Snookmeister

Who are the 4 teams worse than us? Think that's the only thing that may save us....

Back on!

I can't get it either. It's such a poor service....

As long as Mellor doesn't start at left back....

I thought we were terrible first half but we were alright second half and I think we would have got something from the game with 11 men.

 

The defence will do & Mellor is fine at leftback provided he gets forward more - that's what Mills was so good at rather than his defending, it keeps an opposition right winger on the back foot moreso too.

 

Get Korey Smith driving us forward and running at the opposition, and their defenders will be like dogs on lino.

With a proper two upfront - Turner & MacDonald on Tuesday then Clarke-Harris and A N Other - this will open things up for us.

It's that simple for me.

 

Philliskirk can come off the bench, he's not scoring or creating anything so give him a rest now and let him kick on over the summer and into next season.

Mellor is the worst left back I have EVER seen wear the shirt. In over 30 years.

Lockwood is shocking. He was at Guisely Town for a reason.

We need a new left back desperately. Mellor is sooo not the answer. Got absolutely beasted yesterday, as he has done EVERY time he's played in that position. As someone else has mentioned, we've gone from Mills, Tarky, Kusunga, Lanzoni, a quality back four, to the absolute dross we saw yesterday. We have a league 2/non-league back line at the moment and Corney needs to get his hand in his pocket.

Oxley produced a magnificent save today from the pen. A superb effort. He's terrible from his line though. Not sure whether it was him or Lockwood who gaffed for a near miss in the 1st.

 

Not sure about that - they were better than average, considering some of the teams we've played (and also lost too!). Their right winger (who scored the first, I think..) was superb for them.

 

Definitely organised - but Grayson knows what he's doing. He knows you don't do well in this division by playing pretty, tippy-tap, ineffective football..

Their right winger was superb because Mellor was :censored: at left back AGAIN. It's every time. HE'S NOT A LEFT BACK!!!!! :censored: me, LJ when will you realise this...

 

Just a shame you're a bloody foreigner .

 

Agree with every word Dan, especially the bit i've highlighted. Your wedding is still one of the best shin digs i've ever been to ha ha.

 

I also miss the Lookers Paddock desperately. And the friends I made in there. Was only talking to Nick and Paul the other day, they haven't changed a bit. And I miss MY seat, row A, seat 103.

 

Like you say though, :censored: happens and we move on.

 

The Chaddy End is falling to pieces. The facilities are crap. Stick the visitors in it.

'Course you agree. I'm always right!

I completely understand the tradition angle. I used to stand in the Chaddy when it was packed every week. Awesome place. Then I had to pay for my own season ticket and therefore went in the Lookers Paddock!

I too sat with the same complete strangers every week, many of whom have turned out to be good friends. The banter we had in there was probably the best in all my 30 odd years of watching Latics. I was gutted when the club announced they were pulling it down, utterly distraught. The thought of having to sit anywhere but "my seat" almost made me angry.

But do you know what? :censored: happens, things change and even us at OAFC have to accept the inevitable progress. I grew a pair, stopped bitching and realised it was for the good of the club. All this self absorbed, drama queen "I'm never going again if they make me move" rubbish - REALLY? Get a grip for Christ's sake. The club try to be as flexible as they can, as often as they can, despite accusations to the contrary (from me included!) and I think we fans should try to adapt occasionally too. But the bottom line has to be what's best for the club as a whole and if moving the home fans to the RRE is the best of a bad bunch, then so be it.

I sit in the Chaddy currently, by the way.

Whatever happens, I think us home fans, with our current pitiful numbers should be kept to two stands, whichever they may be. If the sole purpose of this exercise is to improve the atmosphere, then short of getting back the stay-aways, which isn't going to happen anytime soon, grouping us as much together as possible is the only logical short-term solution.

I expect the majority of those who would be against moving from the Chaddy probably wouldn't be on an internet forum anyway, if you get my drift. Which may partly explain the current voting.

Long term? We can enjoy the better views and facilities and overall atmosphere of the RRE (I've had a ST in there too over the years) and when the Chaddy eventually gets redeveloped, we can relocate.

 

What is 'this' though? People not turning up or people not seeing wins?

"This" is the fact that people have been to over a dozen games and not even seen a win!!

It's "This" that accounts for our gates and atmosphere.

It isn't a dig at anyone (everyone's had periods when they don't bother with games) but this thread is indicative of why crowds are low.

This is the very top and absolute bottom line as to why our crowds are so poor and why there's so many moaners/booers. It's not the stadium, pies, PA, absence of a score board - it's this and this alone.

Already started to do so, Zorrro. Like last night for instance. Work getting in the way wouldn't have happened earlier in the season.

I hope they are feeling it, Lags. I really hope they bloody well do. Because I tell you what, I feel it virtually every single home game. And I'm paying for the privilege.

This year is the first in three that I've had a ST again. I stopped after nearly 35 years of having one. I really had a sense of optimism at the beginning of the season, and even going into Christmas. Now it's gone back to what I was feeling three years ago. With the exception of the 2nd half against The Posh, going to BP just puts me in a bad mood which lasts all day. It's supposed to be my time, when I can switch off from work and home and get that release, but instead I feel worse when I walk out of there, and it shouldn't be like that.

