LaticsChris

My uncle is a Rangers fan. He came to watch us on Boxing Day a few years back. Close enough?

This thread is like something from the Twilight Zone.

I agree with JA11K that Winchester is good on the ball, he's clearly talented. But he really needs to bulk up and to learn how to use his body in the blood and thunder of a league one midfield to find space to demonstrate his ability with the ball. If - and it's a big "if" - he does that he really could become key. I'd give him a new contract, but it's on the proviso that he's going to be developed in one position, ideally centre midfield. Time is running out on him at Latics though. Meanwhile we're back in the old routine of handing out loanee debuts like they're going out of fashion.

Latics 1-1 Crawley (0-0) Clarke-Harris 3,819

Nowhere near big enough. Not to mention the difficulties involved in terms of access etc.

I trust he was less of a prick than Michael Owen when he was playing against kids?

Three "no"s from me. As with a few others though it will be a financial decision. I'm hoping to be able to get one the season after however, whether we're Championship or Skrill Premier.

Crewe 2-2 Athletic (0-1) Clarke-Harris 4,872

Different projects, different contractors, etc etc etc http://www.owtb.co.uk/index.php/topic/43762-north-stand-update/page-17

Can't wait to use this for next season's Liverpool game.

Hard to say, obviously a lot depends on contracts etc. Primarily - and off the top of my head - I'd like to think we could keep Clarke-Harris, Turner, Brown, Dayton, Mellor, Winchester along with the tyros from the youth team and use them as the core of a young, settled(ish) squad that could compete at League 2 level. I've chosen them as I think they're realistic bets to stay either due to their contract status or potential lack of interest from other clubs (this is Dayton, though I think he's a long shot as he seems to be highly rated). Lockwood is probably a good shout to stay as well, I think he'd be useful as an old head in a young League 2 side.

I'd keep him if we went down, largely because I'd want to see us keep together a squad and management team that could have a crack at coming back up. What would your reasons be for sacking him? And more pertinently who (or what type of candidate) would you want to replace him?

I think something witty on a flag would work really well. Liverpool have some cracking flags and banners, admittedly a huge chunk of them are self congratulatory nonsense but some of them are quite funny. It's hard to think of something as we don't have players or managers that hang around, but something that reflects the town would work quite well.

This fascination about the captaincy is strange. If you're playing in a team then it's your responsibility to rally your team mates, particularly if you're a senior player. It's a team sport, everyone relies on each other, not just the captain. Anyway I see a lot of encouraging from Smith, he might not bawl and scream but he's always speaking to his team mates.

For what it's worth, these are the football league's official statistics, which seem to conflict with the club website: http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/DivisionalShooting/0,,10794~201325,00.html According to the FL Smith has had 9 on target and 26 off.

There you go again being negative.

I like it, it made me smile. Football forgets that's what it's for sometimes.

Yeah, it comes down to whether you had the chance to avoid contact but also whether or not there's deliberate movement of the hand towards the ball. This is why I think the hand movement that comes with running can be misconstrued as deliberate handball.

Firstly, no, I'm not saying referees can't tell. I'm saying referees often find it difficult because it's a difficult decision to make in the middle of a frenetic game of football in which the referee is making a decision every few seconds, so why give them that extra decision to make? Besides, I'm pretty sure leeslover was referring to when players throw their arms behind their back as they face up to an attacker preparing to cross the ball or shoot, not the full ninety minutes.

Yeah you're right, but from a players point of view if you can avoid giving the referee a decision to make why would you risk it? Particularly as with your arms pumping and waving in a running motion your hand/arm will inevitable make a movement towards the ball. It's only the same as not diving into a tackle: if you don't make the tackle you don't give the referee the chance to give a free kick/penalty. Referees are human after all, if there's a decision to be made there's a reasonable chance a mistake could be made. Edit: As for Clarke-Harris on Saturday, I thought it hit his shoulder. However regardless of whether it did or not, the way he lurched towards the ball probably made up the referee's mind.

No law, but if you remove your arms from the equation you can't concede a penalty for handball.

No need to take the piss just because he's a fat bastard though.

I'm sure the impressive use of smoke/flares in European football stems from at least a modicum of pre-planning. Something mercilessly beaten down in these parts, as the occasional "New Chant" threads will testify.

I wouldn't say there's little substance to his talk, more he's finding it a lot harder to implement than he anticipated. The comparison between the two managers right now - whilst interesting - isn't as revealing as it could be in a year or two. I, and I think a number of others, were hopeful that after his first season Dickov would build on the positives he had brought to the table and improve. Sadly he didn't, merely stagnating and in some cases regressing. This is where the acid test comes for Johnson: does he improve and learn from the mistakes and experiences of his first 12 months in management over the course of his tenure at Boundary Park? I'm fairly optimistic he will, though I will admit my confidence in this respect has been knocked in the last few months.

You're a bit slow off the mark there, we've played thirty-five.