oafc-latics

We're going to do a Leicester. They looked doomed, escaped, and now they're going to win the league a year later.

If they can do it against City/Chelsea/Arsenal, why can't we do it against Coventry and Walsall?

Wigan, Burton, and Millwall will go up (although Bradford seem to be hitting form at the right time). Blackpool and Donny will go down. It'll go down to the last day, though, because Doncaster and Fleetwood both have to play Crewe which should be 3 points each.

I'd love Accrington to come up, but aside from that it's all Southern teams going for Automatic/Play-Offs. Pompey's fans probably deserve a bit of good fortune again so wouldn't mind them going up. Wimbledon vs MK could be a tasty fixture though.

Rumours on Twitter that he's been interviewed, but he was saying after Saturday that he wants to prepare a team here that's pushing the top end of the table.

Really hope he doesn't go, and surely he knows he's got a job here for as long as he wants it. (If that's not the case, then it really should be.) But I wouldn't begrudge him a move if he took it. They're in serious trouble, but they're still a bigger club and the new owners will want to get back to the Championship ASAP.

Brown and Mills are not good enough - Out

Think Brown will stay as a squad player. Surely he knows if he leaves, that no L1 team will give him a chance.

As for Mills, I've always rated him. Decent defensively and supports going forward. But there's been 2 or three managers that have brought in their own loan replacements, so something must be wrong there. Although if he left, I could see him getting a chance in L1.

Tricky one. Sheridan's loan players have all made an impact, so if possible I'd try to sign them. But the players who were awful under Kelly/Dunn have drastically improved (notably Coleman/J.Wilson), so I'd be tempted to keep as many of that squad together as possible to keep the momentum going. Add a couple of wingers/wide midfield players to mix it up, and I think we'll be a hard team to beat next season.

I can't see Liam Kelly staying - similar to Korey Smith in that he can easily do a job higher L1/lower Championship. Same goes for Gerrard, but we said that last season and he ended up at Shrewsbury playing for free.

Kevin Betsy has been appointed England U-15 coach. Apparently he's spent the last few years at Fulham in a similar role.

That gives him the qualifications to manage Latics, if the Darren Kelly logic is applied.

What's the Donny Rovers chant that was being sung last night? Couldn't work it out...

According to someone on twitter, it is:

'So :censored: off Donny Rovers, going to play Dover, Main said no, no, no...'

Yep.

It was Brian Wilson who was injured. Why do you class Croft and Brown as capable-capable of what?

Capable of performing in League One. Okay, they've spent the majority of the season on the bench for a reason, but they've both played a good amount of games at this level, so they're obviously capable.

Only one winner here.

J Wilson?

Picked up a knock. Hopefully his and Winchester's injuries aren't long-lasting. Jones played on after his injury, so hopefully that's a good sign.

We should have the players to fill in, with Croft/Brown/Mills all capable and Murphy to potentially return. My worry would be the state of the bench if those players are starting.

Any news on Poleon/Holloway injuries?

Cassidy. Whilst there was a lot to criticise him for tonight I still thought it was his best performance I have seen. He looks over weight and labours, but showed some of the ability that Main / Holloway have to hold the ball up more than any previous game. Hat said he is too slow and not aggressive enough - things that maybe a injury free pre season could fix?

 

I agree with everything in your post apart from that. He was awful last night and may as well not have been there - the highlight being when he kicked his own leg rather than the ball in a decent shooting opportunity.

Hopefully a pre-season will help him, like you say. He bullied the Fleetwood defence in the home game before he got injured, so he's got it in him somewhere. The question is whether Sheridan gives him another chance, because he'll surely try and sign Holloway who's a much better player.

Cassidy didn't win anything all game. Hope the injuries don't mean he's in the team next week.

Would have been worth a point if THD hadn't dived in for no reason. Show that same fight in the last 5 games, and we'll be fine.

6 pages in and lots of clear, articulate reasoning about why to leave

 

vs

 

Very little such reasoning about why we should stay in. A few valid seeming points but mainly nudge, nudge, wink, wink nothingness.

Yet the poll has only 8 votes in it. And that's only from OWTB users who I'd imagine are majority adult working class men. The official polls I've seen on the subject seem to show it's pretty much equal between stay and leave. You mention the nature of the stay arguments on here, but some people's leave arguments are also 'nudge, nudge' in nature, it reflects the general lack of knowledge around the whole issue.

