UpTheLatics

*Covers face with hands* Completely got my maths wrong there. I was thinking 6 figures! 5 we would spend.

We will not spend a five-figure fee on a striker - it will not happen. Simple. I really don't know why you're not telling us. Beep, beep Message from my mate's mate's dad's friend - how did he get my number? - we're linked with a player who's been in the EPL for the last 7 year. He's only 28. First teamer, too. You send me a PM, Crusoe, naming specific names and I'll tell you who that bloke is. He's not lying, either!

PM me the names, merci. I've seen so many of these, it no longer gets me going.

I just don't rate him. He's a player who I'd sign if I had every other available option wiped out. He's had 11 clubs in 9-10 year, he's scored consistently for 2 sides. Southend in a lower division, Port Vale were always a poor League 1 side. Other than that he hasn't scored many. He's tall, but can't head or jump. He's lazy, has little strength, doesn't try that hard to make space etc. I look at players like him, Bas Savage, Michael Ricketts, Trevor Benjamin etc, and just think why they bother. Managers come along season after season, give them a chance, and we always see they've been released early. The three I've mentioned have seen their club dump then this season, and Constantine I think is on his way out. There's obviously an issue with their attitudes, and we saw Ricketts last season - I just think we'd see the same. I will give him something, though. He's not a greedy player. But, if signed, I can't see past him being a bench player, who will get no more than 6/7. However, if we're aiming to get out of this league, Leon, IMO, wouldn't play that major part, and he would have to be released at the end of the season because he wouldn't cut the mustard in the Championship.

I'm not gonna hazard a guess. However, who here actually wants Leon to sign for us, and why? I know I don't.

If Donny failed to win promotion, I don't think Taylor would even consider joining them. I don't see why he should. They've been spending and aiming for promotion for the past couple of seasons, and they're still with us in League 1. I love Tayls. His passion for the club, work rate and determination is something we need more of. You'll never see him stood around not fighting. Very much like Allott. Added with those attributes, he's got the pace and dribbling ability. Yes, he's not at his best on the left, but Shez has done 2 things about that. 1. He's said over and over again he's tryna bring in a left-footed midfielder, which would presumably see Chris deployed on the right. 2. He's developed Tayls so he's playing a lot more centrally when we're countering, he's forever in the box, and he's got him shooting more. How many times did we see it towards the latter end of last season, especially at home, where we saw him taking on 2/3 players, cutting in, and unleashing a powerdrive, with him nearly scoring 5/6 times? His goal against Leyton Orient shows Chris's development. On the edge of the box, far post, being more of a threat. If we get things together for a long period of time next season, I think his worth to the club will be priceless.

I love this one: Or: When Oldham Athletic go out to play, hoorah, hoorah. When Oldham Athletic go out to play, hoorah, hoorah. When Oldham Athletic go out to play, at 3 o'clock on a Saturday, 12 years down the line, we're finally coming back. Then 13, 14 etc etc. I particularly like Stitch KTF's Micah one, though.

I'm very happy with the two new lads. They may be young, yes, but both are highly-rated, so it's good that we haven't passed on the oppurtunity. In terms of defence, I don't think that's an area where we need too much experience, so having a young full-back - if that's where he's gonna be deployed - is excellent. However, Lee did seem to lean towards wanting to play in the middle of the park. Either way, he gives us options, and more importantly, real competition. As for Greg Fleming, well several clubs were after him, so it shows that more coaching staff besides Shez and Tommy rate him. At least we've got a 'keeper, possibly on the bench, who has played a full season in goal for another club, so he's got some experience. He's supposedly one of the few bright things to come outta Gretna's saddening season. Like I, and others, have said, it shows that we're not hanging around for all the lads to return from their various holiday destinations. When they do come back for pre-season training, we already know we've got at least two lads into the side. We've already got two extra players in - we may have already signed a player to replace Gaz Macca. The way Tommy was talking, it seems as though they've been looking at adding players for this season since January - again, showing that we're not allowing all the decent frees to be snatched. I have a feeling we'll have one, maybe two more signings within the week. As for those already getting their early digs in about these two lads coming in and seeing us as stepping stone, you should really give them a chance, stop tarring every young player that drops down a division or two with the same brush, and develop some form of positivity. How the hell are they gonna settle knowing that as soon as they arrive, some fans are jumping on their backs? On the Robertson front, well we didn't get enough of a look at him, obviously as he went back to SheffUtd earlier than expected. However, if we do sign a striker, I think he's bound to be relatively experienced. We've got enough youth in that department, so anyone younger than 23-ish would be a punt. I do think, though, that if we had all our current strikers fit, we have what we need. There's that strength, a bit of height, and some real pace. One injury, however, would put us in a little trouble, as with the case all this season, so a striker will more than likely be signed. Relying on the loan market is foolish, so two early signings in very encouraging, IMO.

http://www.oldhamathletic.premiumtv.co.uk/...1316919,00.html I'm starting to go rather dizzy!

