unsworthlatic

You just can't win with Oldham supporters. 'It's crap having three stands' we build one then 'It's effecting the playing budget' It's a joke, what is he supposed to do when asked questions like what BBC Sport or the Chron ask him. If he turns round and says 'no comment' or refuses to do an interview (god forbid) he'd get lambasted on here and by Oldham supporters saying that he isn't offering any sort of explanation as to what has gone wrong with the results in the first four games. He would be the first manager in history to turn around and say that he hasn't got a clue and being a manager myself you have to have a thick skin and believe in yourself every step of the way because I have no doubt when Oldham lose games the first person he will blame is himself, he'll question himself and see what he can do to change it (hence chopping and changing when it comes to picking squads for the next game) He has to offer explanations and the usual 'biding time' and 'time to settle' along with 'being unlucky' are the general quotes a lot if not all managers use. If LJ comes out slating the fans and slating the board that's a different matter but he hasn't so I don't see what you are getting at him for. LJ saying this squad is 'better' than last years squad. Again what is he supposed to say? 'My squad last year was so much better, if only I had of kept them, we might have been in with a playoff shout' How would present Oldham players react to this? They wouldn't want to play for him and motivation and determination would be as low as ever. As for Corney, he saved Oldham when Oldham were nearly bust. With the right or wrong intentions at the start he came in with the other two undoubtedly to make money and with an effective business plan that would suit all three of them. This plan went horrendously wrong with rejection of plans by the council and knocking the stand down too soon etc so the other two lft. If corney had no ounce of affinity towards Latics he would have gone too leaving us needing a buyer once again. Corney instead has decided to stick it out and didn't want to sell to Koukash who had every intention of putting Salford Rugby first before Oldham Athletic. He hasn't left and is trying his best to run a league one club on let's face it league two attendances (due to the proximity of the big clubs in Manchester and due to the town not being wealthy or bothered about the football club etc) Give it time, you all slate Johnson for chopping and changing his squad week in week out yet some of you are debating whether to chop and change our manager once again. It would only be the same for the next manager and the manager after that so how about give the squad a lift, give everybody else at the club a lift and support the team until such time as there isn't one (hopefully never) KTF

I'd go with a 442 formation: Rachubka Wilson Dieng Wilson Elekobi Winchester Kelly Jones Dayton JCH Forte I'd probably leave Mills out due to his start of the season. Starting to see little (only little) glimpses of a good player in Kelly but judge him after 10 games. I'd give Dayton a chance, looked decent in pre season (means nothing) and when he has come on. I would persevere with JCH for a couple of more games and see if he can score and get confidence back

I'm a goalkeeper and was at Blackburn when I was younger so I try and defend keepers every which way. I weren't overly keen on Cisak however, we have had a lot worse granted but we've had better too. If it was down to me I wouldn't, would rather have Rachubka (despite not great form at the moment) and that also ties in with what happened between him and the club before leaving

Spot on, exactly my thoughts to be honest, if he claps the fans before or after the game then I will clap him but won't be singing his name

I have seen a lot on here and on other websites that Oldham fans will boo and sing songs aimed at Paul Dickov when we play at Doncaster on Saturday. We all have our different opinions and I just want to know if you're planning on being one of these people then can I ask what the reason is for doing this? In my opinion; 1) He wasn't the best manager but far from the worst manager we've had in the recent past 2) He guided us to mid table (usual position) and 2 third round FA Cup ties with Liverpool 3) Gave us a great memory of beating Liverpool at BP 4) Never rude to the supporters, always very approachable at meetings and player of season etc 5) Never lied to the fans 6) Brought in players that we ended up selling on for a fee (Jose Baxter) 7) Responded well to supporters when we played Everton at home 8) Apologised to supporters for not achieving what he wanted to at Oldham when he left After all of those points, again that's just my opinion, why would you go and give Dickov any stick. His tactics weren't great but blow me he's hardly like Wadsworth, Talbot or Penney is he?

I thought we were a lot better on and off the field last night and there are plenty of positives to take from that performance Rachubka - slow down for their goal but dealt with some very tricky back passes and cam out well at strikers feet second half, good save in the end off the free kick, improvement Brown - improved a lot from saturday's performance, kept the ball well especially second half playing into winny's feet and starting forward movement. Also very good at covering centre backs Wilson - Grew into the game, looked shaky first 15 minutes or so but once he got going there seemed to be some understand between him and George Elekobi - Enthusiastic as always, again not too sure about the closing down of the cross for their goal but very solid second half against an in form striker Mills - A bit better, again improvement on Saturday, linked up well with Forte and listened to shouts from the centre halfs. Crossing on occasion was okay but need to see more Winchester - very energetic and always looks for a pass to feet to a blue shirt, very good footballer and tired, hence being taken off, did very well Jones - A lot give him stick, I think he is a good footballer, possibly still growing into the cm role and still learning, good corner for the goal, not strong enough in the tackle but can improve on that Kelly - A lot won't agree and compare him to Korey (which is unfair) but improved a lot tonight, saw bits of a footballer creeping in. Needs time to get back to the player he was Forte - Made some very good runs again, provided a very good option out wide and give the defenders something to worry about as he's very direct Philiskirk - Nothing on the player we saw before his injury last season but tried very hard, great run and cross first half and challenged and won quite a few balls in the air JCH - Looked a lot better especially first half, got into the right positions, stayed on his feet, should have scored but was great defending, big improvement in my opinion Off the pitch the supporters were a lot better tonight. They didn't get on the backs of the players at 1-0, kept supporting the team throughout and it was a lot better second half when the stewards used some common sense to move the Vale fans into one block and let the Oldham fans stand up and sing. Much better, however the singers didn't help themselves as when we scored they ran to taunt the Port Vale fans I came away relatively pleased last night, not as such with the result but in the manner we got the result, the effort was there throughout, desire to win the 50/50's was much better and the fans responded. It is however quite possible that we will be 5 games into the season without a win if you play it on paper, that we have PNE and Donny away but football isn't played on paper. Also for people who want to worry now about our league position after 3 games or even 5 games in remember this that I was informed of last night (not old enough to remember) 1989/90 season: Blackburn 1-0 Oldham Oldham 1-1 Watford Oldham 2-2 Swindon Newcastle 2-1 Oldham First four league games, two points. Not comparing, not by a long chalk but just saying that sometimes the best seasons don't start off the way you would like them to Onto Preston on Saturday! Come On Oldham! #oneteamonedream

