martjs

Thanks for clarifying that but my attempt will be much more upbeat and positive! Question for old-timers or statto geeks: When WAS the last time we were in the same league as Dale?

I noticed the bank I use (HSBC) is offering 12 months interest-free on credit card purchases for new card holders: http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/credit-cards FYI, I am not promoting them, do not work for them and I'll get no coin if anyone takes them up on the offer!

No offence Rocky but if Dale get promoted I'll be penning a 5,000 word essay using my "Corporal Jones" pen titled "The Rise and Decline of Oldham Athletic"... Do Dale fans call us arrogant Biffos?

"Why can ST's be bought online with a credit card yet not at the ticket office in person?" I thought Lags said they could * but it has to be online. * Just checked OS and STs can be bought online at: https://eticketing.co.uk/oafc/default.aspx

I thought this thread was about Rochdale! Won 3-0, almost guaranteed play-offs.. Anyone know the attendance? Are they getting more than us now?

Does "SORB" in your signature mean "Sheridan Out. Ritchie Back" by any chance? (Apologies if this is a titanic moment.)

No cos that would apply to most fans... "Get off Eardley yer " "Penalty ref!!" etc. etc

And where is the "Distance-challenged* exiled fan who can't get there" option in the poll? * Minimum distance open to debate

I won't be there either. Walsall was my last home game and that was shocking (although Leeds away more than made up for it) I feel better having got that off my chest...

Also, if you select Goals Scored we were 3rd in the table... But if you select Goals Conceded we were 2nd... Now that's what I call value for money!

Looks like Big Joe's half-time chats didn't do us much good then!!! Or was it the players' fitness levels? Sounds like Shezza is not that bad after all in comparison... I don't remember doing the conga with a pie but I remember throwing a pie away at Wimbledon after we got back to 3-2 and Gerrard let (another) soft goal in.... Does anyone know who the Latics fan was that tried to get on the pitch that day to (allegedly) have a go at our dodgy-kneed young goalie? We were right at the front near the incident. He almost slipped in my pie

Perhaps as an altruistic gesture he would like to help us get promotion out of this league? But I'm not saying he could do this on his own as some have.

It was still painful for me to "give" them the title - how bitter am I? I'm amazed they won it by 10 points so I had to check Soccerbase (no offense LL!) What's more amazing to me is Arsenal, mid-table and nothing to play for beat Palace 3-0 on the last day... Look at how the fortunes have changed for the teams above Arsenal and Chelsea since this league table. And even the ones below. ("MK Dons", WTF???) What are the odds on some of these teams (including ourselves) ever getting back in the "Prem"? P HW HD HL HGF HGA AW AD AL AGF AGA Points GD Man Utd 42 14 5 2 39 14 10 7 4 28 17 84 +36 Aston Villa 42 13 5 3 36 16 8 6 7 21 24 74 +17 Norwich 42 13 6 2 31 19 8 3 10 30 46 72 -4 Blackburn 42 13 4 4 38 18 7 7 7 30 28 71 +22 QPR 42 11 5 5 41 32 6 7 8 22 23 63 +8 Liverpool 42 13 4 4 41 18 3 7 11 21 37 59 +7 Sheff Wed 42 9 8 4 34 26 6 6 9 21 25 59 +4 Tottenham 42 11 5 5 40 25 5 6 10 20 41 59 -6 Man City 42 7 8 6 30 25 8 4 9 26 26 57 +5 Arsenal 42 8 6 7 25 20 7 5 9 15 18 56 +2 Chelsea 42 9 7 5 29 22 5 7 9 22 32 56 -3 MK Dons 42 9 4 8 32 23 5 8 8 24 32 54 +1 Everton 42 7 6 8 26 27 8 2 11 27 28 53 -2 Sheff Utd 42 10 6 5 33 19 4 4 13 21 34 52 +1 Coventry 42 7 4 10 29 28 6 9 6 23 29 52 -5 Ipswich 42 8 9 4 29 22 4 7 10 21 33 52 -5 Leeds 42 12 8 1 40 17 0 7 14 17 45 51 -5 Southampton 42 10 6 5 30 21 3 5 13 24 40 50 -7 Oldham 42 10 6 5 43 30 3 4 14 20 44 49 -11 C Palace 42 6 9 6 27 25 5 7 9 21 36 49 -13 Middlesbro 42 8 5 8 33 27 3 6 12 21 48 44 -21 Nottm Forest 42 6 4 11 17 25 4 6 11 24 37 40 -21

I'm not sure cos it the web site seems to cater for United fans - "Manu expeditions" etc...

What are the odds on the first "Get off Scholes, you're " coming from the Main Stand?

"Blackpool, Blackpool, bloody Blackpool" paraphrasing from the drama "A Very British Coup" If the introduction of the play-offs in the late '80s gave hope to the top half of the table, Blackpool's meteoric success last season gave hope to the rest of the table... Neither an optimist nor a pessimist but a realist.

Cheers, I will try!

My 4 words response: You really believe that?

Well it depends how you look at it Exile: Some people (doom and gloomers) would argue that it is only accurate for one second of the two times a day and that's hardly worth acknowledgement whereas others (happy clappers) would say it is accurate for the full minute twice a day but that's because they have their 'rose-tinted' glasses on etc, etc. ad infin.....

Speaking as a mathematician (cough), there does seem to be a season-to-season correlation between performance and attendance: the attendance increases from the previous season if the final league position is higher and decreases if the final league position is lower EXCEPT for 2005/6. As that does not follow the trend, I would ignore it I wish I could draw a graph... But in general, and I've said this before, fairweather Latics fans turn up for the "magic of the Cup" rather than high league positions. I wonder if this is something to do with instant gratification... As the Hudders cup match attendance showed, it is less to do with the "quality" of the opposition than previously thought. Hope this helps!

Tried texting from overseas but unable to send. I'll try again. Hope you win.

PMSL! Good one

That's what I was thinking. We're probably playing them at the wrong time! Although this "theory" was proved wrong at Port Vale..

Yes, it was something like that. A very good analogy. Two things spring to mind about Sharp: I thought his appointment was purely for financial reasons. (He was on a highly paid contract from his mate Joe...) I think he was/is hated because he got rid of Ritchie.

"Pres John Sheridan"? Ah, that's why he's leaving: he's taking the position of US President... Mind you, any fecker is better than Dubya.