slystallone

Bit harsh on the lad, you bringing up his scoring record this season - what with him missing half of it with a life-threatning collapsed lung eh? anyways, i too have emailed the club with suggested players to scout from lower league players / players from unfashionable leagues; but as i have no formal scouting qualifications or experience; i feel they are filed under 'bin'. Its a real shame that we as a club just don't appear to 'spread the net' scouting wise - as BP1960 & others (myslef included) have posted previously; there are players who are worth seriously looking at from leagues that aren't the Prem or Championship. We do appear to always look upewards for players; when in reality; a club like us should be doing the opposite. BP1960; i really think you should email Alan Hardy to pass on the player details of the ones you have mentioned; now the regine has changed / maybe changing again - i might justbe worth the time the email takes to type if we actually go & look at one of these lads & they turn out to be a gem.

Reading down to get to Eardley bit i saw this: Hibs News Major summer clearout– out will be Fletcher for 4million to highest bidder, jones for 1million somewhere in England, Yantorno released,chislom released, O'Brien for 250k crewe, Pinau loan expired, O'Neil released, Zemmama to UAE for 1million,Benji released, Keenen released. Incomin will be calum Woods from dunfermline for 300k, Dorman from St mirren for 500k, Stephen hughes from motherwell free, O'connor from crewe for 200k, Villaneuva from Audax Italiano for 2.5million(record Signing), Garry O'Connor from Birningham for 1.3m, Youth team players to come through also in Moyes,Booth,Welsh and Deane. I just wonder, hmmmm - could it be that the Yantorno is on his way here to become our saviour???

Glad the club has made a very sensible decision on freezing the prices; should stop a fair few drifting away due to an expected price increase. I'll be getting another one; if another 4,499 join me the £70 would be nice little bonus too!!!

Bruce would be bloody lovely; but we'd never be able to afford him. these lot from the massive list above would be nice, & age / lack of recent football might play into our hands in terms of tempting them here - but wages wise; we'd really struggle to attract them i feel: Linvoy Primus Defender 35 England 2000 Deals only offered at end of season. David Connolly Forward 31 Ireland 2006 Shelton Martis Defender 26 Neth. Antilles 2007 Mike Pollitt Goalkeeper 37 England 2005 Decision to be made by manager Steve Bruce in early Ma

Easy - we offer £10, a bag of crisps & all our team bar Taylor...that should get us up to at least £10.58; so only another £699,989.42 till Dorman is ours. Job done!!!!

2 more from North of the border, who; i think are out of contract & i've seen them play & rate for our level (granted they were TV games; not live games) Patrick Cregg @ Falkirk - U21 Eire international CM, not the biggest but a tough tackler who is a box to box CM. Not finished article, if he was we wouldn't get, but something to work with. Doorman @St Mirren. Wide right midfielder, good on the ball & chips in with goals. On an old thread about our scouting; i threw in 2 names from a some more games i've watched on sky - 2 young lads from the League of Ireland. Robbie Garratt - Glentoran. Ex Stoke youngster. CM. Snapper / tough tackler but with ability on the ball. Takes all the set pieces for the NI U21's as well as his club side. Martin Donnelly - Linfield. Ex Sheff Utd youngster. Genuine LW. Pacey as you like & a box of tricks. Good delivery. Only problem is his height i feel; 5ft4 & bit lightweight - again, lots to be worked with but has raw talent IMO.

As much as i haven't really enjoyed this season; i know i'll be back next year. Looking forward to changing my season ticket to the paddock for some side of the pitch banter after a 1 year experiment in RRE. Be a summer of transittion & player movemets in & out but: It just wouldn't be saturdays without Latics!