Booing the opening goal is no new thing at all. You've been a fan for a long time Lags, you must surely remember. I certainly do. The protest after the game to get rid of Lees brewery? The chants during games of "We're :censored:, and we're sick of it"?? That's going back 15 years or so (I'm sure someone can provide the exact date).

Booing isn't new or more prevalent with Latics. It's like a lot of things these days - we just see more of it because we're exposed to more media, more of the time...

Are they all grown men though ? Are they all well paid ?

 

They'll be people who post on this forum on a lot more than our players who don't take a tenth of the :censored: they do .

I'm not aware of any teenagers on the pitch, although please correct me if I'm wrong. And compared to the wage paid vs hours put in for the average non-footballing worker, I'd say they are well paid, even at League 1 level.

 

It's getting ridiculous thou now. Every opening goal against gets boo'ed. Every stray pass, Every missed tackle, It's :censored:.

 

We don't sing, we don't make a noise even whilst we swing a ball in for a corner or free kick, but we can boo loud enough. It's :censored:

I'll agree with the not singing bit, Lags. That pisses me off too. However, like all teams, our fans need something to get them going as well. Going one down after only 3 minutes on a miserable, cold Tuesday evening, with no other bugger in the ground? It's hardly conducive to a cauldron of enthusiasm is it?! Combine that with the fact that we start badly most home games and have done for a while now, there's only one possible outcome.

Nothing would please me more than having to arrive at BP an hour early just to make sure I've got a seat (even though I'm a ST holder), struggle my way through thousands of excited blues to get to my seat, not sit in it for 90 minutes because I'm singing my heart out for the lads. See some half decent stuff and go home happy at least 50% of the time - I don't expect us to be playing like Barca. But it's just not there. And there's not even the slightest hint that it's round the corner either. No replacement of decent signings, just non league journeymen, I could go on....

Professional footballers and grown men are ":censored: scared of looking for the ball"??

Do me a :censored:ing favour.

How about they grow a pair and do their well paid jobs properly instead of hiding away.

They're in the public eye and high profile employees. It goes with the territory and always has. If they're happy to accept the plaudits, so should they be accepting of the criticism when the chips are down.

The RRE is a better stand in every conceivable aspect. The ONLY reason for staying in the Chaddy is tradition.

This doesn't help our atmosphere though...

There's a noticeable stark change in the composure our defenders have on the ball. It says a lot when a non-league mid-thirties defender is better on the ball than your other one - Wilson's distribution is woeful.

 

Pair that with two defensive midfielders more on the gritty than graceful side and we're struggling to string sequences of passes together.

 

It feels like a different team that outpassed and outplayed a Preston team that we made look like Dog and Duck FC on Sky last year. Well, that's because it is. 1 player from that defence remains, and that player, Grounds, was probably the weakest in posession of that group. Philliskirk played through the middle, not ineffective on the wing, and we got some bad luck.

 

We didn't get the win that night, but I left optimistic about the future. I hoped we could retain most of the squad and push on playing that way. Now we're a totally different side in philosophy and personnel it seems.

 

We've lost that continuity and we still make multiple changes for each starting line-up. I want us to make a couple of these loanees permanent and be that passing team again for next season with more of a clinical edge. Problem is I can't see that happening...

This is a direct result of getting rid of half of our back line because we're cheap.

I didn't go tonight - last minute decision as I had a :censored:load of work on. Pissed off at the time, until 3 minutes in....

I listened to LP, and I could visualise every play in my head - because I've seen it so many :censored:ing times before. Sooo many times it's now getting rather monotonous. Struggle to get it to half way, pass it sideways half a dozen times then lump it to a corner. Lose the ball, sit deep. Repeat. Jesus, even my kids don't want to go anymore. Good job their season tickets only cost me £10 each. If it wasn't for Gary Harkins I'd be considering my own ST.

I think last Saturday's result really papered over the cracks - we should have lost that game, and I think most realised this. Don't get me wrong, I'll take the win, so many times over the years we've played well and got nothing in return. But we were poor and a better side would have won. Like tonight? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong there....

I've been a bit worried since Christmas. Prior to that (as a friend has pointed out) we had plenty of reasonable players on decent contracts. Many of these have now gone and been replaced by, in my opinion, :censored:e. Dunfield, Lockwood, Wilson, Stead. Or not replaced at all. Many will say the centre halves have been solid so far. I can't say I've seen it. Lucky perhaps, like last Saturday.

We've lost quality and replaced with :censored:e. We seem to be reaping what we have recently been sowing.

What are we preparing for????

Terry Dunfield painting and decorating Ltd. No job too small....

I'd take Osama Bin Laden up top if he could bag 25 a season...

That was a most dreadful game. For the first time ever during a live sporting event, I actually considered closing my eyes for 40 winks on about 25 minutes. The goal woke me up though!!

Thought both our centre backs were solid enough.

Full backs poor.

Midfield just went sideways a lot then decided to aimlessly lump it to the corner - passing was woeful.

Stead was pretty gash.

Harkins good.

Oxley outstanding - kept us in the game.

Pie was bobbins.

Weather surprisingly not too cold

Young lad scored from a corner at half time!

Fin.

First - Rodger Wylde

All time - Roger Palmer

Current - Gary Harkins

Failsworth would have been the best thing to ever happen to this club.

I think Sports park 2000 would have been the best thing to happen to this club. :censored:ing politicians.....