tringerlatic42

Blimey what an amazing talent-The sort of player that you were privilged to see. I wish I had seen more of him and amazing that the mentality at that time was that players like him were a luxury item and at Leeds David Batty would be on the teamsheet ahead of Shez every time.

Who is going up for this one? I managed to redeem my Virgin train vouchers for a series of late returns last year and arrive around 11.00 a.m. allowing plenty of pre match time. A game we should walk but will doubtless suprise us all again.

Great stats- which seem to bear out very accurately our season to date. It looks like we need to attack more which is the overriding message coming through all round. I hope the weather does not ruin the game tonight

An hour! Some dont even wait for the final whistle. The main thing is the tedious comments- all the players are :censored:e, dont care , Dunn useless and on and on.

It will be interesting as many old friends are absent so far. Normally on seconds after the final whistle, with all the usual stuff that we have heard so many times - worst ever etc Hiow dare they win today! ruining so many week-ends.

i think or hope you have made the right choice- Mansfield did not sound much fun- but not as bad as the mass hysteria on the Terraces forum! This is too expensive form where I live so my plan is a definite for Crewe- where we met last year- another classic

Utterly ridiculous poll! Johnson back- Daniel yes- Lee -never- That is forgetting the fact that he has just overseen one of the worst runs in a clubs history- left here with a run of crap results. But we must forget all that!

Yes I agree entirely- not all this get a new manager nonsense which seems obligatory for some after any loss. That was my 3rd game so i am one behind you. My observations from yesterday were that I thought Brian Wilson looks very accomplished in the middle and I like the look of Dummigan, although it looks he was caught out with their goal. I was also amazed at the amount of negative comments made about Yeates . For me Yeates is the one player who nearly always takes responsibility and produces an end product- too many of ours always hand over to someone else. That was my impression yesterday and the extended highlights seem to confirm that. I also thought the introduction of Fuller should have been made at half time or much sooner- specially when Dunn mentions we could have played another hour without scoring! Dunn needs time and I hope that he can learn and heed and change things when needed. At least he did remain positive in the after match interview. We will move on.

That is sad and bad news I only saw him play in the loss to Scunthorpe and could see he had some class , even though I think that was not his best performance- Unbelievably i saw him referred to by somebody as the worst ever full back to have played for Latics or something along those lines

Increase what pressure on Dunn?- As far as i can see there are only a handful on here who think 1 defeat in 8 is not good enough. I would be utterly amazed if and possibly when LJ bites the bullet that either he would want to come back or would be welcomed by any but a small minority and I don't think however much SC may like him as an individual he would have him back. Let us all get behind Dunn and give him a good chance to continue to improve OAFC

Get a Grip Yes OK it was a poor performance no getting away from that. But to say like so many that it means relegation, all loanees are to blame, we have the wrong manager etc all on the back of a great point at leaders Gillingham last week and 4 previous good performances since DD took over is panic and madness. Dunn criticised for trying to keep a brave face on things and not saying he was worried- imagine if he had! Higdon singled out as useless and in need of someone else to replace him after he has been involved in all goals we have scored before today. Lafferty a player who has calm presence and poise on the ball singled out as worst player for Latics etc? We were outthought and outfought by a basic strong physical team who came with a game plan and executed it well and played to their strengths. They were strong in the air but we continued to hoof the ball in the air to Higdon. We continue not to attack sides but play too slowly always passing sideways and too often down 1 side of the pitch only. We hardly won any second balls and had little influence in midfield. Like many I am mystified why Dieng is not playing and also see CB as an accident waiting to happen- poor distribution and rash challenges. It seems Yeates is not every ones cup of tea but against Wigan he produced an end product almost every time he had the ball and yesterday at least showed attacking intent in the few times the ball came to him. But things can change and will. The main issue seems to be breaking down teams at home- it seems all our away performances have been good. We have to believe that Dunn and Keith Brown will turn it round there are 34 games to go!

That was a great evening in there! I went to the Will Adam before but the D and B was much better. Sadly I cant make this one as my longstanding annual pilgrimage to the St Albans Beer fest is on that day. Hope to catch up with you rascals again soon. I will be going to the Scunthorpe game the following week-end

Me too. I thought it was a good interview. The main thing is how he gets his message across to the players. They seem to be doing the grunt work for him and hoping the quality will follow. It is only 3 games in for him and it will need time.

Yes I can recommend the above a great pub with friendly locals and some top ales, a few recommended to make the game more palatable!. I had planned on coming to this one but sadly now cant make it

This was my 1st game for the season and I came more in hope than expectation. By half time I really questioned why i bothered making a 150 mile trip and thought perhaps it was a time to stop- mainly the negativity of our approach was alarming. But the 2nd half restored my faith. I agree with all Stainrod's observations and would only add to the point on Yeates and I really had a sense of anticipation every time the ball went out to him and there was nearly always an end product. I thought Jones was eventually a lot more effective than Kelly who for me has poor distribution. I thought the changes ( plus of course the sending off) totally changed the game and I hope we learn that a more aggressive approach is the best way- I don't think we have the right balance to be a counter attacking team. I also noticed the new coach and was very impressed by his body language and passion. Nest stop Port Vale and hope to meet and chat with some of you there and then hopefully Scunthorpe at home

