Play-offs Still On After Tough Spell

Firstly I would like to appologise for the length of time between this and my last blog. As I mentioned last time I went away on holiday, this was followed by visists to live football and just been generally busy, but I am back now.

Leeds 1 - 1 Oldham

I was actually very pleased with this result as I consider Leeds to be one of the two toughest sides in the division. I went into the game far from hopeful due to injuries keeping strikers Lee Hughes, Lewis Allesandra and Ariel Lopez out of the game. Without a strikeforce pulling a shock off against a big club will always be difficult. Leeds took the lead in the 18th minute through Beckford, but apart from that my team put on a very good defensive display. The players who impressed me most with their defensive contributions were Man Of the Match Zambernardi, Babayaro and defensive midfielder Maher. Around the 75th minute I instructed the team to attack much more forcefully than before, this could have resulted in a second goal for Leeds, but luckily it paid off and second half sub Whitaker scored a long range beauty along the floor (in the 86th minute) to give us the point we deserved and in my opinion a good result, especially as they were the better team with more shots and possession.

Oldham 0 - 1 Stockport

This has to be the most dissapointing result of the season for me, as clearly we are a better side than them and we were on the night, we just couldn't put the ball in the net. I didn't play my strongest line-up and you could say that is a sign I did not take this competition seriously. Luckily my board do not care about this competition but it is a shame as this is a competition we relaistically could have won. They scored early through Baker and from then onwards we dominated. This is made clear in the match stats, which show that my team had 12 shots whilst Stockport had 5. The problem was I had to play a tired Kabba and 16 year-old Timmons up front, due to my injury crisis of sorts. Luckily this was a cup, we are out but it is not the end of the world.

Leicester 2 - 1 Oldham

This scoreline suggests we are going through a bad patch of form, but this is the club I consider to be the best in the league and clearly Championship standard. We put on a brave struggle but eventually we lost, away, to a better side. It all began so well when Steven Kabba scored first, in the 18th minute and on the 22nd minute we were given the opportunity to almost settle the match. After a foul in the penalty area, we were given a penalty, Bilos stepped up, hit it down the middle, easy save, morale crushed. As if the cruelty wasn't enough, we stupidly gave them a penalty and Howard showed us how to score them. The winner was in the 68th minute and was by Matt Oakley. Apart from Kabba all the players didn't have great games, specificaly bad were Taylor and Lomax. Although this was a loss, our first in the league out of 10 games, and I was slightly dissapointed as I thought we might get a draw I can say this has not upset me or doubted our credibility for promotion. If you can beat all the other teams and scrape some draws with the best then play-offs is very possible.

Oldham 2 - 0 Leyton Orient

Today we were back on track, as was our play-offs push, and this was thanks to a brace from Steven Kabba. Still with limited options up front, the return of Alessandra seemed to bring the best out of Kabba as it once did Hughes before he strained his knee ligaments. The two goals came in the 13th and 28th minutes and he was the clear winner of MOM. And Liddell and Danny Whitaker made the first team today and both performed very well, giving the midfield a bit of energy as well as industry. This was a good win for the home fans against a tough side.

Oldham 1 - 0 Millwall

Another tight clash, against a side a considered to be play-off contenders. Ariel Lopez managed to be fit so he could take his place alongside Kabba in the ever-changing and always interesting frontline saga. The defence of Lomax, Hazell, Gregan and Babayaro did a good job today. I was also impressed with a second clean-sheet in a row from 'keeper Fleming who is doing well to keep onto the highly contested goalkeeping jersey. Another important goal from Danny Whitaker settled the close affair, he seems to be in good form and really challenging Sastre and Maher for the CM places.

That is my latest and toughest run so far completed. I am feeling very positive now. We are 3rd place in the table and are only three points off 1st which is Peterborough (looking for a second promotion in a row). The next five fixtures, which are all in the league, are: Carlisle (A), Colchester (H), Peterborough (H), Scunthorpe (A), Northampton (A). Hopefully I will consider to find success and maybe some of my strikers will be fit, we shall see !

Sorry about the wait. Up and Onwards !

