BristolOwl

After 62 years, I wouldn't touch the club with a bargepole again until Corney is out. This episode is shameful. I am a "stakeholder". I have watched us through thick and thin, but the lack of morality here is sickening. Nobody has asked me for my views. I can't believe that I'd countenance harming the club, but an early relegation might help us in the long term. It would certainly clean the filth from my nostrils and hastens this board's departure. We have become a disgace to the civilised world. One good thing about a boycott is that it would hit Corney in the balls. It would burn him, and help get his hand out of the till.This could be turned into a very similar position to what happened at Swansea a decade ago, when another London spiv "owner" was physically thrown out of the Vetch. And look what happened there. Supporters can make a difference. The few hundred nazis that support Corney will soon disappear when they are confronted. Chav Evans is an unrepentant rapist whom, with his rich friends and footballing-chums, is hounding a victim to desperation. She has had to move home five times in five months (thanks in part to his old chum now in exile with the Cumbrian giants). The Lord Chief Justice has said unequivocally that there are no grounds for appeal, ie that the facts and arguments were fully discussed and that a jury had come to an unarguable decision. And he thinks he is fit to play fo the Latics. Friends are about to arrange a demo when we visit next month. Boycott, boycott, boycott.

If it's true that Lee Johnson's disgust at the proposed deal has been ignored by Corney and Owen, then this is the last straw. They must be removed. The position is even more obscene if we find that Mike Ashley, of zero-hours and Wonga-sponsorship fame, has assured Corney that the money from sportsdirect will continue if Evans is signed, as is reported this morning. This shameful episode must not even be forgotten. Not only have we become a moral cess-pit, but it's not even good business. It would destroy us. Yet another "business decision" by Corney that will cost the club dear, and not just in financial loss this time. (I thought that Owen represented the views of the fans? If we lose Johnson because of the two idiots running the club, then God help us.)

It is horrifying to see the Latics dominating the UK and world news in this way. What is happening? Our good name will be destroyed for ever. Corney is an even bigger fool than I thought. It will kill the club. We don't have the infrastructure to deal with the media storm about to begin. Corney represents gutter capitalism at its worst, and the reaction of sponsors, decent Latics fans and the crippling pressure the team will face both home and away, as well as the media, will doubtless outweigh any goals that Evans will score. After 62 years a fan, this is the end. Corney is doubtless flying back to New York as soon as the deal is announced. Shame.

This news is sickening and takes the gloss off yesterday's win and a very good season so far. Typically, the club won't give a denial or any other kind of statement. No sign of our representative on the Board resigning yet. I was against the Hughes deal but at least he was contrite. Evans is in denial and his using his rich friends and reactionary and self-serving organisations such as various PFAs to gloss over and deny. Until a court overturns the decision then he is guilty as charged. Unlike Hughes, he accepts no guilt or responsibility. I abhor the deal with Ashley but we must accept that there are benefits and put up with it and we can't take on the sins of the world. His company is notorious for policies such as "zero hours" contracts and sponsorship links with an unscrupulous loan merchant. But why would Corney sabotage our season and club over Evans? Forget moral arguments - Corney is a "businessman" and wants his money back from us, and genuinly wants a promotion. He has striven for success. But do we need a Ched Evans anyway, despite his baggage? The team looks fine to me. What will he cost in contract terms? We shall reap the whirlwind if we sign him and our promotion push will be de-railed. The media will be merciless; it is just waiting for some clown of a Chairman to pick up the baton from Bramall Lane, who were only planning to let him train, not sign. God help the club that signs him. How would our sponsors react (apart from Ashley)? As far as I'm aware we don't have the rich and famous supporters that the blades have, but I guess that many sponsors would think twice about continuing to have business links with the club. Oldham town doesn't exactly have a good reputation, and even thinking of signing Evans would add to all the negative stories about poverty, ignorance, racial divide and poor governance. It was so heartening last night reading the match reviews and then the story of the four young Latics players giving time and money to help a foodbank. That's the image of the club and town that we need. I shall dread watching Latics away (and at home) if Evans plays. Opposition fans and various pressure groups will react strongly and the feel-good factor will soon disappear. Player morale will suffer and it will damage performances and results. Myself and others are already considering how we protest about the possible signing. It will put our players and staff in a quandary. Will Johnson be happy? He comes across as a decent and humane man but do we take the rumours of Evans as evidence that Johnson is will accept Evans? There are so many issues here that we need early clarification. Already the club is tarnished (unless a complete denial is on the way). I bloody well knew that it would be us getting involved before long. Let's hope it's a nightmare and I shall soon wake up.

