Opinion on current state of this football club!

[RoytonBlueLad]

Simply don't care anymore. The enjoyment went with the last brick of the Lookers. At least we were having fun being cr@p then.

 

Tidy bar doing a good trade, scores on the telly and the bookies a few feet away with the Juniors lounge for the kid. Never mind eh

[al_bro]

At least uder Sheridan. we played some attacking football. Saying that, without the goals from lee Hughes, the last couple of seasons, the outcome would have been the same as now.

I've always said that when you have a 20 goal a season striker, you try everything to keep him because they are few and far between, unless you are extremely lucky in finding one from the youth team. Without such a player we struggle on with the majority of the league. With a decent defence we will finish in mid table. With a leaky defence we fight against relegation.

[BP1960]

I've always said that when you have a 20 goal a season striker, you try everything to keep him because they are few and far between, unless you are extremely lucky in finding one from the youth team. Without such a player we struggle on with the majority of the league. With a decent defence we will finish in mid table. With a leaky defence we fight against relegation.

 

Iceberg on the horizon...both central defenders must have suspensions looming, it will be a big test if they out the same time, who's going to play there ?.

Edited November 17, 2009 by BP1960

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Jeez wept. Just tallied it up and I've only been to 6 out of 10 home games this season and 0 out of 9 away. Make it 6 out of 11 on Saturday.

 

E4e

STALE

 

I'll use your ST on Saturday then mate. I'm skint and have a tiny bit of umph and desire to go!

[LaticNik]

I'll use your ST on Saturday then mate. I'm skint and have a tiny bit of umph and desire to go!

 

All yours mate. Will be in touch. Don't blame me though come 3.06pm...

 

E4e

SADDO

[JoeP]

What has happened since then has been nothing short of a disaster and you know why....because TTA have absolutely no idea at all in how to run a football club!!! They have stumbled along with one bad appointment after another and absolutely everything on and off the field has suffered as a result.

 

They should have appointed a couple of experienced people in the key areas, people who knew the game inside out, maybe a Joe Royle or a Jim Smith, but, they decided to go it alone in a business they knew absolutely nothing at all about and, as a result, the club is now well and truly dying on it's feet. I know we have no alternatives, and just have to go along with this new development plan, but I'm convinced TTA want out by any means available and as soon as possible and is the main reason we are heading for a lower league stadium that half the fans don't want and in what is basically a suburb of Manchester.

 

Of the major decisions they've had to make, you can see the reasoning behind them, though:

 

Talbot's sacking - They had no choice, really.

Moore's sacking - Did anyone really want to see hoofball?

Sheridan's sacking - Harsh on Shez, but the Dog Racing incident had made Latics a bit of a laughing stock and part of me says good on them for making sure something like this doesn't happen again.

Knocking down the Lookers - A small step, maybe, towards getting us nearer to a better ground?

The new ground - regardless of what you think about the size and location, it's an attempt to try something new to try and boost interest in Oldham Athletic.

 

The fact that journeymen play for us is, unfortunately what clubs of our level have to just get on with, ever since the Bosman ruling.

 

The negative air around the club at the moment I think are generally due to matters on the pitch, out of TTA's control. We're all fed up of seeing seasons like this for the last 13 years, but I think some of the managerial appointments have let the TTA down. On paper, all promising from the sort of names we are likely to attract, but they just haven't seemed to click at Latics, which is hardly the TTA's fault.

[tangerinedreams]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited November 18, 2009 by tangerinedreams

[Stevie_J]

I agree with the original poster and a good few others in this thread.

 

I spoke to my dad the other night, who's a long-distance fan too but gets to far more games than I do. He's done six home games this season, has seen Latics score one goal and hasn't seen us win.

 

I've never felt so negatively about the club. We're playing boring, defensive and ineffective football, partly based on a budget that best suits TTA's plan to walk off into the sunset with the money they make out of selling off the club's spiritual home.

 

We get to watch this from the comfort of a part-demolished prehistoric ground, paying a handsome price for the privilege, watching incapable and misused players, who can't find a goal between them.

 

We're headed to a new stadium that is motivated more by that exit strategy than it is by the best interests of the club.

