millsy82

We've already had a mention for the fantastic support from Oldham within the opening seconds of the show, so well done to all those who are there supporting the boys.

Back in 2005 my wife (fiance at the time) was in an accident. She was shunted from behind by a young lady who's kids were mivering in the back and she was properly paying attention. She only hit my wife at about 15 MPH, but it did give her whiplash and she was off work for 4 days and on painkillers for two weeks. She had a first offer of £1.7 K, which her soliceter told her not to accept, the next offer was £2.1 K and her soliceter told her it would be better to take it rather than end up with less if it went to court. The money ended up paying for our honeymoon, but I can safely say the two weeks in Florida we had (as nice as it was) was not worth the two weeks of pain my wife was in, where she could barely move and her loss of confidence behind the wheel when driving. I would easily have forgone the honeymoon to Florida for my wife to have never been in that accident. I say take every penny you can get. The physical injuries aren't the only thing. Unless you are some kind of robot, it will effect your confidence when driving (more in other people than your own ability) at least for a short period of time and possibly longer.

So many to choose from. For the whole experience (day/night out, matchday experience, journey etc) then I'd say Notts County, Hartlepool, Bornemouth. I agree with the previous comments about Hartlepool having the best stewards, they also have amazingly cheap beer compared to the rest of the football league. For quality grounds Goodison Park and Villa Park stand out a mile. Watched Latics twice at GP (once with Junior Latics all those years ago, the other the FA Cup win, what a sweet day) and although I've never had the pleasure of watching Latics at Villa Park, I did watch England there against Portugal and sat in the Holte End, now that is a proper football stand, some good boozers around the ground as well. For fancy-dan stadiums, its the New Wembley and Old Trafford (I hate myself, but then again I was there when Becks scored 'that' free kick so...) Worse grounds include Wigan's old ground (Springfield Park?), Derby's old ground (Baseball Park), Blackburn Rovers, oh and the absoloute worst ever........ the old Webley, crap views (3 x England game and Latics FA Cup semi final) and lots of heartach both on and off the pitch (Southgate missed pen, Latics drawing with the scum and nightmare traffic on the way home).

Okay I might be wrong here, so please somebody feel free to correct me. Littleborough is a town/village on the outskirts of Rochdale that falls under the Rochdale Borough Council Royton is also a town/village on the outskirts of Oldham and its control falls under the Oldham Borough Council Lees is a village that is in the town of Oldham and its control falls under the Oldham Borough Council Failsworth is a town/village that is located on the Oldham and Manchester border and falls under the control of the Oldham Borough Council. So at what point in time did people from Failsworth decide that the rules don't apply to them and that infact they are from Manchester. The only way they are from Manchester is the same as everybody else from Oldham and that is the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is within the Metropolitan County of Greater Manchester (just as those who live in Heathershaw, Limeside, Fitton Hill, Waterhead, Sholver, Derker, Moorside, Springhead Holts, Greenacres, St Mary's, Glodwick etc). Its like when people from Saddleworth say their from Yorkshire, they aren't they just think they are. Furthermore, if anything should the people of Failsworth not consider themselves to be apart of Ashton. Its 2.7 miles to Ashton, 2.9 miles to Oldham and 4.2 miles from Manchester. Surely the people of Failsworth should just accept that they are just 'another' area that make up the town of Oldham just as those area's that I mentioned above. Again if I'm wrong then I will be glad to be informed otherwise. As for the Oldham BNP brush. Well my argument above would indicate that since Failsworth falls under Oldham and we are all supposed to be BNP supporting idiots then they are just calling themselves racists are they not? I had the mis-pleasure of attending that game eight (YES 8) years ago and witnessed first hand that almost 99% of the trouble caused that day was by the Stoke City fans that had made the journey up. Yes Oldham has its 'firm' (just like the majority of the clubs in the country, including the Media perfect Manchester United and trendy Manchester City who the the majority of the Failsworth mob no doubt support) and some of that hardcore element was involved during the days events. Also the 'actual' riots took place in Glodwick and I would be amazed if there was one BNP supporting Oldham fan present that night once the violence started. So just to sum up, Failsworth is in Oldham NOT Manchester and Oldham Athletic are NOT a breeding ground for the BNP and if we are then so is every single football club in the North West.

Maybe we should keep the post that hold up the roof of the Chaddy End. It wouldn't be the same if I left the ground without a sore neck!