"I still admire Joe I always have. He and Willie Donachie are a fantastic pair. Joe had a remarkable ability to make his players feel at ease and lose their fear. He brought in decent footballers, created a good atmosphere and encouraged them to go out and play. Not many managers have that gift." This is the key for me in all this debate. If you disregard all the 'who else of his calibre could we get' or 'Gannon is a better bet' that’s on this thread already, the above in bold is the most telling. From an ex-player of Joe's who was (rightly or wrongly) shipped out of the club - read again what he (Redders) says about Joe & his man management: Players feeling at ease, playing without fear, to go out & play the game, a team spirit created & maintained, decent players brought in........................and that’s from someone who was sold on & moved out of the club! Now, even with the much predicted budget cuts & player turnaround; I myself am convinced that Joe is the right man to work with what will be left at the club & bring in a few players to complete the mix. The Yoof: Smallley & Eardley were both impressive on sat in a 'nothing' game - both showing their potential. Lee looked good 1st half till fitness put paid to his involvement. Taylor is still learning the game & maturing (whilst still being our best player!). Black, Wolfy & Lewis have all featured. Lomax I guess comes back into the mix as do the 4 1st year pro deal youngsters - maybe even Stephens too eh?? There is a core of young talent at the club, which with the correct man management & coaching, will become a promising unit. I’m not saying for one moment that we should 100% rely on what we have; youth & young player wise – but; with the correct handling I feel they can finally begin to reach their potential. I think a combo of Joe as manager, Willie Donachie as Assistant & Tony P to split a dual role of Youth & Reserve Boss; we would have a top-notch 3 who can work with & develop the talent within. With Joe’s contacts / standing in the game; I think some better quality loanee’s than we have had in recent years (Shez’s & Moore’s; not the Talbort flukes!) is achievable. 2 or 3 well thought out & placed loan players mixed into the young lads & the given number of the out of contract players offered new deals will stand us in more than good stead for next season. Now call this a happy-clapper post or a Blue-tinted specs one or whatever; It’s just what I believe – I would be more than delighted if Joe was to sign on the dotted line. If he doesn’t; then I have to have faith that TTA will ultimately make a correct call & bring in a man who has some or all the management talents of Joe (listed above by Reddres) Keeping the Faith, hard as it is sometimes, that this club will be more than ok!!!! Sly

Agree with you outoftheblue on this: Smalley has come on this season; not in mega leaps & bounds, but he has developed & added different elements to his game. Leicester away & Stockport at home were 2 games where Smalley showed his development; one of those games playing on the left of midfield too. Whole hearted displays where he caused havoc when he ran with the ball & scared the living daylights out the back 4 of the oppo. Unfortunatley, those games are intersperssed with other less stand-out performances. But that's what you get with young players; in & out as they make mistakes & learn from them. IMO Smalley works best as a RW - where he can run at FB's & get into the positions where he can cause the most damage. He IS a work in progress, a rough diamond if you will, one that needs coaching & encouraging - but he has enough positivies & points in his game that suggest to me that he is worth the time & effort to develop.

Yes. be going into his 2nd year along with Bemba-Lita / Esquine-Biney (spl) / Phil McGrath and a few others, all good prospects.

Article on Big Norm on Fishul, Joe states, "i've brought Shane up here to play, and he will be the 1st choice for the rest of the season if fit." So, regardless of the preference on here for Fleming (myslef included) Joe wants Supple. Strange one.

Here here, I'm chuffed to bits with this thread - not how it started like, but with the reasoned, well drafted & composed posts that various users have added to the debate - no name calling, no abuse, no off-topics - wow, a proper thread - JOY!!!! Leyland, Zorro et all have all spoken very eloquently (& correctly) on this topic so i'm not going to add too much more. Just 2 things; 1.) i really, really hope Neal has read this thread from start to finish - as his confidence has just been crushed this term - reading this thread will surely give him hope that there are still Oldham fans who can actually watch the game & draw reasoned conclusions from it, and that not every oldham fan has the need, almost tourette-like to yell out "bloody hell Eardley" every time he goes near the ball. 2.) I put this to the eardley haters - who would you rather have; Holden / Clegg / Swailes........an out of position Reuben or even the all-effort but gulf in class Lomax?? For me, and many others according to this thread, it's a no brainer....i'll plump for a cracking young International full-back who gives his all for the badge despite being lambasted everytime he breathes. Ignore the ignornant Neal & stick with the 'Tics; we need players like you!!

