LaticNik

I reckon a few more posts and we'll name all 42... E4e DARLO

Not sure Joe has got us through the period really. Hate to say it but he didn't do half as much as we'd hoped. One win in 9 or 10 games is absolutely pee poor. The only reason we're pretty positive again is because Joe is going and there's a whole new broom arriving. E4e SORRY

I was enthusiastic about the appointment... E4e THANX

WTF?!? When was this exclusive announcement first talked of? I'm sure it was over a week ago, long before Penney arrived. So the announcement was the departure of two coaches? Even though I agree with them what a cringeworthy episode. Sums up the season. E4e BLUSH

Kinell, I'm more upbeat than Leezy. The more I hear and read about DP the more optimistic I am. Although perhaps that's more to do with the propaganda on the Official Site. E4e BRITE

With a bit of luck. E4e SWEEP

Not the most sophisticated of tacticians, Penney is a “hands-on” type and a superb man-manager who could be compared to the likes of José Mourinho in that he commands an extraordinary amount of loyalty and respect from his players. Where's me season ticket form!! E4e PRIDE

It's been said elsewhere that it's not the missing out on promotion that's sending folk to Wilsonsville it's the fact that we've been watching a half hearted team of bottle jobs for far too long. No sooner had they had the chance they were all laying back and sparking up the cigars. They think they're better than they are and have deemed it acceptable to turn up with the wrong frame of mind and give performances 50% effort. It's not effin on and I really don't want to see the majority of them again. But with a disciplinarian in charge, and by all accounts DP isn't shy in this department, I'll give the team my support and encouragement. We've been through thick and thin, lower league positions than we currently hold, 'fighting' relegation. But we were doing so giving it our all. We weren't world beaters, far from it, FFS Paul Rickers had a major hand keeping us up! All we ask is for a team who play with pride, passion and commitment, who will run through brick walls for eachother; it gives us fans the same mentality. But we've not seen anything close to that this season. If DP comes in and gives us just one of the three traits then he'll do for me. E4e FIKUL

Best post for a long time! May just buy a season ticket now... E4e MAYBE

Always had hope for Lewis, until yesterday. Totally uninterested and lethargic. Not once did I see him sprint. Gets shrugged off far too easily and loses the ball without even trying to hold onto it. And the amount of crosses that went in yet both Lewis and Deano were ambling on the edge of the box. No coincidence that your Becketts and Hughes's of this world get caught offside more often than not. They're strikers. They gamble on the shoulder of the last man because the most important thing to them is getting the ball before the defender does. Lewis and Deano? Rarely in that position. Deano's shown promise as winger. Lewis shows it when he wants which isn't good enough for a kid. Needs to earn the right. And said elsewhere that their 'warm-up' together was that of Saturday morning school football. E4e PTHTC

At least it will be exciting...fighting relegation. E4e LGUE2

I've no idea what goes on in training. All I see are a couple of hours every other week. I wanna see a disciplined and structured Dowie esque pre-match routine to get the team, and fans, in the correct frame of mind for the game. The pre-match uninspiring jog and kickabout has preceded a dour 90 mins of the same throughout the season. E4e SOHRD

Never a pen and I was in the RRE. But ref turned down an absolute stonewall handball in the 1st half. Do refs not realise we need all the help we can get to put the ball in the back of the net? E4e AMTUR

3 assists, 1 goal against Crewe. Yeah yeah cows arse and banjo but surely the same can be said for the rest of our strikers? At least he's a handful, unlike Lewis who once again put in a pathetic and uncommitted performance. Is he really behind Deano, Lewis, and Wolfy (5ft + 5ft + 4ft = long ball game) in the pecking order? And has Kieran Lee honestly looked like a player who's warranted a seat in the stand all season? Has he balls. One of the bright sparks in the first half for me. E4e FAVRT

Something else I'd question. E4e BELVU

Get rid of Gregan? What team do you actually watch? One of maybe two or three (at an absolute push) who've come out of this disastrous season with any credit. Reuben!?!? Watched him closely yesterday and what a disgrace to a contract he was. E4e CLOWN

Love him as a player, one of my all time favourites, but the sooner he's gone the better. What does he do? Dux takes a bit of a running routine pre-match which TW joins in with. Then the rest of the time he just strolls round watching a bunch of players with no purpose. Balls going astray left right and centre. Soft pass after soft pass. Players ambling through the notions. Lewis and Deano tapping it to eachother without a care in the world before trying to hit the bar. And, to top it all, Westlake cross after cross for Whitts to side foot into an empty net (but miss) from the 6 yard box. Yet at the other end you've a Southend squad who barely have a moments breather going through drill after drill, exercise after excercise. It's in their mentality to get in the zone ready for the game. No wonder we've been pedestrian like all season. Do we expect a miracle to suddenly come over the team in the space of 5 mins before kick off? Sums the club up for me. A bunch of big time primma donnas without a care in the world. And they want 1,000 more punters to pay to watch them? Love him or loathe him, most of the time Dowies teams had won before they stepped out on the pitch. All due to the effort and preparation they put in before hand. E4e STALE

