Tommy_Fent

Yes Man Utd, City and Liverpool get a lot of support from the North West. But don't underestimate the fanbases of those clubs down the M1 corridor. Sheff Wednesday, Forest and Derby in particular are well supported for what they are and get a lot of support from outside the cities they play in. When I got off the train at Chesterfield station yesterday there were a number of Wednesday fans off to Hillsborough. Yes it's hard for Latics being where we are, but lets not feel sorry for ourselves everytime a club passes us by because it isnt plane sailing for other clubs at our level. Chesterfield have done really well considering where they were a few years ago struggling to get 3,000 fans in their partially condemned ground. For us to get the sort of crowds we were getting 6-7 years ago won't be an easy task but it isn't impossible.

In moments like that yesterday you've just got to remember the dubious penalties that have been given against us over the years

Like what appears to have happened at Hartlepool

Agreed, it does go to show if a club like Chesterfield can do it then why can't we? And before anyone mentions catchment area Chesterfield have both the Sheffield clubs, Derby and Forest all within half an hours drive and it's a smaller town than Oldham.

That might have been me signing it as a joke seeing as I spent most of my life living in the county.

I have this feeling that we'll end up signing Tommy Lee one day and he turns out to be rubbish for us

Although home crowds do appear to be gradually increasing this debate goes around in circles. As discussed in other threads, it would take a serious promotion push to entice a number of the stayaways back.

Don't worry the NATO peace keeping forces will be on standby

The top Premiership clubs know that if the loyal fan who has been going for 40 years and lives locally wont pay the prices then some daytripper will. Unfortunately the same doesn't apply to the rest of the Football pyramid who have to play catch up. If most of us refuse to pay the prices at Latics either the club cuts the cloth and does a Stockport or we go to the wall. Sadly it's another example of how the big clubs run the game.

In the case for some of us the saving is in most cases less than what it would cost to get up to Oldham during the week

Only if we win 11-0

Jon Worthington

Personally I think we're nowhere near as bad as fans at other clubs. Especially when you're subject to listening to a willy measuring contest between My last memory of Chesterfield was that they had a nice pub nearby in the Derby Arms and a good chippy a few doors down from that.

Ditto, I think the poor starts we've had in recent seasons along with the situation at Tranmere has made me greatful that we've been competitive from the off this season. Especially as I was worried about the attacking options at the start of this season

Lee Richardson vs Charlton opening day of the 94/95 season

That Tranmere game when he got sent off was my first ever match. I remember that Tranmere team always used to beat us, Chris Malkin was another one who used to always bag against us. In terms of referees one which sticks out for me was Ian Williamson. He referred that match against Peterborough where he gave them two penalties and didn't punish one of their players for the most blatant assault on Daniel Jones for us. Then he went on to ref 3 further games and give 3 disputable penalties against us. Moore, Warnock, Megson, Fergie, Steve Evans etc, we hate them because they have a drive to win at all costs. Something I feel is sometimes lacking at our club. Apart from Moore, Dowie was another who had this mentality, opposition fans hated us when he was our manager because he knew how to win the scrappy games.

I don't if it's just me but I noticed yesterday that we were doing it a hell of a lot more yesterday than we have in previous games under Johnson. This to me is something we've been needing to do for a while, I don't know if it's down to our midfielders getting further forward or the ability of our wingers but it was certainly refreshing to see. I liked Korey Smith in terms of his technical ability but I did feel at times with him in the the middle the play did seem to go sideways a hell of a lot and personally I think at our level you need to be gambling more in the final third. If we play like this in more games and we take more of those chances I will certainly be more optimistic about our chances this season.

it won't happen overnight but I'd just love to see those sort of crowds return one day. Winning more matches at home would certainly be a step in the right direction.

Ok let me re-phrase - regardless of the clubs on our doorstep we shoule be getting at least 5 thousand for home games. Why we don't get those sort of crowds in is a debate we've had over a million times on here, I'd love us to be getting 10k plus, but to me 5-6k is realistically what we should be aiming for in the league we're in.

I know not everyone will agree with me on this but I feel that regardless of the clubs on our doorstep between 5 and 6 thousand is what we should be getting for home games

More importantly how is it pronounced? Bove as in Love, Bove as in Cove or Bov-ay?

In A package from UPS and a few letters from Royal Mail Out The Green bins

For all his faults, one thing Dickov did well was bring in the occasional player of his ilk in, rather than some unproven player from the Conference.

Man Utd - because they believe themselves to be bigger than the game itself. MK Dons - because going to their ground was one of the most Soul destroying experiences of my life. If they are the future of Football, then I don't wish to be a part of it. Sheff Utd - every club has its idiots who follow them, but when you see innocent get attacked outside their ground. Not to mention nearly getting glassed outside their ground for wearing a Latics shirt (not even on a matchday) then it certainly has a negative influence on your opinion of them But like what others on here have said I've found myself getting nicer as I've got older. There are plenty of clubs I'd love us to get one over on, but none of them exactly offend me.

I'm feeling slightly turned off at the minute if I'm completely honest, part of it is down to the negative tactics LJ seems to have deployed. But mostly I'm getting fed up with the way money has corrupted the domestic game. It used to be about how good 11 men are at a sport against 11 other men. But now it seems that to progress at any level it all comes down to how big your budget is. I really enjoyed watching the World Cup because it was purely about the competitive aspect of it, nobody could buy their way out of trouble and 90% of the games could have gone either way and that's how Football should be. I want to be proven wrong and I'll continue to support the club, but I do feel as though club Football is becoming a bit too predictable.