The Blame Game

[oafcprozac]

Like many of you I feel absolutely numb at yesterday's final outcome. It wasn't a surprise when relegation from the Football League was confirmed, it was a culmination of over a decade (Some may argue a quarter of century) of mismanagement of our beloved football club. So who do we blame/thank for the shambles we have become?

I woke up this morning angry, angry at the fact that this situation we find ourselves in today has been playing out for over 25 years. Each decline steeper than the last our gradual decline began with relegation from The Premier League in 1994, the club has lacked ambition to build a squad, to go for promotion. There was fleeting hope between 2001-03 with=in Chris Moore's ill-fated tenure. Then Blitz and Co's initial investment securing top 10 finishes between 06-09. Since then each season has seen a bigger decline than the last in terms of the club's ambitions. For me the seeds were sown with the club not properly replacing Lee Johnson the last manager to complete a full season in 2013-14. 

 

10/11 Dickov

11/12 Dickov

12/13 Dickov, Philliskirk Johnson 

14-15 Johnson, Holden

15-16 Kelly, Dunn, Sheridan

16-17 Robinson, Sheridan

17-18 Sheridan, Wellens

18-19 Bunn, Wild, Scholes, Wild

19-20 Banide, Maamria

20-21 Kewell, Curle

21/22 Curle, Selim, Sheridan

 

We can and should blame the current regime but the three years prior to their arrival had seen the manager change at least once per season since 2013 (2013-14) not withstanding. Continuity on the field has not been seen since probably the 06/07 when Sheridan took Ronnie Moore's team to the Play Offs plus and minus one or two. Since then we've had a new team year on year, invariably with a new manager to boot. But we know that, so who do I truly blame for our decline over the last 25 years?

·      I blame Oldham Council, Sykes and his liberal cronies blocked the drawn out Sports Park 2000 plan which left us in a deteriorating stadium and eventually saw the club selling the ground to the council with planning permission for houses on the site passed as a contingency just in case the club in financial difficulties at the time went to the wall.

 

 

·      I blame Oldham Council for a second time, local councillor Steve Bashforth and his ridiculous fans having 2 cars each notion meaning traffic chaos for the Oldham Arena development. The Development eventually passed but delays meant it was never going to off the ground.

 

·      Another piece of apportioned blame for Oldham Council with their ridiculous handling of the Failsworth move

 

·      I blame Simon Blitz's greed, he could have sold us in 2010 when he walked away, instead he put his incompetent mate in charge Corney, who ran us into the ground ramped up the club's debts. He could have put us into Admin in 2020 instead he chose greed and took Abdallah's bid for the whole shebang at face value. 2 1/2 Years down the line Abdallah hasn't even kept up with his rent payments so what does Blitz win by NOT putting us into 

 

·      I blame the apologists. The protests began in the Summer of 2019, escalated just before Christmas of 2019 yet for many the penny only dropped at the start of this season. By apologists I include the managers and coaches who have allowed themselves to be manipulated by Mo and AL. Fair play to Scholes and Pete Wild for having the integrity to walk away. 

 

·      I blame Abdallah and Mo for their naivety, their stupidity, their pig-headedness and their incompetence for ruining a proud 127 year institution. A bastion of the Football League for well over 100 years. I blame anyone who has supported these morons since they sacked Bunn. I blame anyone who has been an apologist for this failed, deluded and spiteful regime.

 

·      But more than ever, I blame one man, the reasons are well documented but Barry Owen, today you have blood on your hands. More than anyone you are responsible for yesterday’s outcome.

 

I am distraught today, heartbroken. I want to believe we will recover from this nightmare one day, I hope it's not the end - it's going to be a long road back and we have no chance until we rid ourselves of the Lemmies and his incompetent henchmen.

If we survive the summer, I’ll attend National League away games. I partially boycotted to the tune of only attending 4 home games before February. It became quite easy to Groundhop when we were at home. Should the Lemsagems retain their grubby grip on my club then it’ll be even easier to avoid attending BP next season. You soon get out of the habit.