 

Forgive me, but whereas it's never bothered me to do so in the past, quite frankly, I can't be arsed with all the travelling, to then part with twenty quid, to watch such :censored:e.

 

 

[oafc1955]

Of the major decisions they've had to make, you can see the reasoning behind them, though:

 

Talbot's sacking - They had no choice, really.

Moore's sacking - Did anyone really want to see hoofball?

Sheridan's sacking - Harsh on Shez, but the Dog Racing incident had made Latics a bit of a laughing stock and part of me says good on them for making sure something like this doesn't happen again.

Knocking down the Lookers - A small step, maybe, towards getting us nearer to a better ground?

The new ground - regardless of what you think about the size and location, it's an attempt to try something new to try and boost interest in Oldham Athletic.

 

The fact that journeymen play for us is, unfortunately what clubs of our level have to just get on with, ever since the Bosman ruling.

 

The negative air around the club at the moment I think are generally due to matters on the pitch, out of TTA's control. We're all fed up of seeing seasons like this for the last 13 years, but I think some of the managerial appointments have let the TTA down. On paper, all promising from the sort of names we are likely to attract, but they just haven't seemed to click at Latics, which is hardly the TTA's fault.

 

 

 

Like I said they should have got some experienced football people in to make the key decisions for them including the managerial appointments.

 

Of course you have to blame TTA, this is the fourth manager in less than 6 years and we just seem to be going nowhere. I actually think Penney could be successful if given the time but the patience of supporters is wearing very thin and who can blame them as we've had to endure two relegations and absolute rubbish on the field for the last 15years or so!!!

 

If you get the product right on the pitch then everything else falls into place and this is the area where most of the effort should have been focused. For TTA promotion would have been the most essential component of their business plan and it is solely their failure to acheive this which has left us in the situation we are in today. If we had been in the championship we would probably be looking at riding the recesson out and developing a new stadium at BP

 

Ronnie Moore football was horrendous to watch but the football we are subjected to at the moment is as bad if not worse...all we want to see is a little bit more attacking football, a few goals, and 110% commitment from every player pulling on a blue shirt!!

 

We have a thriving youth set up headed by Tony Philliskirk and I would much rather see our own players given a chance than average journeymen players with no connection to the club at all....at least you would get 100% commitment!!

 

We are in a recession and charging £20 to watch our brand of 3rd division football is not going to get bums on seats even in a new stadium!

 

If you had suggested to TTA a move to Failsworth 3 years ago they'd have laughed you out of their office...This moves stinks of desperation and is an early exit strategy for them, plain and simple!!!

 

 

[Stitch_KTF]

The term 'exit strategy' always make me smile. What ever happened to 'wanting out' or 'cutting your losses'?

 

[oafcprozac]

The term 'exit strategy' always make me smile. What ever happened to 'wanting out' or 'cutting your losses'?

 

 

Taking the money and running?

[Zorrro]

It's all about blue sky thinking and drawing a line in the sand without being thrown a curveball.

[garcon]

...without trying to boil the ocean.

 

[Matt]

It's all about blue sky thinking and drawing a line in the sand without being thrown a curveball.

 

 

...without trying to boil the ocean.

 

HULK SMASH...

[Zorrro]

[BP1960]

I think the Corp will like this one;

 

We need to be right sizing when the rubber hits the road.

Edited November 18, 2009 by BP1960

[JoeP]

Like I said they should have got some experienced football people in to make the key decisions for them including the managerial appointments.

 

Of course you have to blame TTA, this is the fourth manager in less than 6 years and we just seem to be going nowhere. I actually think Penney could be successful if given the time but the patience of supporters is wearing very thin and who can blame them as we've had to endure two relegations and absolute rubbish on the field for the last 15years or so!!!

 

If you get the product right on the pitch then everything else falls into place and this is the area where most of the effort should have been focused. For TTA promotion would have been the most essential component of their business plan and it is solely their failure to acheive this which has left us in the situation we are in today. If we had been in the championship we would probably be looking at riding the recesson out and developing a new stadium at BP

 

Ronnie Moore football was horrendous to watch but the football we are subjected to at the moment is as bad if not worse...all we want to see is a little bit more attacking football, a few goals, and 110% commitment from every player pulling on a blue shirt!!

