Building a City...

2015-01-23 19:12#206773 TaroMisaki : Oldham looking strong! Premier League, up to come!

We just seem to be able to play to a good standard game in game out. Long may it continue!

Despite it being yet another good month in the Championship and our hopes of back to back promotions still being alive, a huge disappointment befell us this month with us narrowly being beaten in Capital One Cup Quarter Final. It was a huge disappointment for everyone associated with the club, especially as there was a sense of belief that we could actually get even further in the competition, a possible final? However it was not meant to be this season with Championship rivals Derby County progressing to the next round to face West Ham United who I fully believe we could have beaten in the semi final across two legs. It would have been a magnificent achievement and a great day out at Wembley for the fans that could have seen us pitted against Chelsea or Manchester United in the final. Could we have won the whole competition? Quite possibly yes we have seen tonight that you should never underestimate teams of a lower division as Cambridge United managed to get a replay at Old Trafford against the declining Manchester United. This cup run will have given the players confidence that we can go far in a competition and that they have nothing to fear against any side we face in these competitions.

The rest of the month was pretty plain sailing with the only other disappointment of the month being the game against Walsall. They played us off the park and just shattered our self belief which I do think had an impact on our play in the game against Derby. What impressed me the most was the players resolve and determination to get back on a positive run by picking up seven points from the last three games. Nine points would have course been better especially as Blackburn Rovers are still breathing down our necks and are closing the gap with every game. January is set to be a very hectic month with the opportunity being there to sign players. However one signing has already been made; former Barcelona striker Bojan has joined the club and contributed greatly this month. I hope he continues to contribute to the teams’ success every time the gets onto the pitch. Hopefully his experience will rub off on the other players who will simply improve in their own ability which will benefit us greatly.

The job front has dramatically quietened down with no more job offers coming into the club and I haven’t made the mistake of declaring an interest in any available jobs. I do have the feeling that if I was to make my interest in managing another club public, the Oldham board would give me the ultimatum of apologising or resigning from the club. Neither I would be willing to do so instead I am better off avoiding that situation for the time being. I am still committed to getting Oldham into the Premiership but I would also be willing to jump ship if an offer came from a higher reputable club. Is that poor of me?

Player of the Month – Bojan

Ouch, bad luck for the cup. But I'm glad you are first in league so keep it up to get promoted and you still have FA Cup. You can do it mate.

Really tough luck in the cup, you honestly could've made the final, especially if the semifinal was only against West Ham! And, honestly, I don't think it's poor of you at all to be willing to take an offer from a better club if one comes in. That's the very essence of being a joureyman, after all!

Also, really sad to see Bojan looking so poor as a 28 year old. i remember when he first broke onto the scene at Barcelona, I was really hoping he'd become a star, and yet he looks absolutely poor in you save. Good see he is playing well, at least!

A shame to see, that Bojan isn't a hugh star, he was one of my favourit players in the epic Guardiola era at Barcelona, but I think he will be great for your side!

damn, Bojan and his stats make me crai everytime

MisterLister:We are doing well in the league which is certainly the priority for the club. Hopefully we can clinch promotion before too long.

Neal:Bojan's real life career and in-game career have been one almighty disappointment and will certainly go down as a big flop at Barcelona. A true shame!

TaroMisaki:I don't think he ever contribute anything of note and never lived up to the expectations at Barcelona, in my opinion.

Pauker:Don't cry

As you can see from the league standings, we have managed to maintain a two point gap against second place Blackburn Rovers who are just not letting up in their pursuit of the league title. In spite of a rather poor showing this month in all competitions, we still are seen as favourites at the present for the league title and to continue with our success well into this New Year. Despite us being considered amongst the front runners for the league title the squad morale, in my opinion is pretty low which could have a detrimental effect on the standard of our performances, which has already started if we take this month into consideration. High morale is key at the moment and it is extremely difficult to maintain it unless you are winning and winning each and every game. It doesn’t seem enough for the players that we are sat at the top of the league, we reached the quarter final of a cup competition and are still in the FA Cup. What more do they want? Frustratingly the board of directors are under the belief that the squad harmony is at an all time high. How little they know!

What is going to have a negative effect on morale and squad harmony even more are the players who are not getting game time and are not afraid to speak up about it. There is some rumblings from some of the lads about not being given chance to prove themselves. Unfortunately, they are a couple of the poorer ability players and I don’t want to upset the regulars by dropping them to the bench when they don’t deserve it. Having read Sir Alex Ferguson’s autobiography, it was very clear that if there was a player who disrupted the harmony of his squad then they were out at the next opportunity. He regretted very few of his decisions, only notably the sale of Jaap Stam was one he mentions regretting at the end of his managerial career. The rest of the time he saw the departure of moaning player as only a good thing for the club as the club could focus on what mattered the most; winning trophies.