Not bad. Not great

So, the season has continued and i now have completed Septemter. The order of the fixtures I previously listed have changed because some matched were postponed due to Neal Eardley going to represent Wales. But the five teams played remains the same. Here is how the games went:

Oldham 3 - 1 Carlisle

This was our first fixture the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and it is a competition I feel we can realistically win if we put some focus to it. We completly dominated this game attacking well and defending imaculatly. The first goal was an on target Hughes shot which got slightly deflected by Peter Murphy, for some reason it went down as an own goal. Maher scored in the 28th minute and the final Oldham goal came from Steven Kabba who put in a great attacking performance. Carlisle's only goal came from a long-range free kick by Kavanagh which was a great effort, they had no clear cut efforts in open play. The defence were very good, especially centre-back Zambernardi. I was concerned after the game as my physio informed me he was weighing in 11 stone overweight, turned out it was just that he had Michael Bridges in his back pocket! MOM and star of the day was Maher in the centre of the park and he played great. We have reached the next stage of the competition and will face Stockport, a local rival.

Yeovil 0 - 2 Oldham

Back to the usual, same good performance with no difficulites in the league. Lee Hughes scored the fastest goal I have seen on FM scoring in 15 seconds. His partner was Alessandra and he also scored which is predictable, this happened in the 12th minute. We enjoyed 56% of possesion which away is very pleasing. Chris Taylor picked up the MOM award although a number of players could have recieved it as they all played well, with nobody playing great or badly. After this result I was feeling very confident.

Oldham 0 - 0 Bristol Rovers

Unfortunatly all good things have to come to an end, and for our winning streak that occured today. I was frustrated because we played quite well and we just didn't get that goal. Alessandra picked up a knock against Yeovil and Kabba got injured representing Sierra Leone so I played an experienced front line of Hughes and López. Neither could find the net annoyingly and even when we went all out attack in the closing stages deadlock could not be broken. 8 shots and only 1 on target tells the story in my opinion and I am going to have to write it off as one of those days. For a team that has found goals easy to find so far this must be viewed as a blip.

Oldham 2 - 2 Brighton

This is my worst result of the season so far. A 2-2 draw with Brighton is not that bad but the thing is that we led 2-0 up till the 84th minute. The lapse in concentration, as it could be described, is something I do not want to see happen again. Ferriera and Alessandra both got injured in this game. I will start with the positives; it started very well with Hughes showing he does know how to score, twice. The positives probably end there with MOM Hughes. A huge portion of the blame for this result lies with Celestine Babayaro, in the first half he hacked someone down nastily and I thought he was going to get sent off, he got away with it and I dismissed it as a mistake. In the 84th minute he hacked a striker down in the box to give them a penalty and a big fat ticket back into the game which Elphick gratefully took. Then what confuses me most is I switched our tactic to defensive to hold our result, but somehow Jason Jarrett managed to find his way through to score an equaliser in the 93rd minute. Cruel admitedly, but a lesson to the players hopefully, resiliance is needed.

Hereford 1 - 3 Oldham

That is more like it indeed, especially under the circumstances I shall describe. Due to injuries to Alessandra and Kabba it was the ageing strikeforce of Hughes and López deployed. Admitedly they lack pace but thier finishing ability meant I was confident. This aforementioned confidence evapourated shortly though as López was taken off injured on the 32nd minute and Hughes likewise in the 42nd. The situation was bad as the best options on the bench were young Matty Wolfenden just back from a very long injury and winger Fernandes. A shift in formation to 4-5-1 was used and I sat back and crossed my fingers wondering where the goal would come from. Fabrice Fernandes scored a brace from wide right midfield (44th and 48th minute) and I was full of joy. They scored in the 66th minute but that was irrelevant and own goal strached the lead late on. Fernandes rightly got Man Of the Match and I was really proud of my midfield who chipped in to save the day.

I am going on holiday tomorrow for 10 days and therefore there will be no blogs for a little while. When I arrive home the blogs will restart though guarenteed. Feel free to leave comments while im gone as I will get back to you when home. As this is the last blog for a while I shall summarise where we sit.

Stats

League Table - end of September

As you can see my side sit in a very respectable 3rd place and we are only 1 point off league leaders Leicester. If we had found a goal against Bristol Rovers and held our nerve against Brighton then we could be sitting 3 points clear, but thats football. As the only team not to lose a game I am pleased, although we play a strong Leeds side next so things could change. Lee hughes is currently the league's top scorer with 7 goals, which is good for him and the club.

