Steve_R

It really does make me laugh when people compare Nick Barmby and Paul Scholes. And for all this about the Div 3 hatchet men targeting him, if he ever did end up at this level it would be the other way round. Every one has a love in with Scholes on here because he supports us (or at least he used to). But all this 'he can't tackle' bollocks that the Sky comentators come out with every time he scythes someone down is exactly that, bollocks. He knows exactly what he's doing, a great player but a dirty bastard to boot. Anyway, he'll never play for us, but it wouldn't surprise me if he starts (and possibly ends) his managerial carreer here.

If we start playing like that Luton side then I definately wont be looking forward to next season, no matter what results we get. Christ, Blackwell's tactics that night made Ronnie Moore look like Pep Guardiola.

We won four and drew four. Promotion form in my book. And as it happens, Hughes scored seven goals in those eight games. Stats eh!

Stats can be manipulated in anyway anyone wants to use them. For example, Darren Byfield played eight games for us last season and was never on the losing side, but I've yet to hear one Latics fans say we should have kept him,

The thing is, since Sharp and upto Sheridan, every manager we've employed to get us out of this division has achieved at least one promotion with another club either before or since their time here. Yer apart from Dowie we've sacked every one of them with the vast majority of the fans approval at the time. Lets hope Penney gets given the time and receives patience from the fans, but to be honest I won't be holding my breath.

To be honest I’ve no idea whether it’s true or not and I’m not necessarily saying there’s anything wrong with it. It’s just what I’ve picked up off the County board. It would appear the 90% of them worship the ground he walks on whereas 10% have reservations about him and wish he would wind his neck in a bit. I was just trying to give a reason why some people seem dead set against him, as those who are don’t seem to come up with anything more than ‘anybody but him!’

Perhaps that's one of the reasons that their financial position is so dire.

With regards to Gannon, from what I’ve picked up of the Stockport message board it would appear that he’s on ‘allegedly’ on a very, very substantial salary, gets a cut of the transfer fee on all player sales and on gate receipts above a certain level. He has, again allegedly, fallen out with the Trust, (who currently run the club) big style, refuses to speak to the Chairman, hasn’t attended a post match press conference for ages and refuses to even do his column in the club programme any more. He’s very confrontational, has had a few run ins with the crowd when they’ve questioned his decisions, and it has been said that he wouldn’t get away with his antics with any other club board, but most of the fans love him and he plays up on this, knowing full well the board daren’t sack him or even criticize him no matter what he says. On the playing side you can’t fault his achievements. He’s had success, his sides play good football and he has an uncanny knack of bringing through/spotting young players, developing them and in a few cases making County a fair few bob in the process. But he seems a very complex character and I’m not sure how he’d get on with our own firebrand, Mr. Corney, or indeed the ‘Main Stand Massiv’ when he makes a substitution or tactical change they don’t agree with. It could be interesting though.

I think there's a fair few players who you could lay that accusation at, but only one seems to get singled out continously stangely enough.

So there’s a rumour that a club from a higher division is interested in him and once again it becomes a ‘lets slag Eardley off’ thread. I can’t believe the number of times his selection for his country is used as a stick to beat him with, and where has all this crap about his attitude come from? Watching Latics recently has been pretty much watching a side low on confidence making a series of errors (OK, that’s the polite way of putting it). Most of these mistakes attract the odd comment, but the moment Eardley does anything remotely wrong a collective groan echoes round the ground and the tone is set for the rest of the afternoon. I really hope he leaves in the summer for his own good. Hopefully we can make a few bob, he can get on with the rest of his career, and I won’t have to listen/read the inane drivel about him. The only problem is a new target will be set up for the snipers to aim at.

So how many times did Gregan give the ball away, or Stam, Taylor, Lee or anyone else. Or couldn't you be bothered counting them.

Maybe Andy Goram isn't the best comparison. Try John Sheridan, or even Andy Ritchie. Both gave their all for us as players, but when things weren't working for them as the manager that was all forgotten and they were both roundly slated, both at the games and on message boards etc. Ritchie's reputation seems to have escaped unblemished as he is still regarded as a hero, but there are a lot of people with short memories and he got some unmerciless stick when he was the manager. Many thought that getting rid of him was the answer to all our problems, only for (some of) them to change their minds years later when we've tried god knows how many managers and we're still in this flamin' division! I hope in years to come Sheridan is regarded a lot more fondly that he has been in the last few months, but some of the crap that has been spouted about someone who went above and beyond the call of duty has been pretty sickening to say the least. Make no mistake, if Joe doesn't have us challenging next season (if he's here) and the football's not that good then what he achieved in the past will count for diddly squat, and he'll get it in the neck from all those who were dancing in the street when he got the job three weeks ago. Football has changed, memories are short and Joe will cop for a load of abuse if it doesn't go swimmingly. In fact, there were plenty who wanted him out towards the end of his last reign.

