Longlostfan

Listening to the local BBC commentary they sounded pretty much the same as we normally are.

3 hours ago, Pidge said:

You worked hard to find a downside of the loan system!

Not really Pidge.

Under the muppets we had a lot of short term loanees who didn't seem interested whilst we weren't bringing on much of our own.

There were notable exceptions Lang , Surridge, Bryne, Iverson, Palmer  etc and the best of them probably raised the game of those around them

I agree that if we brought a couple in there might not be anybody missing out now but I think it has been an issue in the past.

I agree it works well for the higher clubs and your point about them hoarding players who then drop out is valid too. On greedy league budgets it is relatively cheap to keep a teenager on what for most people would be an incredible salary on the off chance a few of them make it or can be sold on for millions.

I'm not sure how one would legislate for it but some element of 'use them or release them' with some sort of cap on overall numbers might release a few more nearly men whilst they are still hungry.

That is the downside of the loan system- someone who isn't good enough for their club gets game time in a lower division and improves potentially denying one of our own the chance.

However Stones has improved us, and I'd be OK with 2-3 loanees to the end of the season if it filled those problem positions with Stones' quality and workrate.

The fact that smiley is improving Stones is a reason why if the player has a choice he might stay another month

3 hours ago, hillside blue said:

Perhaps some time stacking shelves in Tesco as a punishment might give them a better understanding of the privileged careers they have.

Might be more worthwhile to get them to do something with/for the less privileged.

Plenty of opportunities for them to do some good whilst reflecting on their special position.

Suspended pending internal investigation.

He will get to make his case behind closed doors.

The bit of video is probably only part of what went on.

I'll trust Mellon to make the right call be that a bollocking/fine/final warning/dismissal or something else.

I don't expect to hear anymore from the club until it is concluded- and even then I'd expect most of it to stay 'in the club'

1 minute ago, Wardie said:

This league is baffling

I think a few would use a different descriptor Wardie.....

It is pretty open and a bit of consistency makes a massive difference

4 points from 22-15th

4 points from 11-5th

Great result. Lets see what the return offers

'Received pronunciation'

Pretty much how all the leading ladies spoke in English black and white films

or Angela Ripon reading the news back in the day.

Get them to BP 3 hours early, drive them around the M60 and put them in the away dressing room.

The crowd is hostile enough for it to seem like they are playing away after the first misplaced pass.

2 minutes ago, jsslatic said:

Pretty settled tactic isn't it now for the best penalty takers to go 1st and 5th.

I think it is but it runs the risk that you are out before your 'best' penalty taker gets a go.

Sure there maybe more pressure on the later kickers but equally you can put pressure on the other team by consistently scoring in the early rounds.

Nice write up at their end

https://mickleoverfc.com/its-the-big-one-oldham-athletic-a/

23 minutes ago, LaticsLegend said:

Any attention or interaction keeps him going.

This.

Just stop.

Be good if we didn't resort to names like cretin though.

14 hours ago, Monty Burns said:

does he have a designated page and where is best to track his race progress?

the race pages can be found here https://www.worldstoughestrow.com/

I imagine when it starts in 9 days or so there will be a tracker map -possibly only updated once a day from Frank's comments

It isn't great for the traveling away fans- both cars must be pretty close to Oldham by now but I take the successive inspections as a positive intent to play the game if possible.

It is a balance. Alfreton called off at ten minutes before kick off pretty disappointing outcome for all concerned.

12:30 reinspection with announcement by 1.15 would cover most home supporters. Seems reasonable to me but of course there are many who travel further.

Only 4 games left according to the BBC.

8 hours ago, Frankly Mr Shankly said:

However I'd take that all day instead of the seemingly endless cycle of 6 month deals for predominantly crap player

Absolutely. If you want to build a team you need to retain a solid core. How many times have we started a season with a team of complete strangers in recent years.

Longer contracts the right thing to do- just need to get player selection right. Only managed one of those two under Unsworth and ST.

5 hours ago, Londonboy said:

We need to utilise the loan system far better than we do in my view. Just don't get our reluctantly to do so....

Previously we gave other teams kids the chance to learn at the expense of our own.

Not every loanee was a Palmer, or Surridge.

In principal I'd prefer developing our own and having fewer loans but I'd agree with have some serious holes so if we could get a couple in it would be worth it.

It is one of the questions where the answer comes with qualifications isn't it?

Need to define competitive (leaving aside comments about the Ebsfleet game....)

Which competitions count?

League games in the top five leagues- or do we consider previous structures and additional depth?

Is the total from current top five leagues or all time?

FA Cup- obviously in but what about a minnow from outside the range of leagues included above?

Phoenix clubs- do they count separately to their predecessor?

Various non league trophies?

Bet you didn't feel as bad as the 20K Southampton fans who feel they got robbed in the 93rd minute- oh happy days

12 hours ago, oafc1955 said:

Seems a strange time to be rowing the Atlantic as he’ll be away from his family at Christmas!

I know a few for whom that would be the reason to do it at this time of year.

The Talisker challenge race is around this time of year so presumably conditions are favourable- past the worst of the Caribbean hurricane season maybe but I'd worry about the short daylight?

Thought that was a good interview on the radio.

Seems genuine, interests away from the narrow confines of the job.

Straightforward re Nuttall- 'you need first team football and you aren't at the top of my list'

Balanced re goal keepers- 'great to have two need them '

Clear messages to the team- 'perform in the team, be ready if you aren't in the team'

'I'll pick the team I think will win the game'

Not much fluff or BS, avoided obvious own goals.

Think he is building something.

13 hours ago, Monty Burns said:

WILL SOMEBODY ASK ME THE BUS REGISTRATION!!!!

was it ANA593E?

2 hours ago, oafc1955 said:

Am I missing summat?

Monty reflecting that he had put Rooney in the team for tomorrow.

I think a few spotted it but knowing how promiscuous he is with his affections just assumed he is getting confused about which ex was when and where.

Got to work the morning after to discover I could barely talk- on a day everyone wanted to talk about to me about the game.

21 minutes ago, League one forever said:

I always thought it was about tax. 

I thought VAT was payable monthly or in some cases three monthly so anything on season tickets would have become due shortly after they were paid for.

The gross attendance number doesn't really count for much- would need to know he rates paid by everyone. Large number of concessions, freebies etc big gate not so big income............

On 11/7/2023 at 10:22 PM, basilrobbie said:

It's a hugely important step. and very, very satisfying. But the harder work starts now, probably.

I agree this has the potential to be very important.

Politicians of every stripe aren't very good at supervising legislation and thinking about the unintended consequences. I think BR is right -there will be much hard work to do- even assuming the bill can be brought to completion before the next election.

I can't see how this becomes a guarantee that a struggling club will continue to exist or even how a rogue incumbent owner can be forced to sell at a sensible price. It could be an important step to make some failures less likely though.