LaticsLegend

3 hours ago, yarddog73 said:

Didn't like Hobson on the left of a back two, Hogan no rightback, McGahey- not seeing what others are particularly pushed in to midfield with no legs around him, Green doesn't want to be a footballer, Sheron is so limited, Hope is generally below average and should have been moved on, Hudson shipping over 2 a game, Willoughby, Dickinson, Ward, Freeman, Shelton, Gardner, Tollitt, Nuttall, Couto have all disappointed and I'd be looking to move on.

 

Honestly I'd keep about half a dozen and they would be;

 

Norman

Kitching

Hobson

Raglan

Lundstrum 

Fondop

Norwood

 

Maybe Reid and Sutton.

 

That's about a third of a squad that's cost us an absolute fortune to assemble with the biggest wage bill in the division.

 

No doubt about it some awful decisions have been made since the Rothwells came in and in any other walk of life heads would have rolled.

 

Can't disagree with much of this.

Full of respect for McGahey for what he's come back from, but he's certainly not the answer to any of our problems...in midfield or defence.

Mellon seems to have him as one of his favourites, but if we're serious about doing anything in this division, players like that (alongside the likes of Hope, Green etc) shouldn't be near our first XI.

Have debated even replying on this thread and following my own advice, but I really don't understand why people interact, respond or even reference this guy.

That's what he survives on and exactly what he wants. He's a cretin. Any attention or interaction keeps him going.

I would suggest we lock this thread now and no one responds to him again.

8 minutes ago, mcfluff1985 said:

We've got people who can cross. We do need someone on the left to partner Kitching though. 

Fair enough but Kitching is the only one, and he's a left back. Unfair to rely on him doing the job of two positions every week

Get players who can actually make assists and he'll score goals. It's pretty simple.

We don't have anyone who can dictate a game from the middle, nor do we have anyone who can run at a full back or anyone who can cross a ball.

Without at least two of those, we're always going to make hard work of games.

I think he needs to dip into the loan market.

Loved yesterday and enjoy all the to and fro between the fans but some seriously embarrassing behaviour yesterday.

Some of the usual suspects, old enough to be grandfathers, who seem to be looking for trouble every time I see them at it again. Must be a pretty sad existence.

1 minute ago, Norewgian Gunnar said:

Is Shelton a RB option if Freeman is not available???

Think we need a longer term solution to this issue, hopefully Mellon recognises this and is allowed to get someone in.

Speaking of right backs, we need one to put poor Will Sutton out of his misery in that position.

He got ripped apart from start to finish yesterday.

11 hours ago, LightDN123 said:

Mentioned this earlier, hoping it doesn’t kill the pitch or it’s called off. 

They called a game off at Spotland a couple of weeks ago to a waterlogged pitch, so not sure it holds up to well to rain.

Doesn't help their groundsman is currently suspended either...

Got a feeling they'll call it off at the first opportunity. A Tuesday night game saves them a lot of hassle with fans too.

18 minutes ago, sjk2008 said:

Green was horrendous but I’m not allowed to say that on here am I?

He has around 1 good game in 8. Not a starter if we are serious about promotion.

3 minutes ago, GlossopLatic said:

 

They would back a manager like that if it brought results.

I think the point he's making is instilling a style such as his will take time to reap it's rewards and results, and that our fans have little patience.

Two possible scenarios here then. New manager is either agreed and ready to come in before Saturday therefore Thompson has left....or they haven't decided who the new man is yet but Thompson has been told he won't be getting it either way, and has seen his arse and left us managerless for Saturday.

33 minutes ago, deyres42 said:

Maybe it is Parkinson and Saturday is his farewell to Altrincham?

Can't see it. Massive conflict of interest managing your 'old' club vs your new club on your last game having already accepted the job. Wouldn't happen.

Selfishly, as a non ST holder, pleased that I managed to get one fairly easily.

Releasing ticket news the night before means some ST holders may not have even realised they were on sale, never mind managed to get online and get one.

Not limiting sales per person was worse than not giving ST holders first dibs. People posting pics buying 10 at once for their day tripper mates..

Wonder whether it was an oversight or intentional for some reason? Or whether the ticket site is even capable of doing it.

2 hours ago, yarddog73 said:

@deyres42 has a point though, our midfield needs an overhaul, it blindingly obvious that's been the problem since last season, there's lots of graft in there but next to zero craft.

 

Sheron, Shelton and Ward are three peas in a pod for me, all work extremely hard but none can pass a ball, control a game or create anything worthwhile, you can afford to play one in the same team in midfield, Green and Tollitt both have qualities but neither can give you a decent 90 minutes, Green usually fades in games as they go on and Tollitt who shows glimpses of brilliance drifts in and out of games alarmingly. Gardner who is probably our best footballer in the middle of the park (not a high bar I know) needs to be wrapped in cotton wool, Dickenson has shown potential but still doesn't seem quite there and that's about it.

 

Lundstrum will improve us, I liked the look of him pre season but we don't know how he will come back from injury, we really should of pushed for the players highlighted on here months ago Colclough and Berry, particularly Colclough who Chesterfields top scorer with five and has also chipped in with assists, he can play either flank, proven in the division and we were crying out for his type to come in.

 

New man is going to demand one or two midfielders I'll almost guarantee that and he needs to be given them if the expectation is for the football to improve. You won't compete never mind win anything if three of a four man midfield is Sheron, Shelton and Ward.

Spot on this.