I'm really sorry to hear this. I knew Reg well as I worked with him at British Aerospace for a good while, and he was a genuinely decent bloke and staunchly loyal Latics fan. Funnily enough I was only talking about him on Saturday after the game with another ex workmate. RIP Reg.

So say for example in his first season we are in a relegation battle but just avoid the drop, the second we 're a little more comfortable and finish 15th, and this season we 're consistently mid table, hovering around 10/12th all season, then he keeps his job? I've not a problem with that personally, but if that had been Sheridan's record do you think he'd still be here with the fans backing?

I used to contribute regularly, did a few interviews with Dowie, Ritchie, Warnock (!), Vic Halom and amazingly Jim Fryatt over the phone from his home in USA. I did quite a few other articles, great games, terrible games, that sort of thing, and would be up for helping out again if needed. I'm not sure if Pete Mason comes on here. I think someone posts as Lincoln Blue, where he lives (or at least he used to) but I don't know whether that's him or not. Incidentally,Big Joe used to hate it with a passion and I'm sure he was behind the decision behind it's sale in the ground, although I could be wrong.

The problem is everybody seems to have changed their minds. All season people have been spouting on about how this is the strongest squad we've had in ages and should be challenging the top two, it's just that Sheridan doesn't know how to manage them. Now he's gone it appears that they're all crap and it's his fault for signing such a bunch of losers in the first place.

You say you could have used others as an example, but you didn't. Twice, in a debate that had nothing to do with Gerrard, you brought him up merely to have a go at him, which suggests to me that you have a problem with him, much as you say Diego does with Ferguson and Man U. It is hard sometimes not to tar all Utd fans with the same brush, i.e.: out of town glory hunters, and whilst I appreciate many are not, you'll get little sympathy on an Oldham Athletic message board if you are a Man U fan of any description. Whether that’s right or wrong that's the way it is, and in just the same way that you have an intense dislike for Liverpool (and others I've no doubt), most Latics fans (myself included) feel the same way about your club. Whether that is reciprocated is absolutely irrelevant.

Any other player from any other team (say, for example, the press' darling "Stevie Me") Liverpool dealt in long balls (sorry, long passes when Stevie G tm executes his 3 out of 10 that stay in play You ask Diego why he has a hatred (or dislike as he says) of a manager and team who have nothing to do with him. Yet the above quotes made by yourself would indicate something similar from you about a player who has nothing to do with Man U. I guess that's OK though in the little land of paranoia that Man U fans seem to inhabit.

, but the three points were there for the taking Even by the bollocks you normally spout Derek, that takes some beating. How the hell,when you're up against a team that are absolutely pissing the league,down to ten men with a centre forward in goal ,can three points be there for the taking. We're not that good,but the expectations that some fans(?) have is ridiculous. It's a great point,but bollocks to that,lets do what we do best eh, moan,moan, moan

He'd have to be really cute to get Donny to let us have McCammon in part exchange seeing as he left there for Gillingham in the summer. I realise you don't have much time for Sheridan but at least try to stick to criticsms to things that he has a chance of actually carrying out.

Started two, plus 5 substitute appearances. Well according to soccerbase anyway.

He started two games for them. Hardly a first team regular

Good point this, which I've been thinking about myself. I can't see how Doncaster (or any other club) would know about it unless someone told them, which leaves either option a or b.

Would the housing market have to reach the buoyant state it was in when the stadium plans where hatched for the development to go ahead, or alternative plans being drawn up if any recovery is much slower? Why, whenever we sign a player and a fee is involved e.g. O’Grady, Davies, Allott, is it always reported as an undisclosed fee? Why don’t you just tell us how much they cost? It's been reported in an interview with Simon Corney in Four Four Two that we have the fifth smallest budget in the division, when the impression previously given is that we have one of the largest (top half at least), hence the high expectations by any, and indeed Corney himself. Is this 'fifth smallest' figure correct?

Which is ironic really as most of our fans seem to see our weak area as our right back.