planetarydeadlock

Also Nors is a good 5 years older - he's still a bagsman if you give him service but he can't be a running, pressing, all-action complete monster forward he was with us five years ago

TBH fellas I think, and this is going back to his 2nd time here, Micky's looked a little lost without Mike Jackson as his no 2. All of their successes came together. Although his first season back here we got 75pts in 2021-22 it was only enough for ninth and we went downwards from there. Brabin never struck me as the right assistant given he's more negative than Micky is. You want a more positive coach as your no 2 than him if it's going to work out I thought you'd defo make top 7 although it may have taken another year to get you up, so a bit surprised about your position

To be fair, his job was a lot easier when he walked into us in that league. Had a ready made defence (McNulty and Ihiekwe who now plays in the Championship, energetic midfield and two cheat code strikers (Andy Cook as well as Nors) He may need a window or two to get it how he wants at yours. I saw the goals from your weekend game and thought 'nah Micky teams don't concede those'

If Micky takes over you lot it'll be very interesting. He'll be extremely motivated with a point to prove as much as at any point as a manager. Last season didn't go well at all for him (partly on him but not all of it) for a variety of reasons - the chairman said in the summer of 2022 he was focusing on youth development and a sell-on model. Which doesn't really suit him as he likes to win and win now. The history between our clubs (no love lost and all that) would really fire him up to stick it to our chairman (between them there is mutual loathing now) and to be honest I don't blame him. We're in a mess right now ourselves that Adkins is trying to rescue us from, that replacing Micky with Dawes has created. On Norwood though, while it's true he turned him into a complete lower league forward that could create his own chances as well as take them, he does look a bit of a different player now - lots of hamstring injuries at Ipswich will have played a part in that. So he will have to adapt a little to get the best out of Nors at 32. His style over the years has differed - when he had a top 2-3 squad with the best players that league had to offer we used to boss teams and roll them over with little fuss. When he didn't, he tended to play a more attritional game. What he did with us down there though was change the culture from thinking we were just a big fish, into working out how to regularly dispatch diddy clubs and go to tiny grounds and do the job week in week out. Best of luck to him if he does go, he owes us nothing.

Wary of this one from a TRFC perspective. Can't recall the last season we were in a league above you if we ever were and Mr Wild's a diehard 'tic who no doubt went to games regularly during the Ronnie/Ian era and he'll know the importance. Think it'll be tight and tense. 0-0.

surely you lot will go for April 9? Easter holidays will have just started and should still guarantee a good chunk of the crowd planning to attend yesterday.

Skybet must be praying for this free advertising

4 assists on Tuesday mind

It was a fair result, although if there was a likelier winner it was probably you. There weren't many chances, but you had the best one with Surridge and Scotty D stood up to him and from there we gained a bit of momentum ourselves and could have had another one after we scored, but we were dead on our arse in the last 5 minutes and you could have nicked it with a succession of corners and set plays but ultimately it petered out to the draw. Ollie didn't have his best day you'd agree, he played on emotion and was trying too hard and let your taunts get to him. But that happens, see Raheem Sterling vs Liverpool etc. Hopefully by the time we head to ISZ we'll both be bang in the playoff fight and there'll be a lot more riding on it than it was today. But after being 1 down till 70 mins I can accept the point. You do have some good players there, would have thought you'd have a few more points than that based on today.

We'd take 2k or close to it in the same circumstances now. Seems weird to say it but despite being top and five clear at that point, in the long term the club was on its arse, we were fighting against a rising tide that season and Ronnie didn't have a pot to piss in but got us a brilliant 11 surrounded by literally pub level backups, once the injuries hit us we were gone. Nowadays even a level lower, the outlook for the club is so much brighter- new owners took over, rebuilt, changed outlook, a lot more hope for the future. That's reflected in the followings- we wouldn't have taken 1,075 to Stevenage, or sold out Morecambe and Crewe (with high demand for more tickets) even in that 2012-13 half season.

Whoever asked about the National League, the standard is ABYSMAL. Utterly atrocious. It makes this league look like the Champions League quarter-finals. We had a poor side first season and finished sixth (one place outside the playoffs, although would have actually qualified us for them last year as they expanded it to seventh)

Finally, after four and a half years, we meet again. At one point during our stay in hell I thought we'd be more likely to play Hyde United in a league game. The 'we'll never play you again' shouts probably held water. Of course it's a rivalry! The games from when Ronnie came in and Ian joined in, to the end of our League One stay were as competitive as anything, and had some ups and downs for both of us (the 1-0 last minute when you lot went top in front of a wild BP was a sickener, but we also ruined Big Joe's day a couple years later). We both had quite a few boring seasons in that time and the games against each other added a bit of spice to the season. Mark Allott when he spent 5 minutes with us before we replaced Ronnie with Barnes even commented about how intense the games were and said that at Oldham the games against us were the first ones you lot looked for. But, it's a competitive rivalry. From the first game Ronnie took charge of against you on the first day, you beat us 7 times, we beat you 6 times, 3 draws. Part of our stay in hell saw us take on Wrexham and Chester. Two very small fry teams stood next to us. But you lot were always legitimate, and often outperformed us, even if we had the edge at times. Whereas with them two we were clearly in a different league in more ways than one. We rested McNulty and Banks tonight for Saturday, hard to know what to expect but our home form suits the way we play- we try and play on the front foot with energy and a bit of speed. On the road we've been caught out, but we've made PP a strong foundation. Not seen much of you but Callum Lang sounds like the danger man(?) Anyway see you Saturday.

See you next season After enduring Wrexham and Chester I couldn't be more delighted you're back as our 'rivalry' game.

Don't take this the wrong way or assume I'm trolling here because I'm not, but be very, very careful next season. We didn't have a pot to piss in when we dropped first time around and had an owner who had reached the end game of disinterest and ended up with pub signings and a rookie manager and even an experienced one couldn't halt the slide (well he did, but he made it worse). There's a tendency for clubs whose sole aim is to 'survive, tread water' to literally fall hard when they fall the first time and that's what happened with us, so your priority should be to make sure you cushion it. Chesterfield and Orient (albeit with a mid table season in between) followed us down. If you finish comfortably mid table next season, don't be too disappointed. Don't follow our example, where we end up losing playoff games against Forest Green and (possibly) Boreham Wood.

Since his former assistant Shez left, Ronnie has done you over every single time. Perhaps you should bring back Sheridan on a 'two games a season' contract.