mikeroyboy

Can your phone play up front? ?

All clubs have different circumstances, possibly the most critical being fan base. To even surmise that we can rely on 3,000 hardcore fans to back ownership is way off the mark, IMO. You can immediately discount virtually all children, youths and pensioners. This includes a group of six I sit with. The game is already too expensive for most fans. The few hundred increase on the gate this season are hardly likely to be interested in paying more. Ownership would compound the difficulties in running a league club not improve them. Any euphoria would be short lived when the fan on the terrace realised that we still had to depend on the Magic Roundabout lucky dip for management and coaching staff. Who in turn would be depending on a stroke of luck with the conveyor belt of out of form, out of luck and out of a job pod of players swilling through the lower leagues every summer. League Football is not Roy of the Rovers nor is it profitable. Unless you are very, very lucky.

Absolutely. Happy Clappers live longer, therefore more of them.

Every decision made by the officials is split second, rack of the eye judgment. I don't want to see a return to the days a perfectly good goal is disallowed because someone clearly not involved with or near the action is in an offside position. Most offside decisions are clear-cut, with players running through and beyond a defencive back line. Leave well alone. Personally I can't recall an incident where I've thought there was an issue with a none interfering player. The frequency of such incidents doesn't warrant changing the law in my view. Neither will the 'powers that be'.

Great footage after the game. What a boost for the players.

Not been to any of the away games but the consensus from those who have seem consistently agreeing we have been poor. Only two other teams won by two clear goals today - both above us in the League. The only team to beat us are above us. Maybe, without any consistently fit strikers, no creative midfielder and no consistently effective wide player we are depending on our new coaching team to deploy backs-to-the-wall mentality. It's very early days yet and I think we are doing ok with the squad and budget we are afforded. So far so good, including our surprisingly increased circa 4,000 home support and our continuing, possibly, League leading away support. I look forward to January, if we can maintain anything like our present points ratio.

I learn plenty, thank you: I learn that the opposition will be dangerous, probably on the back of a 3 wins 3 draws or 3 defeats or any compilation thereof. I learn our lads have been training hard all week and are up for the game. I learn, surreptitiously, a cunning plan is afoot with no mention of the team members or tactics. I learn before every game that unknown changes may be made and things must improve. I have yet to be lulled into a false state over of confidence from these interviews which I find refreshing from other teams mangers who usually come out with a load useless c**p. I can , with what I've learned, go into every game with no false expectations of victory. You can imagine how sweet the victories are. I can't tell you how useful these interviews have been to me over last decade. You are of course entitled to you opinion.

We have started a new season in a new League. With a new owner who has appointed a new management team. Together with many players leaving and new players coming in there doesn't appear to be much scope for comparing like for like.

Is it to scale though. According to Joe's autobiography shortly after he signed he was instructed he needed to sell players to release much needed funds. Selling John Ryan, Paul Atkinson and Roger Wilde for a total of 445,000 and bringing in Mark Ward, Derrick Parker and Joe McBride for a total of 52,000. Then Martin Buchan and Tony Henry arrived for free. It was certainly a different world back then but that is the basic component of history. People and events are judged on decisions made and well chronicled results of those decisions after the event. Joe Royle and Oldham Athletic was a one off and hardly likely to be repeated. He was also aided and abetted by local businessmen. A coming together of a perfect storm. There is no blueprint for the way forward, each clubs circumstances are unique.

I am comfortable with what he has 'allegedly' done - repaying the debt. Investing in players to repay debt is riskier than the stock market. I now hope AL has some luck with Bunn and Rhodes being able to produce the magic ingredients to create a decent mindset and camaraderie between our young loan players, young home grown players and our own experienced players, including Baxter and Byrne. If, we can then manage the top half of table by Christmas and keeping the fans onboard I would like to see Al release some funds for two or three fan pleasing signings in January. I would also be happy with comfortable consolidation this season. I am prepared to give AL a fair go, there not being a alternative helps focus on the impracticality of expecting others to take financial risk on my behalf and hobby. Comparing Joe Royle's achievements is way off the mark from where we are now. He struggled early on. He did manage to make a few shrewd free signings, Irwin being a perfect example but good money was made available to him also. Holden 165,000, Adams 100,000, Barret 30,000, Linighan 45,000, Richie 50,000 are some his expensive (at the time) signings, we were also in the 2nd Division. A Royle was also given a time.

He may well have tried to do that last season. He may well have thought his experience of finding players clubs gave him the magic ability to judge how good they actually were. Which of course is nonsense. You and the rest of us may well 'prefer' a substantial improvement on the field but like Lemsagam appear to be short of the necessary. You seem to be comparing the cost of renameing two stands and integrating with the natives is crucial to improving our squad - it's not. We were skint under Corney and little appears to have changed. There is no queue to fund our club or any other club for that matter. I have said before, 'running a business on roughly 30 opening days a year is cronically difficult and nye on impossible, as has been proven time, after time, after time at every level'. There is nothing wrong whatsoever with ambition, but ambition is self achieved. Let's be patient (we are good at it) and see how it goes. The alternative is...?