When I get back from abroad I face a really tough fixture list. In the league we play Leeds (A) and then Leicester (A), that could make or break our form. In between them is our JPT fixture against Stockport (H). After that we play Leyton Orient and Millwall, both at home.

I wish everybody reading and following my blog an enjoyable Easter Break. C'mon The Latics.

Oldham Athletic Squad 08/09

Now the transfer window has passed I have my squad ready to compete in the league this season. I feel I have done a good job in the transfer window and the response from you the readers has been good. Incorporating the good aspects of the original squad and some new faces will hopefully lead to success.

The Squad is:

GK - Greg Fleming 21

GK - Mark Crossley 39

GK - Shane Supple 21 (On loan from Ipswich)

RB - Neal Eardley 19

RB - Kelvin Lomax 21
CB - Sean Greegan 34 (Captain)
CB - Reuben Hazell 29

CB - Sam Sodje 29
CB - Yannick Zambernardi 30
LB - Celestine Babayaro 30

LB - Daniel Jones 22 (On loan from Wolves)
RM - Kieran Lee 20
RM - Chris Taylor 21
RM - Andy Liddell 35 (Vice-Captain)

RM - Fabio Ferriera 19 (On loan from Chelsea)

DM - Kevin Maher 31

CM - Lluis Sastre 22
AM - Danny Whitaker 27
LM - Daniel Bilos 27
LM - Fabrice Fernandes 28

ST - Jordan Timmons 16 (available for Reserves)

ST - Lewis Alessandra 19

ST - Lee Hughes 32
ST - Ariel López 34
ST - Steven Kabba 27 (On loan from Watford)

I'm very pleased and as you can see there is now more balance in the squad depth. I do not have the youngest side and that is nothing to deal with in the future. I have certainly sorted out any short-term problems we may of had. I said I would provide screenshots of a few players so here we go:

New signing Sastre as requested:

SmithyKM here is Fernandes:

Another signing of interest is Sodje:

Here is Babayaro:

The star of the club currently is young Chris Taylor:

First choice goalkeeper Fleming:

My favourtie Oldham original Lee Hughes:

Requested, this is the player with the highest transfer value at the club, loanee Daniel Jones:

Those are all the printscreens I will do for now as I could go on for ever. I can include one or two in my next blog is required. What do you think of my squad then?

Keep the Faith.

The Transfer Window Slams Shut

Well it has reached the end of August and therefore the transfer window, I have not revolutionised my club but I have certainly improved it. My work in the transfer window was limited by my financial status and also the clubs reputation, meaning the best players don't fancy playing in the official coldest ground in the country. But back to transfers later, first I will summarise the last three results:

Oldham 3 - 0 Crewe

Once again another great attacking performance from the team as we put in a great performance and achieved a very good victory over a fairly strong side. The clean sheet, the 3rd in the league for Fleming, was also impressive as Anthony Elding and Calvin Zola are threats. Todays highlight was the performance of the wingers. Bilos got MOM and Liddell got the second best match rating after him. The attacking play on the wings lead to many opportunities in front of goal and the amazing stat of 19 shots to 2 says it all. Hughes gave us the lead in the 12th minute and this was improved by Bilos in the 33rd, he is looking to be a good acquisition. The game was dead and burried for Crewe in the 49th minute when centre-back Zambernardi nodded in. The attacking superiority was shown by the fact Eardley could even afford to miss a penalty, although im considering finding a new spot-kick taker. The centre-backs put in good shifts, Zambernardi and Sodje being new to the squad. The whole team did well and this was game of the season for us so far.

Newcastle 3 - 1 Oldham

Predictable result, performance deserved a better score though. The League Cup is of no importance to me as promotion is the aim and with the sides competing the cup is impossible. That said, we gave it a good shot and I chose to remain attacking even though they have such prowess. Due to the fixtures little importance debuts were given to previously injured duo Kabba and Sastre, fitness building was the aim. Although I say the result wasn't important, I feel the performance had many positives and with a bit of luck we could have drawn. Up front accuracy was what was lacking, and Hughes hit the crossbar twice unfortunatly. To get 9 shots and 49% of the possesion at St James' Park can be seen as good work. I am certainly not dissapointed in Hughes, Fleming and co. Michael Owen played and was the difference between the two teams, he got a hatrick. Our best player was Sastre and the goal came from substitute midfielder Whitaker. The League Cup is now out of the way and the competitions which matter remain.

