nzlatic

Why are loan fees even allowed?

Based on what? He's scored 7 league goals in 45 games. Don't think we'll get anywhere near that unfortunately. The main thing is that if he goes he's replaced asap.

What's a reasonable fee for him? Can't see how it be more than the 250/300k mark.

It was my first game of the season so I'd be interested to know from regulars how the players performed in comparison to other games so far? Of the ones that seemed to be the main talking points this season, here is my take: Liam Kelly - very tidy game. Broke up Doncaster possession a fair bit and looked to get attacks started. Covered a lot of the pitch. Was quite impressed overall. Elokobi - dominated all day. They didn't get a look in and he was one of the main reasons. There have been a few questions about how suited for centre back he is but I had no doubts after that. Looked to be trying to guide everyone else too. JCH - did some excellent things, but also some poor things. The back heel that led to the Winchester chance was brilliant. I'd like to see him take a step back so he can attack the ball when heading. A lot of the time he just seems to do a token jump rather than actually contest it properly. He's too young to do the full season up top by himself without it doing him damage. Linked with Philliskirk well at times, could work better with more time together. Winchester - forgot he was on the pitch until just before half time. Thought he was fairly quiet for a lot of the game but really came into it in the last 30/40 minutes. From then on he was brilliant - all over the pitch, involved in just about every attack, taking players on and looking to drive us forward. He looks a real prospect on that form so should be playing every game and sitting down to sign a new contract! As for the others, James Wilson was immense, Brian Wilson was tidy and efficient, same for Jones, Mills. Philliskirk looked good when higher up the pitch and Forte is just a constant threat with the right support. A very good performance, but helped massively by the early goal which must have been perfect for the Johnson game plan. The worry is how we react to going behind.

I had a pretty good view of it and it was a definite pen for me. It was clumsy more than a clear cut foul but definitely took him out and wasn't near the ball. Despite the video suggesting otherwise!

Probably means someone's had a tenner on it.

What's better for him for the next month? 5 mins in 1st team every now and again and no reserve games or 5/6 games in the conference north? Might help him get back to full fitness quicker and get a couple of goals too.

Quite. I'd like to know where is "better"? How many countries in the world don't have some kind of deep rooted racism/sexism/capitalism/elitism/poverty gaps or similar horrible traits? Don't necessarily disagree with a lot of what beag_teeets has said, just don't see how Britain is any more or less fooked up than most other countries in the world.

I think we'll come up Short on Saturday unfortunately.

Fair enough. Charlie Mac didn't work out maybe because he was far from his family and having a few injuries didn't help. But he did miss a few good chances too so I'm not convinced he had 20 goals in him. I definitely agree about Rooney, his record suggested he should have done much better. Not sure what happened there really and maybe if we'd stuck with him he'd be benefitting now. But the consensus at the time seemed to be that it was good news we got rid of him. Until he started scoring for Aberdeen then it was a terrible decision!

I find it hard to hold on to hate these days, can't be bothered really. But there have been 2 great footballing crimes recently: MK Dons allowed to steal a club's history and place in the football league and Man Utd being allowed to sack off the FA Cup for some pointless world club thing that did nothing but boost their marketing overseas. MK Dons top the list for me. Horrible.

Doncaster 2-1 Latics (HT 1-1) Forte 6582

Especially not if he's the fitness coach too.

I don't really get your point. Are you saying that a better striker than what we have wouldn't do those things I said and wouldn't have converted any of those 4 decent chances at Preston? Or wouldn't create any openings for themselves or make better runs that create more chances? Or just that we've had good strikers and they didn't score so it must be Johnson's fault? Personally I would have kept Rooney but sometimes players and clubs don't click for whatever reason. It's happened with plenty of others - O'Grady, Davies etc have had better form elsewhere. But Beckett, Hughes and Porter have all had great spells with us. Bit of luck and timing needed.

There are hundreds of pubs in town but the Tut'n'Shive just outside the Frenchgate centre (about 5 min walk from the station) is always a winner for me. 20 years ago it was brilliant - small, smokey and full of other 17/18 year olds playing a jukebox rammed with early 90s indie. Now it's full of people in their late 30s playing a jukebox rammed with early 90s indie so still gets my vote. If your bag is dancing to one direction and having a fight then I recommend Silver Street after the game. Hang around long enough and you'll feel like you're in Kavos with promo girls handing out free shot vouchers to entice you in to the million (empty) bars. Went in one of these last time I was back and saw a bloke and girl having a full on rap/dance battle to Let's Get Ready to Rumble. Stunning. The Castle near the market used to be good for real ale drinkers but last time I was in there they were advertising bottles of wine for £3 so I guess that's not quite the same place it used to be. It's a classy town!

Supporters can buy tickets from Doncaster but are recommended to buy in advance to avoid queuing on the day. What's misleading about that? Cheers for the info Fergie, but I think I'll give the Brewers Fayre a miss and stick to the decent pubs in town that I know and take a risk on the queue.

Has anyone got any experience of the away ticket booths there? ie how long the queues can be before kick off? Grew up in Doncaster (lucky me) so will be going with some Rovers supporting mates. I know there's not much around the ground when it comes to boozers so I'd rather stay at a decent pub in town for as long as possible. Then again, I don't want to miss the first 10 mins queuing for my ticket. Phone/online pre match purchase not doable so will have to buy on the day.

Having watched the highlights only, a quality striker would have made a big difference to that game. If only 1 out of those 4 good chances we wasted in the box was converted then we'd have a different outlook on the game completely. It seems like Johnson has gambled on JCH having a break through season and it's not worked yet. Tactics are always going to be tinkered with early on in the season, something that may have worked well in pre season might not work in reality. Just see Manchester United for a good example of that. 3 of our back 4 are different as are both central midfielders. It was always going to take a few games for those areas to settle down. But yet again, there's no room for patience, we demand instant entertaining, winning football. I'm not saying there's nothing wrong or nothing needs changing. He's a young manager learning the trade so I'd be shocked if he wasn't making mistakes. However, bring in a goalscorer and we could see a massive difference. Whether we have the money or there's someone out there that fits the bill is another thing entirely.

I don't buy this at all. A good striker isn't one that just finishes chances that are created for him, it's one that moves better than others and gets into positions that demand the ball being played to him, making runs that cry out for a through ball and getting in front of defenders to turn an average cross into a goal. If you put a better striker in the team not only will the chances created be converted more often but there'll be more chances in the first place irrespective of tactics. Which brings me on to tactics... So hang on, if the tactics are so bad what happened for the last 20 minutes? Let me guess, Tommy Wright changed it? Or the players ignored the tactics imposed on them? Or maybe they finally started playing as instructed? I have no idea, but you're contradicting yourself. I'm as frustrated as anyone and I'm sick of this league but this constant sniping at players/tactics this early in the season is ridiculous. Especially when you look at the opposition we've had so far.

Donny will be my first game of the season and I can't wait.

So are you saying that johnson's main plan is to get his mates contracts and appearance fees rather than to try and win games for Oldham?

Except that "fact" isn't true.

PNE 2-0 Latics (0-0) No scorer 13255

I'm dangerous when I remember to predict!

Agree with a lot of what you're saying there and it's a fair point about attendances going up massively across the board. But those clubs you've mentioned either have success in their history or decent catchment area or both. We have neither. So even if we did start reaching those heights I think we'd struggle to get anywhere near them in terms of attendances.