 

We have a thriving youth set up headed by Tony Philliskirk and I would much rather see our own players given a chance than average journeymen players with no connection to the club at all....at least you would get 100% commitment!!

 

We are in a recession and charging £20 to watch our brand of 3rd division football is not going to get bums on seats even in a new stadium!

 

If you had suggested to TTA a move to Failsworth 3 years ago they'd have laughed you out of their office...This moves stinks of desperation and is an early exit strategy for them, plain and simple!!!

 

I take your point about seeing more youth players given a chance - why the the likes of Stephens isn't playing is a bit of a mystery...but is that really TTA's fault? Picking the team is the managers job.

 

They edged their bets on appointing managers with fairly solid names in lower league football in Talbot, Moore and Penny and (without wanting to predict Penny's downfall yet) it hasn't really worked. I think they've been a bit unlucky - I don't think many people moaned when these managers were first appointed. If this "experienced football person" had come in recommended, for example, some Rochdale scout as manager and it also didn't work, even more people would be up in arms (or past caring) than they are now. Besides, as has been mentioned elsewhere, Hardy should have enough experience to offer TTA comprehensive guidence.

 

Yes, it's £20 to get in to watch us in this depressing period, but what are they supposed to do? They charge £20 and no one turns up, but then when they slash prices (e.g; family group tickets, etc) still no one turns up! History shows that slashing the prices isn't going to get bums on seats.

 

The TTA have tried in lots of ways to move this club forward, but basically no one seems interested in helping them out. The move to Failsworth could bring a whole new support base, given it's accessibility from Manchester. Call it deperation if you want, but they're trying to do something here when all they've hit is dead ends at our currect location - but I think their refusal to give up is pretty commendable.

 

Other people that might have come in when we were in administration might have bolted by now, but the TTA are still here bankrolling our club, still trying to take it forward, despite getting no thanks from a fairly significant group of fans that will never be pleased.

Edited November 19, 2009 by JoeP

[singe]

Stephens is a mystery.

By=ut he cannot catch the Dale first team, and has not ripped up trees there.

He's come back and prozac says played well.

There is the possibility he is thinking Billy Big balls at Dale, I am a cut above this.

I hope not.

[Corporal_Jones]

The move to Failsworth could bring a whole new support base, given it's accessibility from Manchester. Call it deperation if you want, but they're trying to do something here when all they've hit is dead ends at our currect location - but I think their refusal to give up is pretty commendable.

 

Other people that might have come in when we were in administration might have bolted by now, but the TTA are still here bankrolling our club, still trying to take it forward, despite getting no thanks from a fairly significant group of fans that will never be pleased.

 

 

 

 

It is desperation. Where is this 'new support base' supposed to come from when everybody in Manchester who gives a toss about football already supports one or other of the Manchester clubs? Why should they switch allegiances to another club just because it happens to have been plonked down somewhere nearby, especially when it seems to have, particularly in comparison to the other two local clubs, very modest ambitions? There is more chance of Ian Paisley joining Sinn Fein than there is of significant numbers of Mancunians becoming fans of the newly-downscaled OAFC.

 

In what way is building a new ground which is smaller than the existing one 'taking the club forward'?

 

Getting no thanks from people is just the way it goes in football, especially when everything promised has come to nothing.

[JoeP]

It is desperation. Where is this 'new support base' supposed to come from when everybody in Manchester who gives a toss about football already supports one or other of the Manchester clubs? Why should they switch allegiances to another club just because it happens to have been plonked down somewhere nearby, especially when it seems to have, particularly in comparison to the other two local clubs, very modest ambitions? There is more chance of Ian Paisley joining Sinn Fein than there is of significant numbers of Mancunians becoming fans of the newly-downscaled OAFC.

 

In what way is building a new ground which is smaller than the existing one 'taking the club forward'?

 

Getting no thanks from people is just the way it goes in football, especially when everything promised has come to nothing.

 

I think you've done the "smaller ground/no ambition" arguement to death, so I can't be @rsed going into that.

 

If there's no potential new support base in Failsworth, then there's certainly no new potential support base where the club is now. Any potential new punter has had plenty of opportunity to show a snippet of interest, which just hasn't been taken up (unless we reduce entrance fee's to £2 or free).