My gut feeling is to stay, but I've found this thread useful for familiarising myself with the 'Leave' arguments. I tend to disagree with UKIP/Conservatives who appear to be blaming the EU when there's more pressing problems at home, but the general EU discontent seems valid going off the main points that have been raised. That said, I still think the uncertainty of leaving isn't worth a 'leave' vote. If we did leave, we'd be faced with a government who opposed the decision, and no apparent plan of what we'd do after we left.

If he reminds anyone of Connor they have forgotten the mistakes and points that one cost us this year - without the Connor gift goals we would now be comfortable.

But that could be levelled at quite a few players ....

James Wilson under Dunn, for example.

I saw that tweet and had a look at the Donny hashtag (#drfc). Reminded me of this forum earlier in the season.

We're hardly in a position to talk about a badly-managed club, but you can see why their fans are annoyed. Sinking like a stone, loaning a player out to a relegation rival, and relying on One Direction fans to buy replica kits. Plus they've got Ferguson in charge.

I almost began to feel sorry for them. At least if we go down, we'll do it with a fight.

Shame if Holloway is out, can't remember a striker who wins so much in the air. If Main could get onto his wavelength, they could be dangerous.

4 points over Easter, and 2 clean sheets. Compare that to Donny who are dropping like a stone, and Chesterfield who could have gotten clear with wins over us and Fleetwood but instead got 1 point/0 goals. And if Shrewsbury have bad fixtures, then that's another team we've caught up to.

Look after ourselves and we'll stay up.

Holden was involved throughout the bad run so of course he should shoulder some of the blame. But for people to hint that he's the main reason is unfair.

 

Shez was a great appointment but he's also brought in 4 key players that have made a huge difference to the team.

 

I don't understand the anger and personal attacks toward Holden from some, there can't be any doubt he worked his arse off as a player and a coach. It also came across that he had a real love for the club. It just didn't work out for him here. But he must have some qualities for a team much higher in the table to take him on. Anyway, as someone else said, time to move on.

Okay, maybe I'm being too harsh. He seems like an honest bloke and my criticisms aren't personal, but professionally he just wasn't very good.

Other constants in that time... The board and the players. But yeah, Holden's probably the one who had the most influence on results.

As head coach/assistant during 4 separate managerial teams, it's fair to say he was fairly influential to the form during that time. We've seen with Sheridan that the players were underperforming, so while they've got to take some responsibility, so does Holden.

Although I agree about the board. Holden shouldn't have been given as many chances.

Not going over old ground but he did a perfectly fine job as caretaker last season in tough circumstances.

Dale at home aside, the football was boring and we stumbled to the end of the season. I'm sure he's a nice bloke, but since he arrived the football was awful, and it can be a coincidence that form and performances were as bad as they were from Johnson's departure to his sacking when Dunn went.

 

Curtis Main should relinquish the striker role, he's more effective running with the ball from deep. I'd play him on the left wing in place of the struggling Forte.

 

Because playing Adam Rooney as a winger worked out so well. Main will be best for us playing off Holloway's ability to retain the ball. He's a striker. Play him as a striker.

The only redeeming factor of the JPT is the chance to see your team at Wembley, which for most L1/2 teams is a rare occasion. I think Oxford are taking 30,000 to Wembley next week. If we got to Wembley, I'd want the whole experience. That doesn't include facing an empty opposition end because we're playing Swansea U21s.

Stretch the play wide.

 

Tire the opposition by pulling them all over the place.

I remember Bury doing that a few years ago when Cisak got sent off and was replaced by Gerrard early on. But somehow we never do it when we have the chance.

I really enjoyed that free kick. Everyone in the ground knew it was going to blast into the wall, but having Gerrard over it meant there was the smallest chance he'd turned into Ronaldo during training and we were going to equalise.

Very shrewd tactician Hill.

 

Sheridan could learn a thing or two from him.

He knew a goal early in the second half would put the pressure on us, and they got lucky with two. Anyone who's watched an Oldham game in the past ten years will know it's not hard to defend a lead at BP, but Holt and Vincenti were clever substitutions. They held the ball up and we couldn't get any rhythm going.

Kelly was poor, but the team performance was abysmal without him at Sheffield United.

Even if Kelly's performance wasn't a captain's performance, it was like watching Gerrard in his peak in comparison to Forte's captaincy last week.