IceStationLatic

I think he's a gonna. Heard there's been contact with Dowie again. Let's wait and see eh. An eventful January on the cards!

Don't they still have a stake in the club? Even less likely to get any of their dosh back at all if we get relegated, lose another 1000 off the gate, and become even less attractive to potential buyers?

Lol good point. That's the dilemma. But do you give money to a manager who hasn't impressed or shown an ability to improve the players, or do you believe that it's the players' fault. It's bleak whichever way you look at it, but, if we are selling Kelly and then bringing say one or two in, you are still relying on Dunn to motivate and improve those players who are here now or are fringe first framers now. And he hasn't suggested he can do that at all - the opposite, concerningly, has occurred. What worries me is the decline of the likes of Winchester, the chopping and changing, the way players have disappeared without trace (Rasulo, Coleman, Yeates not starting) after seemingly impressing. There just isn't any cohesion and the constant changes smacks of a guy jumping from one plan to the next, with each one failing. A new guy would need to have players lined up. But if I was a manager out of work and wanting a job, I would be attending games, researching, and already have targets in mind. That's what LJ did before he got the job with us. It's what Redfearn was doing also.

Well if the rumours are true about questions being asked by the board, and Blitz (who showed up earlier in the year) and Gazal (at the last game and said to be going tomorrow) still pondering a say... There will be a lot of pressure on Corney to relent on his loyalty to Dunn if we lose. However, action would need to be taken spectacularly quickly - arguably making dramatic change very unlikely. A rushed appointment could be costly - although I know rushed for Latics would be two months..! Hence, if a change does happen I can only see it being Dowie - who told the paper he wanted the job a while back, and was talking terms when Corney suddenly went hot on Kelly. It would fit the bill as a quick fix to get the fans on side..would it? Would he still have decent contacts/respect from his work with Sky? Would he be simply better at motivating the players we have - if you take the view that steps seemingly haven't been taken forward ever since Holden was in interim charge? Or do we wheel and deal under Dunn and hope better players, who we hope he knows, can get us out this mess even if the coaching is questionable? And then we reassess in the summer? Would a potential successor need to be quizzed on the sly about who they would/could sign and why? If there's confidence in Dunn's targets (rumoured board opposition would suggest otherwise), the club could get the players and then make a change if results don't improve. I'd say we are one to two games away from being cut adrift in the bottom four. Games in hand or not, it would be extremely difficult from there - no matter what ppl say about this many games left etc we might make changes and signings, but so will other clubs. And we're already a transfer window behind after summer's cock-up, and don't have the resources to make up that gap - although Kelly's sale may help. Defeat tomorrow and we really are in the mire. And whatever route we take, it's a big gamble after recent ones (Kelly, Ched, Fuller) have all failed.

True. Said top scorer, though, is still out of many posters' preferred starting line-up judging by the Colchester thread.

Furman was missing games through international duty. He was one more yellow card away from a ban. So Lee Johnson and Simon Corney engineered a loan to contract deal amid interest from Doncaster, and we used the money from the saved wages to get Korey Smith on loan.

Take the point, but good nasty centre-backs just aren't available on loan with our budget. If they are good, they're kept. And with regards loans and the fees etc, Grimsny Town in non-league have crowds consistently much higher than us now - they'd probably have as much power as us! Our failure with regards appointing a manager who flattered to deceive and had no contacts has been catastrophic in this regard. The only chance of getting good defenders would have been with a contract. Otherwise it's loans...like Burn. Yes Gerrard was without a club but he would have been offered miles more than us in wages by Shrewsbury. And it's highly like that both him and Elokobi chose themselves not to consider staying on the back of Kelly's appointment. Wouldn't surprise me. We should have gone for them big time, instead we signed Lee Croft..! And that was a board signing, just to sign....someone!

So with the transfer window approaching... Let's guess that if you were Corney, you'd have the following choice... What would you choose? 1. Dunn in, and four or five new players. I honestly think there will be a few and clearly some targets are already lined up given Dunn's comments to the press and his indication about "reshaping the squad". 2. Dunn out, poss Holden out, someone like Dowie/Megson/Money (let's assume Dowie plus an assistant) - and enough money for one signing, and maybe at a push a couple of the loans everyone moans about.... Sorry I don't know how to set up a poll. I presume it might not be an option as I'm posting this from my mobile.

Spot on. Attitude, not a bit of flair when someone can be arsed, is what's needed to avoid relegation. It's attitude, professionalism, concentration and not giving up that's contributed to his vital last-minute goals. Oother players wouldn't have made that burst into the box at Swindon because they'd be reeling from the equaliser. Other players wouldn't have taken a shot at Chrsterfield due to lack of confidence and instead tried to play a through ball that would have hit the first man. Other players wouldn't have made the clever run and burst of pace to lose his marker at the corner at Coventry (a skill DP has frequently displayed at set pieces and balls into the box to score: Fleetwood, Sheff U, Swindon last season) and instead just stood there and hoped for a lucky break, waiting for something to happen rather than making something happen...