Fully agree.....Wouldn't want to end up like Darlington

FINALLY! This announcment has been too long in coming. But I suppose good things come to those who wait. Boundary Park will be sorely missed, but only for its memories. As for it being in Failsworth before anybody starts.......who cares? It's still in Oldham it miles away from Manchester, I'm from Waterhead side of town origanally and I have no problem with this move whatsoever. Further more, limiting the capacity to 12,000 is a good move. We barely get 5,000 now, so even if we make the Championship I can't see that improving much more than 8-9k. Here's to a bright future for OAFC.

My thoughts exactley. I notieced straight away he wasn't in the squad. Have we had an offer that was too good to turn down? If true hopefully a minimum of £500,000.

From reading the half time report, does anybody else think we are playing an attacking 451 formation? Has DP tried this in any of the other previous games? From what I can gather we may be lining up as follows: -------------------Brill----------------------- ---------------------------------------------- Lomax----Gregan------Hazell---Jacobson ---------------------------------------------- -------------Furman------Worthington----- ---------------------------------------------- Parker-----------Whittaker----------Taylor ---------------------------------------------- -------------------Abbott------------------- Thoughts? Personally I think it not a bad idea, but we would be relying on keeping Abbott fit all season. I know Parker played quite a few games for HTFC on the right last season (a close friend of mine is a Town fan), it would also free up Whittaker of any defensive duties which if he is to be of any kind of success here he needs, as he would be playing in 'the hole'.

His nickname at Arsenal was apparently RenStar!!!

Fair one. Didn't really think about when I first read it. Though it seems strange that they would name one and not the other. I also think I'm right that they (Macclesfield) named all of their Trialsits for tonights game.

I heard from my source that his source was Sean Gregan

After browsing the Macclesfield Town Offical website, trying to find out the current score, I stumbled upon the two sides line-ups. Both the Trialists that are currentley at tonights game have been named as Rene Steer (formerly of Arsenal) and Godey Alias (never heard of him). Intrestingly Steer is primarly a left back, so might prove as competition for Jacobson, if he can win a contract of course! As for the other guy, anybody know who he is and/or his former club(s)? Here's the link http://www.mtfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,1...1729404,00.html Edit: If anybody know the score and scorer(s) then could they please let me know. Cheers.

Hence the reason I used to see him Scruples nightclub on Thursday nights!!!

I remember once meeting Tipton and Mark Innes (remember him?) in Scruples (oh the shame ) when I was 17. After having a few drink and a giggle and talking everything Latics with them both, a row broke out beteen my mate and Tipton. Turns out Tipton was tying it on with his girlfriend. As you can imagine, Tipton bricked it when he was offered out and was full of apologies, claiming he didn't know (yeah right, she was sat with us all night). Even with his shaved head, he was still a soft arse! I always liked him as a footballer the though, I used to think it would strike fear in other fans minds when they read in their programme that he was the Welsh Micheal Owen . Good luck to him, hope he gets himself sorted out in league football again, so long as he survives Gregan trying to eat him tonight of course.

I can certainly understand some peoples frustrations with Eardley. Against Leicester last season (away) he proved exactly why he is the THE BEST Right Back in the division. Unfortunatley though, those games are becoming few and far between these days. There are too many 'Stockport away' performances and among others I was behind Shez when Eardley was dropped last season. His problem is consitency, Ronaldo didn't do the bussiness at United for his first 2-3 season, but then turned into one of the greatest players the Premier League is likely to ever come across and he did it at a relativley young age. Eardley need to step up and get his head from out of his arse. Forget that people are having a go at you, if anything he should be using this a positive (I'll show you approach). Football is littered with players who had unbelievable talent, but couldn't reproduce it week in week out. One of the best examples of this is Pennant, moved for big money as a kid, the guy has bags of ability and on his day is devastating. His days are few and far between though. Is Eardley like that? I'm not sure, but worryingly there are a few signs starting to show. Lets cash in on him, replace him with a steady eddie right back and invest the rest of the money in getting new ground/redevelopment done. NO LESS THAN A MILLION POUND THOUGH. His talent alone is worth that.

Do it!!!!!!!!!! But just remember it is Latics..........

Which programme was that in then? As I've mentioned earlier with John Sheriden, the same applies to the owners. If they can turn around and say look what we are capable of achieving with the 4th lowest budget in the league, just imagine what we could do if all you stay away fans came back to the club. It breeds confidence within the club at all levels. I'd love to know how Simon Corney found out other clubs budgets? I mean, if you can find out that infomation then you should know everything else about other clubs, such as team tactics and preperation, which players they are scouting and are intrestead in signing and why, what commerical activities they are doing and have planned. Saying you know how much another clubs budget is, is like me saying I know how much you have in your bank account. I have no idea unless I steal that infomation from you. At the start of last season we made two signings for money (Stephens and O'Grady), plus a number of others on a free transfer, some of whom were apparently on big wages (Maher), that would leave me to believe (as an outsider looking in) that we had nowhere near the 4th worst budget of the season (even at the start). Have you ever thought it could, and IMO probably was, a PR stunt?

