2014-12-28 16:42#204732 RD17 : well done man hopefully the board back you, if not you may be onto to bigger and better things

Well I have already signed a new contract so I know I have their support but if an offer comes along, it might be too tempting.

2014-12-28 16:47#204735 TButcher1 : Congratulations on the promotion and as champions! Well done.

Thank you very much. It was tough at times but I think we got what we deserved.

2014-12-28 17:36#204743 wellsy1498 : Congrats on the title

Thank you.

2014-12-28 17:38#204744 Jonte-23 : Corngrats on the promotion!

Thank you.

Congrats on the title James, an excellent achievement!

2014-12-29 12:31#204854 pompeyblue : Congrats on the title James, an excellent achievement!

Thanks very much. I hope there is a lot more success to come.

Great achievement! It will be only be a matter of time until bigger clubs are looking for you!

2014-12-30 18:35#205072 TaroMisaki : Great achievement! It will be only be a matter of time until bigger clubs are looking for you!

I do think that the thing that will stop me is my lack of continental license. It is taking me a while to pass the courses.

Great achievement! Congrats

2014-12-31 00:04#205140 OllieGrocott : Great achievement! Congrats

Thank you very much. Now for the next big step up!

As you can see from the list, a lot of players were allowed to leave the club at the end of the season. Since this screenshot was taken, a couple of players including Remie Streete have also left the club as they could not be assured of first team football in what will be an important first season in the Championship. The only downside to the large number of players leaving the club is that absolutely no money was brought into the club as a result of the departures. Even the slightest bit of money would have helped in ensuring the longevity of the club and helped me balance the finances that little bit more once players joined the club to replace the departed. In terms of the personnel that have left, the only one of significance is Marc-Antoine Fortune who has not had his contract renewed. I can only sign his praises as he was one of the players I looked to when I joined to the club to help guide us away from the relegation zone. He has been a great servant to the club and will have the clubs’ best wishes. The majority of the players who have left are of an age where they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the pace that we will meet in the Championship. It was important to bring a fresh approach to the club which did mean a lot of players would have to leave with new younger additions being brought in.

I did mention in my "Champions" update that there were two players I would be looking to sign on permanent deals. In my opinion, Jerome Sinclair and Rolando Aarons can be the spearhead for the upcoming season and can help us avoid relegation back down to League One. I have to admit I was surprised that Newcastle were willing to let Aarons go for such a low fee but they will have done the lad a favour by letting him join a club such as ours where he will be playing pretty much every game this season. Jerome Sinclair finished our Player of the Season last time out and it is because of how well he did for us on loan that he has cost us the majority of our transfer budget. However, if he can replicate last season again for us now he has joined us on a permanent deal, then £650k really won’t be that much.

Another name that may stand out in the list is the former Manchester United player, Anderson. Anderson had a terrible time at United but he will be a great addition for a club like ours who want to reach the dizzy heights of what United have achieved. His experience at playing (even though it was very few games) at the top level will only benefit us. Will he come in and replace Wharton and Holmes from the start? No. He has to earn his spot in the team just like everyone else but he could be a great backup player if one of those two gets injured.

Angelino was a lad I had on loan in my first season with Oldham Athletic and he scored some incredible free kicks. I haven’t simply signed him for that reason as £250k would be quite expensive just for a free kick taker. He is a young player who has been brought in to replace the older generation who have left the club and along with Satka and Maffeo, he could be a part of a formidable defence. The player I am most excited about is Thierry Ambrose who is a player I have had experience with on FM14 and he was just brilliant in every game. He is a young Frenchman, who in the real world is on the books at Manchester City. It unfortunately didn’t work out for him on my save but instead has been at Port Vale on loan before Hull City signed him for a bargain £220k. He has then been sent out on loans to Doncaster Rovers and Rotherham United with some decent returns in terms of goals. Hopefully he can form a partnership with Jerome Sinclair and at times, Dominic Poleon to help fire us to Championship success.

Having not played the game for a long time, I am quite desperate to get into my first month in the Championship so I will not be doing an update on preseason but instead have finished this update with our results.