Dawson's looked impressive when i've watched him - composed on the ball & has bagged a few too. He's left-pegged so has slotted in a LB too, as opposed to his usual CB role; which offers promise as its been a problem position of ours since Chris Armstrong left us. Rowney is a little terrier in CM, never stops running & is pacey as hell. Has gone into RB for the ressies when needed too. Brooke looks a real prospect - him & Eaves play well together. Eaves the 'Porter' figure & Brooke playing off him; often drifting out to the channels & then cutting in to great effect. The 'Keeper i've only seen play twice; the other lad (White?) was playig the other times. Looked ok; didn't have alot to do really - but he is bloody big, well over 6ft & looks pretty filled out too - big lad! I'd join TP in saying that it's not inconseivable that 1 or more of these lads will be featuring at points next season; what with the decreased squad & a coming reliance on home-grown youth players. My money will be on Brooke; from the bench i'd guess to start with - but as someone said above, i think he'd do just aswell as Oremorod & Byfield & Kabba have for us (that is until the 'fans' start to turn on him for not scoring 25 by xmas!) Finally, Kilcourse; good luck in whatever you do in the future, be that in or out of the game. Sly.

Isn't that Kelvin's younger brother you're talking about?? Some prospect i believe.......

Exactly my point pal!!!!!!

The out of contract-ers i'd offer new 1 year deals to: Stam Gregan Maher The rest can go for a free with thanks (yes; even JP gets thanks!!!!!) Of the contracted players i want to see COG given a shot here; not given away / sold as some appear to want. Done nothing wrong in his limited outings & offers something different to all the other strikers in terms of physique & hold up / link play. Black at left back might be worth a punt - did ok on his cameos last season. As for Lee & Stephens & everyones clammer to get them as the CM 2 next year; apart from Lee's 2 games around Xmas they've not featured. Now; for whatever reason (not actually good enough / good enough but awful trainers / attitidue problems / face just doesn't fit.....et all) that surely can't be enough to rate them above others & for them to be our next season saviours can it?? Allott is a tough one; was a revalation in his first season & rightly swept the boards in terms of playing awards, but this term he's been very very in & out; not just between games but during games too. For every Leicester & Hudds away, there are Yeovil at home & Hereford away to throw in too. I know that it applicable to many of our players; and its that level of inconsistency that has let us down - but i feel that Allott's season has exposed a few short-comings that were papered over last season. Maher offers more creative elements to his CM game than Allott does (set piece delivery; through balls down the channels / centre etc) whilst still retaining the defencive facites that are needed at this level. Whilst Allott can draw on the Chesterfield captaincy for a couple of seasons & occasional arm-band wearing for us too, Maher has 10 years of leadership in the bank. We're going to need all that & more next season if its a predominately kids side we turn out. We're going to have be brutal (we'll, the manager; whoever that turns out to be is) & between Allott & Maher; i'd plump for Maher. Some tough; tough decisions to be made this pre-season!

It not just Non-League we don't appear to scout - other rivals sign from the Eircom League of Ireland to good effect, the Scottish Prem League & Div 1 & in some cases the leagues of Europe too (France / Spain et all) Our scouting of fresh talent over the last 3-4 years has been awful - and i posted a while back that we should look to expand the net to cover different leagues. In terms of the non-league stuff; Ernie, Fitz & Wayno all got plucked from non-league by Bob Dowie for his brother - and we all know how they worked out for us as players...... There is plenty of untapped talent out there; its just a tricky job to firstly find, then sign it. But here's the BUT; if we were to sign 2 or 3 young up & comers from the lower leagues; how much time would they get here at BP to develop & learn their trade before they get chastised with abuse the likes of Eardley has to put up with from our moaronic 'fans'. It's all very well crying out for fresh young talent; it's a completely different animal when that said young talent gets onto the pitch & miss-place a pass...... They'll be a massive overhaul of the playing staff this summer & unfortunately i feel a reduction of quality too; budgets won't allow us to spunk away money on potential anymore - i predict free transfers for the 30+ years of age L1 / Championship-Ressies journey men; & lots of them too. Squad dessimated again, time required for the team to gell, out of the running before Xmas - same old really!!!!!!! The joy of Latics sometimes eh? Anyhow - gues its the usual obligratory KTF to sign off with huh? So, KTF!!!!

