Worcester Owl

I guess it’s Hobson’s choice.

I would have thought City's latest run is momentum with bells on.

Commiserations. Mind you, what would we give to be kicking off in L1 next season.........

I may be biased, but Latics fans are quality. Not only have we supported our club through thin and thinner over more years than I care to remember, some even get up in the wee small hours to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights. Outstanding dedication. You deserve a lie in !

Sorry for your loss, BP. At times like this football can seem pretty trivial. I hope in due course good, not sad memories of your brother will remain, and that next season brings better times.

I'm with @Dave_Og and @TheBigDog on this. I simply don't understand wanting Rochdale to fail and drop another league. How does that help us? Don't we want local derbies against fierce rivals, with the grounds packed to bursting and a tribal atmosphere. When you consider the way the "Premier" League has siphoned off so much money from the national game, to the immense detriment of teams like Oldham and Rochdale (RIP Bury), it's actually pointless and silly wanting to see a local rival decline further. If some of their fans were delighted to see us drop out of the league, well they're short-sighted as well, we don't have to copy them. I haven't been to Spotland often, but I do remember going with my brother and his mates at the end of the 1968/69 season when they got promoted to Div.3 (it may even have been the game that clinched promotion). We were behind one goal and the stand was absolutely packed, great atmosphere. We were just pleased for a local team. I'll be very happy if we stuff them home and away next season, but I hope they get promoted back after we finish as champions.

If they stick with the club long-term, don't do anything silly and continue to come across as genuinely committed and responsible owners, then good luck to them.

The Marsh/Ramsey version is supposed to be true but who knows. I can't remember the details - was Marsh messing about in an England training session? So Alf threatened him and said, if you play like that tomorrow night, Marsh, I will pull you off at half-time. Marsh grinned and said, Christ Alf, at City we only get oranges at half-time. Not sure what Ramsey's response was but somehow I doubt he found it funny!

There is a fine line between bravery and recklessness!

Ah, the old Rodney Marsh/Sir Alf line.

A big part of the problem is that nobody is allowed to criticise the NHS - it's a sacred cow. Whether successive governments, management, or front line staff are to blame - sometimes all three - it's not working at its best and I agree simply throwing more money at it/the medics will not per se solve the problems. I just wish somebody would look at other health services around the world and come up with a plan to cherry pick the best-working features but maybe that's too simplistic. It will probably need a Labour rather than Tory Health Secretary to carry out major reform of the NHS, and Wes Streeting has been making some very interesting statements, but I wonder if Starmer would have the cojones to see through a reform programme. Getting back to football (!), I agree with @Dave_Og and others that morale is critically important. Unlike (usually) health workers, footballers can be sacked/demoted and surely nobody can deny that the Lemsagam regime had a ruinous effect on player confidence. To blame Wellens for the L1 relegation is very short sighted.

It might be just as simple as, HV got fed up with us/being loaned out and now his confidence has been boosted by a great opportunity at a Championship side where he's surrounded by better players, and his motivation has rocketed. Of course we want any Latics player to be motivated when they put the shirt on, but at the end of the day they're only human. He's still a kid and it's easy to imagine that at one point he might have wondered if he'd make it, which in turn may have led the coaches to wonder if he had it in him. Now he's got a great chance with a free start and good luck to him.

Yes, great statement from the board there.

As long as you still have the beer fridge........

Great post that I'd add as a proud Middletonian that their beer was as crap as their ownership of the club. It may have improved in the years since I moved away but back in the 70s it was as weak as it was tasteless.

I understand your point and yes chopping and changing managers rarely ends well unless you're a Chelsea and even they may be coming unstuck. It's clear that Unsworth has made us hard to beat, the odd trouncing/no-show aside - 13 defeats in his 33 league games is at least something, but of course there have been too many draws alongside that to get us anywhere near a promotion challenge. As others have said, he is here for the time being - this season is one of finding our feet, and the pre-season with a chance of shipping players in and out will be crucial. My worry is that if he carries on trying to grind out results with a safety first approach it will be a really hard watch. I'm also in the camp that we have to be top 7 after 10 games (and stay there!) otherwise he'll have to go. We have to have a serious crack at promotion next season.

Well you gave me my best laugh in ages with your ludicrously wide of the mark criticism of my post. I did wonder if you were being ironic but clearly not . I thank you!

“obnoxious personal attacks” That is truly hilarious

I couldn’t give a flying fuck about next season’s kit, and this thread doesn’t deserve air time. What I want to see is a successful team, in which case they can play in any bloody colours under the sun for my money.

I remember that game well, about the only time I went in the Ford stand. Bad memories of the return at Old Trafford though where United cheated their way to a 3-2 win.

Actually I think it's 20 league games since the Bromley defeat, mustn't be unfair on DU To be fair 1 league defeat in the last 8 isn't to be sniffed at, but you'd hope the team would be growing in confidence by now and it doesn't feel that way yet.

We were 15th after Unsworth's first match in charge, the 3-0 defeat at Bromley in late September. It's taken him 5 months and 21 league games to climb back to that dizzy height.

And I don't think @BP1960was making that point either, though I'm sure he can speak for himself.

Fair enough, but if I'm not mistaken I think @BP1960also made the point that the fixture wasn't published on the official website in advance.

I'm with @BP1960 on this. The Youth team wear the shirt, just like the full time professionals, and deserve to be reported on.