ste1987

This week's "Interview with an Opposition Fan" is ahead of the Huddersfield Town fixture is now available by clicking here.

Interview with an Opposition Fan #15 - Huddersfield Town Welcome to this week’s edition of Interview with an Opposition Fan. Each week, myself and Razza699 scour for opposition fans to answer the questions we put toward them in the build up to the subsequent fixture. On Sunday, Latics host Huddersfield town, in what has been a highly anticipated game for fans and our ex-Huddersfield players. Ahead of the fixture, I found some friendly Town fans to answer a selection of our questions. 1) Last season, Lee Clark was appointed Huddersfield manager. What are your opinions of him and what is his general style of play? - I personally like the guy; he says all the right things and has a good backroom team behind him. Like all new managers he makes mistakes (Bristol away being one, defensive formation after scoring 7 v Brighton??) but as long as he learns from them then he has the making of a good manager. He wants us to play free-flowing passing football which is good; at times we can overdo the passing. We have the balance right at home but need to stick to our game plan away. - He has done well for the club and has brought attacking football to the club, not to mention half a dozen coaches! - Lee Clark is a highly ambitious driven manager. He has assembled a very exciting youthful attacking team (at some cost!). He is still learning and does make the odd tactical blooper but I am sure he will succeed. Our style of play is very Keeganesque! - Opposite to Ritchie, attacking and we LOVE him! - Seems A genuinely decent bloke, gets his tactics spot on most of the time, Think he could be a very successful manger in the future. 2) Have you made any signings to your squad this season so far? If so, how have they been? - Peter Clarke and Jordan Rhodes have been superb. One of them two will get player of the year I’m sure. As has Lee Peltier, filling the troublesome right back position vacated by Andy Holdsworth. Theo Robinson started well but has struggled of late; he is lightning quick but needs to improve his ball control. Antony Kay is a bit hit and miss so far, seems a bit lightweight as we were expecting a tough tackling midfielder but he has weighed in with goals. We have Danny Drinkwater on loan from Man U but he has been a disappointment. - Jordan Rhodes from Ipswich (top goal scorer) Theo Robinson from Watford, Robbie Simpson from Coventry Lee Novak from Gateshead Anthony Kay from Tranmere Lee Peltier from Yeovil and Peter Clark from Southend Great signings from Clark only slightly disappointed with Simpson but he has had his injures. - Peter Clarke CB from Southend. Excellent looks a good combo with Nathan Clarke. Our captain; Antony Kay CM free from Tranmere. Not been at his best as yet but is beginning to settle. Part of the problem has been finding a suitable defensive minded partner for him; Lee Peltier RB from Yeovil. Classy right back who is fast courageous and strong; Theo Robinson - ST from Watford. Fast, decent finisher but blows hot and cold. One game he'll be unplayable, another he'll be unplayable in a different sense; Robbie Simpson - ST from Coventry - Struggled to make an impact but will be very useful back up. Add some presence upfront; Jordan Rhodes - ST from Ipswich - 12 goals already. A true goal poacher, still can't believe Ipswich sold him. Will go far in the game; Lee Novak - ST from Gateshead. Crowd favourite. Work rate of a Tevez, young hungry and improving all the time. A perfect foil for Rhodes; Danny Drinkwater CM on loan from Man.Utd. Some glimpses of talent so far, but yet to cement a first team place. - Well we have had to seen as you have half our squad from last season! But Watch out for Jordan Rhodes he will tear you apart. - Jordan Rhodes, Peter Clarke & Lee Peltier seem to be the best amongst the signings we made, Rhodes a proper striker & knows where the goal is, Clarke & Peltier quality at the back. Let’s not forget Novak, not as experienced but works his socks off for the team, certainly one of my favourites already. 3) Last season, you finished 9th in League One. How do you think you will do in League One this season? - Playoffs is our aim, anything higher would be a bonus. 