Shez kept saying last season he wanted another full-back. Now for Shez to go for such a young player tells me he must rate him highly. And obviously he impressed Utd's boys. Good news. Nice and early signing. Might stop some fans moaning for a while! On a serious note, hopefully this will mean Eardley will move into the midfield role, where he certainly impressed most of us. Well done, Shez.

Well, at least we're not standing around blowing our nails. Bound to be Greg, seeing as every other source, bar our own bloody website, has said Greg's already with us etc. It'd be a lovely shock if it isn't him, though. Of course, with us signing Greg as well, but not today/tomorrow.

Good news if it's true. We're not hanging around if so.

I disliked both Wellens and Kilkenny when they were both playing for us. Their consistency, work rate and attitude never pleased me. I made my feelings clear about Wellens on the old forum - at the time when 99% of Oldham fans adored him. However, a lot of people's opinions suddenly changed when we won 4 out of our last 15 games, and people saw his lack of work rate, poor attitude, and suddenly people agreed with the minority etc. Same with Kilkenny. Now, I don't protest that both showed signs of real quality. They did, and we benefited. However, those moments, especially from Wellens, IMO, came quite rarely. Both had no loyalty to us - no, they didn't have to - but I'd certainly rather have Allott in the middle, than either of those two. Kilkenny worked harder than Wellens, but the times he lost the ball in daft areas - down at Millwall this season he was actually at fault for their first goal - showed to me that he wasn't as quick to see things. I liked Wellens on the edge of the box - I gave him all the praise he deserved for how he went about that. We missed that for the majority of last season. I recall saying this often, then JJ came in, and we had the man on the edge of the box we dearly needed. Sadly, Wellens just didn't deliver elsewhere for me. He just wouldn't get his arse in gear to get the counter going. It was interesting to see Liddell with a lot more assists than our playmaker Richard Like I say, both were very good on their day, but for the money we'd need to spend on them - which, let's be honest, isn't happening - we'd be wasting it to see 7/8 fantastic performances a year. You can say name a better option. I don't know, but we can always use the loan market for a playmaker. Now those are available.

I develop these daft soft spots many teams, mainly those who are given no chance etc. So... Pompey (liked them for years tbh), Wigan, Hull, Colchester, Plymouth, Hereford, Accy Stan, Morecambe, Rochdale, Burton Albion, Stalybridge, Grays, and Wakefield FC (not so much now, but when they were Emley AFC).

I've had to make quite a painful decision over the last couple of days. It's actually taken me ages to come to it. I can't buy a season ticket next year because of uni. I'm going to UCLAN (Preston), and doing sports psychology, which is a science, so it's quite a demanding course I've found out. Now, I've also gotta try and arrange a transfer to a nearby Tesco. I just won't have the time. I was actually gonna get one, but my Mum has made those valid points. Really annoyed, but I really hope I can get to as many games as possible.

I don't dislike, to be honest. However, since he's left us, he's been in charge of three other teams apart from QPR, which, obviously, he's just took up the post. Four teams in five year. He didn't last a very long time at both Charlton and Coventry - I just made a tongue in cheek remark about that fact.

Nah, 10 games in for me.

Indeed, it's 10990.

The boy's shot to fame. Now, one of the admin get hold on Josh's account thing, and read his PM!

Exactly. Some people seem to think they can tell him where to sit. Obviously, it's bound to be better for the whole point of the thing if he's near the singing brigade. However, I have noticed that we seem to be hanging around for Josh and his drum to start before we get making an atmosphere. I must ask, though: Josh, have you named the drum yet?

Does anyone actually know his name yet?

It doesn't surprise me. I think everyone expected everyone to rush there.

I was 3, so I sadly wasn't there. I would have loved to have experienced the celebrations though. Also the sheer nervousness. I'm sure some of you old sods were around then.

Some excellent points made there. Thinking about it, I think Corney's made a slight mistake. Look what's already happened; we're here discussing ways to get fans back. They have to do the same. I like the free coach thing.

It will change, Derek. All those fans, as I've already said, that have become bored with a continous League 1 season will come back if and when we are promoted. If someone would care to get me the average attendances at BP since 2000 or something, I'd be willing to say that even though the attendances have dropped, there'll come a time where we get stuck with the fans who just can't not go to BP every other Saturday. I think we're reaching that point about now. You hit the bottom, the only way you can ever go is up.