oafc1955

That just confirms my thoughts............Penneys continued negative tactics are what's driving fans away. I'm not a fan of Colbeck but it seems like he was having a good game and much of our attacking threat seemed to be coming from him....so what does he do....He takes him off and tries to hold on to the victory.........Brilliant!!!

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We were absolutely battering them and really going for the third goal which would have finished them off....then for some strange reason we seemed to change our tactics. I didn't go to the game so I can't really comment but it all seemed to change just after Brooke replaced Colbeck. Was it a Penney masterstroke and the 'keep what we've got attitude' or was it the players.... can somebody who went to the game give us their opinion. Yet again, seems like another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. GUTTED!!!!!!

Instead of................I'm looking forward to his return, he's done very well at dale and if he comes back and shows the same form in our division he could be a big player for us in the second half of the season. Not rocket science is it?......Just good man-management!!!!!

TTA certainly gave Big Joe a free reign to do what he wanted....seems a bit strange when it was revealed that he was never going to stay on as manager. To be fair Hughesy was never going to disrespect the fans but he must have done something serious to provoke the statement " You won't play for this club again"

It's a bloody good job he didn't see any of our previous home games if he thought Saturday was bad!!!

Current SKYBET Odds Worthington N 2/1 Sheridan J 16/1 Levein C 25/1 McAuley S 5/1 Taylor P 16/1 Sanchez L 33/1 Cotterill S 8/1 McAllister G 16/1 Nicol S 33/1 Ferguson D 10/1 Keegan K 20/1 Tisdale P 33/1 Burley G 10/1 Wilkinson H 20/1 Petrescu D 33/1 Hart P 10/1 Dowie I 25/1 Megson G 33/1 Southgate G 12/1 O'Leary D 25/1 Roeder G 40/1 Jewell P 12/1 O Driscoll S 25/1 Wilson D 40/1 Magilton J 14/1 Coppell S 25/1 Turner C 40/1 Clark L 16/1 Curbishley A 25/1 Adams T 40/1 Robins M 16/1

Ronnie ( Bite your leg ) Blair would surely be the first name on the teamsheet!!

Yes, they want to keep O'Grady, but I think they would rather keep Dagnall if it came down to one or the other. I think £30/40,000 would be the very most we could expect from his sale, with Rochdale sitting well clear at the top of the table their board should be fighting tooth and nail to keep them both but Rochdale have always been a selling club and even with their current league position their crowds have not really increased very much!

'Heffernan with Abbott will be too much for most defences in the league'. Agreed, it could be a tasty combination and it's been a while since we've had a strong front two, however, with finances tight it wouldn't surprise me if Heffernan went back as soon as Pav is fit. I think it will depend on where Chris O'Grady ends up....if we get a fee it may finance a Heffernan extended loan. It would be great if we ended up with all three but that's just wishful thinking!!

There are quite a few fans myself include that prefer to watch a game from the side of the pitch rather than behind the goal. Whilst the demolition of the Broadway stand wouldn't stop me from going it might have put a fair few others off. Might explain why there were a lot of fans queing for the main stand at 3 O'clock. I bet there are some regulars that don't go anymore since that stand was demolished......................Just a thought!!

And all very loseable!!!!

I would suggest the crowd was double of what we were likely to get without the reduction so about 3500 extra pay on the day punters. I think it proves that the standard of football ie.. league position is the real pull with attendances, if we had been in the playoff positions we may have had 8/9000. As far as admission prices, I reckon £15/£18 entrance would be nearer the mark but to suggest £12 is a little silly....it's £10 to watch Stalybridge in the conference!!! How about this for an idea........ The cost of admittance is dependant on your corresponding league position. £20 for the first 5 home games and then.... Automatic promotion pos......£22 Playoff positions.....£20 7th-10th......£18 11th-14th....£16 15th and below £14 This would mean that your income generated would be directly proportional to performances on the pitch. Perhaps you could pay the players wages or bonuses based on a similar scenario. Daft idea????

Smalley......like the player we remember!"...............................I must have been watching a different game!!!

I thought we still very poor yesterday and if it wasn't for the terrible opposition we would have drawn yet another blank. Exeter wouldn't have scored if we were still playing now!!! Apart from the goal, I thought Smalley's contribution was woeful and when everybody is fit his position will surely come under threat!! Dale Stephens did well and he would be a good player in a better all round team but generally the midfield who had a lot more of the ball than usual still failed to create very much and yet again a lack of crosses from the wide positions. I can't remember Colbeck getting past his fullback once in the entire 90mins!!! One plus point....at last we have someone who can take a decent corner................we still don't look like scoring from one mind you!"!!