7th or below would be a disappointment. - We had a good start to the season and then hit a bit of a blip. Hopefully a play off place, if not sneak automatic. - Play offs look very realistic, automatic could be just out of our grasp. - 4th. - Hoping for at least a play-off spot this season after all the pre-season hype. 4) Are there any teams in particular you are looking forward to playing? - As always for Town its Leeds but for me living in Oldham then it is the Latics of course. - Not really, everyone says the Leeds game but it just another game that we want to win. - Leeds, apart from being a local derby we get to see how good we really are. Exeter away where hopefully we'll be celebrating automatic! - You, Leeds, Norwich, Charlton again. - Looking forward to seeing Charlton & Norwich at the Galpharm, 2 Good sides dropping down from above, should be good games. 5) What tactics are you likely to employ and have played with this season? - Who knows. Lee Clark hasn’t got it right away from home yet although he does have a settled side at the moment. Likely to be 442 with Pilkington and Roberts playing as wingers, but switching sides. We have tried 451 and 541 and didn’t really work. - ATTACK! We are the top scoring team in the country at the time of this been published! - 442 with an attack minded midfield. Sometimes too attack minded! We desperately miss a holding midfielder at times. - 4-4-2. - 4-4-2 & Attacking. 6) Huddersfield have earned 21 points so far this season, finding themselves in 7th place. What are Huddersfield’s strengths and weakness both on and off the pitch? - We have a young hungry team that is a lot fitter than last season. We at times look like scoring for fun. The weakness is in defence though, we seem to be making a lot of mistakes leading to goals. Free headers at Charlton stopped us grabbing something there. Off the field we are at the beginning of a new Era under Dean Hoyle, owner of Card Factory and big HTFC fan. There is a buzz around the place and huge expectation, although that expectation can lead to fans moaning when wins aren’t coming, we need to give the new management team time. - We have a great chairman in Dean Hoyle and he will back the manager all the way. - Strength - Attack, great coaching setup, great squad depth, ability to destroy teams. Superb chairman! Weakness - Stupid defensive mistakes at the back, inconsistency and very poor away record. - Although we have 2 quality defenders in P.Clarke & Peltier & a quality Keeper in Smithies, we still seem to be conceding too many ‘simple’ goals from Set Pieces. Our scoring record speaks for itself having scored 28 goals already this season. Our back room staff is extremely strong off the pitch with the likes of McDermott, Black, Fazackerley & Cole. 7) Who is Huddersfield’s key player who we should look out for ahead of Sunday’s fixture and for the rest of the season? - Jordan Rhodes without a doubt. 12 goals already and looking a bargain buy from Ipswich. Keep an eye out for Gary Roberts as well, had a stormer last week and on his day can torment the opposition full backs on either side. - Jordan Rhodes. - Key Player - Jordan Rhodes. The goalscorer we desperately missed last season. Ones to watch - Pilkington - when on form a class above. Smithies one of the best young English keepers around. - Rhodes, Smithies, we’ve got a full team of key players at the minute. - Rhodes – Quality Striker & knows where the goal is. 8) Who do you think will win League One this season? Any outsiders or surprises? - Unfortunately I would have to say Leeds United. - Colchester have surprised a lot of people this season with their start, but I think Charlton will probably win the league. - Leeds. No surprises this year. - Charlton. - Charlton, Leeds & Norwich are all good bets for the top spot, anyone currently in the top 9 I think could be competing for 2nd & play-offs. 9) How do you think Oldham will do this season? - Just miss out on playoffs. Think there are too many good teams in this league for you to finish in the top 6. - Mid table or just outside the playoffs. - 7th to 14th. Think lack of squad depth will put pay to any promotion chances. - Just miss out on play offs. - Good contender for a play-off spot. 10) And finally, what score do you think the game will be on Sunday? - Heart says Town win but I think it will be a 2-2 draw. - Our away form has been a bit iffy at the moment but we are taking a big following with us so I hope we can snatch a 2-0 win. - I can honestly see us running away with it if we score an early goal, but can see it being a close battle if we make simple errors, so either 3-0 or 1-1. - Oldham 1-3 Town. - Our away form isn’t great but with Oldham being very close I think we could sneak a 2-1 win. Many thanks to those Huddersfield fans who took part this week. It seems the Hudders fans are unanimous that Jordan Rhodes is their key player for the Latics defence to watch. But can Latics follow on from their three points gained last week in Brighton?...