 

As you may have notice, I live in Cardiff. For the occassional home game I get to, after the 3 and a half hour train journey to Manchester Picc, I have to mess about with an infrequent and tedious bus journey to get to Boundary Park. To get back to Manchester after the match it's the same. Now, even if the football's good the extra hassle of the bus, just makes the journey seem that little bit longer. I think I would be tempted to go to more home matches if when I got to Manchester, I could get on a quick, reliable metrolink to the ground, sit in a stadium with decent facilities, have a couple of pints after the match and not have to worry about getting a bus back to Manchester, 3 hours before my train leaves, just in case the last bus decides not to turn up.

 

And that's just a personal view - moving the ground to the new location makes the club more accessible to lots of new people.

 

My cousin, a City season-ticket holder, has said if the Failsworth move goes ahead, because it's just up the road, he will also get a season-ticket for Latics. He can't be the only one who'll do this, especially as a lot of City fans apparently have Latics as their second team. Maybe a family who can't afford a season-ticket at Eastlands will save cash by getting a cheaper one at Latics instead.

 

"Getting no thanks from people is just the way it goes in football" - as a rule, I don't think that's particularly true, but very true of a number of Latics fans.

Edited November 19, 2009 by JoeP

[oafc0000]

And that's just a personal view - moving the ground to the new location makes the club more accessible to lots of new people.

 

My cousin, a City season-ticket holder, has said if the Failsworth move goes ahead because it's just up the road, he will also get a season-ticket for Latics. He can't be the only one who'll do this, especially as a lot of City fans apparently have Latics as their second team. Maybe a family who can't afford a season-ticket at Eastlands will save cash by getting a cheaper one at Latics instead.

 

The more I think about it the more I think we need to take this gamble of moving to Failsworth... Its the sort of change that could send a right rocket up the club... I just think they need to get the development right and not the exit strategy one they seem to be planning...

[Corporal_Jones]

I think you've done the "smaller ground/no ambition" arguement to death, so I can't be @rsed going into that.

 

If there's no potential new support base in Failsworth, then there's certainly no new potential support base where the club is now. Any potential new punter has had plenty of opportunity to show a snippet of interest, which just hasn't been taken up (unless we reduce entrance fee's to £2 or free).

 

As you may have notice, I live in Cardiff. For the occassional home game I get to, after the 3 and a half hour train journey to Manchester Picc, I have to mess about with an infrequent and tedious bus journey to get to Boundary Park. To get back to Manchester after the match it's the same. Now, even if the football's good the extra hassle of the bus, just makes the journey seem that little bit longer. I think I would be tempted to go to more home matches if when I got to Manchester, I could get on a quick, reliable metrolink to the ground, sit in a stadium with decent facilities, have a couple of pints after the match and not have to worry about getting a bus back to Manchester, 3 hours before my train leaves, just in case the last bus decides not to turn up.

 

And that's just a personal view - moving the ground to the new location makes the club more accessible to lots of new people.

 

My cousin, a City season-ticket holder, has said if the Failsworth move goes ahead because it's just up the road, he will also get a season-ticket for Latics. He can't be the only one who'll do this, especially as a lot of City fans apparently have Latics as their second team. Maybe a family who can't afford a season-ticket at Eastlands will save cash by getting a cheaper one at Latics instead.

 

"Getting no thanks from people is just the way it goes in football" - as a rule, I don't think that's particularly true, but very true of a number of Latics fans.

 

 

Ah, the familiar masochistic claim that 'Latics fans are worse than all others.' It isn't true. What stick any club owner ever gets off Latics fans is in proportion to the 'Ah well, we're inferior' attitude that tends to be widespread among us, unfortunately, and is nothing compared to what they'd get at a whole range of clubs.

 

I accept what you're saying about your own position, but I still maintain that most football fans do not choose a club out of location and mere convenience of travel etc.

 

Many fans of both Manchester clubs across the parts of the city that border Oldham have had Latics as their second team for as long as I can remember. At best they've turned up for the big games. Some still do, although this has dropped off now that admission prices are so high. I doubt if many of them are there for a middle-of-the-table clash with Wycombe on a wet Tuesday night in January, though, so I'm sceptical about how many would go to the lengths of buying season tickets.

 

Anyway, I expect we shall see...