I saw the result first on the BBC tv digital "red button", final results page, and we won on penalties. That'll do me.

1953/54 was the worst, when the Board made no attempt to strengthen George Hardwick's superb Third Division North champions and we went straight back down. Two of the worst which suddenly became great ones to remember were 1965/66, when the Bates era began that Xmas. We were very unlucky to lose in the FA cup to West Ham, the European Cup-Winner's Cup holders and with the nucleus of the World Cup winners a few months later. The win at home against Oxford in the last game of the season, which kept us up, was a great ending, and we were on Match of the Day - in those days there was only one main match, something unthinkable in these days of the society of the spectacle.1969/70 was heading for Gotterdamerung when we lost 8-1 at Peterborough, again just before Xmas. Jimmy Frizzell took over and we had a magnificent time avoiding what had seemed to be certain re-election; next season we got promoted, with King of the jungle, Jim Fryat,t leading the charge.

We have a "ridiculous turn over of loan players" because Corney is bleeding the club dry with his inefficient, short-sighted chairmanship, not least in selling our best players for damn all. He won't even explain himself to the town. He Is a poor decision-maker and dictatorial to boot. The Board is full of yes-men although I must say they seem incapable of making any public statment whatsoever or appear to realise that they represent the club, fans and town. It was scandalous the way Johnson had to explain the Tarkowski loan back - a purely legal matter and Corney and the CEO were responsible for the negotiations with Brentford - or should have been. What pedigree does the CEO have? What other clubs has he run? The chairman and chums have cost the club millions by their poor decisions - and still apparently he "loans" us money to keep us afloat. We should have been making a profit recently, a division 1 club, given the class players sold and the lucrative FA cup runs. What is wrong? It's time he cleared off after selling the club cheaply: £1 is to much after the way we have been dragged into the gutter. The ground is an embarrassing slum that we wouldn't have put up with in the 1950s. Why wasn't LJ given money for adequate replacements for the key men sold this season? Tarky should have been told he was staying until it suited us, certainly not be allowed to leave until he had fought to help us stave off relegation. Doubtless he will put another nail in our coffin when he plays against us shortly. We should be showing our displeasure about the chairman - not LJ! - and I can't see how even the most reactionary, bone-headed Oldhamer can have a good word to say for the man. The team appear to have been gutless last night and it's time Oldhamers started to show some backbone of their own. Whineing about LJ is wrong - when the finger points at the moon the idiot looks at the finger.

The sooner that people see that Corney is the problem then we shall stop heading for destruction. It was rubbish for some fans to say we couldn't afford to keep Tarky, he wanted to go etc., etc. He should have been kept until we were safe in May and only allowed to leave then at a very good price. Otherwise, we hold on and benefit as his value accrued. The club's behaviour in this instance doesn't match the 3As loaning out Stevens at a crucial stage of the season and almost getting us relegated but both deals suggest betrayal and contempt for our club. And Johnson will not stand seeing good players undersold for much longer. The best thing might be relegation which would force Corney to cut his losses and sell the club at a very low price. I've seen a lot over the past 60 years but this is bad. I'm waiting to be told that all the deals where the club refuse to reveal the fee actually brought in much more than rumoured, but until then I'm sceptical.

