad day at the office)... but the sheer consistency of the terrible football we have trotted out this season has been difficult to take. My last game this season was vs. Halifax last week, and it was just the final nail in the coffin for me. We played OK in spells, but we had no left-side, defended poorly, played without pace or passion (especially given what was theoretically at stake), and should have lost against an opponent who were more pacy, direct and organised. I don't know where to go now with this lot, but want to keep the faith - if only to repay Frank. It's bleak. Academy mothballed, parachute payments ended. The modern infrastructure DU was trying to put in place abandoned, the same core squad contracted into next season. The are boils which need lancing. The Reid situation needs concluding. For me, the manager needs to go, and I believe we need to get some young managerial blood in, and hopefully a young player or two who can inject some pace and directness. A manager who is able to fashion a system which brings the best out of the players we have, because, as I say, they are mostly capable of more than this, in my opinion. It couldn't turn out worse than this, could it? The Sachdev situation mystified me. MM calls him a wing-back (is this not what we needed - a bit of width and attacking intent??) - a young, England U19 international, who had put in MOM performances... but clearly not to MMs taste. Weird in terms of both recruitment and subsequent team selection (or lack thereof). I wish Sai well, and hope we haven't damaged him too much. For me, the straw which broke the camel's back for me was MM's pre-match presser for the Rochdale game. He had all the excuses already to hand (players not of the calibre, not able to field a team with width etc...). For such an important game (and a derby at that) he was downbeat and negative, whilst repeatedly stating that he knows what we need, and he has all the experience, blah, blah. Also seemed to say that he didn't really care about the fans' reactions on the terraces. God's gift to motivational speeches he is not. We should have been buzzing for that. What pissed me off the most though is the way he spoke of Oldham in the third person ('they', 'the club'). He has done that right from the start... like he's some external fucking consultant come in to write a big report on how shit our squad is. Where's the "We" Micky? To be fair, he has jointly shouldered it post-match after some of the horrorshows, but I think that's more because he was obliged to. No manager will be perfect, but we've had some promising talent pass through our club through the years. Guys who seemed more invested. Even in recent times, I would take e.g. Wellens, Kewell, Wild, and, dare I say it, Unsworth over this guy. Hopes for next season? Scraping a playoff place, and building an on-field identity. More than that?? You're having a laugh. Last season I watched Notts County a lot. At Wembley, it was clear that Chesterfield were a formidable and organised team. Unlucky as they were, it was clear to me on that day that they would piss it this season. Latics are nowhere near the level that either of those teams turned out. Nowhere. Anyway, I've been rambling enough now. Doubtless many will disagree with much of what I say, but I do feel better for getting that off my chest