EASTLEY

Done

I suspect Montano like Simpson and maybe others have turned out when not fully fit, perhaps due to PDs reluctance to start fringe players.

This is true, a thigh injury for a while before his more serious injury

When you see a team win at Everton with Mark Allott on the left wing, you have to accept that anything is possible in football........

I like Allott a lot but to this post Paddy I say just like in the bible "and so it came to pass and God's(Joe Royle ;)favourite team did win in Nottingham

Cool - will probably meet you there if that is ok?

Did you get your phone back? I've texted you on the only number I have

Yes, meeting Will at the horrible Liverpool Street Moon about 12

Cool - will probably meet you there if that is ok?

And what a draw!

last minute equaliser against 9 men?

Are you going to colchester - is it easy to get to from Waterloo(Wimbledon?)

He does - he is just disregarding history and trying to rewrite what happened.

But we all know that the way MK Dons came into existence shouldnt have been allowed to happen - it is probably the blackest mark on the professional game in the last 80 years.

Being slightly controversial(and you have to know I really dislike them and how they have got to where they are)they are well run, and they do have a progressive infrastructure allowing them to keep rasing capital.

I just wish they had done it the proper way winning promotions rather than taking someone else's bond. They will never loose that tag

Thats dedication thats even further than I come, you go every week mate?

Yes (mostly) a season ticket holder still ;)

Massive disaster I have done a 3 hour drive to watch this game

I have that in the morning ;) see you there

Again this looks like a step towards the European league which they can do.

What it may do though is reduce the power of the premier league and therefore the average earnings of the players in it, hopefully in turn deflating wages further down the pyramid.

It depends whether interest can be kept in the product and the product down through the championship and leagues - in my view it could go one of two ways, either everybody will just watch the European league on the tv and attendences/tv money will drop in the domestic game creating massive issues for domestic football especially league 1 and 2 which may disappear, regionalise and or go part time.

Alternatively people may watch the European Super league on the tv but decide they have more affinity with local(ish)clubs and still want to go to the live spectacle(which hopefully in the European league is prohibitively expensive to attend)and will filter back towards championship/lower league clubs.

As the tv money will be much lower for many more clubs(as the european league will be where all the investment will be)players will not be offered ridiculous salaries by as many clubs(as there will be less getting the silly amounts of tv revenue)so teams like Oldham will be more likely and able to compete to sign average players.

Hope that makes sense

I fear the result maybe the former though

Hope John Keeley is a better coach than he was a keeper for us or else Cisak will soon be throwing them in ;)

so true.....

I donb't disagree with this at all, though I think the Bosman helped hurt clubs like ourselves and Stockport and only benefited some of the average players and to league clubs who managed to save on transfer fees and then have blown the savings on wages inflating them through the leagues. A double whammy so to speak.

This was compounded even further last year when the premier league threatened to turn off funding from the lower league clubs if they didnt reduce the compensation required for allowing young players registrations to move. It just fuels my dislike of the governing bodies and self -effacing clubs when I see things like that. One day it will all implode though as the TV rights monies go to the clubs and the top 6 will run off to Europe and they will be broadcast 24*7 leaving the rest of us to get back to maybe not the best qulaity but more competitive football ;)(Maybe thats a pipe dream)

No need to apologise I think you've made some very valid points their. While I would happily love to see us grace the PL again its not something that would stop me supporting us in our current state.

 

With regards to the money men I think its less the likes of David Dein and more the players who have prospered most from the PL and the agents who make ridiculous amounts of money for very little work making 6 figures for a few hours work and putting nothing back into Football as a sport.

 

The sugar daddies and their play things is quite a sad state of affairs as well Abramovich is far too powerful and is becoming a Darth Vader character (You have failed me for the last time) Could you imagine him turning up to a fans forum to answer questions on the managerial sackings that his club go through and the increasingly questionable ethics of Chelsea Football club. Probably the worst case here is Portsmouth a few guys came in had a bit of a ride and dumped the club and left them in ruins. People have said on this board that they would like to see Portsmouth go bust as it would be a lesson to the rest of football. Really? The only people who would get punished if Portsmouth went under are the fans who have suffered enough in the last 4-5 years the people who caused the damage have long gone and have got off Scot free they don't give a crap if Pompey go under or not and if they went bust it wouldn't stop people coming in and doing the same thing. In this respect I think those who run football clubs need to be held a lot more accountable.

