OneSizeFitz

Ripley

B.Wilson Clarke Burgess Dunne

Dummigan Law Fane Klok Green

Erwin

 

Defend deep, try to pinch a goal if possible.

...at home against Swindon?

Still :censored:e.

Would you eat a donner kebab off your wedding china?

That's completely different though, isn't it? Because eating a kebab off your wedding china doesn't bring your any more enjoyment than not doing. Whereas watching your team play at Wembley is far preferable to watching them play at Boundary Park.

Would you go if we got there?

Nah, it's still a :censored:e tournament.

...until you get a day out at Wembley.

Are we allowed to watch Johnstone's Paints matches again now then?

That was my prediction. If I wanted to lay money on it I would go to a bookmakers before 3pm tomorrow and get much better odds separately.

So nurr! (And I would lay a lot more than a measly £20 on it.)

But surely it's better for your losses to go to Playershare...

You never manage to offer an even bet do you. You just dont get the logic behind probability. Have a think and offer me a straight bet

So you're moaning because you think there's a less than 50% chance that Rochdale and Bury will both finish above us? Despite having stated categorically in other topic that...

"We will finish below Rochdale and Bury...again"

...interesting.

The prestige worth more than any money surely, they wouldn't have got such a fixture a year ago.

Dunno about that; even Rochdale got one...

Scott Vernon could do a job.

Robbo said that with a bit of luck and better refereeing we could be "12 or 13 points better off"

 

So that'd be 19 or 20 points and top of the league at least 4 points clear of Bolton.

 

I'll have a pint of whatever he's on!!!

We'd be doing very well indeed to be 13 points better off - that'd give us 20 points from an available 21...

 

Would you accept him keeping us this workman like & getting us ultra, ultra organised until January or February if, after that, safety secured we opened up a bit and had a go at the playoffs?

If you think we'll have safety secured by January or February playing like we have the last two home games, I'd like some of what you're drinking...

Might just turn out to be another Tarkowski.

 

Yes he had a shocker against Carlisle but looks to have all the attributes. Personally, would rather we played and developed him alongside Clarke than rely on a loanee in Burgess.

 

But will trust the manager; game time will be good for him - just hope he doesn't pick up a nasty injury.

 

Will come good this lad.

Not convinced, personally... but sincerely hope I'm proved wrong!

We're desperately in need of someone in the middle of the park who'll get their foot and the ball and consistently pick out a forward pass. I'm not sure we actually have that player, but Winchester and Banks look as close as we're going to get, so I think one of them should play.

We're also desperately in need of a pair of wingers whose first thought is to whip the ball into the box, rather than spend five minutes dallying around with it, before either passing it backwards or ineffectively trying to cut inside. Croft's done okay in that regard, and whilst McLaughlin has been largely hopeless thus far, he has only been given bit-part chances, and does at least look to run at a man and get the ball into the box. Flynn's another option, but he's been so anonymous recently I'm not sure I can justify him starting again. Or possibly Jahraldo-Martin, but he seems to have disappeared completely.

At the minute, Robinson seems to be falling into the trap of picking his best XI players, rather than his best team...

With that in mind, I'd suggest a (perhaps unpopular) 4-2-3-1;

Ripley

Law
Clarke
Burgess
Dunne

Fane
Green

Croft
Winchester
McLaughlin

Mckay


...with Mckay given explicit instructions to play off the shoulder of the last defender, and get himself in and around the six-yard box as soon as the ball's played out wide.

Seems a tad unfair on the likes of Erwin and Osei, who've done okay, but I'm just not really sure they offer much playing wide in a 4-3-3. Either play your strikers through the middle, or not at all.

Ref did okay.

Surprised at this.

 

Surely we'd be better off with him covering CB and RB and developing his game rather than Brian Wilson, dependable as he is....?

Wilson's streets ahead of Edmundson at the moment though; a few months of regular first-team action should do him some good.

I think people need to redefine what they think are wingers...we've barely got one in the whole squad. A width/by-line man. Croft is the one who should fit that bill but he isn't capable (was rubbish again on Saturday when he came on - ran about anywhere where the ball wasn't.) Most others are not wingers but Left Centre Mids, Right Centre Mids or whatever you want to call them. Rick Holden, David Eyres, Andy Liddell (when his legs worked), Neil Adams...they were wingers. Very very few in this lot we have are. I'm praying McLaughlin gets fit and up to speed to be a proper winger but that would mean we would be more expansive. Which I'm not sure Robbo wants us to be at present.

I think Croft's done pretty well when called upon this season, actually.

Ripley

Law
Clarke
Burgess
Dummigan

Croft
Banks
Green
Flynn

Erwin
Ladapo



Let's actually have some width for a change.

Fané should have been subbed off before he was went sent off. Not only were we desperately in need of someone more creative and forward-thinking, but it was also obvious to everyone in the ground that he was a red card waiting to happen.

Other than that, Osei was a handful when he came on, Law did well, and Peter Clarke really is a class above everyone else. The rest were all fairly average, but I've seen us play far worse and win...

Is it worth £5,000 to start someone and then sub them off after the first thirty seconds?

I think you're overdoing the poverty angle.

 

Get on your bike and look for a ticket office.

 

You can buy a printer for less than the price of two match tickets.

Indeed. There are many things worthy of chastising Oldham Athletic for, but allowing fans to purchase and print their own match tickets at a reduced cost certainly isn't one them.

Reckon Crofty's worth a start in some capacity.

Maybe something along the lines of...

Ripley

Wilson
Clarke
Burgess
Dunne

Croft
Fané
Green

Erwin
Mckay
Ladapo

Burgess - Hopeless

Woodland - Hopeless
Kettings - Largely Hopeless
Edmundson - Largely Hopeless
McLaughlin - Largely Hopeless
Banks - Largely Hopeless (worldie aside - did improve second-half)
Flynn - Anonymous

We badly missed Clarke and Ripley in particular, as well as somebody (Green) to control the game from the middle of the park.

HOWEVER.

Ladapo looks impressive, Osei and Croft both changed the game when they came on at HT, and I thought Mckay played well too. Brian and Dunne were both fine.

So with Ripley/Clarke/Green/Fané/Erwin to come back in, I think there's a decent XI in there. And can't really complain for a fiver.



(As an aside, Carlisle look quite good, and Mike Jones was the best player on the park...)

As is the whole squad.

 

Team spirit matters.

I don't know - a few of them are alright!

But yes, much more about the whole than the parts at this level.

Both our full backs were given a tough time on Saturday.

Both our full backs are very average footballers...

Yet again you miss the pertinent point. He could score!

His career goalscoring record is far inferior to Mckay's...

This disgusting policy that's crept in of charging fans more for paying on the day is surely financial suicide for clubs?. Can anybody provide a logical explanation? It was a fiver extra for paying on the day today at Bradford (I`ve been working down south all week) - and I understand Latics have a similar policy. Surely clubs should be trying to attract the "floating/casual" supporter who thinks, "Nice weather, I think I`ll pop down to watch a match today."

 

Works both ways though. If someone pays in advance, the club are guaranteed their money when they decide not to turn up because it's pissing down...

...particularly beneficial in Oldham.