:lol:

We only sit around their on occasions. Our reserved seats are in Upper, but we are sat near a bunch of moaning who criticise even when we're doing well. Had to move! Albeit the steward around the paddock area there cracks me up. Spends half the game shouting at the players. Excellent!

I'd have thought it was nearer the Chaddy End I've sat around the 30s seat number unreserved in paddock and that was Rocky side nearish to tunnel. I guess therefore it will be pretty much bang in the middle on the Chaddy End side. Awaits wedgie...

:lol:

Considering there was no other delay's in the chat-room Bob and no-one else experienced this, I don't think the problem is at this end.

Apologies for the late post up. This week's "Interview with an Opposition Fan" can now be seen online by clicking here.

Interview with an Opposition Fan #14 - Brighton Welcome to this week’s edition of Interview with an Opposition Fan. Each week, myself and Razza699 scour for opposition fans to answer the questions we put toward them in the build up to the subsequent fixture. This week, Latics make the long trip to the south coast to face Brighton. As usual, we found some Brighton fans to answer a selection of our questions... 1) So this is Russell Slades first season, were you happy with his appointment and what is the fans opinion of him so far? - Yes. He's a nice guy but the jury is out on his ability to achieve 'the project' getting us to The Championship by the 2011/12 season. - Delighted with what he managed to achieve last season and pleased he got appointed. This season has started slowly, but starting to look (slightly) on the up. He seems to have got us playing good, passing football. Something that's been missing from Withdean for quite awhile. - He seems a nice guy, which maybe the problem. After rescuing us last year, the results this year have not shown us any change in our fortunes - Delighted with his appointment, has a proven track record in the lower leagues and saved us from the drop in great style at the end of last season. Slightly disappointing start to this season but the majority of Albion fans are right behind him still. - Pleased with his appointment after saving us from almost certain relegation last season, but confidence in his ability is fading after a poor start. 2) How was your transfer activity in the window? Did you sign many players? If so how have they been? Also you signed Craig Davies from Oldham and have since loaned him out to Yeovil. How come? - We signed a few, for me Elliott Bennett seems to have been the best capture. Craig Davies? Very low on confidence/ability to score at the present time - Had a big clear out, and signed some promising names, in promising positions. Stand out players have been Elliott Bennett and Gary Dicker. Would like to see more of Graeme Smith. A goal keeper who spent last year at Motherwell. Craig Davies career at Brighton has yet to really begin. Low on confidence after being taunted by our fans, in an already terrible season. Felt it was a good idea to loan him out, but his performances for Yeovil don't sound great. - We signed a few players who are still to look the part. Craig Davis needs confidence and he is not getting it playing here at the moment. - Davies is a great player on his day but lacks confidence, he needs a run of games and a few goals and hopefully Yeovil can provide that for him and he can return a more confident player. We signed a few in the transfer window and we are still letting them bed in to our style of play but have high hopes, particularly of Elliott Bennett and James Tunicliffe. - We have signed a ridiculous number of players after releasing about 15 pre-season. In fact about 10 of our squad of 18 at Tranmere are new signings. Craig 'Barndoor' Davies has been loaned out to try and score, something he hasn’t done for the first team since his debut in February! 3) After finishing 16th last season what realistically are your hopes this year? - Just outside the playoffs, if not inside them! - Personally, I'd be happy with a top half finish this season. Playoffs next season. - Realistically, avoid relegation. - An improvement on last season, our younger players to come on and hopefully in a position this time next season to challenge the top sides in this division for our move to our new home at Falmer. - With our budget, I would have hoped for a play-off spot but now I would be content with a top half finish. 