Final score 1 v 2...........you just got away with it O4U........That should be as close as we get to the relegation places but I have a funny feeling that it won't be!!!!

I will admit that if everybody remained seated all of the time during a match in an all seater arena the viewing experience and safety aspect is probably better than standing, however, when a goal is scored or there is continued penalty area action ( I currently excuse latics fans from this phenomenon) it is a natural reaction to stand up and because of this the whole crowd have to follow suit to be able to see. At this point seating areas can become very dangerous indeed and I have myself nearly come a cropper on several occasions when having to stand up due to pushing from behind. The seats in front are invariably shin high and if you were to overbalance and fall forward, as a result, you would almost certainly, at the very least, break your legs. The atmosphere created whilst standing is far far better and it would solve our cost / capacity problem we are encountering at the proposed Failsworth site! I think the time is right and that it would be a good idea to press for a change in regulations, maybe through European parliament, as what's good for Germany should be good enough here!!

Even if he came and failed he would never lose his legendary status with the fans as a player and the same applied to John Sheridan!

The new 'Guy' hasn't wasted any time and has also advertised for a new shop manager!

One thing is crystal clear....something needs to happen, and fast!!!! 6 months is nowhere near long enough for a new manager, he needs a season and a half at least, but the harsh reality is that the tactics we're employing at the moment is what's driving people away. I would like a repeat of the second half against Colchester which is the only time we have played consistent attacking football all season however to do that Exeter may have to go down to 10 men!!!!!! Ronnie Moore was sacked for his lack of connection with the fans, his poor style of football, and the diminishing crowds....I can't see much difference between him and Penney in that respect and the results this season are far far worse!! TTA said in hindsight that they were wrong to sack Moore and for this reason I think Penney's job is safe for now, however, defeats, coupled with poor performances against the so called cannon fodder of this league during the next few weeks may leave them with a major headache during the January window!!

It woud be great to get the home areas full, but I just don't see it happening! I think 7000 will be nearer the mark which if correct will really set the alarm bells ringing in the board room!!! I think the entertainment level is just as important as the cost and the way we have been performing lately it could be even less! Is the away section subject to the cut price offer?

Now I know we have touched on this delicate subject before but here goes. Oldham Council have done naff all for us over the last 20 years or so in fact they have positively hindered our progress as a viable football club. We have been Oldham Athletic for over 100 years and apart from League 1 runners up ( I think ) just before the war, an FA Cup semi final in 1913 and obviously the pinch me seasons of the early nineties we haven't achieved very much in the way of silverware. If our move to Failsworth goes ahead we will be effectively be on the very edge of the Oldham Borough. With this in mind do the town of Oldham really deserve a proffesional football club bearing their name? (personally I don't think they do) I also don't think the move in our present guise will attract much extra support from the Failsworth area and can still see a gradual decline in attendances unless we are able to improve the product on the pitch. The orginal name of our club up until 1899 as many will know was 'Pine Villa'...............Bearing in mind what has happened at dare I say it MK Dons, do you think a renaming/rebranding of the club coinciding with our move to Failsworth would create interest additional interest to the nuetrals from Failsworth. It's not as if we will be selling our souls and historically we would still be the same club.......I think a change of name back to that of Pine Villa could actually be the start of a whole new era!!! Thinking about it.............could it work? Opinions anybody?

I agreed at the time that letting Allott go was the right decision because we were led to believe we would be aiming for a little bit more quality, as it turns out the players we've brought in are no better and possibly worse than we already had so under the circumstances I suppose he should have been retained. We have never replaced Wellens and our midfield has been devoid of skill and ideas for far too long now.......Furman has been a major let down and is maybe another 2nd division player who was at his true level at Bradford and has failed to make the step up!! I admit he's not had much support and hasn't had the benefit of a settled side but a good midfielder should demand the ball more and I've seen no evidence that he can be our playmaker even when we have a fully fit squad. Although we've had our fair share of injuries we do have a playing squad of about 35 of which 26 could be classed as full time pro's. Do we really need that many and could we not cut back the numbers and go for a bit more quality rather than quantity!!!

You need a Worthington type in midfield but from what I've seen so far he is way too reckless and with resulting injuries and suspensions if he plays 20 games for us I'll be surprised!!! He's no good to us playing less than half a season!