perfectOzblue

Hope not. His record (apart from one purple patch for Brentford) is pretty underwhelming. No chance with Derbyshire (has he moved on from Forest yet?) but Lee Barnard - playing in a decent team with a decent pre-season behind him - would be seriously handy.

James Hayter? Maybe Yeovil are letting him go and Johnson senior has given us first dibs?

Ludo Miklosko irritated the hell out of me. He was great in the 90/91 match. Seem to remember him catching absolutely everything as well when West Ham beat us 2-1 at BP late in 93/94 and sank another nail in our 'Goodbye Premier League' coffin.

Don't worry. Don't forget, no-one thought Yeovil, Trashmere and Walsall would be up there this season. Team spirit, fitness and organisation can get you far. We're a long way from the finished article yet. I know we've lost some players but these were the bozos that were useless for most of last season.

Stefan Stam, the big Dutchman?

BRILLIANT!! PLEASE let this chant catch on.....

The full version please: "Ole Ole Ole, Ole Ole Ole Sidney Schmeltz Schmeltz Schmeltz..." (waves hands in air conga style...).

I keep my mid-90s Latics scarf wrapped around the Mac I use at work in Oz. Gets occasional quizzical glances from people expecting it to be an AFL or NRL team. No chance.

Reporter on Fox Sports here in Oz just referred to "the late goal by Mark Robins in the FA Cup semi-final replay that saw off OXFORD UNITED". Prat.

Anyone know if is he a Sydney boy? I'll get him down Balmain, ply him with schooners and stick the contract in front of him to sign when he's off his face. Job done.

Agree totally. Actually, if I remember right, Trashmere finished only just out of the play-offs that year and had a solid team too. All the top seven were good teams. Still reckon we would have gone up if we hadn't suffered horrendous injury problems to class players like Wijnhard and Murray. I remember feeling total desolation on the tube after the second leg. Definitely in my top ten most memorable matches as a Latics fan, but unfortunately for the wrong reasons.

Playing Brisbane in a few weeks with the original line-up (Bez et al), according to the posters. Anyone seen them recently? Any cop? My heart says save the cash (not a huge fan) but it's tough seeing okay live music where I live in Oz. Also seeing the Stone Roses next week in Brissie. Can I expect a shambling mess or a decent night?

Agree with you. That first season here he was absolutely quality. You could see his class and he led the line superbly. He scored some great goals too. I used to hold him partly culpable for our plunge into League One (and subsequent mediocrity) but in fairness he was probably let down in management by (as he says) a crap board, ageing players and no budget.

"Can Neil Redfearn do it.....(hushed silence for three seconds)." With you mate. Could listen to that for eternity......

Sleep, try and get myself up at 2am to follow it on t'internet, or else get woken up at some godforsaken hour by the inevitable "Latics blew it again" text from my old man. Then can't get back to sleep due to annoyance/frustration/sadness at supporting such a crap team.

Would Royle fancy coming back again?

Someone who can get these players playing to their ability. Never been a great fan of his attention-seeking public persona but Phil Brown would be okay. Dowie wouldn't be bad. Didn't Real lose again this weekend though? Maybe it's all falling into place for Mourinho to come to BP.....

Let's hope he's improved from this...

Or go 4-5-1 'Christmas Tree' formation...drop one of Furman and Wes, have a defensive midfielder, the two wingers and then Baxter and Simpson playing off a front man.

I work on an Australian newspaper and this story was on our news wires today. Could have got Latics in the paper, but the Aussies' jammy win over Sri Lanka took precedence...

Hey mate, You are certainly not alone. I came here in February 2009 (I'm now 33) and have been here since. In fact, I take the blame for our ongoing problems, as on the day I left we were playing Leeds in the pink kit and knocking on the door of the play-offs. Then our form nosedived, then Shez got sacked, then David Penney and...well, you know the rest. I agree with your comments re: the fishal website. to be honest, I barely check it now. I log straight on here to see what people are talking about. I came home for three weeks last month and saw the Scunthorpe and Coventry games. It was nice to be back at BP again but both games (the Coventry match in particular) were just spectacularly awful. I miss going to the matches a lot but I always have memories of the Sheffield Wednesday match, beating Man U etc. More people have heard of Oldham Athletic out here than I thought would have, which is quite nice. I find it a bit bizarre that a couple of people have said things like "Oh, but you must go for a Premier League team as well." Erm, no! I don't think following a team through thick and thin is burnt into their DNA like ours. One thing I definitely miss is the whole match day experience. I still get the urge at 1.30pm every Saturday afternoon to pull on my jacket and Oldham scarf and head off to catch the 409. I miss going to the matches, or else plonking down in front of Soccer Saturday or taking a walk with GMR on the headphones Again, I think that's something that's lacking here - the whole routine and build up to matches (definitely in New South Wales - maybe it's a bit more fanatical In Victoria with the AFL). Anyway mate, I think LANZAC sounds like a champion idea - count me in! Continuing with the Latics theme, I see our ex-loanee Fabio Ferreira has been playing for Adelaide United in the A-League this season. I see Harry Kewell has pitched up here and looks like he might be getting a game with Perth Glory. And how about the boy Del Piero? Finally these Aussies are realising what the beautiful game really is.

I think that was Rob Jones. Giant central defender who has signed for Donny from the Wendies.

Don't know I just watched this - Fergie's smile just makes me want to stab my eyes with a rusty knife....

Poster on the always-reliable Football Rumours website reckons we are going to sign him on loan. Plausible I guess - according to his Wikipedia site, he signed a three-year deal with the Wendies in 2010. Wasn't a regular for them last year and is unlikely to feature much this year either. Could be useful as a left winger as he always looked better for us going forward.

Lawrence....or Gallagher?!