Good luck in the playoffs, expecting some big performances

Quite the finish to a remarkable turnaround for Oldham! Let's hope you can taste playoff success once again!

I initially thought it would be a bad decision to leave Boston United, but the turnaround you did with Oldham is remarkable pal, good luck! will be following

Xanderthedunny:Thanks for the good luck. I think we will need it.

Walter:I am quite proud of managing to get a second club from the relegation zone to the play-offs in the same season. Success in the play-offs will be hard to come by but I will put my all into it.

NVDTahir:It has been a great turn around and the club definitely has a bright future ahead of it.

As you can tell from the title of this update, the play-offs didn’t go according to plan; however, it might just be a blessing in disguise. Despite not tasting my second play-off success, the club has definitely over-achieved this season and showed that we are a team to be reckoned with next season. Due to the frustration of not even getting to the play-off final this time around, this will be a short update sharing how the semi finals went.
Nobody expected us to head into this two leg semi final tie against Bristol City and come out with a positive result in either leg. Unfortunately, Bristol City looked to be a decent bet as despite the low score line, they absolutely destroyed us in the first leg. By the end of the game we only had five shots on goal with only one of them being on target. This was an extremely poor showing by my front men and there was a distinct lack of creativity in the midfield. I did set the team out to hopefully snatch a draw and then put out a more attacking side to hopefully grab result in the home leg. However, it appeared that Bristol City’s attack had a lot more about them having had thirty shots on our goal with nine of them being on target. How they didn’t score more goals I don’t know. Our players didn’t turn up for the game and they deserved the beating that they got.
I am extremely proud of how the lads performed in this game and if it wasn’t for a couple of defensive mistakes, we could have come away with a result that would have got us into the play-off final (which was eventually won by Leyton Orient who beat Bristol City 3-2). Reuben Noble-Lazarus started off the scoring with a 19th minute goal which made the outlook a lot more positive. Unfortunately all my strikers were out down by Moussa Dembele who decided to help himself to a hat trick. It didn’t matter how I changed the team we couldn’t stop him. Even when we had one of our defenders stuck to him it didn’t matter as he could wriggle out of any tricky situation and manage to get a shot on goal. From his performance alone, City deserved to run out comfortable winners. We did however manage to grab another goal in the eighty-first minute which made it for a very tense finish and we certainly had City on the back foot. We didn’t manage to convert any more chances but instead walked away from the tie with our heads held high and firmly in the knowledge that we can replicate this season’s success again next season.

WOW I would have bet my house on you getting the right result but always next season mate

2014-11-26 12:30#201391 No1VillaFan : WOW I would have bet my house on you getting the right result but always next season mate

They were just two awful performances which really wasn't like us after the season we had. I'm confident we can go one step further next season though!

Tough luck in playoffs, but I feel very certain that automatic promotion is on the cards this coming season!!

Bad luck this season , but be strong you can promote next season.

Ergh, that's frustrating, especially after all your great work.
Oh well, next season I'm sure you'll be even stronger, and might not even need the play-offs to get promoted

Neal:It is a disappointing end to what was a good season once we got started. I will be heading into the new season with the aim of achieving automatic promotion, maybe the league title. Bring it on!

Hashim:I do think we can push for promotion next season no matter which route we take.

pompeyblue:It is frustrating but it might do me some good to have another season with the club in this league before gaining promotion. I will be looking to improve the squad and take the league by force.

Last season was an extremely long one and with having so many ageing players, it was important for them to be given time to rest and recuperate in preparation for what will be a hard long slog in this coming season. I took the decision for the pre-season not to last long which meant that very few friendly games were played. Part of me was concerned that with very few games, the players would not have chance to adapt to the tactics before the league season starts. However, I have not changed the tactics at all and have retained a large number of players from the squad last season. This meant that the friendly games could instead be used to give players who I took on trial the chance to prove themselves and the new signings chance to gel into their new squad and surroundings.