4) Are there any teams in particular you are looking forward to playing or not playing (or have played)? - Leeds, Southampton. - Southampton. - Huddersfield Town and Southampton. - We are all looking forward to our games against the big ex-Premier League clubs of Charlton, Norwich and Southampton who grace our division. - Looking forward to Southampton and Charlton. 5) What has been your general style of play/tactics this year? Is this likely to change for the trip of Oldham? - Seem to be playing more football this year, although we still have hoofball central defenders. - Playing a lot more passing football as mentioned above. Still moments of long ball passing, but a lot less than last season. Can't imagine our tactics will change much for the trip to Oldham. Nicky Forster should hopefully be coming back into the team after missing our last match with an injury. - Tactics....mmmmmm I remember them. Not sure that they work though. - Slade likes us to play attractive football which is easy on the eye, I expect we will play like this on Saturday, particularly after demolishing Gillingham impressively in our last home game. - There's no one style of play this season, but our wingers seem to be seeing a lot more of the ball than I remember last season. 6) You currently lie 19th after the defeat to Tranmere on Saturday their first win for a while, was it a fair result? - Didn't go, but the general consensus was, yes, it was a fair result on the day. - Yes, but could have snatched a draw if Glenn Murray didn't get stupidly sent off for two handballs. - From those who were there, we were crap! - No, we bossed the majority of the game and were at least worth a point, however sloppy defending, poor finishing and some incorrect refereeing decisions conspired against us. - I was there and honestly thought we did enough to get a point. We wasted some good opportunities against a poor Tranmere side. 7) Who are Brighton's key player/players? Who should the Oldham fans keep an eye out for on Saturday? - Nicky Forster, Elliott Bennett. - Nicky Forster and Elliott Bennett. Keep an eye on Dickinson if he starts. I have a feeling this lad will come good sooner rather than later. - Well, Bennett is our one player who can turn a game, so him really. - Elliott Bennett is a flying winger with an eye for goal. Liam Dickinson has a great shot on him and on his day can be as good as any striker in the division. - With Forster 50/50 to start, our Right winger Elliott Bennett has to be the man to watch. Lightning quick with a great right foot. 8) Who do you think will win League One this season? Any outsiders or surprises? - It looks like Leeds if they hold their nerve! - Leeds. Unfortunately, I fancy an outside bet of Southampton for the play offs. - Huddersfield Town...best team in the division by a country mile...in fact they ought to give the title to Town now and save the embarrassment of the L***s fans when Town thrash them twice again! - Colchester don't play particularly entertaining football but they are extremely efficient and effective, they are my dark horses. Leeds and Norwich look to me the strongest sides currently. - I think Charlton will win it this year, however I won't be surprised if Norwich are knocking on the door come the end of the season. 9) How do you think Oldham will do this season? - Mid Table. - 10th - 12th. - Well it depends ....if you win games, you will do well, if you lose games you will be relegated. - Top half. - Comfortable mid-table finish. 10) And finally, what score do you think the game will be on Saturday? - Saturday!! 1-1. - 2-0 Albion. - 1-2 Oldham. - 3-0 to the good guys. - 2-0 Brighton (Dickinson with both goals). Many thanks to those Brighton fans who took part this week. It seems Nicky Forster and Elliott Bennett should be the ones to watch for Latics fans this week. Can Latics travel back north with 3 points and bounce back from last week's disappointing defeat against Southampton?...