I remember Sky Sports harping on about that all the time, but it actually turned out to be false. If I recall correctly, Simon Corney stated on Latics World (around about the same time as the Dean Windass fiasco) that far from having the best budget in the league it was by no means amongst the worst. If I was John Sheriden (or any manager for that matter) and I could create media speculation that you have the 4th worst budget and still be up the top end of the table challenging for the play-offs, I too would spin that line. It makes you look good. At the end of the day, Shez had a reasonable budget to work with. Infact, I think (and it is only a guess) that we probably over spent when we got giddy at the prospect of making the play-offs and potentially getting promoted. We brought in Hines, Windass, Ferrira and a few others who's lack of ability or complete no show for us, means their names escape me. The fact remain, at one point last season, we had 6 players on loan and you can only have 5 in a matchday squad. Not to mention all the loan signings that had been and gone before hand, such as Byfield, Omeroed (whatever his name was) and Jones. Add that to Shez's summer signings. O'Grady, Stephens (both money deals), Lee, Fleming, Maher and Whittaker and I can't fathem for one minute that Latics had the 4th worst budget in the league last season. Edit: How could I forget, Kabba. Such a wonderful use of our resources.

It would appear that Clarke has signed for the Seasiders, so is this another target we've missed out on? http://www.blackpoolfc.co.uk/page/NewsDeta...1704035,00.html

Awesome Vid. When's the movie out......

I'm undecided. On one hand a fitter, motivated Sean Gregan has the potential to be a top asset to a club like ours, especially if he's taken a pay cut. He played very well in games towards the back end of last season, but was that just to win a new contract? Having gotten rid of Allott and Maher might be better from him. Allott, although had a lot of heart and desire very rarely won his tackles and was not the best at linking up play, thus leading Gregan to hoofing the ball forward (see Tranmere at home), Maher's inability to play the ball anything but sideways or backwards and his distinct lack of pace. Hopefully Worthington can provide the protection from Midfield for our defence this season and we can sign another central midfield player who can not only create but defend as well (that rules out Whittaker). A commanding GK and a pacey centre halve wouldn't go a miss. On the other hand, if we can't find players to hide Gregan's weakness's (and he does have them) then we could find ourselves with a leaky back line again. As it stands, I don't think its enough. If we can bring in Trotman and Furman then I might be a little more convinced. Fleming Eardley Gregan Hazell Jacobson Smalley Worthington Prudie/Whittaker Taylor Allesandra O'Grady As it stands barely a mid-table side. Fleming Eardley Gregan Trotman/Hazzell Jacobson Smalley Worthington Furman Taylor Abbott Clarke This side would fill me with a lot more confidence. So please DP, go and make some more signings and show us all that you do indeed have 'master plan'. As it stands at the moment, looking in, it seems we barley have a plan.

We payed more than 50k for O'Grady I'm sure the money will not be a problem for TTA to raise. As has been mentioned if the TTA amigo's think we could sell him in a season or two for £200k plus then that is a very good return. Also didn't we sell Davies for a profit to Brighton?

woah! just read that back, I apologise for all the spelling mistakes and a fair bit of bad grammer. Although in my defence, I've just finished a 14 hour night shift.

