LaticsEddie

Down to the last 24 tickets in the Chaddy now, everywhere else sold out bar the disabled spots.

Funnily enough, yeah. No cup finalers playing their first game infront of a large crowd, raring to go. Few teams sitting in, soaking up pressure exploiting our lack of creativity. More teams that feel they are equal to us and will come to play, playing into our form against playoff teams. We have a good defensive record and can see that translating up to League 2. Back to back promotions it is not. Something to build on though.

A shame the more attacking formation didnt work, I hope it doesnt get abandoned completely this season. A combination of the midfield not winning their battles, a lack of width both sides and depth from the strikers culminated in us trying hopeful balls or inevitably playing it backwards. With Norwood and Dallas injured, the game was crying out for Alex Reid. Someone to inject some pace, run in behind and give the midfield options against their absolute units of centre halves. I dont think we will see the lad in an Oldham shirt again unfortunately. In the midfield, Ward was a failure out on the left. He left Kitching isolated with his drifting inside. I could see how he might fit in a role behind the striker but a wide midfielder he is not. Green instead of Ward from the start would have offered us width and pace we needed to stretch Boreham Wood. Similarly if Walker was fit, he would have been an upgrade on both. Conlon is lacking sharpness, I hope he gains some form soon. He showed against Barnet how good he will turn out to be, hopefully a matter of time until that performance is consistent. Lundstram looks like a player devoid of confidence. We've seen his ability to drive with the ball but he only does when its the only option, he creates half a yard for himself then goes safe with the pass and reluctant to run beyond the ball even when there is space available. Luckily Hammond looks like he is coming up to speed, so a spell on the sidelines for Lundstram could be good for him. I understand why Mellon went with Hogan and Raglan as the CB pairing- Hogan can play LCB while Raglan and Hobson struggle and Raglan is the better defender aerially- but Hobson made a difference in the second half, taking the ball and running into midfield and maybe that from the start would have helped create overloads in the middle so 1 of the midfield 4 could have found a pocket. The moment Sachdev was shrugged off the ball I knew he would get pelters. I think with experience he would know theres no one behind him and would have fouled him before the lad got away. Im glad we managed to turn it around last night but teams that come and bog the game down, maybe grab a goal and sit in we cant break down. It's no suprise we have good form against most of the playoff chasing sides as they come to play instead of frustrate.Something Josh Stones brought to the team was the ability to start games quickly. We need to put the opposition on the back foot from the start, getting the crowd on side and probing for an early goal, thats the key to improving the home form.

Hoping he will give it a go when the likes of Walker, Dallas and Norwood are back

Had the luck of the draw twice then, Stones was offside against Hartlepool at home too!

First instinct was a 4-4-2 but you could be right

Holding up well, infact its scheduled to have 4 games played on it within 3 days next month. Not a bad pitch for less than the cost of a pint at Weatherspoons each is it, eh

Completely agree, but each section at the bottom of the Chaddy is about 30 seats wide. I'd have thought 15 would suffice. All speculation on my part of course.

The blocks are displayed on the website as 2 large ones flanking 1 smaller one when in reality its 5 blocks so probably going to see a segregation on the first "A". That would be my best guess anyway. I dont know the rules on it and the best I can find is based on "consultation with police" but given there was about 20 seats and a stand separating us from the Dale fans this season id guess thats what GMP have advised. You know, because were obviously bitter rivals with Kidderminster and that

Of course I dont think it will erode our or other clubs fanbases completely, but there will be a tangible impact. How many fans are born by them going to a game on a whim or their dads taking them only to get hooked. Having the public funded buses transport potential fans that clubs like ours need to survive away to line the pockets of billionaires only damages us and others like us. Instead, why not introduce a scheme aimed at providing match day busses for all clubs to and from their town centre? or a Match day ticket that is a set price to travel to any towns football ground on the network from anywhere they wany for a cut price, provided you show a ticket?

Of course city have the right to gain more income. Its the public funded ferrying of potential fans away from clubs who need the revenue more thats my issue. It would cost a hell of a lot more than £4 per person to get to the Etihad if City put on the busses themselves.

For those already wanting to go to Citeh they have the means and willingness to do it already. Its the wavering fans who could potentially become Latics/Dale/Alty/Macc/Stockport etc. fans that it effects.

The average football fan only has so much money and so would have to make the choice between one or the other. They may have chosen to go to BP over Citeh because of the cost of travel, now that choice has been made easier to trek to Manchester. You have to think that its not only us its affecting but essentially every club in Greater Manchester. Whichever way you spin it, it only serves to help city to the detriment of everyone else.