 

With regards to the physical aspect this has seemed to go out the game that’s because every tackle that causes a bad injury in particularly leg or ankle breaks the whole thing is somewhat graphically played out through the media and some player become vilified for this. Felt abit sorry for Ryan Shawcross a few years ago taking out Aaron Ramsey he clearly went for the ball and caused a nasty injury it was horrific but Shawcross himself clearly went for the ball. The way Arsene Wenger wines on against the northern more physical sides is particularly pathetic and seems to be an attempt to make football too sanitised and even expecting everyone should play the exact same way. Part of the fun about football is that every team you face offers a different challenge.

 

Still its an interesting debate and if you went back 30 years I bet people would be levelling the same accusations at the sides at the top of football too commercial, too much of a business, players paid too much.

Your last point is very accurate - I remember Alan Hardy being vilified back in 1990 as he was pandering to the new fans rather than than the 5-6k hardcore. I agree with your comments about the agents though I think the Bosman ruling has contributed to this with the agents and premier league clubs taking advantage of the shift in power to players and agents. I do agree with your views around why tackling has been moved out of the game as well and Arsenal with their total football have long campaigned against the physical side(especially after the injuries at Birmingham and Stoke).

It'll be interesting to see where football moves on but I for one still have an affinity with latics and lower league football(probably because its nearer the level I ever managed to play than the very different game played in the prem)and as I said earlier enjoy more of the blood n thunder - seeing Andy Holden win tackles and even contests with Milligan and Henry against McNab et al still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up ;) Was all good and still is mostly when you think about it. As for KTF that for me is about the club surviving the tough times and giving us those glimpses which make it our special club, we need an Everton moment or an Arsenal 3-1 game to put the smiles back on our faces ;)

So you wouldn't join in the promotion party of we got there?

 

Football at this level maybe truer your right, the demise in value of the FA Cup is somewhat sad, as is the value of now playing for England I agree wholeheartedly with you.

 

However this still does not stop me wanting to be a part of it if we can, that’s what keeps me going and I would imagine a fair few others the hope that we can again one day reach the summit of the game no matter how distant that dream maybe at the moment there is always hope, alright we won't see the likes of a Messi in an Oldham shirt or the Champions league or Premiership trophy paraded at the civic centre but we can still have some kind of success.

 

That’s the point of our Motto Keep the faith because one day it will be rewarded.

Of course I would join in the promotion party if we got there, it would be an amazing achievement by the club.

Would I enjoy the games as much, whilst watching a team like Barca is a privilege(?)I am someone who enjoys the physical, blood n thunder football as well and am frustrated by the loss of the physical aspect of the game. Diving to get someone sent off or booked on the slightest contact to me is akin to spitting. Its gamesmanship and cheating of the lowest order. Saying that it would be great to see some of the skills on offer live, but its about balance to me around tackling(which in itself was a skill)and moving the ball around in weird and wonderful ways.

My comment around the greedy league is more about it being created to line the pockets of a few eg David Dein whilst pretending to be in it for the good of the game which history shows they were not. I also find it a sad state of affairs that the clubs have become play things for the biggest sugar daddies who have no real attachment to the club, fans or even the UK. I think for me as we move up the ladder then the club would itself become more distanced from people like myself who at the moment can actually feel that they know the club and some of the personalities that make it tick. This for me is sad as we may become another corporate entity that people dont have any real attachment to.

Many of the core maybe priced out of Oldham, lots of kids would wear the shirts but never get to go. If you look at many(not Wigan, Southampton, Fulham) premier league clubs the "fans" are middle aged men who watch the game, Dads and sons arent really there anymore(I believe the average age of fans has increased markedly)as they can't afford it anymore and then again is a sad consequence of the premier league, and why I wish we had a model more like Germany in that respect who seem to have what we miss in most areas - balance.

Just my thoughts and apologies for the length of the response, maybe I'm just a luddite who has never got to terms with the newer game we have.

Westley for me basically because he showed a complete lack of morals in shafting Farnborough.

Complete self-centred tool

My delusional fellow supporters are possibly alienating me even more than our piss poor excuse for a football team and their manager.

As frankly are people who seem to be going to the game with the sole intention of moaning. It's league 1 with league 1 football and footballers. In a 3 sided ground that has a poor atmosphere(not helped by the fact that there are only 3 sides and the ground is not in the best of states).

I know what to expect when I go into BP to watch standard league 1 football, and I can see when its not good or great or is poor, however then to hear "Poor me" people whingeing about it relentlessly just kills any semblance of enjoyment. I go to watch a game of live football where the game is truer to its roots than at other levels and it can be enjoyable. Refereeing is poor, the players/managers arent the best,thats why its league 1.

However If people went with a smile on their face and accepted the realities of league 1 football then BP itself may have a lighter atmosphere and few more smiling faces and who knows maybe the footballers would play better feeling less constrained if they are less likely to be pillored/made a boo boy etc if they make a mistake

It's not that much different from where I'm sitting!

