JoeP

Booooooo!!!!!!!!

That's not how it works. We've got battered at Southend and at home to Ebbsfleet, yet are still in the play-offs at the moment.

Happy with that half. Kept it tight. Wore York out a bit. Bring Green on to stretch them more later. Textbook game management.

Anyone would think we were 5-0 down, judging by the shite spouted on here!

Jesus. Horses for courses. Let's see how it goes...

Hudson reads the game really well. Spots the danger and knows when to come off his line..

That and every other aspect of his managerial abilities...

I didn't know much about him before he came here, so can only really judge him on what I've seen here. I'm not arsed where he was loved previously, to be honest. I'm not at the absolute end at all. I can see what benefits he brings to a winning team. But then I can see the flaws which many seem blind to. Consider me grey!

That's all correct, but - as probably one of the chief sceptics - it's not about that. I don't care if he never smiles or doesn't celebrate. What I don't like is, while he's class when the team is doing well, when the team aren't he seems to have an air of frustration about his team mates not doing exactly what he wants and doesn't seem to offer much of a solution to change things other than look pissed off. That's no good to us. That's not positive or "demanding better" in a constructive way. I just think Garner and Fondop - with the Boreham Wood game as an example - are always looking to work for the team and make things happen when the chips are down.

If the previous manager said it was raining, I'd still want to check myself...

I don't think it's a new thing - Newport away in the cup sticks in my mind. Away against a team in the division above where we we got very little, we needed our star man on form and he missed our only two, pretty straightforward chances. I'd say it not impacting us is a bit of an understatement. Fondop in particular brings a positive energy to the team and it looks like he's found someone on the same wavelength with Garner. We've also got a midfield who can hit moving strikers, rather than having someone only happy when he gets the ball in very specific areas. No need to change a winning team. Stick with it as long as it lasts.

I'll be taking a week off work after we go up and going AWOL... Winning at Wembley to mark our first promotion/trophy since 1991 and the proper start of our comeback would be massive. Huge. Fulham away x Liverpool. As you say, strange that anyone would think otherwise... On the podcast - Matt's right. Fondop and Garner play until it stops working. The fan guest gave a familiar incredulous stance on anyone who questions Norwood, but then pointed out the exact reason why some people have an issue with him! Not the not smiling/ social media thing - no one sensible gives a shit about that, but him going missing when the team don't play well. How do we know the upturn in form is because the midfield work better with the current strike force?

Possibly. Still, bit of a coincidence that the midfield start working once Norwood's not in the team..

I don't think he does. We've played better without him!

Said Green was going to be a big player for us this season when he scored the goal Southport pre-season. I don't want praise. Just buy us a pint at some point...

Meh..lost a bit of form recently.

Thought he played alright the other night, but overall hasn't been that great. Today's line-up looks alright..

Absolute legend...

I'm sure the council could've said no if they saw the potential for it to be detrimental to their own football club... Some bizarre - even pro - reactions to it on here. Maybe Noel Gallagher was right - we are all City fans!!

It depends what our ambitions are. If we're only intending to be "a lower league" football club, then yeah let them roll into Oldham and whisk the fans off to watch top class football. I'm not saying we'll ever match City in the future, or even not be a "lower league" team, but I'd be disappointed if we never had that ambition. What's the point if not? There's a bit of a contradiction in a few posts saying "winning football" is what will affect gates at Boundary Park, yet City are now offering an easier opportunity for the people of Oldham to watch "winning football" somewhere other than Boundary Park! I also don't understand the it's a "positive for the football fan" point of view. Don't care - if it's potentially detrimental to Latics I honestly couldn't give a shit how good it is for the football tourist wanting to watch a load of billionaires down the road. City are doing what they need to do for global domination - fine. We're never going to be able to do it. But I do think we should stand up to them, protect our own little enclave and say we want to preserve our Borough as best we can in case we reach a higher level in the future. If we want to be bigger and better in the future, letting your rich neighbours come into your patch and take potential future fans away I think is a bad thing.

OK, League position says differently!

Probably. We'd stay up though and would have made progress. I don't buy into the "turning round a battleship" analogy - I think everything is in place to make us better quicker, but there has to be some period of transition... If we're near the bottom of League Two this time next year, I think we should be pleased.

Reckon we'd come straight back down if we went up, then?

No, he isn't. Unsworth during his post-January "run" last season - that was a lucky manager. I've never seen so many teams miss so many chances in consecutive games during that period. It masked what an incompetent muppet he was. The football still isn't great under Mellon but, as has been stated in various places elsewhere, it doesn't matter as long as we're winning. In fact in doesn't matter as long as we get into the play-offs. In addition to that, on top of winning football, we aren't giving the opposition loads of chances that could cost us the game. Yes we're overrun in midfield still and we're out of possession for long periods, but we defend well, give them little and ride out the storm. Mellon also recognises when things aren't working and changes it for the better. That last night resulted in - in my opinion - an eventual deserved win. The guy knows what he's doing. Worry about free-flowing football in the football league. He needs to do whatever he can to get us up now. Doesn't matter how he does it, but he's definitely got what it takes.

Page 301...