If it makes money for the club or the charity i dont care. So much so, I'm bringing 2 Liverpool fans, an Everton fan, City fan, Inter Milan fan and an eggball fan to enjoy a packed BP witnessing the hoof-fest and a 1-0 loss

Other than 1 or 2 performances this season, id say no one has seen "the real Latics". Its been a turbulent season really with a number of the signings in the summer being flops, holes in the squad not being filled until Jan, sticking with Unsworth, the will he wont he get the job with Thompson/Redfearn and now another major overhaul to the squad in Jan and yet we still find ourselves fighting for a spot in the playoffs.

Very true but the jury is still out. I'll happily eat my words but their CV's, and the managers, suggest its only a matter of time until they come good.

I agree completely, it looks like a long term approach. On paper we have recruited quality for this division and league 2, the spine of the team now has pedigree throughout and filled gaps where needed. Once they have all gained match fitness, which we have already made progress on with Conlon completing his first 90, we will be a force going into the playoffs.

I dont think so. Can't account for Norwood getting injured. Fondop is the only one who has the physical presence to be up top on his own IMO. Plus it gives the opportunity to get minutes into Garner and Dallas' legs without them both being on the pitch for 90 minutes.

Cant see Dallas being too effective up there on his own. I like the idea of Fondop or Garner with Dallas behind mind

The fitness required as a wing back is probably the most demanding on the pitch too.

Rumours we were in for him. Contract is up at the end of the season too

I touched on it in the original post. We want out of this league ASAP and clearly throwing our available resources at it, so were not looking to go up the County/Chesterfield route. We dont have the financial clout of Wrexham, were not going up by buying starters from League 1. If we dont want to have to spend 4, 5, 6 seasons in this division to build a squad and playing style to get out of this division or have a never ending pit of money to buy that squad then somethings got to give. We have brought in promotion winners, (hopefully) young and hungry players and proven quality. Im sure theres a lot of first team league players with those attributes out there who would come on board here but they will be commanding fee's and they dont want the National League on their CV. Players of that quality we can attract are ones with less to lose like Conlon who wasnt catching at vale after injury. League clubs dont want to take the risk or wont pay him enough to consider and so has less to lose coming here. The negative for us is that they will take an unspecified time to gain fitness and gel before we reap the rewards. The risks will have been calculated and im sure the board are happy with the investment with the view to see us win the playoffs with the realistic expectation that we wont but start the season with a formidable team from the off.

Understandable questions are being asked, but perspective is needed with this drop in form. Murmurings of Mellons head on the chopping block are insane. Poor performances the last two games but lets look at the facts. -We have just made 5 signings, none of which are 100% match fit. Conlon- Didnt break back into the Vale side after injury. Played 181 minutes before joining us, one being a full game. Not match fit. Sachdev- Never played mens football, will take time to adjust. Also not 100% Hammond- Bit part player for Cheltenham. 641 minutes played, 5 full games. Not match fit. Dallas- 561 minutes played for Kilmarnock, not a single full game. Not match fit. Garner- 1346 minutes but last substantial minutes were 78 minutes on 14/11/23. Not match fit. -2 signings are young lads, breaking into the game. Sachdev and Hammond got pelters for their performance against Woking. Not every young lad bursts into the team like Stones. Playing mens football for the first time is going to be a huge change naturally but players adjust. Hammond, given time, will impress im sure of it. A hard worker, great energy, presses well, loves a tackle and getting in oppos faces. Sachdev I know less about. Needs to be more positive but has certainly shown quality in glimpses. -Signing 5 new players takes time to gel. All 5 on the face of it look good enough for the EFL. I suspect we have managed to pull off coups like Garner, Conlon not just because they are the type to relish a challenge, see the potential in Oldham and can get a league comparable salary but also because league clubs dont want to take the risk on a 36 year old and a player coming back from long term injury neither of which are match fit. -Hogan has been suspended for the last 2 games, arguably our most in form CB. We have clearly felt his absence (or McGaheys presence, undecided on that). McGahey lack of pace pulls the backline too deep and he doesnt have the arial presence of Hogan. I think Hogans leadership qualities are also underrated on the pitch. I suspect we might be grinding out a few more games before we start to build form again but Rome wasn't built in a day, im still confident of a playoff finish. In Mellon I still trust.

Yep, I agree, its so frustrating. But I dont think its a Mellon thing, more the personel he has at his disposal. Signing the likes of Conlon and Garner suggests to me he's trying to change the mentality of the dressing room.

Luckily there's some decent ones for this level and league 2 who will be available on a free come June. Turnbull at Tranmere, Frazer Blake-Tracy at Swindon, James Husband at Blackpool to name a few