Absolutely desperate for a midfield player who can receive the ball further up the pitch and/or opposition's half, get his head up and make things happen with confidence.

Without it we're always going to be limited no matter who the manager is.

42 minutes ago, Lee Sinnott said:

Wild is a complete non-starter. I'm placing complete trust in the board this time to go through a proper recruitment process. 

 

I wouldn't rule out Thompson or Mark Jackson, ex MK Don's manager...

6 months experience whilst MK went down before they binned him.

Former defender with  the bulk of his experience academy level. Not sure why we'd take that risk again.

Far better options out there with first team experience.

1 hour ago, wiseowl said:

I suspect the home game a week tomorrow (York) may well see our first sub 6,000 attendance this season (particularly if it's a bad result this weekend). FR and family know little about football. One thing we all know as Latics fans is that it takes a long time to win back those "lost" floating supporters. Crowds were undoubtedly swelled by the huge optimism generally, following the takeover. The honeymoon period has now come to an end and people are starting to vote with their feet regarding the (generally) boring mediocrity served up by typical DU teams. 

 

Something is not right because many balanced people can see that it is very largely DU's management that is hindering our progress. Remember all the giddiness on here about our odds with the bookies as 2nd favourites for promotion before the season began?. We were 10/3, just behind Chesterfield, with the next nearest club being 10/1. The bookies couldn't be wrong could they? They clearly didn't factor in the DU effect!

 

So, perhaps there is something contractual that he has until the end of this season to "prove himself" (however that may be). If so (i.e. something written into contract) then FR et al will have been naive beyond belief. Surely not? Who knows?

 

I am at a loss now with regard to what is going on but I cannot see how anyone can still support DU after his poor year at the helm. Yarddog is quite correct that home attendance will dwindle significantly if this continues and that would be so very sad all round.

It's an interesting theory about something being in the contract, given what his family told @Lee Sinnott last season about being guaranteed the job for 2 years of the three.

Personally, I can't work out whether it's the pay off, the Royle's being pals with him, the club wanting to stop hiring and firing culture, something in his contract or a combination of all of the above.

1 hour ago, aaronoafc said:

The rumour is Franks said shift a couple before signing anyone else. Apparently we’re trying to move Rooney and Hope on.
 

Them 2 alone is probably 4-5k a week in wages combined

It would be a fair request. 

If Rooney knows this, it's likely he'll be even more stubborn about his pay off and leverage the fact we need him out the door to bring someone in to a struggling midfield.

By the way, what is it with the long ball from every kick off? I've seen us win headers from no more than about 2 of them since he came in.

Incredibly annoying just handing the opposition the ball immediately. What's wrong with just getting comfortable with the ball on the ground?

With all the hysteria of yesterday, there hasn't been much comment on some of the reasons for what have been regarded as pretty poor performances both yesterday and Tuesday.

The pairing of Sheron and Shelton is probably the most devoid of creativity I have seen in an Oldham midfield.

Its a huge problem when you play the way we do. They have absolutely no ambition, creativity or ability to play in a progressive way. Every team in the division seems to find it way easier for their midfield to get their foot on the ball, play it forwards and carve an opportunity out.

Let's hope Lundstram, Ward or potential new midfielder can offer much more than the current pair, as the combination of the personnel and the manager's approach will mean we are always limited in how we control games and ultimately how much success we'll have.

The fear is the manager's approach will mean it doesn't matter who plays there anyway, but time will tell.

There are things he can control and things he can't.

I'm willing to cut a bit of slack as Dickensen and Freeman looked, understandably, absolutely knackered due to their lack of game time over the past 12 months. He also had no real choice but to play Tollitt who for me is not up to scratch and was shocking last night.

With Lundstram and Ward injured, having to play Sheron and Shelton who both have no creativity, is also far from ideal.

However, I can totally understand the frustration of the approach and tactics (both last night and since he's been here) and also the unwillingness to make subs in situations where they're blatantly needed.

I'm on the fence, but he really doesn't help himself at times.

1 hour ago, deyres42 said:

Don't forget lads, no comments allowed if you didn't attend the match.

Does it not get tiring playing the smart arse all the time?

14 minutes ago, Worcester Owl said:

Lot of absolute hysteria on a number of fronts on this board at the moment.

 

Differences of opinion expressed in a reasoned way, fine, but I think a number of people need to calm down. It's going to be a long season.

If you think it's hysteria on here, you want to see Twitter.

Seems to be confusion within some Latics fans between the current truth vs. assumptions on assumptions on assumptions.

One person's opinion, guess or rumour, and it's speculated knock on effect, can quickly become some people's version of the truth around here.

Found it really odd we didn't use more then 2 subs today given its the last chance to get minutes in legs in pre season. Should have given Hope, Tollitt and Gardner, if fit enough, a run out and also given Willoughby a bit longer.

Hobson is a decent stopper and seemed to get some good blocks in and win some 50/50s, but he doesn't like being ran at. Got done twice (I think) for their two second half goals and they nearly scored another when it happened again.

Team still looks imbalanced to me, can't really have Kitching (who I think is our best outlet at times) at wing back and Green on the other side doing the job in a different way.

Lundstram is clearly going be really important as Sheron and Shelton don't have enough creativity between them.

Thought we held Mansfield out well before the goal and created a bit ourselves. We won't be playing teams as decent as them every week in this league and I have confidence we'll have enough to beat plenty of sides in this division.

A few things to sort if we want to be a 'winning machine' though.