Maybe - if you have all the facts and we don't lose 0-5 tomorrow.

This is another really positive background move, especially for those of us who were supporting the club through the ‘pinch-me’ years. Jimmy Frizzell, Joe Royle and Boundary Park, our heritage is gradually being returned to us – by a Moroccan. Lemsagam may not be local or even British but along with his match day support he is having a fair crack at integrating with us. Loosely based on the ‘known’ facts he ‘appears’ to have taken us on without owning any of the land or the Joe Royle Stand and heaven knows what else. Very different from the last bailout. Experienced club owners are rarer than hens teeth. So, absolutely, Lemsagam is learning on his feet. He has possibly put 500 on the gate for tomorrow night to boot. The guy is doing ok, while he gets his head around the enormity of running a professional football club.

I don't gamble but for some perverse reason I look up the bookies promotion/relegation odds before each season. I don't pretend to know or understand the formula they use but for the last 5 or 6 seasons they have had us down for relegation. History tells us the formula is fairly accurate. This term they have us (yesterday's odds) at 9th favourite for both Champions and top 6. With 552 games yet to be played (I think), millions of passes to be made, a few thousand shots on goal and the woodwork struck around a thousand times I think the bookies have the edge on us. I am therefore optimistic we will be in contention for promotion come April. What point or advantage is there to thinking otherwise.

This lad sounds more like a morale booster for the fans. Young, with L2 experience supported by goals, clean cut and 6”3' tall. Making it through a Premiership club youth system he should have some pace. Enthusiasm and a desire to learn should be a real asset. Playing off a focused Baxter could prove a revelation. My optimism metre has just been nuged up.

Bobby Johnstone: Body Image coach.

A team mainly from the rescue shelter combining with a couple of young, improving, talented, local lads and led by a '100% a game' captain may just click. Yesterday we were 8th favourite for winning the League. That's without us having a striker - yet. I love my sunny, simplistic disposition. ?

It's a resonable perspective to have. But without any knowledge or even debatable suspicions as to the extent of any financial or structural anomalies AL is under it would be fair to ask 'whats the point' of a press and social media outburst. AL may have been misled or badly advised. He may be totally out of his depth or cronically underfunded - who knows. Can anyone help after this disclosure? Does it benefit the club in 'any way'? We, as supporters, have suffered years of bad luck and poor executive management decisions. We are not alone, at any level. Nor have we had the most serious setbacks. The press and social media are awash with disaffected people giving a one sided view, often with far more tangible facts than Craig Davies has given. One common denominator usually applies though - they are no longer on the payroll. Self preservation is a natural trait in us all. As is 'don't rock the boat while you're being paid'. The club could be on its way to hell in a handcart. Craig Davies as thrown us a line or given us a push. You choose.

Whatever he's said and wherever he's said it, his intentions are to demoralise as many people as possible in an act pique. He will almost certainly now feel smugly better in himself. It is not a 'heads up' as to what is going on. Unless Lemsagam is doing something illegal nothing can be done to change his direction of how he runs the club, other than his own self preservational instinct. Namely, learning from his mistakes. Many wanted Corney out at any cost and many more (including me) were ready for a change. Not a single one of us had a clue of who or why someone would want to invest in our club. It is a long time since someone was running our club out of love and long term affection - like a fan. Some clubs are lucky or fortunate in this respect. Good luck to them. We have Mr Lemsagam who is now going too oversee our first season in 'L2' for 40 year's or so. With no other option we should wait to see how it goes. Or maybe Craig Davies can cheer us up, now he has done wonders for his own emotions.

A lukewarm reception is quite understandable - nobody knows anything. Five of our last six appointments have come pretty much under the radar. The exception being Sheridan's Costagate appointment.

Funnily enough my beloved and I shared a scone and Blueberry muffin (bun in English). The lads were drinking coffee.

I was talking to two members of female staff earlier today in Costa, Elk Mill. I had a problem with the WiFi. After helping they asked me to try it. I logged onto OWTB, asking if they were Latics fans. Quite casually they said no but added Paul Scholes had been in talking at length to some bloke or blokes, unforgivably I cant remember which. They said it wasn't a laughing and joking get together. For me, if it turned out Scholes and Bunn that would be almost perfect in our present situation.

If marketing is to be considered - Flea Market it is then.

Could he be the leak?

I can't remember the last time we had a such a positive announcement before the end of May. I seem to recall he wasn't exactly smelling of roses last time he arrived.