It is a nice change to see a positive post for a change. I will start with RM to avoid an avalanche of complaints for not being on the DK- sack him immediately bandwagon! Murphy has a pedigree background, he would not have gone 3 years through the Arsenal academy otherwise- in the odd short moments that OAFC have allowed him on the pitch he has for me shown that he has a good football brain and something about him. However he came to us on the back of a long injury and in my view never reached match fitness last year. No allowance was made for his fitness or limited time on the pitch by so many and he soon became the object of the boo boys. I am glad he impressed on Saturday and hope he can be given a run. Now DK was chosen by a panel of the whole board- not by Corney- and was one of a large number. No one knows what he or anyone else said, but I find it hard to believe that any body of selectors would choose on cost alone. There were not many realistic top contenders- Dowie for whatever reason was not even in the running and would have wanted a large salary and playing budget and anyway does not have a managerial success record. Clearly DK is learning and will need to learn fast. It seems to be universal that were lost of mistakes in positions and tactics last Saturday but let us at least wait a few more games to see how the team, surely as potentially good as we have had for several years respond. Talk that it is too late at 6 games unless we act immediately is ludicrous- If we have not progressed after 10 games I will view it differently- in the meantime DONT PANIC!

Well I take your point but i never heard anyone mention LJ specifically last year I just recall the usual delighted to be here great bunch of players etc- So indeed i thought it was unusual especially as they were not prompted to say so

Well in that case I will be the 1st- Now I was not there yesterday- luckily as I had been planning to and it sounds like there were a lot of players being played out of position as well as wrong tactics. BUT if every club sacked a manager after 1 league defeat there would be about 20 FL jobs changing every month!. All the player quotes I have heard speak very highly of DK's positive attitude and seem to be on board with him. I hope the players are not in the same state of panic that so many posters on this forum are.

Yes i saw that from Liam Kelly and felt it ws very encouraging - if there is positivity around the players we will be fine and as passionate supporters should keep following a positive note despite any setbacks- it would be nice if there were none but this is League 1. Desperately sorry that i cant get to the game as I am in istanbul but hope to see some of you soon again. Come on You Blues

What an incredible contest this is turning out to be- with nearly all players showing Jekyl & Hyde characteritics - Nathan Lyon being the leading Aussie wicket taker etc. I have the bad luck to have bought 2 tickets for tomorrow Edgbaston to see around an hours play if lucky! Is anyone else going? we can meet for beers if so and discuss the exciting new season at OAFC

I would have loved to be going but will be in Turkey at the time and will then miss Colchester and several others with a 2 week trip to USA. But look forward to the fun booze and banter when i rejoin you all. There is btw a good pub in Walsall the Black Country Arms a short walk from Walsall station. The Black Country Arms based in High Street, Walsall is one of the town's most ancient hostelries dating back to as early as 1627. Formerly The Green Dragon, this Grade II listed pub is now part of the ever-expanding Black Country Ales chain, and Walsall's foremost real ale pub with no fewer than 16 hand-pulls featuring ever-changing cask ales and ciders from across the UK. Hope you all have a great day out

I have also seen a few for the 1st time ever and could not agree more- teams just attack whenever they can and all the games i have seen have beeen exciting end to end stuff pure entertainment and it is great to watch players going forward and taking opponents on. That sub Hamraoui who came on for France v Germany was simply tremendous .

The Black Country Inn is prety good. It is a short walk from Walsall sation and about £5 taxi back to the ground - there is aslo a Wetherspoons close by- the attached is a note from someone who clearly rated it! "Second port of call on 3 May to celebrate the mighty U’s remaining in league 1, and winning at Walsall to boot. Excellent pub, very tall building and with drinking/eating areas on three levels so it doesn’t feel crowded or like being in a vast open barn. Marvellous selection of ales but once I’d tasted the Black Beauty Cream Stout from Packinghouse brewery that was it, this wonderful stout joins the Colchester Cream stout and the Nottingham Sooty Stout as three incomparable ales. This ran out and so I was forced to have a different ale, which although I can’t remember the name it stood up well to the lingering taste of that black nectar. We also ate here, one of my mates had the curry special which was good, I had the burger and potato wedges which did the job and at £4.95 what more could you want to go with your pre match pints? Fantastic place and well worth the trip. 9/10

Thank you I had a quick look as I out of the country but it looks good - so well done and thanks

Good post- He has a tough call and I am confident he would not have been chosen if the full board were not sure he could stand the pressure he will surely come in for after an inevitable bad run. I think that retaining Holden shows loyalty from OAFC and I don't read it as a trademark that DH playing philosophy will stay on- I think we have played some of the worst football i have seen Latics play under DH but he is well liked by the club and players and is committed to OAFC and I see this as an opportunity to develop DH and also keep TP in the loop. We have some good youth players as shown in the recent cup final win over MK and if we develop a new policy of playing these young players instead of the loanee's of the LJ era it would not be a bad thing. I would rather see a new kid on the block ahead of someone who had brief success somewhere 10 years back and a string of failures since. I never felt Dowie or risler were realistic possibilities- I recall Corney's remaks at the point of the LJ appointment saying that Dowie was asking the earth. If it is Kelly lets get behind him and give him a chance- I recall another Kelly being slaughtered early on and then being praised to the hilt thereafter