At the moment Jack Truelove and summer signing Callum Morris want game time but they won’t be getting it any time soon as when they have been given a chance, they haven’t performed. They are demanding meeting after meeting to discuss their future and the chance of first team football. It is only a matter of time that I will have to decline the meeting proposal which will undoubtedly upset others. The decision as to whether I keep them at the club needs to be answered. There are no decent youngsters who could come into the first team to replace them and any new signings that would be brought in would expect to be in the first team from the off. Do I risk club morale and harmony being effected further by letting them stay at the club or do I take on Fergie’s approach and show them the door?

Player of the Month – Nathaniel Oseni

Just how can the fortunes of one team totally change in the space of a month? The month of February will have to go down as my worst in charge of Oldham Athletic and it could in turn have a huge impact on who wins the Championship league title. Even though we are still on pole position, if our performances don’t change for the better in the next few games, we will easily lose our grip on the league title and even worse, move further down the league and away from the play-off spots.

We just couldn’t hit a decent run of form and we deserved to be beaten on every single occasion. The result against Newcastle United was expected but it did nothing to help the already fairly low morale of the players. For that to be followed by a beating by relegation contenders Cardiff City did really make me think even more about that Hull City job that I didn’t get offered a couple of months ago. The game against Cardiff was simply atrocious on our part and they fully deserved the three points that came their way. The other games we lost were totally unexpected which make them oh so harder to bear. They have really dinted out promotion chances and have given us one almighty reality check.

I do at times have to remind myself that we are week in week out coming back up against former Premier League sides who possess great quality. Take West Bromwich Albion for example that really did kick us while we were already down in the dumps at the end of the month. Their starting line up possessed some brilliant players who we just had no answer to. Sebastian Giovinco who at one point in his career was signed by Juventus for £9.5 million; Juanfran (formerly of Athletico Madrid), Jack Cork (formerly of Southampton) and Miguel Veloso (formerly of Sporting CP) definitely reminded us that we are actually over-achieving on a huge scale this season. We don’t yet have the quality to compete against these kinds of players but over time, we hopefully will. It is imperative that we invest in the summer to ensure that we don’t go through slumps in form like we have done this month.

Player of the Month – Reuben Noble-Lazarus

I haven't read this in a while so when I saw your results I immediately assumed you were in mid-table. The I saw you were first...

How you've come away with those results and remained at the top is beyond me, but lets hope you hit the winning form that got you there in the first place.

Very good, I read the whole story, I will follow, good luck

A beautiful story, how about matches, February was weird .. to remain as high in the rankings
Good luck!

AaronHJFT96:How we have managed to keep hold onto the top spot, I have no idea! We have been very lucky with other results going in our favour. We need to get back on a good run of form if it is going to be a comfortable finish to the season.

Joaquimorais:Thank you and welcome to the story.

bebero:It was definitely a weird month and we are extremely fortunate to still be at the top of the league.

This league title is going to definitely be going down to the wire, even down to potentially the final game of the season with at least four teams within a realistic chance of becoming league winners. We are still in pole position which would make us favourites for the league title; with us having had a much better month in March we can only throw it away.

The month began with an impressive performance against Sheffield United which started a 5 game unbeaten run. Yes it would have been better if the draws had been wins but we just couldn’t find that cutting edge finish and it was down to Alexandru Pena, our ever impressive goalkeeper, to keep us in the games and stopping those draws turning into losses. The guy is not possessed with the best attributes but he is very good in my opinion at the Championship level. If we make it up into the Premier League, I am not overly confident he will be up to standard and a replacement may need to be found. Unfortunately, not many of the other players have really stood out this month which has been a disappointment. I would have been looking to the likes of Jerome Sinclair, who just cannot score at the moment, and more experienced players like Anderson and Bojan to have stepped up now we are at the nitty gritty end of the season where every point counts.

I have considered a change in approach heading into the final few games; maybe spring a surprise on the opponents in terms of formation and tactics? It would be something they wouldn’t be expecting and could work in our favour. Of course it could have the total opposite effect which would be detrimental to our championship bid. With the end of season fixtures not being in our favour with difficult away trips to Leeds Unitedand Middlesbrough, it may be worth me sticking with the trusted formation and tactical approach which has seen us heading into the final month as title favourites. A difficult choice will also have to be made as to whether I go with youth in my team selection or put faith in more experienced personnel. Whatever happens, Jerome Sinclair needs to remember where the bloody goals is!

Player of the Month – Alexandru Pena

Squeeky bum time now eh mate? Not a huge improvement on last season, and you'll definitely need one in the next to ensure that title win! No matter what, I'm assured you'll get promotion.