stargazer

Since the glory years , the best moment for me was when Wabara's header that I thought was going well over the bar ,was in the net. There was a millisecond of quiet before the explosion of noise in the Rocky Road End as we went 3-1 up against the five times Kings of Europe .....and we were 17th in Division 3.

'The Penalty' . An amazing climax to a stupendous game and season. Ritchie scoring to take the lead against Champions Arsenal in the League Cup. Ritchie equalising at The Dell in the 93rd minute of League Cup Q/F Roger's hat trick goal at Maine Road . Rick Holden making it 4-0 in League Cup semi final seconds into the second half , confirming we were going to Wembley.

Lots of shots according to the Beeb , but the vast majority off target. Bristol City fans must walk away from home games in disbelief. Drop down a division and not won in 7 so far, with a much bigger budget than teams like us.

If you had said that Tarks missing a game 12 months ago was a disaster , you would have been in a very small minority . Compliment to how he has matured and kept both his form & fitness. At least he returns tomorrow. The various wide players have been a bitter disappointment after a bright start , the decision to get rid of Lee Croft may have been down to finances , but he is sadly missed. Add in out best footballers Baxter & Simpson having departed, leaving us with a very average team . All the coaching badges in the world do not prepare anyone for the inconsistent nature of players at our level , let's hope the manager can get the team to show some steel away from home . Let's hope it isn't 7 successive away games .

Thought Wimbledon v Coventry would be the first choice for TV. 1987 winners v 1988 winners

Apology to fans ......it's like Groundhog Day . This happened numerous times last season. Why do we seem to get the type of players where this is necessary , it should not happen. Work as hard as possible in training and on match day should not ever be an issue. And now we turn to loanees , yet again.

JPT wins were terrific and if they lead to Wembley it will be a fantastic weekend but.....they do not reflect league form ,as full strength teams not always played. Going to be very hard game on Saturday , Bristol City will be buzzing after scoring 4 at Carlisle.

Home form will need to stay solid ,no chance of climbing the table whilst this continues. Very disappointing result to bottom of the table .

Think he captained both United & Scotland(in an era when they were a world class team). A superb centre half . But as I recollect we played him at full back & he was a long , long way past his prime , struggled badly . Didn't enjoy seeing a player of his ability so uncomfortable.

Mark Ward was a fantastic player , one of the very best we ever had imo.

Ryan left with the world at his feet , he was a pale shadow of that player when he returned.

With the teams left Wembley looks as achievable as two seasons ago . I would love us to get their for the fans who were too young(or not even born) to recall going to Wembley to watch Oldham ......let's hope it doesn't end in tears again.

Staggering length of time to build one stand , or not build so far.

Remember a 0-0 draw Boothfery Park on a Tuesday night. Hull were up to something like 30 games without a win , was sure we would finish their run for them , but amazinlgy we didn't.

Yes , the 2-5 defeat was a 'dead rubber' for us , having comfortably stayed up. Seem to remember Keith Curle going on a 50 yard surge upfield with no tackles in sight. Can't think of many other times that such a defeat didn't leave me inconsolable .

Anglo Scottish Cup Final Oldham 1 Burnley 4 Recollect a very large crowd and getting a few minutes after kick off ......we were already 2-0 down .

We lost to Orient in the FA Cup 3rd round in 1986. We had not won a game for 3 months I seem to recollect. It was the darkest point before the dawn. Linighan , Irwin , and Paul Jones arrived and the rest of the decade was a magical time.

I think year after year of struggle has created the situation where lots of fans are just happy the club exists & expectations are getting less and less. This version of Oldham Athletic are capable of playing good football and dominating possession .......for an hour or so. We don't however finish games strongly in my opinion , yet I thought fitness was an issue that was going to be dealt with. Eventually there will be a thumping of the opposition , but for the life of me I cannot see the team banging in 3 or 4 wins on the bounce to climb the table. Team performance level varies greatly from game to game , but inability to keep a clean sheet does not.

As fine a player as David Eyres was (in the 3rd tier of English football for us) , his inclusion is solely for people under 30 to recognise somebody they saw play imo. Does he really come above players such as Neil Redfearn , for his dynamic midfield drive to the promised land and that penalty Frank Bunn , still in the record books 24 years after his blitz of Scarborough Dennis Irwin , the finest full back you will ever see Ian Marshall , defender and goal scoring centre forward machine ,who's goals got us promoted at Ipswich Andy Goram , Earl Barrett ....etc I think not

Of course we are in big trouble. Constant talk of the new stand (any time soon please) , new investors and the new players have very rapidly lost their element of surprise & look as desperate as last season's underachievers.

Soft touch Athletic for the upteenth season. We can ' talk the talk' before every game , but are as battle hardened as a blancmange come kick off time. Dickov ,Penney , Moore , Talbot & co would have been torn to shreds for two wins in nine and 1 point out of 18. So much for the chairmans new prodigy ....we are and have been for years a shambles.

Thought it was 10 games , up to 15 now is it ? .....6 without a win at anytime is a big problem.

Another weeks training bearing dividends with our watertight defending.

In recent times it does not seem to matter who plays up front for us. Rooney , like Derbyshire , Barnard , Iwelumo , Kuqi et al before him seem to spend most of the game chasing centre halfs for the ball or closing down the keeper to make him pick the ball up and get rid of it. Almost all of last seasons goals were scored by Baxter from behind a striker. Other than Hughes & the superb Beckett we have struggled in the forward line for an eternity.

Looked exhausted to me second half.