His interview in The Sun last week was rather funny how he was explaining moving to Oldham was "the biggest f**k up of his career" and he should have joined Doncaster instead.

To be honest, I think the TTA are in a lose-lose situation either way. If they declare, they get the hopes and potentially backs up of local residents which implicates the planning process. If they keep close to their chest, they will just be slated for not being open with the fans.

I am the same regarding this. I work on Saturday mornings (So I can make the game), and up until 2pm on Sunday, meaning I'm rather gutted I will have to miss the Huddersfield game.

I'd like to see some of the Hungarians be used alot more in the team now we are down to our bare backsides with injuries. If they are as good as they are sounded out to be (especially the striker, Tischler?) then why not

Looked in significant discomfort. Seemed to brace his left leg rather quick from the shin down to his ankle. Definitely will be out for a while! One of the stewards who carried him off with the rest when he came back said it did look a serious one, and there was some blood around the knee area.

What has he done to warrant abuse?

Latics 3 - 2 Southampton Furman Att: 5287

This week's IWAOF for the Southampton fixture can now be read by clicking here.

I don't think their fans agree, some admittedly saying they "don't know much about us".

Interview with an Opposition Fan #13 - Southampton Welcome to this week’s edition of Interview with an Opposition Fan. Each week, myself and Razza699 scour for opposition fans to answer the questions we put toward them in the build up to the subsequent fixture. This week, Latics face Alan Pardew's Southampton side, in what has been a long time since we met in a competitive fixture. We found some Saints fans to answer a selection of our questions... 1) In the summer, Alan Pardew was appointed Saints manager. What are your opinions of him and what is his general style of play? - At first I was a little wary because of his previous 2 appointments and how he "left", however I now think that he is a good appointment and he has made the correct decision to come down to D1 and build his own team before hopefully taking us through the divisions. - When AP was named as Saints manager I had mixed feelings but to be honest he has tackled the job of rebuilding the side with relish and has brought in a mix of youth and experience. He seems to favour a passing game and has also begun to instil a real will to win amongst the players. - I was excited from the start, of course we had a lot of rumours about Keegan, though I think AP is the man for the job, he knows the leagues through his playing and management career, has links to top clubs and players want to work with him! He has bought a true winning mentality to the team, long may this form continue. - Personally I was worried when he was appointed. He had, what shall I say, a bit of baggage from his time at Charlton and West Ham before that. He has grabbed the club by the scruff of the neck and given it a good shake. Just what was needed. He addressed the defence first, got it sorted and turned to the midfield and forwards. Pleased to say that they look like Saints teams of old now, attack, attack, attack!! - So far so good. Was pleased to get a "name" that has been at all levels and actually knows the English game along with contacts which may have influenced our signings, unlike the whole Dutch experiment last season which got us where we are. - I always rated Pardew. His teams at Reading and West Ham were good to watch and we look like we could be in the coming months. Charlton was a forgivable blip on his CV - they had big off-field problems during his tenure (They even finished below us last season and we were crap!). 2) Have you made any signings to your squad this season so far? If so, how have they been? - Yes... virtually the whole team. Lol... Seriously, A.P has made some very shrewd moves, considering he had so little time to actually build the team after our administration issues were sorted out. These players now seem to bonding well together and I feel that given a couple more weeks they will be a total and one of the best squads in the league. - AP has made several decent signings so far. The real highlights have to be Rickie Lambert, who has hit the ground running since his arrival from Bristol Rovers, Dan Harding, a marauding left-back from the old school, and Papa Waigo N'Daiye, a Senegalese International striker who has already become a firm favourite with the fans. - Very impressed with Lambert, Hammond and Trotman. He doesn't seem to have signed a load of useless players who never get a game as has been the case for the past few seasons with various managers. - Too many to name all but all players suitable of the level we are playing at. The stand outs have to be the Strikers Lambert and Connelly in terms of signal of intent. Lambert top scorer at this level last season and Connelly International striker with a fantastic goal scoring record (hope he can get fit and form a partnership with Lambert). - Bloody inspired signings all over the park. Sir Rickie Lambert is of course the most expensive, but not necessarily the most influential. Mark him out of the game and you will be over-run by Papa Waigo and Lallana. Mind you Connolly, if fit is no slouch either. Expect to see him come off the bench at some stage. - Been well pleased with all of them. At times I think Lambert has appeared lazy (IMO) but that could be because of the formation with just one up front and him not getting the service, but with Connolly now on board hopefully we will actually see two up front playing off each other, and exciting times ahead. 