That point neglects the qualities it takes to stand out whilst playing in a crap team... And being largely played out of position too. Surprised the Gazette didn't mention his dad's role at the club. Surely his dad being at the club and close to him is a key issue. And the fact he's just had a baby too - will they suddenly want to uproot with a future Oldham striker attached to the bosom! I guess there's nothing to stop us cashing in, but we couldn't if it annoyed Tony P - unless we plan to cash in on his youth coaching talent too...

At least Trash had a bit of distinction, build-up and reminds me of the FA Cup... Can't imagine why we went went to such a dull basic tune played at so many clubs, rather than to another effort that at least attempts to fathom a bit of Oldham uniqueness!

Footballer wants to play football...boooo! "No footballer wants to be on the bench or in the stands, you want to be playing football." ... (Or being slagged off/swore at when they're on the bench or in the stands.....!)

And so it starts... After 0.002 seconds.

Rooney was certainly grumbled/muttered at regularly in a way Latics fans do, if not outright booed. He was also shoved out on the wing. We never played to his strengths - apart from early doors perhaps. He had a disallowed goal against Stevenage if I remember, and bagged a goal from a rare cross in the JPT at Shrewsbury. Murphy got worse from the fans. Recall someone on here saying he was walking on just to sit on the bench and some idiot told him he was :censored:e to his face. Like with Robbie Simpson and a weird gap before we got him from huddersfield for the rest of the season..., will Murphy be back here for a few weeks to essentially train (with a view to us landing a fee) or potentially staying if we play him and he scores....

Isn't quite worrying that in a short timeframe we've had Rooney and Murphy move on and suddenly become deadly strikers. What does that say about our coaching.. Or the general mood and spirit at the club? And the people laughing it off because it's L2, they really need a wake-up call to the fact the difference in standard between L1 and that league us minimal. Hence why relegation would be an unprecedented disaster for our club.

What's this about unjustly beating Swindon...? They hammered us second half, we hammered them first half and would have killed the game but for an incorrect linesman decision ruling out Forte's header. That first half performance. The pace and threat. How far we are away from that now.

Lets set the tone... Jake Cass-i-dy, He's Darren Kelly's love child, And he's been crocked for a while, What do you mean? Has he got match fitness, Or is he :censored: like the rest, Jake Cass-i-day, In your heart he's a 'yes' In your mind he's a 'no' What do you mean? He plays up top on his own, But that's only one upfront at home, boo! Apologies.... Is too late to say sorry? Let's admit we really mis For-te.....

Maybe we would have been on the verge of winning only for Rooney to score a dramatic stoppage time bicycle kick. We then would have been hammered in the replay and never recovered, slipping to relegation. At least now we can concentrate on trying to finish 16th.

Probably because he himself came out and told the paper he wanted to have talks regarding the job. God knows why he'd want to swap a huge Sky salary to manage us.... But if he's still got the bug for management, we're an ideal step back on the ladder for him.

I don't think Dowie has ever had the choice to be fair. LJ got the job before any talks. Yes he wouldn't want peanuts but he came out publicly last time saying he was interested in the job and talking about the details.... ... And we responded by appointing Kelly. As far as I understand it's never been the case that he's been rejected for wanting too much - he's never been rejected of sorts. It's just Corney went for someone else both times and talks led straight to the job offer.

True, any appointment is a gamble in a sense. But Saunders had a track record of relegation, and well known for dull route one tactics at Wrexham, Donny and Wolves. It was a very surprising appointment to me. I don't have much confidence in Rosler either after his recent tenures with miles more dosh than he'd have here. I would take Dowie - a big gamble, but clearly the fans' favourite and choice for the previous two times we've been looking. Proper investment in him and a backroom team of his choosing is, for me, sadly looking like our only hope - because that move would shake off the toxic atmosphere and generate the positivity in the stands that we are going down if we can't recreate. We might get that back if we win on Sat and get a plum third round draw, and produce cup heroics again. That would lift the players and perhaps give Dunn, with cup money, the time and money he needs in the January window. If we lose on Sat I think we might see a change. We would need something dramatic to end the losing mentality. We are seriously at risk of thinking we have enough to just stay up and rebuild, to keep plodding along, and then dropping. The club have to comprehend how serious this situation is. If we plod along, like we did after LJ left, I really do fear for us.

I think Corney does back his managers with £. We have a squad of players that isn't perfect - but is better than it its position. The defence is still a hangover from the summer shambles and the Kelly contacts that didn't materialise. We need a lift to get out of this. There's a big tide of negativity. I think LJ could do it, but there'd be a mixed reaction to his appointment. Is now the time to splash the cash on Dowie and a decent assistant, instead of five more loaners, and just tell them to do their job with this crop until the summer?

Dowie or LJ to save us?

One player would have read that - boo boy Philliskirk. But one thing I have noticed about Poleon... When play switches - let's say to our right back when everyone else his in the left.... Despite his pace he is so slow getting across to offer that option for a ball down the channel! The one player that can read the game up top, bar Forte, is Philliskirk. I'd have him and Poleon/Higdon/Cassidy up top with Rasulo or Winchester behind. And then three in front of the back four. Defence when we need it, but ammunition to attack with pace.

And that's why he'll be off to Barnsley in January.