An Oldham Tale.

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz123/Melvinrules/Oldham%20Football%20Club/transfers22-23.jpg

In addition to Barison, Also sign a new defender who has plenty of experience, he plays left back and centre back and this was an area of my squad that defiantly needed strengthening, Thomas Drouet is 26 and has played for Juventus, Newcastle and Galatasaray before signing on for me.
I sign another keeper from the free transfer list and sell Alphonse for 3.1 million, I also get rid of Gino Camps and Jefferson before signing another central midfield player to be trained up by Ndi as a tough tackling ball winner.

I also change my approach to the season, with the club now not struggling for money I decided against the policy of playing bigger teams in friendlies and opted for smaller weaker teams, one because I believe this will help clubs in lower leagues thrive as I did years ago, and two because I want the team to go in fully motivated for the season ahead and in good morale, and it has worked, we started this season off in flying form, winning the first five games on the bounce incluiding a 3 - 0 win over Liverpool who beat us in the FA cup final last season.

After 14 league games we're sitting top of the table having scored 34 goals and conceded only 6, Chelsea of course are matching us game for game, they have the experience and certainly the more high profile players but this season I believe could be our season where we win another trophy. Either a cup or the league I think we can really push it to the wire.

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz123/Melvinrules/Oldham%20Football%20Club/fixtures2223early.jpg
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz123/Melvinrules/Oldham%20Football%20Club/standings2223.jpg

Last season finishing third put us in for the champions league, the board didn't expect much just simnply make an apperance in the group stages, and when we got drawn with Dortmund and the Cup holders Barcelona we were pretty much written off.. How-ever after scraping our first game 2 - 1 with Dortmund at home, our next Champions league game produced this result...

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz123/Melvinrules/Oldham%20Football%20Club/barcagame.jpg

They completely under-estimated us and we went on the attack from the go, they had an awful freak game and we completely smashed them, to say confidence was high after this game was an understatement.

how-ever they had their revenge in our next meeting with a 4 - 0 drubbing of us.

How-ever come the end of it the table looked like this

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz123/Melvinrules/Oldham%20Football%20Club/eurogroup2223.jpg

We have gone through top of the group, we just cannot stop scoring at the moment and our attack attack attack policy isn't giving other teams much chance. It doesn't always work though and when we have an off day we really do have an off day I am often found tearing at my hair as to how they miss such easy chances sometimes but overall I can say I am pleased.

My only concern is that my team is now starting to age a little, throughout the smaller leagues the average age of my squad was 20/21 it's now 23 and my squad is certainly on the large side I am going to have to make cuts next season otherwise I will have to leave players out of my 25 league registration which could potentially upset the team.

Thats all I have for this update so until the end of season goodbye my friends.

The season has just hit March, I've been beaten in the League cup by Wigan and F.A cup by Southampton, which is frustrating and annoying for both Fans and myself alike, our form has dropped and although we're still topping the table clear by 5 points, I am sure Chelsea smell blood in the water and are waiting to pounce.

To add to my woes Nabil Muller has been ruled out for the rest of the season, I'd already lost Adil Naciri at the beginning of the season so my attacking playmaker options are very limited at the moment which I am attributing to my loss of form.

I lost the first leg of the Champions knockout round to Fiorentina 3 - 2 away, so I have a chance of putting ourselves back in the frame for that game.

And on top of all this the Chairman has stepped down and I am in the middle of a take over, the media is suggesting that my job is on the line and that Alan Shearer who just got the sack from Spurs is in line to replace me, I am very wary of this new consortium and am wondering what will happen when they take over.

If I do get the sack where shall I go? Manchester United are the only premiership team I would consider joining, so it's whether I'll go back down to the lower leagues and build another team up from down there, or head abroad...

Decisions and turmoil await..

Just before the Take over was complete, Shearer decided to join QPR, as a result the board gave me a "As you have so much support, we feel its unwise to remove you from your position" speech, it was a little insulting but the fact they pumped £35 million into the bank, as well as invest in both Youth and Training Facilities eased my ego somewhat.

Once that was out of the way our form improved, we battled back in the Second Leg of the Champs league winning that game 5 - 3, then in the Semi Finals we played Olympic Lyon, First leg we drew 3 - 3, and in the second we won 4 - 3 in extra time putting us into the final against Real Madrid.

Unfortunately Ndi got injured just before the game, Ndi is a player who I speak of a lot, he doesn't have a high average rating, he doesnt get a lot of assists or goals but for some reason he always appears to be everywhere in the big games a pass ratio of 83% means he very seldom loses the ball when he does have it, and a 3.09 tackling average means he isn't shy about getting stuck in when it matters.

Fortunatly Rodolfo and Muller came back from injury, how-ever it was not to be our night as Real Madrid beat us 2 - 0, the game itself was very even in possession and chances... the was only one real difference.. We didn't get our chances on target. Barison my record signing has been truely amazing since coming to us with 19 goals and 26 assists, how-ever he missed 5 chances in this game. Nerves? Maybe who knows.

That was our champions league campaign.. So what about our final league position?
I am pleased to report we are now holders of the Premier League title, it got close for a bit with Liverpool leap frogging Chelsea as our main rivals for the title, but good wins against Manchester United and Chelsea ensured we kept going to the final game.

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz123/Melvinrules/Oldham%20Football%20Club/standings2223end.jpg
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz123/Melvinrules/Oldham%20Football%20Club/fixtures2223end.jpg

I have taken in nearly 12 years a small League 1 side to the top of the premier league and gone up against Big boys such as Barcelona and whooping them 7 - 1, and even taking on the mighty Real Madrid.. Is my task over?

Not yet, anyone can win a league once the key is winning again and again and getting more trophys. I wanted more after I got the F.A cup, and I want more success now.

The side I have is starting to peak, I have to be wary of ageing, the average age of the squad is now 24, I intend to remove some older players in a bid to bring in some fresh new and young talent, the only issue I have now is its a lot harder for me to spot a good young player who will be a complete gem for the club, simply because before hand the young players we're generally better than what I had in the process.

The good news is though, that my Youth Academy has finally procuded a player that's worth signing onto a contract, he's 16 and plays as a striker I've already got him being tutored by Abdikarim so hopefully something will develop here.

I already have two young central defenders from previous seasons ready to replace Mauro Martin and Diagne in the heart of central defence, how-ever I am looking to add one more Right sided attacker, Regilson and Bangura are more central strikers than right sided midfield players and while both didn't play badly I didn't get enough from that side of the pitch to truly be a threat to other teams.

There's a lot to do still to ensure that Oldham will be a name on peoples lips for many seasons to come, I look forward to my new challenge.