seasidelatic

Those grapes are sour aren't they! Dodgy penalty? Alessandra (spelt wrong on their site) offside for the goal? I think not

At the time I was too busy tearing my hair out to be outraged. Now I'm outraged! And you're right, the announcer sounded far too excited to be announcing Millwall's scorers.

But after all it is Blackburn Rovers who I have money on to go down! and £3,000,000 is a lot of money Thinking about it, that is six Neal Trotman's I'd quite like one Neal Trotman, never mind six! With the inflated fees which surround British (actually, all) players surely £1million is about right?

I would have liked more crosses coming into the box, yes. I didn't really feel like we were much of a threat with his crosses coming in from a deeper position. Did he really know much about the first goal? He may well have been credited with it but from the Chaddy it just looked like a scambled mess of a goal. (Please fill me in though, I've actually got no idea!) I'll admit there was no other player I'd rather have taken the penalty but generally (Taylor's goal aside) the corners and free kicks weren't that good. I'm not Stam's brother, no! We have a similar hairstyle... - Gregan didn't impress me at all yesterday. Or in pre-season, making silly mistakes. And why did he keep insisting on trying to be Beckenbauer and dribble it out from defence? I don't doubt Hazell's ability, not at all, but I think showing players that no-one is guaranteed a place in the 11, especially when there is another centre-half with the quality of Stam in the squad, is surely a good thing? One mistake per game is, for me, too many. It is only August though, am I being too critical?

It was only the first game though, I expect Eardley to have a great season. How people can doubt his ability is beyond me Was their winger called David Mirfin? I didn't get a programme so I couldn't be sure and I couldn't quite make out his name from his jersey!

Really? I honestly didn't see Liddell doing much today, penalty aside. The amount of times he had the opportunity to beat a man, get to the by-line and swing a ball over, must have been at least ten. Along with Gregan and Maher, I thought Liddell could (and should) have been on the bench, we wouldn't have missed him.

Is there not an automatic sell-on fee to go to the previous club when the player was under-24 when transferred? Assuming he was under-24 and I haven't imagined this

What I can't understand is Taylor at left-back. Just, why? No doubting him as a right-sided winger but a left back? I'd have Lomax, Black and Lee in there before him, every time. And does anyone else think the midfield will (hopefully) be; Philips Lee Allott Taylor ?

Leicester won't go up and neither will Huddersfarm, or Scunthorpe! They'll be below the play-offs. Leeds to win, sadly. Any from Us, Brighton, Carlisle and shall I stick my neck out and say Peterborough for the next 4 places? Yes, I will. We'll finish 4th/5th

The article says he has played in the Championship before. When? Man Utd>Blackpool>Us>Doncaster. No?

Or get promoted and win the Paint Pot trophy

I wonder who will eventually assume the responsibility of the #28 jersey? Those are some pretty big boots to follow.

My 'job' is as an 'International Relations and Politics' student at Salford! So thanks to all you lovely tax payers for keeping me in student loans/gallons of beer. Shame I have to pay it back at 5% interest. Though I do spend my second year working for an MP, so if any of you will be needing any favours......

Why not give him a fancy gold one, while they're at it?

I've not been able to post on here at all recently, but I've been so astounded tonight at reading this thread - Derek's comments in particular. I fail to see how Eardley or Taylor are only worth £250,000. I had a look to see who has recently moved for around a quarter of a million, a few names came up. Drew Talbot, at Luton; Odejayi to Barnsley; Clive Platt to Colchester; Graham Alexander to Burnley. Now I've had a look and they seemed to me the most value for money £250k players from last summer, there or thereabouts. For me, Taylor and Eardley are both if not already above that caliber, then certainly have the potential to surpass it. If that Gunter chap went to Spurs for £1.5million, intially, with sell-ons and clauses to take it up to £3million(!) then surely Eardley is worth the same. They are both flexible (Gunter can play both full-back positions, Eardley as we know is comfortable as a full-back, wing-back and in central midfield) and are both future International stalwarts. Taylor has always been looked at by clubs Championship and higher, last season may not have been his most effective, but he was on the left for 90% of it, and its clear he is most effective on the right. But it has shown other clubs that he can play on both sides, and he's slotted in at full-back comfortably on a few occasions. I said previously that anything less than £750,000 for Taylor was an outrage. I think that's about right. But for Eardley we need to be looking at £1,000,000+. Who wants to sell their captain, anyway? Keep the Faith

He'd be mad to go there - they have one more season of stuggling in the Championship and then they're on their way back down. And anything less than £750k is a slap in the face.

I am a student and I think that even having to pay extra to become a 'student member' is a total joke. I chose my university (Salford) because it was close enough to Oldham (true story!) to get to home games and as of next year I'll have to fork out full pay for a Season Ticket when I cannot realistically get a job. It's fine for those who aren't at Uni saying 'get a part-time job' etc; but the reality is that from October I'll be in lectures for three to six hours a day and expected to get involved with local politics and the student paper. There just isn't time to get a part-time job really. Not to mention that if I did get a job I'd get less of a loan and no maintainance grants or bursary. Which would instantly see me £3600 out of pocket! I think the students get such a raw deal at Latics, my girlfriend wanted to come to watch a game, but would have had to pay £13 to register as a student. (£13 a year!) so to watch one game would have worked out at £24. It's a complete joke, I think. And it's easy to police, bring along your letter of confirmation from UCAS and then get a photocard or something to entitle you to concessions. I was so mad at this when it was first brought to my attention, but as I can get an intermediary ticket at the moment its not such a problem. Keep the Faith

Saw a few parents carrying their kids on! After the goal and at full time! Scandalous if you ask me. Keep the Faith

Really?! I thought he was terrible! Didn't think he was going to hit the target all game until the 'penalty'.

Another top scorer () - but either on the highlights programmes or on the pitch Lee Barnard (at Southend, was on loan at Crewe from Spurs first) has always impressed me no end.

I agree completely, would love to see him back here. Thought that he was just getting some proper match sharpness towards the end of his spell with us - with a full pre-season behind him he would be a force in this division. After reading the things in this thread about him, makes it seem more likely that we could have a chance of getting him back. Here's hoping! Keep the Faith

Jason Scotland's been the one outstanding player, for me. Superb signing for Swansea.

Stam, Crossley and Black are left footers too. 4 players out of a squad of 22ish. I think Kelly is left-footed on FM2008. Keep the Faith

! Definately get Smalley on a three-year deal too, those two are real prospects for this team. Keep the Faith

If Wolfenden is here next season then good, in my opinion. I think he has the ability, and the attributes, to make it at our level. If he'd been given more pitch time so far in his career then who knows how many he could have scored. I would, however, like to see him shipped out to a League Two side next season, like someone has said earlier, until maybe January 1st. If by that stage either he has impressed us enough to bring him back and give him a go, so be it. If he hasn't impressed the Oldham staff enough, then someone else will have taken a liking to him; I'm sure of that. I never like it when players we've brought through from a young age are moved on. Shame to see them go, really. Keep the Faith