MK Dons 2 - 2 Oldham

A dissapointing scoreline in my eyes, but not the end of the world. I feel the result against Newcastle, although meaningless to me, may have knocked a bit of morale out of the team. We have lost our 100% record and clean sheet, but we remain undefeated in the league. Sam Hewson, on loan at the Dons from the mighty United, scored early on to set the game rolling. The kids class was clear and he got MOM for the game. We levelled it through Alessandra in the 12th minute. This was the first time my preferred strike partnership of Hughes and Alessandra have played together since the opening day of the season. Eardley scored an own goal in the 30th minute and his poor form is dissapointing me - he has the potential to be a good player at a higher level I feel. At the start of the second half I made a change to make my formation 4-3-3 with Lopez coming on and this led to Hughes scoring in the 59th. Of course he did, him and Alessandra usually score together. Around the 67th minute mark I made a move of desperation and shifted it to a 4-2-4 with substitutions meaning I genuinly had four strikers on the front line. Unfortunatly the chances didn't come and the game finished a draw. The star performers for me
were the strikeforce and for the first time I can say I was dissapointed in the defence.

That result is not so bad when you consider we sit second in the table after four games. We trail Leicester who are a different class for this league.

Transfers



As you can see I have spent much less than I have recieved but thats not to say I have lots of cash left over. The first batch of my money went to paying off staff contracts. The rest I have recieved has been transferred into the wage budget. Loads of signings for me are free agents and they all need wages, good ones too to beat off opposition. This has left me with ver little in the bank. I shall now talk you through all my signings:

Fabrice Fernandes: Much travelled French winger who's last club was Le Havre, I believe I'm privlidged to have him as is quality is evident.
Celestine Babayaro: Should be well known to most followers of the Premier League after many years at Chelsea and then Newcastle. Top class at this level, glad that LA released him!
Daniel Bilos: Another good winger who has even been capped 3 times for Argentina. His best years were at his favourite club Banfield.
Jordan Timmons: 16 year old I snatched from Dundee, he's a striker with finishing 13, yes please.
Yannick Zambernardi: 30 year old with an uneventful career, appears to be very good for League One.
Sam Sodje: Not wanted by Reading, sitting in their reserves, when I saw he had been released by them from the news bar I acted quickly. Best defender at the club.
Ariel López: At a time when I needed strikers desperatly he was the best option. Not a bad player, but at 34 he has no long-term use.
Lluis Sastre: The only person I spent money on. When scouring the transfer lists I found this very decent midfielder at what must be a cash needing club.

I will do a squad list summary shortly and will add a few printscreens of some of these players. If there are any you wish to look at in particular then post a comment and I will put them in.

In terms of sales the bids for Smalley and Stam were just too good to refuse. I did reject high bids for Taylor though as he has a good future ahead. Black was useless and had to go and it wouldn't let me sell Stephens yet so best I could do was get him out the club. I was trying to raise some cash so as the most valuable player at the time I offered Allott out hopefully at £500k, way over his value. This failed. So I offered out at £400k, once again the predictable occured with much interest but asking price still to high. Then out th blue Brescia came in for him and I near snapped thier arms off. In summary I am very pleased with my dealings in the market and my squad is a much more complete unit.

I considered creating a poll asking what you thought my best signing was, but that is in no way orginal : Feel free to say though, or ask me anything about them. Instead after the next informative blog there will be a question as the poll.

The next fixture related blog will come after five more fixtures which will be the end of September in game. I have Carlisle and Bristol Rovers at Boundary Park first (Carlisle in the JPT not League though), then Yeovil (A), Hereford (H) and Brighton (A). After that run-in, which includes some good teams, it will be clear if my team are promotion contenders or not. Bring on the challenge.