We had to buy in January, firstly because LJ finally realised that Corney wanted to sell Tarkowski off, or at least wouldn't kill himself to keep the player. More fundamentally, Johnson knew that in his keen naivity, he had neglected experience. We now have that to carry us over the line and some of those recent permanent signings can do a good job next season. Corney is running out of players to flog off cheaply and I think LJ will stand up for himself more than Dickov ever could or would. He was very unlucky with Montano and that episode hit himself and the club rather badly. All is not lost, much can be regained and if we can keep Harkins, things will improve next season.

Amazing. Best goal I've seen for years. If that had been in the Premiership, it would never be off the TV screens. Three points!

We shall win very few points if the attack doesn't start scoring. Stead and Philly should have buried chances before MKD scored. Harkins shot instead of passing to the unmarked Philly six yards out (perhaps his patience with the forwards wears thin). I've rarely been so annoyed leaving a football ground, after apparent self-destruction across the team. The coaches need to work on Kasunga. He should have leant a big lesson at Gillingham where he was violently provoked but foolish to retaliate. Dozy doesn't do him justice. He's the opposite of the cynical, third-rate cloggers he plays against and who wind him up in England. But he must be more aware of his situation, particularly his apparent inability to realise how he winds up refs, who seem not to like his insouciant manner.

I recall the '66 West Ham FA Cup tie, and rain wasn't the problem but thick snow and ice. Beautiful blue sky day. Bolland slipped on the snow as he went out for the ball and was sliding on his backside into the West Ham half as the ball bounced over his head into the net. Worse was when ex-United's Albert "Golden Boy" Quixall missed the first penalty of his career. Being Latics, we did the same again the following season, losing a two-goal lead to to Second Division Wolves in the last two minutes and then being hammered at Molineux.

He is just being his usual good-natured self. There was one ominous bit though - about us having almost the lowest budget in the division. Somebody of his ability and ambition will go to a better-spending club as soon as he gets the chance. Let's hope Mr Corney sells the club soon. It's unlikely given the large accounting deficit the 3As have chalked up. But morally and if they have any respect for the club, fans and town, that is what should happen. Let's hope they cut their losses and accept that some apparently gratuitous decisions (eg the Failsworth charity trust affair, where common sense and their legal advisers should have said absolutely no; and tearing down the stand some time after capitalism's near collapse) have been detrimental to Latics. That, and the poor return on the star players who left the club (some eg Taylor and Smith for nowt, they and others who could have been paid to stay, at least until they got us a handsome fees), has led to the inevitable decline in income as the debts against the club are repaid, points lost because of the three-sided stadium and ever-dwindling crowds. It would be a sad end but neither the club nor chairman can cope with the constant increase in debt, and each week's delay makes any sale increasingly unlikely. Whatever the causes of our burgeoning deficit, there is no sense in making it worse. Even Magic Johnson can't work miracles on all fronts. The extended contract for JCH is excellent business by LJ but it's matters off the field that blacken the horizon. After sixty-odd years a fan I've never seen such a crisis develop with everybody aware of it but absolutely nothing being done to resolve it. A starter would be having a strong local representative on the Board, backed by a powerful independent supporters club. Even non-league clubs are ahead of us here.

Bobby Johnson was superb, he invariably scored after aiming the ball against the inside of a post. Goalie had no chance.

Excellent post, opinions4u. Spot on. He has been very unlucky with the strikers, that can happen even to the most experienced manager. But the purchase of Mac, Rooney and JCH showed LJ's philosophy and intent. The January signings give experience and guile. I do think though that we need a striker to lift us and get us home this season. I actually feel sorry for Rooney, and the media analysis of his state of mind and his manager's public comments must be even more harrowing for him. Visions of him running around the Lescott Stadium in the dead of night (in Mike Keegan's stirring article in MNE) puts Sartre at his gloomiest in the shade. LJ will bring success, and more quickly than Hardwick and Royle. I wouldn't be surprised if his teams are very like those of the aforementioned two, and Frizzell's of course. We might not get the 30,000+ crowds of 1952/53 but it will be very pleasurable ride.