Those are my thoughts on the matter too........ Lee Hughes alone wasn't single-handedly going to inspire us to launch a promotion charge up the league - especially in the absolutely awful from he has been in. Getting shot now if JR wasn't going to use him for the remainder of games just makes sense financially & for the moral of the team too (sulky kid Windass syndrome) Thanks for your time here Lee; when you've been on form on your day you've been great to watch - but your attitude since Jan has let you down big time. As others have said - Lewis & Deano know each oters game inside out & always appear happy to play together. I remember the cold Tuesday night that they ripped Carslile to shredds playing up-top together......you have 7 games lads to prove your points. Oh & Mr Kabba, 7 games to earn a contract.....over to you boys. Cheers Lee & Bye.

I'm going to plump for 3

exactly.......... 'with a big lump in the mix too'.......... now either my eyesight is going or isn't COG a big-ass lump who, on his limited chances, did a commendable job of holding the ball up & being a big old nuisance up top. I expect him to feature heavily next season - he could be a real asset

Charlton will be with us in L1 (assuming that;s where we stay!) for a good while - there parachute payments do indeed finish after this season - they are still paying off Dowie & Pardew / they have at least 6 or 7 loan players in their current 1st team who will be going back to their parent clubs & their home gates have been falling all season.....they will revert back to the little family club they came from; but admin is avery real threat for them. I expect whoever misses out in the playoff to build again over the summer; be it Millwall, Leeds, Posh, Scunny or MK & be strong next term. As someone else said, Hudds will again throw money at it, have 5 or 6 new faces in - then probably do nothing with it! Think the teams coming up from L2 will struggle a tad more than recent sides coming up have done - finances wise & attracting new players wise too - I expect the 3 promoted teams to be lower half of the table next season; no more Posh & MK type top 6 shenanagans!! As for us - who knows - depends on so many factors: Who's the manager Which of the current players are retained what sort of quality is brought in player wise how many season ticket holder renew / what budget is given to the manager how many babies AH has eaten pre-season................ We could be anywhere from bottom to top at any stage of the next season; because its too difficult to predict as there are too many unknown entities that have to resolved before we know where we're at. As always with Latics- should be an interesting ride & never the simple way!!!!!!!

Wonder what JR is classing as 'giving the young lads a go'?? Does he mean Lewis & Deano up front......or is he going to blood the likes of Tom Eaves & Ryan Brooke? If we can't make the playoffs mathematically with a few games to go, i'd like to see these lot given a go; if not starting then from the bench Black Eaves Rowney Brooke Stephens Lee Bemba-Leta

Thompson won't come here - he's featured regularly this season for them; and after they've played nearly 55 games this season with their cup exploits; they're going to need all the players they've got!! James Scocroft has had a big falling out with Colin at Palace; Colin is taking legal advice to see what can be done as he has refused to go out on loan. Think we are realistically looking to the Championship for an Up & coming Big lad - or a low Prem side for the same thing........... A Jordan Robertson type player who's side is looking to get them out for experience - not a match fitness seeking experienced type that we've been getting in recently

I disagree. I think Joe will like Maher. I see alot of good in his play; he's a steady eddie who has been there & while he was there; bought the t-shirt. 10 years at Sarfend, a number of them as captain - good experience to call on that. I like maher, whilst not being spectacular he does a job & does it well. The back-pass apart he was up there in terms of best player on the park vs Leicester & his set plays have provided a massive % of our recent goals; assists wise & his goal vs MKclowns. I will stand by to be corrected, but i think the 2 CM's on sat will be Maher & Westlake. Agree that Whitts may be looking for anew club come June, but i think joe will fancy Kev (and not in that way!!)

Pretty happy with this - a mate who is unfortunately a leeds fan rates him. he sas he's a no frills box to box midfielder who works his tits off for 90mins. Wont beat a man for skill but, and this was a direct quote "he doesn't give the ball away that much; he takes care of it"....... Likes a nibble in the tackle too, has a nasty streak if provoked apparently YARD DOGS!!!!!!