 

The darkest days are right before the light of dawn, let’s hope the sun rises again on our beloved club some time soon. 

 

 

 

[BP1960]

50 minutes ago, oafcprozac said:

Like many of you I feel absolutely numb at yesterday's final outcome. It wasn't a surprise when relegation from the Football League was confirmed, it was a culmination of over a decade (Some may argue a quarter of century) of mismanagement of our beloved football club. So who do we blame/thank for the shambles we have become?

I woke up this morning angry, angry at the fact that this situation we find ourselves in today has been playing out for over 25 years. Each decline steeper than the last our gradual decline began with relegation from The Premier League in 1994, the club has lacked ambition to build a squad, to go for promotion. There was fleeting hope between 2001-03 with=in Chris Moore's ill-fated tenure. Then Blitz and Co's initial investment securing top 10 finishes between 06-09. Since then each season has seen a bigger decline than the last in terms of the club's ambitions. For me the seeds were sown with the club not properly replacing Lee Johnson the last manager to complete a full season in 2013-14. 

 

10/11 Dickov

11/12 Dickov

12/13 Dickov, Philliskirk Johnson 

14-15 Johnson, Holden

15-16 Kelly, Dunn, Sheridan

16-17 Robinson, Sheridan

17-18 Sheridan, Wellens

18-19 Bunn, Wild, Scholes, Wild

19-20 Banide, Maamria

20-21 Kewell, Curle

21/22 Curle, Selim, Sheridan

 

We can and should blame the current regime but the three years prior to their arrival had seen the manager change at least once per season since 2013 (2013-14) not withstanding. Continuity on the field has not been seen since probably the 06/07 when Sheridan took Ronnie Moore's team to the Play Offs plus and minus one or two. Since then we've had a new team year on year, invariably with a new manager to boot. But we know that, so who do I truly blame for our decline over the last 25 years?

·      I blame Oldham Council, Sykes and his liberal cronies blocked the drawn out Sports Park 2000 plan which left us in a deteriorating stadium and eventually saw the club selling the ground to the council with planning permission for houses on the site passed as a contingency just in case the club in financial difficulties at the time went to the wall.

 

 

·      I blame Oldham Council for a second time, local councillor Steve Bashforth and his ridiculous fans having 2 cars each notion meaning traffic chaos for the Oldham Arena development. The Development eventually passed but delays meant it was never going to off the ground.

 

·      Another piece of apportioned blame for Oldham Council with their ridiculous handling of the Failsworth move

 

·      I blame Simon Blitz's greed, he could have sold us in 2010 when he walked away, instead he put his incompetent mate in charge Corney, who ran us into the ground ramped up the club's debts. He could have put us into Admin in 2020 instead he chose greed and took Abdallah's bid for the whole shebang at face value. 2 1/2 Years down the line Abdallah hasn't even kept up with his rent payments so what does Blitz win by NOT putting us into 

 

·      I blame the apologists. The protests began in the Summer of 2019, escalated just before Christmas of 2019 yet for many the penny only dropped at the start of this season. By apologists I include the managers and coaches who have allowed themselves to be manipulated by Mo and AL. Fair play to Scholes and Pete Wild for having the integrity to walk away. 

 

·      I blame Abdallah and Mo for their naivety, their stupidity, their pig-headedness and their incompetence for ruining a proud 127 year institution. A bastion of the Football League for well over 100 years. I blame anyone who has supported these morons since they sacked Bunn. I blame anyone who has been an apologist for this failed, deluded and spiteful regime.

 

·      But more than ever, I blame one man, the reasons are well documented but Barry Owen, today you have blood on your hands. More than anyone you are responsible for yesterday’s outcome.

 

I am distraught today, heartbroken. I want to believe we will recover from this nightmare one day, I hope it's not the end - it's going to be a long road back and we have no chance until we rid ourselves of the Lemmies and his incompetent henchmen.