I know you say that but to be fair Penney's season was one where we failed to score 3 goals in any game and were content to hang on to a 1-nil defeat.

I understand the frustrations with the football but there have been a few more brighter games with Dickov. We have scored 3 or more 7 or 8 times in the last couple seasons and have actually come from behind to win or take points. Its very different than Penny in that respect though not great I'll grant you ;)

The premier league itself might not be all its cracked up to be but if we were to get there that would be 2 promotions it would be a great journey getting there and if we did go there

 

If its on offer i'd take it why the hell not so what if its only for a couple of season so what just sit back and enjoy the ride. Its starting to pish me off when lower league fans call it the greedy league makes sound bitter and pathetic. What do we want to be league 1 football forever playing in a 3 sided dump.

It's the greedy IMO because it was set up by self-serving people under the pretence of improving the England team. However due to internal mis-management and the granting of board positions to people on the board of the premier league to the FA, the FA has been compromised and is now the poor relation hence the standing of the FA Cup compared to the positioning it used to have. Ref the football I believe our division is truer to the game that I enjoyed growing up with and that is played by many than that of the premier league where gamesmanship and diving tend to be more common(it saddens me that we do see this in our league as well)and that tackling and the physical side of the game are becoming less and less common.

The game with players who could tackle and take a tackle as well as show skills on the ball doesnt exist in our top division anymore but you still get glimpses of it the lower down the pyramid you go(in the pro game). That's why I prefer the football that I watch rather than Premier league which reminds all to often of sanitised exhibition games.

This, this and only this.

 

Up to Dickov.

 

Also these (insert any name here) OUT rants are really starting to grate on me!

Agree this +1

Pretty much sums it up for me. I've not seen us at home yet this season and I can't help but feel that a lot of people were carrying a hangover from poor games they've sat through before. If that was as bad as it gets I must have imagined a lot of bloody bad performances in the past. Simpson was poorly used - I guess Dickov didn't want to concede to the tendency to hoof by putting Smith on instead - we were frustrated by a team defending in numbers and with big units, on another day we would have won that game.

I'd go with this, this was a game we have got something from and fine margins mean't we didn't but this wasn't overall an awful performance, we had chances we didn't take them. They also had a couple of other chances but it was a pretty even game. We'll play worse and win/draw

I think the players are regarded more as a saleable asset than an employee, therefore the players will be seen as an asset on the balance sheet

My point was you travel away to support your team, not moan! It's a complete waste of time and money.

 

Although I never mentioned booing, you raise an interesting point about booing being inappropriate. In my opinion there are many things putting people off attending Rosa, including the stadium, the lack of atmosphere, the monotony of league 1 football, the price, and negative tactics (All of which I would consider to be a problem). Now a good few people now believe that there are sufficient problems at latics to consider wanting a change. I personally am of the belief that we are not at this stage yet, but unless we win games quickly and more importantly start playing decent attacking football, we could be soon. In the last few days we have seen the following people's abilities to assist in the running of the football club questioned on here

 

Bill Quarmby

Jenny Warby

Paul Dickov

Gerry Taggert

Simon Corney

Paul Bulter

Neil Joy

Numerous players

Oldham Council

 

If you think booing is a bad idea, then how (when and if the time comes) would you suggest fans sets about creating change? A strongly worded letter to the chron? A nasty tweet finished with #oafc? Setting fire to the executive boxes?

Nope I would also suggest that the great majority of posters have no clue what the people here listed actually do on a day to day basis and , and are therefore not qualified to know if for the investment available in them gives a good return. Therefore the tittle tattle on here is of little merit.

Until you actually have an informed view based on fact rather than conjecture I suggest we may as well support the team and management. Actually if there is a good atmosphere on match day the players may respond and enjoy playing in front of "supporters" and raise their game. This may help improve results, bring some stayaways/floating fans back who may in turn enjoy the experience and keep coming back. This will boost the coffers and we may at worse become a saleable item and you get your wish for change.

Just a thought

It was a blatant lie, Rob.

 

Stevenage away, Rochdale away, Brentford away, Bury away, MK Dons away and no doubt on Saturday when Izale McLeod doubles the home sides advantage.

It wasn't mean't to be a blatant lie, though am sure you did maybe though it was a little a bit of fun at that time

Are you going sat though?

I never sing We want Dickov out. I vent my frustration at him and then come on here and twitter and tell the world how much I hate the football he is serving up.

Stevenage away last year - ;) sorry mate

7 - season ticket holder, live in Surrey but miss most night home games

Will do some Southern away games but not all

The journey home has been painful this year(though after Saturday I drove to Scotland, still painful though and not as a direct result of the game!)