GlossopLatic

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.

Let's not kid ourselves that Steve Thompson had a magic formula for this team he didn't. They would have reverted to type pretty quickly if we gave him longer than we did. Which is why sacking the manager rarely proves to be the answer to the problem infact it never does. The problems are because the same players will revert to type at some point. So what's our way out of this? Well I would hope that we have already made plans for recruitment for next season. I think the managers knows which players he needs to bring in, perhaps the players know it too and one or 2 of them know they won't be part of it next season and perhaps have psychologically downed tools. We need players with the right mentality clearly they need to be comfortable with the expectation of being one of the favourites for promotion and be comfortable with the idea that teams like Fylde or Kidderminster will be up for it when they come to Boundary Park and the expectation is to beat them. We also need pace and energy in that team their is a lack of it. We started with 4 centre midfielders yesterday it was a narrow midfield so when we have that and no out ball we just put the ball up the middle of the pitch. Nick Haughton showed yesterday and no doubt Chris Conn-Clarke will prove on monday what we are missing. We don't have a magic man! someone who we can get the ball to and they will make things happen. We don't have wide players who can commit men and take people on, for some bizarre reason we haven't found a right back, the lad for Fylde looked OK yesterday look how he strode out from the back for their first goal. That position needs solving. So we have a big Summer ahead with bringing players in and getting players out. I'm hoping those that come in have not only enough ability but can drag a few up with them. We have a squad of players now which you can split into 2 broad groups. 1 lot shouldn't be at the club and the others are good enough but need the right players around them to get us promoted back to the football league.

It's looking more and more like he's got a big job this summer trying to get the players out the door who can't do it consistently for him. I do believe their is a lack of energy in this team it's sn experienced team but one that lacks energy and pace particularly in wide areas. The manager has to take some of the blame but the players are the ones responsible for caving in today and over this last month. If you were to replace the manger now. I guarantee that you will get initial an burst of energy from the team but they will revert to type within a few months giving inconsistent performances. They've done it to 2 managers now they will do it to another.

Now the terms embarrassment disgrace and garbage have been over used this season on this message board. But that first 30 minutes was the definition of an embarrassment when you consider that today was a must win. I can imagine that anyone who described that 1-0 win away at Dorking in deep Jan as a disgrace their heads will have exploded after watching that. Ironically when we went 3 down stuck 5 in midfield we actually started to pass it. Radical.

Do we know whats happened to Raglan injured? Suspended? Looks like a narrow 4-4-2. I'm guessing Hammond is playing right mid?

That's the spirit! We've thrown in a number of stinkers this season and on numerous occasions have gone on to pull of wins it can happen today.