The Season Begins

Well the competitive schedule has begun and everything is going well, but it has been marred by many injuries. Firstly I will run you through my first three games:

Oldham 3 - 0 Cheltenham

The line-up for my first league game of the season was:


This game went very well for me, it was the best possible start I could of hoped for. With 12 shots we showed our attacking dominance. Centre-back Hazell opened the scoring with a header in the 26th minute. The lead was doubled by Alessandra in the 54th and the third was finished well by Hughes 7 minutes later. The pair continued the trend of pre-season by both scoring. The defence impressed me and we kept a clean sheet. Hazell won the Man Of the Match award due to a combination of his stirling work in defence alongside Greegan and also his goal. Fleming did well keeping a clean sheet, and they had 8 shots. With 97% of tackles being won it is clear the defence played well. Along with Hazell and the strikers, the player who impressed was Kevin Maher who did a good job in central midfield. The big problem was injuries though. Before the season began I had Wolfenden injured and new signing Sastre injured also, with Kabba and Lee just recovering from long lay-offs. Then in the first game of the season captain Greegan had to be taken off on the 81st minute and before that winger Taylor, who had only come on at half time, had to go off on the 59th with a thigh strain. So it was a good and a bad day.

Oldham 2 - 0 Accrington Stanley

This fixture saw nearly a completly changed side take part. As this is the League Cup and we are playing opposition of a lower league I thought we would be able to take the risk of playing back-up players to preserve fitness. Of course this was fine as many of my second choice players are good player and we ran out easy winners. The first goal was scored in the 14th minute by a new foward I have signed as a backup called Ariel Lopez. We were comfortable therein and Alessandra sealed the victory in the 81st minute. Sam Sodje and Lewis Alessandra were the key players, Fleming had no trouble in goal. After the game Lewis Alessandra was ruled out with an injury. We have reached the 2nd round of the League Cup and will play Newcastle away, I think that may be more than tricky!

Stockport 0 - 1 Oldham

Local derby, best result considering situation. By that I mean the amount of injuries and tired players after the two games in the week, this was made clear by the fact I had to play ageing right mid Andy Liddell as a striker. We scored what turned out to be the decisive goal in the 23rd minute through Hughes, in a game of poor performances. Once again injuries hit as Fernandes and Babayaro both had to go off injured in the first half. Nobody played particularly well for either side, and Maher got MOM as the best of a bad lot. The centre-backs Zambernardi and Hazell did well. What was pleasing is that on a bad day when we played poor and had a very thin squad we still got the result.

So, the first three games have taken place and as you can see the theme has been injuries and I am worried as the injury list piles up that this may affect results, especially if I can't field a strong side. Im hoping that this is the injuries at their peak and things will only get better ! Fitness on FM is considered to be the 95% mark, that is match fit. After my game against Stockport here is how my squads fitness looks:


Note: For any picture I add to my blog, if you click on them they will enlarge to full screen size, that should help as it is very difficult to see from look at the smaller version of the picture.
As you can see the issue of fitness is worrying me, I don't know if this is unique to my squad or it is the 9.0.3 database which I have heard has heralded the return of a few of the issues from the unpatched game. All my discusscion of injuries however, has over-shadowed the success, three wins from three, looking good.

The next three games are looking a bit more tough and they are a league game against Crewe (H), Newcastle in the League Cup (A) and finally MK Dons (A). After those games we begin September and so next time you hear from me will be my results along with details on my transfer dealings, of which I have eluded to but not detailed. The club has sold 3,500 season tickets for the season.

I would like to hear from people who are reading, their views on my progress. Tips or advice could be handy or just some noise of approval. Thanks for your time. Report back soon.

Pre-season is Complete

The process of pre-season is now completed and it did have its uses; I have decided to use a simple 4-4-2 for the time being at least, I know my team much better and am much closer to being able to pick my strongest side and have built up the sides fitness, teamwork and morale. i finished my last blog after a 2-0 defeat to Barnsley, my pre-season concluded as such:

Oldham 3 - 0 Ipswich

A really impressive result in my opinion against a very good team, who could survive in the Premier League. A victory would have been shocking enough, but at 3-0 it is closer to a drubbing. We played 4-4-2 and had my same attacking tactics that I plan to use in League 1. Common sense would say to go defensive as they could thrash us but I had no use with practising ultra-defensive techniques, so I thought we might as well give it a go and it paid off. The scorers were Alessandra (28th min), Hughes (51st) and Fernandes (84th). The strikeforce worked well together and I was impressed they both scored against a tough defence and goalkeeper. Star performers were Alessandra, Greegan, Hughes, Taylor and Fleming. Fleming's performance in this game has earnt him the 1st choice goalkeepers place, which I did not envisage. He kept a clean sheet v. a very tough side. The MOM though was a substitute, Fabrice Fernandes came on a half time to play left wing in replacement of Fabio Ferriera and played brilliantly, tearing Ipswich apart.

