Gary1906

Clarke-Harris scored 7 in 45 games for us. He’s scored 9 in 69 for Rotherham. Davies on the other hand has scored 10 in half a season. Being more mobile is all well and good but scoring goals is all a striker needs to do and I’m afraid 16 goals in 114 is woeful for a centre forward. Cant see the sense in letting Davies go for a minimal fee if JCH is to be his replacement.

Why wasn’t this fairly in depth interview conducted by ifollow Latics, and why isn’t it on the Latics website?

Pay over the odds? I doubt we’ll be paying anything anyway. More likely to be loan signings I would think. Bury have already got Peter Clarke and James Hanson snapped up, still leaving scope and time for more. Good business in my opinion.

And??? ......... on the 30th January, if we haven’t signed a striker, they will ‘unveil’ someone with a goalscoring record of 10 goals in 100 appearances for 12 different clubs and expect him to get us out of the mire. I’ve seen it before. Surely you have too. All I’m saying is that they should do their business early and so not be left with players that nobody else wants. Makes sense to me.

In another 27 days we’ll probably still be saying that we need another striker, and we’ll end up with Michael Ngoo or someone of a similar class. Get your act together Latics instead of being left with the dregs. ?

Agreed! You don’t loan your club captain to a rival club when there’s a probable relegation fight on the cards, you just don’t. Plus as per normal loan agreements we’ll probably be paying part of his wages as well. How mad is that!!! ?

Agreed. Can’t understand it at all. Bury have signed James Hanson as well. We need to get our act together quickly.

Wilson is a utility player, not a proper centre half in my opinion.

Couldn’t agree more. Signed a two and half year deal last season. Archetypal club captain. He’s great cover to have on the bench and he should be nailed on for a future coaching position at Latics. Can’t see the sense in helping out a possible relegation rival club.

He probably has got talent but we shouldn’t be turning to a youngster who really struggled earlier in the season. I think we need experience for what is looking like a relegation battle again. Also we desperately need a goalscorer as well.

Edmundson? Yeah coz he was really impressing before he went out on loan to two non-League clubs!! Dearie me!!! i hope we are going to recruit better than that. We need experience, not someone who was struggling at this level before he was sent out on loan!

What exactly is the way? We were playing great football with Doyle & Davies up front, and scoring loads of goals. We lose one of them through unfortunate circumstances, so we let the other one go for a small fee? Who the hell would we bring in with our finances??

Portsmouth offered a ‘small fee’ for Craig Davies. If Latics accept a small fee they are short-sighted in the extreme!!

What a ridiculous thing to say!

You don’t need to see, it’s all about opinions. Bury’s gain will be our loss. He should be kept as cover. He played every minute of every game last season. He’s not past it, and I reckon he’s quicker than the younger Gerrard, and he certainly doesn’t get turned as easily. Wellens should free up some of the wage bill by letting the likes of Flynn and Green go. They add little or nothing to the squad.

For crying out loud. 15 goals in 80 games, and he’s supposed to be a striker?? Whats Michael Ngoo up to these days?

Say what you want. I think it’s a sad way to treat a club captain who along with Ripley last season was partly responsible for a record number of clean sheets in a team that largely struggled all season. I hope it is a good move for him. He’s been great for us!

I agree with all of that, but Gerrard will be on decent money as well. I know he’s younger but I just prefer Clarke. Only my opinion but it’s Wellens’ opinion that counts and it looks like he’s being shown the door. It’s a sad way to go though for someone who was so immense for us last season.

I don’t actually think he should be sat on the bench personally.

Unfortunately I think Clarke is on his way. Wellens clearly doesn’t fancy him. It’s true that he’s not been at his best like last season when he was outstanding, but personally I’d keep him. He’s the club captain, he leads by example, and worth retaining as centre half cover if nothing else.

Andy Mangan would be underwhelming looking at his goalscoring record. A typical Latics signing of the past few seasons.

IMO the Gillingham game showed how important Dan Gardner is for us. When Byrne and Gardner were on the pitch we had two players in midfield who wanted the ball and who could be creative with it. Once Gardner was subbed on Saturday we was left with only Byrne who actually wanted the ball in the middle. Green is nowhere near as creative as Gardner or Byrne and to be honest I thought he looked slow on Saturday in comparison and gave the ball away too often in the relatively short time he was on the pitch. Fane breaks up play well, and is good at what he does but I think he’s the most awkward looking player with the ball at his feet that I’ve ever seen! He is getting better though, and definitely worth his place in the team. Jack Byrne catches the eye - and rightly so most of the time - but don’t underestimate Dan Gardner’s contributions. He’s got pace, excellent control and distribution, and he can put a tackle in.

Wellens for me. Although if it’s someone else it should be a proviso that Wellens is guaranteed the No2 role, assuming he would be happy with that. I think he’s done enough to be given the job though. He comes across really well, and sounds like he’s really switched on.

Pretty much 4-4-2 I’d say. Dummigan RB, Hunt LB, Clarke and Bryan CB’s. Byrne and Fane in the middle with Gardner and Nepomuceno out wide. Davies and Doyle up top. They interchanged a little but basically that’s how I saw the formation. They look a lot more solid now that’s for sure!

Latics were just fantastic yesterday. They played like the home team. The Sky Sports App stats at half time showed us having had 16 shots to Pompey’s 4. Doyle’s finish for his second goal was sublime, really hope we can look at getting him permanently in January if we have the money from the investment. Every player was excellent though. It was the best performance I’ve seen from a Latics team in years! And to say we were the away team makes it even better. Let’s hope we can keep up this momentum.