3) Last season, you finished 23rd in The Championship. How do you think you will do in League One this season? - To be honest I will be happy if we avoid relegation to League two this season, given that we began with a ten-point penalty. Realistically I would like to think we can finish at least upper-mid table but the play-offs are by no means out of reach if we can keep winning. - Who knows? That's the beauty of it. I'd be very surprised to see us relegated, but I’m not buying into some of the hysteria that we'll go up. Upper middle table... Near the playoff line but I doubt we'll make it. - Mid Table (Play-offs if we hadn't had the 10 point deduction). - Last season is a world away, thank God! Too much time was lost with the takeover happening so close to the beginning of the season to expect too much, but you never know. Realistically, a boring mid-table finish will be seen as putting down a marker for next season. - Higher than 23rd! I'll settle for mid table or just below play offs but with the 10 points to catch up that could be pushing it. But next season we would hope for promotion, and that is not being arrogant as we have been accused of being. - We'll be comfortably top half. The -10 points removes any chance of automatic promotion but sneaking into a play-off place is a possibility. 4) Are there any teams in particular you are looking forward to playing? - Walsall away (because I’m going) and Leeds at home. To tell the honest truth, although I am a season ticket holder, I am not sure who 1/2 the teams in L1 are! Lol. - Brighton, Southend, Yeovil and Exeter for fairly obvious reasons! - Oldham for starters, as it'll only be my second game this season! Then there's Hartlepool, Walsall, Leeds and Tranmere... in short, all the northern-ish away games. - Not really, like to think we have a decent chance of a result against all teams, but the last couple seasons have taught us not to take anything for granted. - Everyone. We are just pleased to have a team to support. - Other than Oldham (pleased to see that you no longer have Andy Ritchie playing for you as he always seemed to score against us)? A lot of new ground for us to cover in every meaning - for me, Brighton as they're my 'local' team. 5) What tactics are you likely to employ and have played with this season? - Our main tactic is to score more goals than the opposition! In all seriousness we are developing a mix of sharp passing and a more direct approach when needed. - Score more than the opposition. Or so the plan goes. - With Lambert, Llanna, Waigo, Connelly and Saganowski in the squad I'd like to think it will be attacking, high scoring football for the rest of the season. Get it wide, rubbish cross, Lambert knocks it on, Lallana scores. - Pardew appears to have learnt from his time away from football. He varies things a lot. Generally speaking he believes in playing wide and attacking at every opportunity. Sometimes we get caught because of this, like Bristol Rovers 90+5 winner a couple of weeks ago. We have gone from not being able to stop goals going in at the beginning of the season, to a free scoring team with no one player being the dominant scorer. - I don't think we have finally settled on one particular style - we're still a work in progress. - Horses for courses. We have a huge squad (indeed some say too large) which gives plenty of options. Early season we were leaking goals and played 5 across the middle stranding Lambert up front. Now confidence is improved it is more like 4 3 3 and we now pose threats from all over the park. 6) Saints have earned 15 points so far this season, but resulting from starting on minus 10 remain bottom. What are Southampton’s strengths and weakness both on and off the pitch? - We are a really big club with a brilliant stadium, we are a friendly club and we have great supporters (11,000 season ticket holders). Out squad has been strengthened and are bonding. We have a very rich owner but he is not throwing his money around willy nilly, he is running it as a business, which is good for now and for the future. The whole club seems to sorting itself out and bonding together. D1 watch out. -The main strengths are the will to win that the players are developing, something that we have not seen for some seasons. The right side of defence is still a concern due to a couple of injuries but Lloyd James does seem to be learning the defensive duties game by game. - I think it's been said before... but change the entire team, owners and management and we'll still know how to throw a game away in the last minute. Also I think teams are likely to raise their game for us... hopefully we can live with that. But strengths wise we have brilliant fans, especially on the road. We've got a strong defence but they look a little on the slow side, and our keeper who's usually brilliant seems to be having a dodgy spell. - Strengths are the new owner. Top bloke. We now have no debt for the first time in many, many years. He installed his bank manager in Switzerland to run the club and funny as it sounds, he has been the biggest success of the lot! This team is still a work in progress, but it is