Oldham 0 - 5 Manchester City

Here is an example of taking things too far, after the success of playing good attacking football against Ipswich I decided to attempt the same against Man City. The players my feeder club played were top quality and there was no chance we were going to beat them. We were losing 3-0 at HT (Johnson x2 and Robinho). At this stage I thought that we might as well try and went 'all-out-attack', this resulted in us conceding 2 more goals(one to Hamann and another is credited to my 'keeper Crossley because he pushed a Zhirkov shot into the crossbar but then in). 5-0 seems like a thrashing, but in reality we didn't play that bad. Ruled Crossley right out the running for no.1 also. There were little positives from this game, but then that was to be predicted. Unfortunatly the board had arranged the friendlies when I arrived, next season I will be in charge ! I think it is a good idea to play bigger teams for a challenge and experience, but they are too far ahead at the moment.

AFC Telford 0 - 3 Oldham

The final pre-season fixture, designed to make sure we are in winning form and high morale before the big kick-off. I played a strong line-up, the only thing hindering me was fatigue. Fleming played again and kept another clean sheet*. Hughes and Alessandra both got on the scoresheet as per usual and I was very impressed, especially with Alessandra who played and has been playing great. The final scorer was Babayaro who came on at the 70th minute and played out of position in LM (at the 70th minute I made a flood of changes due to the upcoming competitive season, with fitness on my mind, and moved to a 4-3-2-1 formation) and played so well he got MOM. Andy Liddell also played well. This friendly served its purpose.

* Goalkeeper

Over the pre-season period I have been testing my keepers and their records are as such:

S.Supple appearances: 2 conceded: 3 (Ashton Utd, Derby)
G.Fleming appearances: 3 conceded: 0 (Stalybridge, Ipswich, Telford)
M.Crossley appearances: 2 conceded: 5 (Barnsley, Man City)

Clearly Fleming has done best, and then I would say Crossley as his opposition were much harder than Supple's. I went into this period thinking Supple would be first choice, but for now at least, Greg Fleming has won the opportunity to be my first choice shot stopper.

"Whats occurring?"

Pitch size had to be decided and I went for the largest available option this I feel stops the centre becomming congested and adds more width to the game. I always choose this option.

I had to select Oldham captain. I went with current captain Sean Greegan, who is a great leader, but his age makes him not a long-term decision. Some managers like to bring their own man in and I like that but I don't want to upset the team at the moment. Vice-Captain is Andy Liddell, still.

This leads me on to the next issue. Contracts. Many of the players have their contracts expiring at the end of the season. The problem is most of them are old, so the decision is ... Will they be any good next season? Is it worth paying sign-on fees? Is there better free alternatives next season ? With all this to decide, I sorted a few out quick, giving an extra year to Hazell and the vital Hughes. The players remaining are: Maher (31), Greegan (34), Liddell (35) and Crossley (39). I will have to make a decision on them soon, but I don't plan to yet - It has to be before January though as then they can leave on free transfers. The others are Wolfenden, who got injured in the City game and I will offer a contract if he plays well in the next few months, and Stam who I tried to offer a contract to but he wants to be regarded as a key player but that is not his role in my team.

Additional Reading

For anyone who is interested in the current situation of Oldham Athletic then I would recommend this blog:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher/2009/03/royle_return_for_no_ordinary_j.html#069761
There is also this blog on my captain Sean Greegan:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher/2008/09/gregan_leading_the_dads_army_a.html#037327
If I have ignited anyones interest in the club then the club website is:
http://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/page/Home/
If any of you who support a big club would like to experience the ups and downs of a lower league club, where wins are in no way guarenteed then I recommend not converting but supporting this club to a degree, and playing as them on FM

The season is now about to begin, I have completed my first press conference. The first three fixtures are: Cheltenham (H)- League 1, Accrington (H)- League Cup, Stockport (A)- League 1. There will be a blog describing how those fixtures go. I am very excited to see how this season goes and my team may be good enough to scrape the play-offs. The issue remains that my team hasn't got the strength or quality, although that has improved, but my budget has really hidered me. The aim is top half finish, potential play-offs. Next season I should be in a better position for success. Wish me luck.