1. Yes we used a specialist GK and a yes in terms of physical age Allesandra and Smalley are classed as youngsters, but they have racked up (and had racked up) quite a number of games between them before that match, it would have been better to play Stephens and Lee, who had played virtually no first team football. 2. So he didn't trust Josh Bell. Fair enough. With 5 subs I can't blame Shez for not picking him. With 7 subs he would no doubt IMO have picked him and probably have brought him on in that match. At the end of the day, I'm quietly confident that Josh Bell would be a better keeper than Dean Windass. The fact we got through that match without getting embarresed let alone conceading had nothing to with Windass' ability as a GK but it was down to the excellent defending and at times sheer luck. Like I said before the majority of the time we would have lost that match. 3. Right so if you've only got 5 subs instead of 7 it give you less options. That is a fact. So therefore Sheriden did not have enough options to warrent putting Josh Bell on the bench. At the end of the day, only John Sheriden can actually tell you what he would have done if he was allowed to have 7 subs. I suspect that his footballing brain and knowladge of the game would have led him to put Bell on the bench and play him once Fleming was sent off. Football is first and foremost a results business, then and only then is it about entertainment. For some people that may be hard to accept but it is the truth. If he'd have had Bell as an option, not used him, then lost the game 6-0 he would have been slaughtered for it. 4. Its weird because I would much rather see players playing brilliantly. Players tend to do this when they play in their natural position. Would you like to see England playing Brazil in the World Cup with John Terry up front or would you rather have two or three striking options on the bench, ready and willing to take their chance. The game is most certainly not poorer for having 5 subs. Players play far more games these days, especially at the highest level. More than ever it is a squad game. Players need to maintain not only there fitness, but also their match sharpness, if this can be achieved by having more subs, then thats fine by me. 5. So O'Grady come on for Hughes and does nothing, lets say if young Brooke would have been on the bench that day. The manager looks over and see's O'Grady who's been un-motivated and Brooke who is dying to get onto the pitch and fulfill a boyhood dream of playing pro football. If you've got nothing to lose then you throw Brooke on. If your seeing a game out you can bring O'Grady and try and rebuild his confidence. It can work the other way as well, you can go with O'Grady and hope his previous experience or his style of play will change the game for you. More option, different players do different things. It also helps the first 11 as they know that with 7 subs virtually every position is covered by a substitute and they might just try harder to avoid getting dragged off and dropped for having a bad game. It creates competition. 6. Number (7) would be better of playing reserve team football. But a what point does he get his chance. Gone are the days when young kids are aimlessly thrown into the first team, they are blooded in, usually from the bench. The last game of the season against Wallsall I seem to remember Brooke being on the bench. Can you say it wasn't a good job he was. At the end of the day, playing if your playing in the reserves and then not getting selected for the bench on a Saturday it most become quite demoralising. If your talking about a utlity man, what are you expecting Prudie to be this season, surely not a reserve team player only. No doubt he will be the number (7) the man who can fill most positions on the pitch. Yes a manger should have a plan, b, c and possibly even d, but at the end of the day plan a was plan a for a reason and thats because the manager thought that was the best formation/system to beat the opposition on that given day. 7. The point about Jimmy Greaves that I was trying to highlight, was that 43 years ago you wansn't even allowed subs and it cost an excellent goalscorer his chance of winning a World Cup medal. Lesser player than Greaves have won a World Cup medal, like the entire 1986 Argentina side (barring Maradona)! My point being that football evolved and changed so that players like Jimmy Greaves would not lose out on fantastic oppotunities like World Cup finals etc. If we got to an FA Cup Semi Final and due to an injury crisis young Brooke started the game and scored a last minute winner against Stoke having played a blinder for the whole game, it then comes to cup final day and your first choice strikers are back to full fitness and are bang in form, your reserve striker is also doing well from the bench so there's no room on the bench for young Brooke, do you put Brooke on or the more experienced and just as in form reserve striker on the bench, or would it be nice to name them both as a sub and given them their day out at wemberly. Just like you correctly point out the Jimmy Greaves situation reflects rule changes over a course of history, something that has happened in every sport, its just Evoloution and progression, standing still and keeping things the same will never improve the game as a spectacle for the fans. Look how far behind football is compared to other sports such as Rugby and Cricket, hell even Tennis uses video technollagy now. Next season in the Europa league will see the introduction of two extra officals for penalty area decisions (goal line/pens/corners/goal kick etc). If 7 subs doesn't work next season (I'd be very suprsied if it doesn't) then they can always revert back. When you go to your first game next season and you read the line-up ask yourself, can you name the three players Dave Penny is most likely to bring on? Do that for every game you attend and see how many you get right, my guess is you wouldn't get more than 75% right. 8. Since when do all the subs go and warm up together? Its very rarely these days. Maybe two or three at a time but I can't remember seeing 10 subs running up and down the touchline at BP (or any other ground for that matter) last season, so surely 14 ain't gonna make a difference. One final point, as a sub Ole Soljaker used to study the game whilst sitting on the bench. He did this for two reasons, i) if he came on he could on the pitch he would be ready and knew exactly what he had/wanted to do and ii) if he didn't get on he could watchs and learn from other's brillaince and mistakes. I would rather player on the very fringe of our first team do that, sitting on the bench then be sat at home with their feet up eating their fish supper or watching the game from the stands with their I-pod plugged in having a laugh and a joke with their mates. Sorry for the ramble, I didn't realise I'd gone on for as long as I quite clearly have.