not far off. We NEVER give up. Exciting times indeed. - Off the pitch without doubt it is the new owner and management structure that is in place. None of them are egotists (sp?) that like seeing their name in the papers, and the signings have only been announced once they have happened which shows a fair amount of professionalism (Connolly was training with us for 3 weeks before there was any sniff of anything happening which was the announcement that he'd signed! On the pitch - our passing game. - We are the world's luckiest club. We flirted with oblivion earlier this year - to be saved was nice but to be owned and run by filthy rich Swiss businessmen is a dream come true. Our greatest strength is no longer being associated with Rupert Lowe. 7) Who is Southampton’s key player who we should look out for ahead of Saturday’s fixture and for the rest of the season? - To be honest I don't think you need look any further than Rickie Lambert. He was top scorer in the division last season and has shown that he intends to be up with the hot shots again come May. - For the first time in a while we seem to have a lot of players playing well! I think Lambert will be important to our success throughout the season though. - Southampton play as a team. There are 11 people to look out for. Davis, Thomas, Jaidi, Trotman, Harding, Papa Waigo, James, Hammond, Schneiderlin, Lallana, Lambert. Oh, and Connolly, McLaggon, Antonio, Mellis, Mills and Murty (when he gets over his injury). - Rickie Lambert (everything in the final third goes through him). Dean Hammond is a rock in midfield. - Hard to say. Lambert made the early running with his eye for goal but others are now coming into contention. All the great Saints sides of the past were a blend of great players and journeymen and we hope Pardew's team will follow that trend. - Anthony Pulis, makes a wicked cuppa. 8) Who do you think will win League One this season? Any outsiders or surprises? - It does look as though Leeds or Charlton will be contesting the title but Huddersfield do look quite handy so who knows maybe they can mount a challenge. - I'd like to think Leeds will finally do it, though I think Charlton and Norwich will get the automatic promotions spots. - Leeds (how have they been in L1 for so long anyway?). We are the surprise (to Saints fans anyway, after years of being worse than mediocre). - Charlton - surprise team; Southampton storming back from -10 points. - I think Leeds will now walk it, but as far as outsiders go, I honestly haven’t a clue because I don’t know much about any of the teams in this div other than the "bigger” names. Naaarwich seem to have overcome their early disastrous start but are they outsiders? - We know naff all about League 1. Of course Leeds will be in the mix but they've looked like winning things before..... 9) How do you think Oldham will do this season? - Mid to lower table. (Sorry!). - This is going to sound terrible but I really have no idea as I have not followed their progress for a while. In fact the last real memory of the Latics is Frankie Bunn destroying Saints in a league cup tie a few years ago! - 12th - A solid mid table team, though an unpredictable one! - Seem a good counter attacking team now. To be honest that is the best way to beat us. Play off at best. - Again don’t take this the wrong way but I just don’t know enough about you, but would certainly think you will be top half. - I did watch one of your matches on telly not long since and you looked a decent side. Guess you'll be top half too and pitching for a play-off spot. 10) And finally, what score do you think the game will be on Saturday? - The game will be tight but I feel we have the quality to shut out the Oldham strikers and take the points with a 2-0 victory. - 2-1 to Saints - with Saints to score first. - No idea, but I am confident it will not be 0-0. - In the prediction league I'm undecided on a 2-1 or 3-1 Saints but will probably plump for another 3-1 after last week’s game against Saarfend. - There will be goals. 2-3 away win. - 6-6. But I'm not telling you who to. Many thanks to those Southampton fans who took part, in what has been arguably our best response yet. It seems Saints fans are confident of a win, despite some admitting they don't know much about Oldham and League One. But can Latics capitalise on an encouraging performance last weekend against Charlton?...

What happenned? Or is that just a passing comment?

Ridiculous reason to sack him. Fact being, he was stupidly sacked because he isn't top of the table by clear points. New owners thought that league would be a walkthrough for them.

Was always going to be wasn't it. Need a massive overhaul. Moved your post in here mate with the other League One related debate.

I think a player is allowed an off game not to score - 9 league goals in 12 league games is a good tally.

In all fairness, you picked a rather bad programme to watch if it was highlights of the Latics fixture you wanted considering it was 0-0 It was always going to be the case, but I'd personally rather we was spoken about like that to an extent with our efforts going under the radar. Many teams will be in for a shock this season, and the true football fans will know that it was a good point to come back north with.

Good idea in theory, but practically, I doubt it would come off. I'd guess many of the local fans went to see them as a token of support considering their present state.