Apprehensive is definitely the word I would use to describe how I felt heading into my first season in the Championship with my ever improving Oldham Athletic squad. We had had a decent preseason with a large number of players being brought into the club and being expected to slot in straight away. I would have liked to have played more games in preseason but I felt that the players needed a longer break as a result of their brilliant efforts last season. Knowing our preparation wasn’t quite what I would have liked, I was heading into this first month worried as to whether we would meet expectations of everyone associated with the club.

Despite it being our first season in the Championship the expectation is going to be so high amongst the fans. Where they expect us to finish I am not sure but I know for certain that they will not want us to head straight back down to League One. My own expectations are for us to retain our Championship status for a couple of seasons while improving the squad where necessary before looking to push higher up the league. Of course the overall aim of the club has to be to get into the Premier League but I think that feat is a few seasons away.

If we are going to meet expectations then I am confident this will be achieved if we continue to play like we have done this month. It was disappointing not to get a positive result in our first game but Wigan definitely showed us what to expect from the remainder of the season. They let us know to expect many a difficult game and many a game against a lot of former Premier League sides who have the experience at this level, which is what we lack. The game against Derby was a close run game with us not converting our chances. The stand out result has to be the penalty win against Huddersfield. You may have thought it would have been the result against Brighton due to the score line but Huddersfield are a club that will be looking to be promoted this season potentially by winning the league. With the possibility of us having a difficult season in the Championship, a cup run in a competition like the Capital One Cup could be a great thing for the club. However, we will have to get past our parent club Manchester City in the third round; here’s to hoping that they don’t take the competition seriously and take sympathy on us. I doubt it. A lot.

Player of the Month – Thierry Ambrose

Solid start mate, always nice to progress in the COC as well! Begin as you mean to go on

2015-01-02 14:27#205276 AaronHJFT96 : Solid start mate, always nice to progress in the COC as well! Begin as you mean to go on

A cup run might be a good thing for the club despite my dislike of them in general. I hope we can keep it up and Ambrose can continue with his impressive start to the season.


Thank you to everyone who has helped pushed the story past 20k views despite the lack of updates. There are some in the pipeline so please do stick with this story.

Excellent start to the season. Ambrose looks real good!

2015-01-07 21:00#205625 Neal : Excellent start to the season. Ambrose looks real good!

Ambrose could be such a good player for us this season, especially as Poleon doesn't seem quite able to step up in the Championship which is such a shame for him and us.

Let’s be honest from the start of this update! There is only one match that you want to know all about. You all obviously want to know how I beat Reading one nil in what was a really tight game! No, seriously. It was a great game but it is over shadowed by the fantastic result against Manchester City.

I literally set the team out to defend and that is what we did from start to finish and we conceded possession from the very beginning and hardly saw the ball for the majority of the game. The game finished with City on 63% possession but we all know ladies and gentlemen that the only statistic that matters is the final score which clearly states that we beat the former Premier League champions! The heroes of the game are two of our most consistent players; Rolando Aarons and Jerome Sinclair scored the goals which saw us through to the next around. Aarons was a great goal on the counter which was the approach that we adopted from the very beginning and as the likes of Aguero, Nasri, Barkley and Yarmalenko pushed forward to grab a second goal to kill us off, Rolando Aarons punished them. Damn right he did! He got us right back into the game and gave us a great chance.


A youngster who signed for City this season, Papi Zulu (regen) played his first game against us and was doing ok up until the point he gave away a penalty and gave Jerome Sinclair the chance to put us ahead. Of course Sinclair put it away. The guy just doesn’t miss, especially from the penalty spot. He stepped up, and calmly slotted it past Joe Hart. After that goal went in I immediately looked to set up the team to see the rest of the game out. We lowered the tempo, pulled the defence back to create a very deep line and rebuffed every attack they threw at us. None of the City legends who finished the game could get past our defence and even if they did, Alexandru Pena stayed strong and saved shot after shot. We saw the game out and we will be progressing to the next round of the competition. How far can we go? I’m not sure but I do want to end this update with one simple comment

Player of the Month – Rolando Aarons

Dayum James, City ain't got nothing on Oldham!