oafc1955

I remember Tony Hateley signed for us in the early seventies and played, I think, for half a game before retiring through injury!!

LOL What......Like how we would have lost if they had known he wasn't going to play!!!

OOps they didn't, I emailed Alan Hardy on the subject on Friday and have just got a reply. Preston officially refused to let us play Ormerod in the cup, we didn't announce it in the press because we didn't want the opposition to know. He broke his toe in training on Thursday so wouldn't have played anyway. He will be out for 4 to 6 weeks. APOLOGY ACCEPTED!!!!!!

SMS...Gone back to Preston for treatment on a broken toe!!!!!

Three readily available sources of information, as you said...All of them garbage!!!! He's not even on the bench, so he's obviously not cleared to play.

Eh?

What you on about ...Another one of MY rants!! It isn't a rant, I just think it's a valid point. Simon Corney talked about preparation in HIS rant this week...It's hardly good preparation to have 3 strikers out for one reason or another and be sweating on the availability of a fourth when trying to prepare for a cup tie, the result of which is very important, financially, to our club. I've never put down the younger players at our club and if it were up to me, Allesandra, Smalley and Lomax; would be playing a lot more football than they are at the moment!!!!

Loaning out 2 strikers and allowing both to play in the cup when we are now short ourselves and sweating on the Ormerod availability 24hours before the game......We've gone from having arguably our best squad for years at the start of the season to this scenario...........hardly straightforward is it???

Even if we hadn't received permission at this late stage I should imagine he would still have be named in the squad so I will await an official announcement from the club.

OTT I don't think so!!!! As a subscriber to LW we are told that we are the first to be informed of football news by SMS. There is nothing on the O.S as yet and if it is true (and it has to be confirmed as yet) it's ridiculous that the general media have been informed before the club's own supporters!!!

We are 24hours from the cup game and still haven't received clearance which would allow Ormerod to play. Surely Preston are not still weighing up their options.....You're not telling me that they still haven't decided at this late stage. Why is everything so difficult at this club?.......for God's sake it's not exactly a life or death situation is it!!!!!

Cheltenham are not near the bottom for nothing but it's no good trying to defend and catch them on the break as their aerial bombardment will surely get a goal eventually. I say take the game to them and attack and defend in numbers with a line-up like this.... ...................................Crossley / Fleming ........................ Hazell..........Gregan..........Stam ................Eardley............................................Jones ...........................Allott / Maher.........Whittaker ...........................................Taylor .........................Omerod / Smalley...Allesandra We sometimes have trouble holding possesion away from home so I'd play Taylor just behind the front two as he's probably our best holder of the ball. Jones and Eardley are more than capable as wing backs and can attack the flanks when were on top and get back to defend when required. This formation would help us shore up the midfield when required and give Taylor much more of a free role and increase his attacking threat in the final third. Eardley to full back and Taylor to RW would give us 4 4 2 at any time during the game!

So you reckon we're going to beat Cheltenham on Saturday then!!!

I must admit were are very accomodating to say the least regarding our loan players. We have given Bury and Stockport permission to play both O'Grady and Davies in the 1st round of the FA Cup. Apparantly we have been trying all week to seek permission to play Ormerod but so far with no success. We are without Hughes this weekend due to suspension and If we were to lose him to an injury next week and fail to get anybody in we would be up s**t creak without a paddle. I just can't understand why we have loaned two strikers out at such a busy stage of the season when we ourselves are short of forwards. Very strange, all I can think of is that if we were to get offers for the pair them, we would be willing to let them go. Opinions anybody?

Only 6 Months in to the job...That's a bloody joke!!!!

We all know which players let themselves down on Saturday, obviously Hughes for the unnecessary booking and Gregan by his own admission so Simon isn't criticising players behind their backs, he's not telling us something we don't already know. I think it's brilliant that we have such an open and honest trustee of our club and would rather have that than the dreaded silence every week. Simon is a director foremost but he's also a supporter and it's nice to see the passion displayed from a man previously unconnected to the club. Long may it continue. Let's hope it has the desired effect on Saturday!!!

I reckon it will be a reality check once again and how we can't progress with home crowds around the 5000 mark. The thing is we are now in the middle of a recession and there ain't much anybody can do about it!!! If we don't stay in the top half I can see crowds dropping to nearer 4000!!!!

Stockport not our rival??? I think you'll find they are level on points with ourselves!!!

He wouldn't get flamin cramp if he was playing for us!!!!!

We have to try something different as playing 4 4 2 every week no matter who the opposition is, clearly isn't working!!! We are far too predictable!!!

Could have contributed better for the first goal as any floated cross on the edge of the six yard box should be his especially at 6' 2". He definitely could have done better for the second goal and should have been down at Warne's feet but he dallied about and Warne under no pressure had the easiest of tap ins. The guy's a good shot stopper but most goalkeepers are, it's the other parts to his game that are at fault where speed of thought and agility are required. The guy's too old for me and Fleming should be given a run between the sticks.

Overated???? Taylor IS the best player we have...no question... we just need to use his skill to our best advantage and play him in the middle behind the front two.

I'm afraid the tactics have to change especially at home when our opponents pack the midfield. Huddersfield did it earlier in the season and now Yeovil and we just don't know how to deal with it! We've been overun in midfield home and away so many times this season I've lost count..it has to change!! I'm no expert but would like to see a change and play Taylor in the middle just behind the forwards. My team would be... ..............Crossley / Flemming .......Hazell.......Gregan,.....Stam / Byrne ..Eardley..........................................Jones .................Allott, .........Whittaker ...........................Taylor .............Allesandra............Hughes I reckon Taylor is wasted out wide where he is double marked and is less effective, he would cause more trouble behind the front two and holds the ball up much better than most. Having three in midfield along with 2 wing backs would give us more presence in that area. We could also change it to 4 4 2 at a stroke during a game with Taylor moving wide and Eardley dropping back to full back. I think it would give us a much more versatile formation. Opinions please?

How many more loan players are we going to sign!!!! ..............We have nearly half a flaming squad that haven't even played yet. Thompson, Davies, Kalala, O'Grady, all out on loan for different reasons but probably three of them not coming back. Don't forget, these were all hand picked by Shez!!! He signed midfielders for fun before the season started and has never played more than two in any game Lee, Stephens, Maher, and Smalley have hardly had a kick between them...what the hell's going on!! We have Ormerod and Jones on loan already and now we are going for two more, it doesen't exactly send the right signals out to the rest of the squad!!! I thought we had finally assembled a squad to get us out of this division but Shez has obviously got other ideas. Has he lost the plot or what!!!!!!

Spot on with your comments there...Apart from him being a better player when he comes back...If he does OK at County he won't be coming back. You just don't loan one of your so called best strikers to a rival unless you seriously want him out!!! I reckon there's been a major fall out behind the scenes!