Pre-season Results

I have now completed four out of seven of my pre-season fixtures and I have learnt quite a bit about my new squad. For the first two fixtures I just wanted to see how my players did, so I stuck them in a simple 4-4-2 formation, with tactics as such:




I played with two completly different line-ups in my first two fixtures so I could get a look at as many different players as possible.

Ashton United 1 - 4 Oldham

This clash against local rivals was a comfortable afair and can be seen as just a fitness and morale builder along with an opportunity for me to see the players, not a competitive fixture however due to the weakness of the opposition. The line-up shown in my example of the tactic is the one that played this match. Lee Hughes scored once, Alessandra scored twice and one goal was an own goal. I was impressed with Alessandra who got MOM and has gone up in my estimations, will need to prove he can score against tougher opposition but this is a good start. In the 58th minute, after our four goals so maybe we were sitting too comfortable, we conceded a long range goal from the edge of the area into the bottom right corner, I was dissapointed that Supple could not keep a clean sheet against Ashton United. Eardley missed a penalty in the 60th minute so I have learnt to let someone else take them! I made no substitutes because everyone was not that tired as its the first game and also they don't need to be fit for the next game anyway. The best performers this game were Hughes, Alessandra and Babayaro (my new signing - on a free). The worst performers were Supple, Eardley and Ferriera.

Stalybridge 0 - 5 Oldham

The next performance was even more emphatic than the last. The entire line-up changed except Hughes and Hazell remained, that is because I have 3 CB's and 3 ST's so I had nobody to rotate in. This time around I was impressed with another young striker, Matty Wolfenden scored twice and got MOM with a rating of 8.7, of course these are weak opposition but their are promising signs that the two youngsters can provide good back-up to my main strikeforce in the league campaign. Alessandra scored again after coming on late sub. Experienced Lee Hughes scored a brace. Lomax got a good rating at right back, showing he is up for staying at the club - we shall see. This game was Fleming's chance to play in goal and he didn't let me down, the clean sheet puts pressure on Supple's place as first choice currently. The wingers impressed me also, experienced Liddell played well as did Fabrice Fernandes who has been brought in to fill the left midfield gap.

Oldham 0 - 0 Barnsley


The next game was against Barnsley, as they are a league above I predicted it to be a difficult fixture. I was not so bothered about the score as I experimented by trying out the diamond formation, this formation would have been more effectively tested against weaker opposition as it is an attacking one, not against a tough team, but it was interesting to see. It resulted in my side having 13 shots in comparison to Barnsley's 10. I know what Hughes can do so I started with Alessandra and Wolfenden, unfortunatly Wolfenden had to leave the field injured and was replaced by Hughes. The strikeforce did not score but I am not that bothered as we were playing a tough defensive unit. I am however really pleased with my defence, and in particular Crossley who's turn it was in goal. The other two keepers played much weaker teams and he played better, good shout for the place. With a weakened side (rookie Black at LB and full-back Jones on the wing) I was pleased with this result. The MOM was their RB (van Homoet) which shows we gave their defence something to do, our best performers were Hazell, Greegan and Crossley.

Oldham 0 - 2 Derby

The unbeaten run was ended, but I feel no shame in losing to a team that played Premier League football just months before this fixture. The main problem was that it was our 4th game in 8 days and therefore the whole team was shattered and had little fitness. They did well to only let in two goals considering, and one was considered late on becuase I sent my team out attacking after the break. We started the game with the original 4-4-2 and at 70 minutes when we were losing 1-0 (Kazmierczak '34) we switched to a 4-3-1-2 and attacking tactics, this could of led to victory has a GK and CB not been in CM positions, we conceded as we were left open at the back when attacking. The defence (Supple-Lomax-Hazell-Stam-Jones) were ok but not that stable and due to fitness the attackers did not perform as they should. I ended up having to make lots of substitutions to be able to finish the game, fitness even led to Crossley playing 20 minutes at LCM. In hindsight maybe it would have made sense to cancel or relocate this fixture as game congestion leading to poor fitness made it pointless. Not a performance against a better side though.

After more than 50% of the pre-season games I am fairly pleased with my side, I have certainly learnt a lot. The next games as Ipswich and Man City I expect to lose as they are big clubs, but opefully we shall learn from the experience. The games just then showed me that there are areas that definatly need bulking up as there is no strength in depth.

I will report back soon.