If we survive the summer, I’ll attend National League away games. I partially boycotted to the tune of only attending 4 home games before February. It became quite easy to Groundhop when we were at home. Should the Lemsagems retain their grubby grip on my club then it’ll be even easier to avoid attending BP next season. You soon get out of the habit.

 

The darkest days are right before the light of dawn, let’s hope the sun rises again on our beloved club some time soon. 

 

 

 

 

I  blame Covid, without it there would have been no need for furlough payments and the resulting embargo.

[JoeP]

1 minute ago, BP1960 said:

 

I  blame Covid, without it there would have been no need for furlough payments and the resulting embargo.

 

Nah, that's nonsense. The fuckwittery started long before Covid. These owners would have taken us to where we are now with or without Covid..

[oafc1955]

4 hours ago, BP1960 said:

 

I  blame Covid, without it there would have been no need for furlough payments and the resulting embargo.

20 other teams in our division  managed without a bail out from the EFL, why couldn’t we?

I’ll tell you why, our owner decided he didn’t want to finance ‘his’ club any longer!!

Our relegation is an absolute disaster but at least some good could come out of it all if it accelerates his overdue departure from ‘our’ football club!!

[oafcmetty]

We've been 'cutting the cloth' for years (decades?). ALMO has just made the inevitable happen sooner.

[tGWB]

10 minutes ago, BP1960 said:

 

I  blame Covid, without it there would have been no need for furlough payments and the resulting embargo.

 

Not your best post fella 

[BP1960]

Just now, oafc1955 said:

20 other teams in our division  managed without a bale out from the EFL, why couldn’t we?

I’ll tell you why, our owner decided he didn’t want to finance ‘his’ club any longer!!

Our relegation is an absolute disaster but at least some good could come out of it all if it accelerates his overdue departure from ‘our’ football club!!

 

Which is bewildering why he is leaking his bank balance by paying players wages. It makes no sense.

[BP1960]

1 minute ago, tGWB said:

 

Not your best post fella 

 

Just pointing out the embargo was a major cause of our downfall and Covid brought that about.

Don't see why that isn't a factor.

[Lee Sinnott]

14 minutes ago, BP1960 said:

 

I  blame Covid, without it there would have been no need for furlough payments and the resulting embargo.

C'mon now Alf. That's a strange take...

[oafc1955]

4 minutes ago, BP1960 said:

 

Which is bewildering why he is leaking his bank balance by paying players wages. It makes no sense.

Because the club will fold if he stops!

He’s just doing the bare minimum, and yes…it does make no sense unless he really is selling the clubs!

[yarddog]

In my opinion, once you lose the backing of a corporate company like John Willie's, you lose investment, unless you're an Arab.

[tGWB]

Agree with most of what you said oafcprozac

 

• Blitz Gazal Corney bought the club to move our Home and build on the land the stadium sits on
• The North Stand was built to generate non match day revenue as well as improve the match day experience for supporters. The North Stand was 'transferred' to a company unrelated to the football club but owned by Blitz and Gazal (Brassbank Ltd), taking both the assets and associated debt away from Oldham Athletic 2004 Ltd.
• Blitz and Gazal (Brassbank Ltd) would then rent the stadium and land to the football club that those assets were constructed for in the first place

A search for a buyer of the club was undertaken as the owners were not prepared to fund the club further

 

Enter Abdallah Lemsagam (AL)

• AL purchased the company 'Oldham Athletic 2004 Ltd'
• Alarm Bells started ringing fairly immediately when AL declared that he thought he was buying the full package as in the Club, the Stadium and the land the stadium sits on and surrounding car park and training area
• The lack of a competent due diligence process was the first public signpost to alert supporters of what might follow

Virtually the whole time of his governance of our club has been littered with poor decisions and mismanagement 

 

Sadly, we are the victims of a handful of people with the original intentions of making a few quid for themselves at the expense of the well being of our football club

 

These very same people are still in situ, holding the future of our club to ransom

 

We cant really blame any of the managers as they were asked to work in an environment which would only strangle positivity

 

Blitz Gazal Corney the Lemsagams and Barry Owen are the architects of the demise our football club

 

Whilst our football club has a pulse, no one can stop us dreaming, we have an obligation to past generations of Latics fans to keep doing 

 

WE BREATHE . WE LIVE . WE FOLLOW  

[JoeP]

27 minutes ago, oafcmetty said:

We've been 'cutting the cloth' for years (decades?). ALMO has just made the inevitable happen sooner.