Strictly speaking he's not wrong? He will know and highlight the problems in training and probably have a right go at them, i'd rather a manager come out and say this after three games instead of slating a new group of players he has signed

Doesn't have to be a good crowd or a thumping atmosphere to get behind the team, just asking supporters to stick with the players and give them the boost they need to win a game to get them off and running.

Tonight! Let's forget about the horror show of a second half on Saturday, that has gone now! Let's ALL get behind the team, support the young squad of players and roar them on to a victory that will give them a massive confidence boost going into two tough away games against much higher budget opposition! If we go a goal down, don't boo and scream about getting it sorted out (obviously it will happen) and you do have the right to do it but react in the best way possible and try and pull our squad through what could be a very testing 90 minutes against a free scoring Port Vale. Come on Oldham! Keep The Faith!

Dieng is the type of player that you will notice if you take him out of the team, neat and tidy, retains possession, even if the ball is knocked wide to the left back or the right back. I get what LJ is trying to do with the formation, being a coach myself I get it and it isn't meant to be defensive but the players aren't understanding it, I would go back to four four two but with a tweek in positions. You could have played the exact same players in a 442 like this: Rachubka brown dieng wilson elekobi winchester kelly jones mills forte JCH Not the personnel I would play but it could be done. I like dieng as a player off what I've seen but like I said you'll see it more when he's taken out of the side and yes I do understand why people see it as defensive at home

That's not saying I want to go and watch a 0-0 draw

To be honest a 0-0 draw would do wonders for confidence, just to get Saturdays result out of the way, if we lose we get on with it, a bad start of 3/4 games without a win doesn't mean you're doomed, we'll get it right but when is the question

He received the ball at feet, more so first half and help get an attack going, that's what you need, dieng wasn't to blame for any of their three goals, one was a ball way over his head where the defense were nowhere to be seen, the second was a striker cutting in from their left played the ball across to the right and a pathetic effort from our left back and goalkeeper and the third he wasn't on the pitch. We have plenty of other players I'd drop before dieng and played in the right position which yeah I think playing there in front of the back four at home and away could work, if you have two energetic attacking minded midfielders alongside of him in winchester and jones could work

Big game? We're three games in after tomorrow night. If we lose, we lose and get on with it, hardly relegated. Would do wonders for confidence should we get a positive result I agree but by no means is this a 'massive game'

Pointless Dieng? I thought he did quite well on Saturday, as did Jones (first half), kelly is clearly not fit but had an ACL injury all last season. Mills was dreadful (second half) and should have been replaced, brown was average, Elekobi was a liability and JCH was extremely lazy and soft. Winny and Forte looked very good first half and I thought PR had a hand in gifting them all three goals.

Guess he's not still at brighton then? As much as I like Rachubka Kuszczak is a very good goalkeeper

I'd play a 442 as I think it suits kelly and jones better and also suits JCH having somebody up top with him I'd play Rachubka Brown J.Wilson Dieng Mills Winchester Jones Kelly (just) Dayton Forte Clarke-Harris Subs: Coleman B.Wilson Elekobi Mellor Morgan-Smith Philiskirk Gros

Accepted now!

I last season, (probably wrongly) made a joke about our playershare signing of last season being Edjin Joskts when we were ripped apart by Rotherham at home following their equivalent of playershare signing Kieran Agard. This was said purely as a joke and I put that on the post back then. After placing that 'joke' I feel obliged to apologise to everybody who donates to playershare and even more than that to thank them for every last bit of time, effort and money placed into making the George Elekobi signing possible!! This is a massive coup and I for one will be donating to playershare from now on (well from when I get paid next) following this signing and I personally would like to reiterate my apology to those that donate to playershare and to congratulate each and every one of them! Onwards and Upwards into the new season! See most of you tomorrow loud and proud! Keep The Faith!

Just accepted everybody who entered last night into the league! Starts tomorrow at Colchester! Can't Wait!

That's a great effort, not that bad of a team in all fairness!!

Zorro - you need to select a captain

Have done, sorry been working (of sorts)

Who's going to be the one to try a pick as many ex latics players as possible haha, seen Sheehan in Zorro's, I have baxter on the bench and Nathan Clarke in my team

No latics players in there zorro? I am disappointed!