Lap of honour my @rse! All the thanks I expect is effort on the pitch, that would do. But we've not had that for a long time. Bunch of losers the lot of them. Anyway don't kid yourself; they didn't give a second thought to coming back out. Fingers crossed that's the last I've seen of a lot of them. E4e DSGRC

I'm a lapsed fan. I get a flyer for £70 cash back if Latics sell 4,500 season tickets this season. Excellent! Hang on, the condition is I have to shell out £300 and buy a season ticket which I haven't done for 10 years. You're right, ta. E4e C'MON

Applaud the club for trying something different but can't help thinking they've missed a trick. £70 off if we get 4,500? We're relying on 1,000 more people than this season to come and stump up their hard earned. Forgive me but after watching the absolute dross on show this season at BP (up there with one of the worst home seasons in my lifetime) do we honestly expect more, let alone 1,000, to come and pledge their loyalty through their wallets? No. But, a similar principle, £70 off next seasons Championship season ticket if we win promotion. At least it sends a message out that we're going for it. Cos at the moment the signs are anything but positive on the PR front (who knows, inside the club it could be all rosey) and that's why I doubt we'll get 1,000 extra paying in advance. The result is twofold. Everyone's a winner cos there's money off a better level of footy and on the other side the club don't hand over cash, they secure our support for another season at a discounted rate. If we don't go up they don't pay up, regardless of how many extras they pull in. The point isn't if we go up or not (who honestly believes we will) but the only way to get more punters through the door (especially after the shambolic season we've had) is to almost 'promise' success on the pitch. Football is the only way to get them in. So behind the scenes the club carries on with whatever agenda they have (promotion, safety, mid table, cut cloth, whatever); but the signs coming from it are all geared for promotion. "This time", "Our season", "We're putting our money where our mouth is", etc etc and tug on the heart strings. Billboards of Joe then and Joe now, back for more. Redders penalty. Mishy Marshall at Ipswich. Earl the Pearl lifting the Championship. Yeah we're all left with egg on our faces if we get relegated but they tried. I just think it's better PR and a better spin rather than just relying on 1,000 lapsed fans to return off their own backs. "I don't go to BP anymore, I went for Joe's first game and we were s***e. There's a chance of me getting £70 back at the end of the season if I buy a season ticket? I think I'll stick with keeping £300 in my pocket thanks very much, no risk attached." At this moment in time, with this current offer, there's fans who will buy them, regardless. There's fans who will be 50/50 right to the wire. And there are fans who will pick and choose their games. I just can't help feeling that floating fans will not buy this as an incentive to change their ways. Droves are losing the faith so it's time for balls out. "We think we'll succeed! Back us for promotion and get rewarded if we're right." E4e FOOTY

Can't help thinking Donachie will be here with a view to becoming #1 and Joe moving upstairs. E4e DJAVU

Tricky Portugese U19 winger who can play on both flanks. Obviously no better than we already have. I tell you, I wish I was watching this amazing OAFC that others have been doing all season. I've been watching absolute dross. E4e NFAIR

First and foremost I'm not walking away. I'm a Latics fan and always will be. But now, after this season, I'm much more selective in games I'll go to from now on. Money and interest dictates. Lot of money, minimal interest. I don't miss it anymore. I rarely check the scores when I'm not there. And I've never willed an opposition team to score against us. Until this season. The players and management have let us down. Badly. And this season will cost them. We can put up with relegation dogfights. We've been at the bottom of this league having to win games to stay up. And we've done it. What the **** has happened this season to put in spineless performances, one after another. With promotion at stake! If I could have this season again I think I'd prefer to be at the bottom. Because, history tells us with Latics, we get the response from the players. We make a fight out of it. We play with passion. We tend to win the must-win games. We show spirit and grit. This season, at the top, we've shown none of it. And due to this, with every passing game goes another fan out of the gates thinking they've had enough. The players aren't blind, nor numb, they can see the dwindling numbers and they're the ones who can address it. If they wanted. The players and management have shown us nothing this season I'm afraid. It's been posted elsewhere that we'd be at the bottom if it wasn't for our start. And the lack of response from all has made the minds up of a lot of fans this season. They play when they want. We'll turn up when we want. And OK it's all about the patch of grass with goals at either end but the three sided future of the club just isn't appealing anymore. If there were shoots of potential then that would be different. But there isn't. The owners seem to be looking for a way out, who can blame them? They've backed us to the hilt, blindly at times, and for me they can do no more. So this is us, we've found our level. After significant recent investment, more than many other 'smaller' clubs who've leapfrogged us, we've accepted defeat. We've settled at the lowest level and standard the club has been at in my lifetime. And because of that it just doesn't do it for me anymore. E4e CHORE

There's nothing I'd like better than for Joe to stay and turn things around but this club is only going one way. And, playing devils advocate here, which bit of 3 points from 21 makes you so sure Joe is the perfect man for the job? E4e DWLWLDDWDLWDLLLDLLDDL

It's looked like they've known for the past 6 months! E4e GDBYE