 

That depends on the owners and how well they run the club - it could've been different if competent (rather than rich) people had taken over.

 

There seems to be an increasing number of clubs with a smaller income than ours (certainly in terms of gates receipts anyway) that aren't in trouble on or off the pitch.

 

When Corney sold, there was enough still there to form a base to build on.  We needed a doctor, what we got was someone with a pillow who wanted to see us off.

 

It's Al and Mo's fault (and the EFL for allowing the takeover). They're arrogant, egotistical and negligent.

[philwhite]

2 hours ago, oafcprozac said:

Like many of you I feel absolutely numb at yesterday's final outcome. It wasn't a surprise when relegation from the Football League was confirmed, it was a culmination of over a decade (Some may argue a quarter of century) of mismanagement of our beloved football club. So who do we blame/thank for the shambles we have become?

I woke up this morning angry, angry at the fact that this situation we find ourselves in today has been playing out for over 25 years. Each decline steeper than the last our gradual decline began with relegation from The Premier League in 1994, the club has lacked ambition to build a squad, to go for promotion. There was fleeting hope between 2001-03 with=in Chris Moore's ill-fated tenure. Then Blitz and Co's initial investment securing top 10 finishes between 06-09. Since then each season has seen a bigger decline than the last in terms of the club's ambitions. For me the seeds were sown with the club not properly replacing Lee Johnson the last manager to complete a full season in 2013-14. 

 

10/11 Dickov

11/12 Dickov

12/13 Dickov, Philliskirk Johnson 

14-15 Johnson, Holden

15-16 Kelly, Dunn, Sheridan

16-17 Robinson, Sheridan

17-18 Sheridan, Wellens

18-19 Bunn, Wild, Scholes, Wild

19-20 Banide, Maamria

20-21 Kewell, Curle

21/22 Curle, Selim, Sheridan

 

We can and should blame the current regime but the three years prior to their arrival had seen the manager change at least once per season since 2013 (2013-14) not withstanding. Continuity on the field has not been seen since probably the 06/07 when Sheridan took Ronnie Moore's team to the Play Offs plus and minus one or two. Since then we've had a new team year on year, invariably with a new manager to boot. But we know that, so who do I truly blame for our decline over the last 25 years?

·      I blame Oldham Council, Sykes and his liberal cronies blocked the drawn out Sports Park 2000 plan which left us in a deteriorating stadium and eventually saw the club selling the ground to the council with planning permission for houses on the site passed as a contingency just in case the club in financial difficulties at the time went to the wall.

 

 

·      I blame Oldham Council for a second time, local councillor Steve Bashforth and his ridiculous fans having 2 cars each notion meaning traffic chaos for the Oldham Arena development. The Development eventually passed but delays meant it was never going to off the ground.

 

·      Another piece of apportioned blame for Oldham Council with their ridiculous handling of the Failsworth move

 

·      I blame Simon Blitz's greed, he could have sold us in 2010 when he walked away, instead he put his incompetent mate in charge Corney, who ran us into the ground ramped up the club's debts. He could have put us into Admin in 2020 instead he chose greed and took Abdallah's bid for the whole shebang at face value. 2 1/2 Years down the line Abdallah hasn't even kept up with his rent payments so what does Blitz win by NOT putting us into 

 

·      I blame the apologists. The protests began in the Summer of 2019, escalated just before Christmas of 2019 yet for many the penny only dropped at the start of this season. By apologists I include the managers and coaches who have allowed themselves to be manipulated by Mo and AL. Fair play to Scholes and Pete Wild for having the integrity to walk away. 

