stargazer

There is only one force in the universe stronger than the pull of a black hole .........16th position in this cursed division for Latics.

More backbone in a blancmange than this latest shower of short term contractors.

Motivated professionals. .......been on the beach for a month .

Cisak

Lee

Gregan

Mvoto

Obita

Smith

Wesolowski

Croft

Baxter

Kuqi

Simpson

17 seasons is Division 2(the Championship today) was terrific . Frequently punching above our weight , with struggles in many seasons but always with a squad of solid journeyman , ageing former top flight players and some terrific purchases , I loved every minute of it.

18 seasons and counting of Division 1(Division 3 in my book ) of journeymen and loanees I have frequently never heard of , constant ridiculous turnover of players , with only 1 realistic attempt at promotion , which of course lead to the destruction of the club .......is tedious .

Better than being out of the league like other similar clubs ,yes .

I reckon you must be at least 25 to have any recollection of a relegation & over 30 to recall a promotion .......the younger generation of fans deserve a medal for sticking with the club.

I have a pal who is an Orient fan.

He said they were taken over by some Italian billionaire.....how can they not be paying wages?

Is that the one were Leighton James tore us to pieces , 2-0 down in the final after 5 minutes ?

Sold Jose Baxter unless I am mistaken .......now that was a mistake , a huge one .......we should have built the team around him , so much for all those over hyped coaching badges.

We were always likely to be a stepping stone to what could be a very successful career .....but I did think it would be to a Championship team. Barnsley are a million miles away from that right now.

We had 2 managers in 24 years of stability .....I used to chuckle at the merry go round other clubs experienced .........how many managers have we had since, dozens.

I was offered a new job late last year , lots more money & great benefits......of course I took it.

So why would a football manager not , they rarely manage the teams they support , it is a job .

Yet more soap opera nonsense from the Premier League.

Celebrations today are ludicrously over the top ........out world superstar raising his hands to the sky last summer after scoring his first and only World Cup goal.... as we lost again.

I was amazed when so many people were choosing Danny P , I just do not see it.

As good as he is , in my opinion Baxter is light years ahead , the best footballer we have had in many , many years.

Third division Lancashire club's manager hunted by similar Yorkshire club ........it's hardly City after Big Joe & the Friday night Don't Go Joe on the scoreboard as we beat up Blackburn.

He is already zooming up the long serving manager list with 2 years in , in this ever more ridiculous merry go round of players and managers that is modern football.

we have to constantly inspire them ..........are they 7 years of age ?

What a ridiculous 21st century football comment ........men or mice.

Still awaiting the players were tired playing Saturday / Tuesday / Saturday drivel ....it was West Ham's pathetic excuse earlier .

Lower league players are there for a reason ........

Staggering how often they can put on a pitiful display when more fans turn up.

If I was the owner I would be sick and tired of the attitude of both this set of players and previous ones.......cheap deal to get fans in & yet again players give them no reason to come back . Well done players don't forget your passionate apologies and drivel on social media later.

I thought this saga would be one too many & I can fully understand why has had enough & wants out.

He and the other investors saved the club & that will always be their legacy.

Seem to recall apart from Betsy lifting one over the bar at the start of the second half , we never saw the ball in the Chaddy.

Mark Hughes tackling like a demon & Pogs keeping them at bay .....

Politicians & various officials trying to dictate to a private company who they should and should not employ, trying to gain brownie points.

It has been mob rule & bullying of the worst kind by the sainted people of social media.

I was pretty certain our main sponsor was not going to cow to these people.

Who is to say that all the previous high profile criminals who have shown remorse are being genuine , or just savvy enough to know how to play the game ?

The law of the land has tried and sentenced him.

If the same law of the land allows him to play , it is entirely a matter for the club.

If fans(real ones , not the billions signing online petitions ,believe it is wrong they will stay away , it is their choice).

There is no moral lead from football ..... from their obsession with spitting constantly ,to abusing officials , feigning injury & fouls.,

This is currently the 3rd news item on the BBC home page ,in what insane Orwellian world does the media believe this is appropraite.

Someone is easily pleased .

It appears some people are now determined to describe every game as half full rather than half empty .

A lose to 10 men of the team bottom of the table at Christmas , on the back of insipid defeats is pathetic ....well for a team with any expectations above a relegation dogfight.

In the early days of Joe's era , I always felt we needed to score 3 to win .But I always felt the team gave their lot ,week in week out , failing only because of ability , not attitude ....frequently in the last 10 years I have thought the opposite.

The 3 months in 85/6 were we won no games and lost to division 4 Orient at home in the cup were desperate days .

Most clubs both then and certainly now would have sacked the manager , thankfully we did not .......the board at the time deserves enormous credit for this.

Bringing Ryan back and putting him straight back in the team in place of Barlow was a catastrophe ,even the best don't get everything correct.

Almost all the players we had then were on a different stratosphere to what we can afford nowadays.

There have always been imbalances in revenue , but today it is farcical .

For 2 decades we could produce a team of home grown talent , journeymen and a sprinkling of quality , exciting players.

Nowadays , we cannot have even one exciting player such as Baxter for any time, before someone takes him off us.

The piece at the top of this thread , is excellent

When footballers are getting a telling off by the ref , the vast majority ignorantly suddenly need to sort their socks out ,rather than look at the ref .

I would not be surprised if managers had similar issues when dealing with player(s) behind closed doors.

Lower league , journeymen players , high turnover of players ..... it is a cocktail that has led to the same level of mediocrity for the last 17 years.

We just do not have the money(not that we were rolling in it) , that led to keeping good players for years with the same 2 managers and punching above our weight in in the previous era.