GlossopLatic

So in other words nothing.

We've signed 2 right backs this season in Freeman and Sanchev it's just that neither have nailed down the position. Abit like the midfield situation we've signed enough players in that time to have solved the problem in the last 2 years but its still a weak area. So it's not like the problem area's haven't been acknowledged the solutions haven't been right. Which is why the board and team management need to get their heads together and have a Frank and honest discussion about why the recruitment hasn't been as good as it could be. I don't think it's been Beyond incompetent as you put it but it definitely has to improve.

Doesnt matter how good he was for someonelse he was dog shit for us. He played 4 times and scored 1 goal costing us over £500k in wages he is the worst value for money signing in the clubs history and it was done completely over the managers head as a present to the fans. As presents go I'd rather have a lynx africa box set.

I think we need to understand exactly what went wrong with the recruitment before we come to any conclusions on how to fix it. Its easy to sit their and say that it was all down to the fact that data analysis is wrong and we didn't do that int thee olden days without seeing exactly how and why players were signed. Some of the signings looked good on paper and haven't come good. Their is also a danger of flip flopping from one strategy to the next it's important we find a consistent approach that works for us. We still haven't dome anything as brain dead as signing Queensy Menig on £13.5k a week but we certainly need to get more value for money than we have been doing.

Dallas has bagged 20 goals at NL level in the last 2 seasons he's a gun striker at this level. We didn't see any evidence of that for the first month or so but I see why in the last couple of weeks why he's been a sort after player. The fact him and Norwood haven't scored in a while tells us that their is a problem in the build up and our patterns of play. We had quite abit of the ball yesterday with McGahey Conlon and Gardner who did a solid enough job of making sure we had good possession yesterday but they are all playing 15-20 yards behind the striker. None of them can break the lines and get into the penalty area to support Norwood so he became isolated and started to brood.

The recruitment of players will very much come under Micky Mellon, he very much needs to be supported by coaches, scouts data analysts aswell as the Board of Directors but at the same time I think its important he's challenged on decisions. We've made a few mistakes in the recruitment of players and their is quite abit of wastage in the budget that we are committed to paying for the next 12 months. We won't get every signing right but our signing hit to miss ratio needs to be alot better.

We've no idea right now how the recruitment is going to go this Summer or how next season is going to pan out so making such a sweeping statement either for or against us going up next year is ludicrous. As for the last 2 seasons it's only wasted time if the owners/board of directors have learned nothing. We are better geared towards challenging for promotion than we were in August 22.

Let's just say from that list you've given and we find a way to get out the door either by loan or moving on all those you highlighted, that does give us more than enough room to bring in enough good players to turn this squad around even if you have to slightly reduce the wage bill. Their are 15 names their you've highlighted so let's say we try reduce the squad size and bring in 10. If let's say 2 of them are flops 3 are adequate squad players and 5 go straight into the first choice starting 11 then we are strengthened significantly while probably spending less money. So it can be done we do need to be smarter though with recruitment.

It gets to a point where the players know that if they don't turn up its the manager who comes under pressure and gets the blame then they just down tools knowing that they are safe. If we where to sack Mellon we'd be letting the players who've caved in over the last month completely off the hook. The process of sacking managers every 6 months over the last decade has failed beyond any reasonable doubt. We've got a manager who is under contract for another 2 years and has a proven record of promotion. The bare minimum he gets is this summer to build his own team. Even then we only entertain sacking him if we start like we did this season.

I had to read that 3 times to understand exactly what you meant there

We've actually come back into this abit now we've actually created something.

Mellon and Brabin will know that they see them everyday in training. I'm convinced that in the right team set up and the right players around them some of this squad will look like different players.

Was going to say I've not heard a peep from the away end on tv it sounds flat it's hard to blame them. Their is no way the manager is telling them to play like that they have to take responsibility. Someone show us something a forward run a few tackles a shot. christ someone smash Chris Conn Clarke and get a booking he's making you look like a bunch of twats.

Maybe so but yet again he's showing us what we are missing very little created in the final 3rd from us when we've got the ball into the penalty area we don't get men in the box Norwood looks completely isolated and people wonder why he moans.

Sutton at fault there he plays them on side then completely misses his clearence when he gets back in position.

That looks exactly like what he is doing.

I don't like slating referees but that referee performance in the second half against Fylde was absolutely awful I thought he was pissed.

Hes someone with a strong character I do see that but he's a centre back and we keep sending him out to play RB or centre mid that's issue I have. I think we need to go back to 3-5-2 with Mcgahey as one of the CBS Sutton RWB Gardner and Conlon in the middle with Hope supporting Norwood and Dallas.

I'm somewhat bemused why Mcgahey keeps avoiding being dropped we keep sending him out there, out of position and he offers very little he must offer something in the dressing room that I can't see.

Can you still get Teletext?

Today and every game for this group of players is a must win. Its still mathmatically possible for us to get top 7. Now I personally don't expect us now to get there but I expect us to be aiming for and doing everything they can to get top 7. I expect the players to show professional pride and go and give everything they have to win the game. The majority of this squad is playing for its future in professional football nevermind Oldham Athletic. I don't expect them to play for the shirt or the fans or any of that bollocks if it motivates them great, but primarily I expect them to be trying for themselves and for their team mates.

He played well yesterday. Their was a part of the 1st half too where he was rabble rousing and encouraging the players to talk I could hear him in the North Stand so the players should have been able to hear him. But we can't rely on his fitness and even when he is he fit he can often be inconsistent so unfortunately we probably need to release him and get someone who we can get 30-40 games out of a season.

You mean like the lie your mate told us for years that the North Stand was unsafe.

They'd be within their right to remove him if we made the play offs. In either case it wouldn't make it the right thing to do.

Oh look who's crawled out from under his rock.