The stand out result of pre-season was the match against Newcastle United who one of senior affiliates along with Manchester City. I felt that this was game was going to be a real test for my lads and for the new players, who had mostly all signed by this game, the chance to prove their worth already. Newcastle United didn’t hold back with the team they put out and it was clear they had the aim of scoring many a goal against us. The game saw Roberto Soldado, Aoyze and Remy Cabella starting the game but it came down to Euardo Vargas and Siem de Jong to score their goals. A large number of new players started for us but it came down to two of last season’s stand out players, Reuben Noble-Lazarus and Mohamed Coulibaly to score our goals. By the end of the game we were slightly down on the possession but I was impressed that we got more shots on goal and on target. The experience playing against Premier League side will do my lads the world of good. It will boost their confidence knowing we can do well against the bigger sides and each player will take something from the game.
There isn’t too much to say about the players who have left apart from they sadly won’t be missed. Alan Tate, now 34 years old, hadn’t played much at all last season; we might miss his experience but I doubt it very much with the quality of defenders I have brought in. The same could be said for Alan McCormack who had only been at the club for two seasons but with him not being in my plans whatsoever, it was only fair to let him leave the club. Another veteran player, Peter Ramage (formerly of Newcastle United) was the next to leave. He had made a few appearances from the bench last season but that was it. I have wanted to freshen up the defence with some youngsters who have a lot to prove and have been given another chance at doing that.


As you can see from the number of players I have brought into the club compared to the transfers out list, we are a club that now boasts a great amount of depth and that depth has some real quality. With their being a large number of players have joined the club, I am not going to post screenshots of each player’s attributes. If you do wish to see a certain players attributes then please comment and I will be more than happy to do so.

There will be a number of players names’ who you will recognise and hopefully you will agree with me that we are fortunate to have a couple of them at our club. We didn’t struggle to score goals last season but I have looked to bolster the attacking side of our game by bringing in Jerome Sinclair from Liverpool. He is a quality young striker who could bring a lot to our side when paired up with the ever impressive Dominic Poleon. He has a lot to prove to his parent club and I am sure he can achieve that now he is at Oldham Athletic.

Reuben Noble-Lazarus has been signed on a permanent deal after performing well for us last season and giving us that extra something in attack. He only scored seven goals in twenty appearances but I am sure he can improve on this in the coming season. David Brooks and Nathaniel Oseni were also at the club with us last season and have now been signed on permanent deals. The best aspect of these deals is that they were free transfers. Both players are already accustom to my approach and tactics so I am sure they will just pick up from where they left off I’m sure.


Daniel might be another player you recognise. Unfortunately Freedie Woodman was not good enough to come into the side last season and has since returned to his parent club Newcastle United. What I find hard to believe is that when looking at Daniel’s player history, he has only ever made seven first team appearances for Liverpool, Wrexham and Tamworth. I think he is a decent keeper and maybe should have been used more often, especially in his Wrexham and Tamworth days. He will be given the responsibility of being my cup goalkeeper this coming season and hopefully he can pay back the faith I have shown in him. Eventually, if his attributes increase, he will be the replacement for Alexandru Pena who isn’t getting any younger. This should be a good incentive for him, if only Football Manager allowed me to tell him that in some way!

The midfield and defence have gone through a revamp with a number of players being brought in. Remie Streete is a player I am familiar with from my time at Notts County on FM14. He has never possessed the attributes but has always over performed and he did put in a number of good performances for my Notts County side. Whether he will start games I am not sure but instead I am thinking Oseni and Lubomir Satka (loan signing) will form the centre back partnership. I am confident however that Streete will step up when needed and he might even be able to fight his way into the side.

Overall I am over the moon with the transfer business that I have carried out. I am pleased that we have got surplus to requirement players out of the club and have brought in some young fresh talented players who have a lot to prove after being released from their former clubs. I am confident that we can go one step further this coming season and I will be putting my all into it. Hopefully the new additions and current players do the same.

Jerome Sinclair, ooh! I hope all these new signings gel quickly and lead you to glory!

2014-11-27 21:02#201644 Neal : Jerome Sinclair, ooh! I hope all these new signings gel quickly and lead you to glory!

He could definitely become our top goal scorer for our side and could fire us to league glory!