 

·      I blame Abdallah and Mo for their naivety, their stupidity, their pig-headedness and their incompetence for ruining a proud 127 year institution. A bastion of the Football League for well over 100 years. I blame anyone who has supported these morons since they sacked Bunn. I blame anyone who has been an apologist for this failed, deluded and spiteful regime.

 

·      But more than ever, I blame one man, the reasons are well documented but Barry Owen, today you have blood on your hands. More than anyone you are responsible for yesterday’s outcome.

 

I am distraught today, heartbroken. I want to believe we will recover from this nightmare one day, I hope it's not the end - it's going to be a long road back and we have no chance until we rid ourselves of the Lemmies and his incompetent henchmen.

If we survive the summer, I’ll attend National League away games. I partially boycotted to the tune of only attending 4 home games before February. It became quite easy to Groundhop when we were at home. Should the Lemsagems retain their grubby grip on my club then it’ll be even easier to avoid attending BP next season. You soon get out of the habit.

 

The darkest days are right before the light of dawn, let’s hope the sun rises again on our beloved club some time soon. 

 

 

 

[Chaddyexile84]

1 hour ago, BP1960 said:

 

I  blame Covid, without it there would have been no need for furlough payments and the resulting embargo.

 

Christ...

[Ritchierich]

2 hours ago, Chaddyexile84 said:

 

Christ...

 

Bit harsh……pretty sure it’s not his fault

[BP1960]

4 minutes ago, Ritchierich said:

 

Bit harsh……pretty sure it’s not his fault

 

Nor the fault of Chaddyexile84 fault he can't see the logic in things.

[Chaddyexile84]

1 minute ago, BP1960 said:

 

Nor the fault of Chaddyexile84 fault he can't see the logic in things.

 

Nor even taking that comment on - look at the reaction  of everyone else to your "logic"

[BP1960]

Just now, Chaddyexile84 said:

 

Nor even taking that comment on - look at the reaction  of everyone else to your "logic"

 

I don't need your sarcastic replies, you're blocked so I don't see them anymore.

[Chaddyexile84]

5 minutes ago, BP1960 said:

 

I don't need your sarcastic replies, you're blocked so I don't see them anymore.

 

Jesus wept you need to grow up 

 

And stop talking guff 

[Lee Sinnott]

1 hour ago, BP1960 said:

 

I don't need your sarcastic replies, you're blocked so I don't see them anymore.

Got to admit Alf, I see no logic with your blame. Every other club in the country had covid to contend with and there are only a handful of us who haven't managed it successfully. And most of us have been relegated...

[Pidge]

5 hours ago, BP1960 said:

 

I  blame Covid, without it there would have been no need for furlough payments and the resulting embargo.

I talked to Natalie, then CEO, after the Covid lockdowns. She said the club finances were in a much better position because of furlough. It was soon after this that the club took the loan that helped to messed up this season and relegate us.  So I don’t think we can blame Covid. (BTW BP1960, I realise you were joking)

[oafc0000]

Very very sad to see what has happened...

Who is to blame...

I find people taking aim at the likes of Moores and Blitz - people who put A LOT of money into the club is a fruitless feeling.  It whats any club wants / needs and its the only way a club has a chance of doing well.  Some of the best times outside of the Premiership came under both their two reigns.   Everything else has been pretty awful.

The moment that sunk us I feel was the 2008 banking crisis destroying the plans Blitz had for the redevelopment and progression of the club.  If that had happened then things could have been very different.  It was slow death from that moment onwards.  Without someone with very large pockets stepping in the club stood no chance.

I also think the squandered opportunity in regards to the trust is something we should deeply regret.  A lot of supporters money was wasted and any real chance of having a say.  Imagine if we had spent the last twenty years building a power base instead of squandering it.  The fans are powerless to stop the rot.  Its part of the reason I stopped regularly coming - throwing good money at people who had no hope of turning around the club just became impossible to stomach.

I feel deeply sad for everyone who still goes every week - founders members of the Premier League reduced to non league status - its bitterly disappointing.