[FM11] Somewhere Over the Rainbow... The Pot of Gold or Mediocrity Awaits?

[433tom]

FM 2011 11.3 (I restarted after playing 1 pre-season match on 11.2.1)

Leagues Loaded: Western Europe, Scandanavia.

This is a Journeyman save. I thought I would start out with a mid-sized club mired in mediocrity.

Career Status:

2010/2011 - Oldham Athletic (npower league 1) - 7th Place
2011/2012 - Oldham Athletic (npower league 1) - In Progress

[433tom]

Oldham Athletic A.F.C.



Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is an English association football club based at Boundary Park, on Sheepfoot Lane in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the Football League One, the third tier of the English league. It is incorporated as Oldham Athletic (2004) Association Football Club Limited, but is more commonly known as Oldham Athletic or by its nickname The Latics.

The history of Oldham Athletic A.F.C. begins with its founding as Pine Villa F.C. in 1895, which played in local Manchester and Lancashire leagues. When rivals Oldham County F.C. folded in 1899, Pine Villa F.C. moved into their stadium, the Oldham Athletic Ground (now known as Boundary Park) and changed their name to Oldham Athletic. They were Football League runners-up in the 1914-15 season, the last before the outbreak of the First World War, but were relegated from the Football League First Division in 1923. They reached the 1990 Football League Cup Final and won the Football League Second Division title in 1991, ending 68 years outside the top tier of English football. They secured their top division status a year later to become founder members of the new Premier League, but were relegated after two seasons despite reaching that year's FA Cup Semi-finals.

Since the late-1990s Oldham Athletic have grappled with poor performance, a high turnover of managers and an aging stadium. The club's limited company was formed after a period of insolvency in 2003–04. In February 2004, the club's immediate future was secured when a group of United States-based expatriate British businessmen, led by Simon Blitz, bought the club, forming Oldham Athletic (2004) Association Football Club Limited.

[AK22]

Good luck with this!

Unbelievable to think they were a founder club of the Premier League considering the mess they have been in recently!

[433tom]

Good luck with this!

Unbelievable to think they were a founder club of the Premier League considering the mess they have been in recently!

They spent 3 years in the Premier League, got relegated in 93/94, got relegated from the Championship a few years later, and been in League 1 since 97/98 with mostly lower table finishes.

[AK22]

Yeah I remember, just about! Earl Barrett, Dennis Irwin and Rick Holden were some of the 'stars' and I think Joe Royle was manager before he went to Everton.

[433tom]

Yeah I remember, just about! Earl Barrett, Dennis Irwin and Rick Holden were some of the 'stars' and I think Joe Royle was manager before he went to Everton.

Royle was their most successful manager. Irwin was probably the most famous player because of his post Oldham years at Manchester United. Rick Holden was a very good winger and a star of that early 90's squad too.

[omnivore]

Good luck bringing them back to prominence!

[433tom]

Good luck bringing them back to prominence!

Thanks. Just starting the pre-season and I've already gotten a bit of notoriety. Sir Alex Ferguson strongly dislikes me.

[433tom]

Thanks. Just starting the pre-season and I've already gotten a bit of notoriety. Sir Alex Ferguson strongly dislikes me.

Of course United are playing a friendly at Boundary Park and let Ben Amos join us on a season long loan.. So go figure.

I guess Fergie is really going to hate me if we beat Darren in the first round of the League Cup. I wonder if he will recall Amos?

[433tom]

Fergie set me up. Amos strained his groin taking his first free kick in a friendly against Celtic and will be out for a month.

[433tom]

Pre-Season 2010 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

Overall I was pretty happy with the quality of the existing squad. 4 players had already been brought in on long term loans before I arrived and the squad had reasonable depth. With that in mind I would concentrate my efforts in the transfer market into bringing in the best players possible, with a slight emphasis on looking at fullbacks and wide midfielders. I was still 4,000/wk under my wage budget of 34,900/wk, so I was hoping to pick up another 2 or 3 players if possible.

Three players were brought in on trial in July and all did well and were offered contracts. However only Italian defender Marcello Castellini was signed. Castellini is the conssumate Italian center back who is equally adapt at playing right back. At 37, he is getting a bit old, but showed his quality in the pre-season against the likes of Manchester United, Celtic, and Everton. If Castellini can avoid injury, I feel confident he will soon be regarded as a very good signing.

Guillaume Norbert is one that got away. Norbert showed himself to be a very good attacking fullback who can also play right midfield. However, we could not agree terms.

On the pitch, the pre-season went very well as we put in good performances against he likes of Manchester United, Celtic, and Everton. It was a very aggressive pre-season fixture list that hopefully has us well prepared for the season.



The media are projecting us for a 16th place finish.

The Board expect a safe-midtable finish.

Season tickets sales are expected to come in at 2400.

[B.W.G]

Good luck with Oldham, some impressive results in pre-season as well

Don't worry about Sir Alex Ferguson, he'll be gone in 2 seasons at most anyway

[rjfreeman]

I was still 4,000/wk under my wage budget of 34,900/wk

Wow, look at all that money!

Are you going with a 4-4-2?

[433tom]

Good luck with Oldham, some impressive results in pre-season as well

Don't worry about Sir Alex Ferguson, he'll be gone in 2 seasons at most anyway

Thanks. While it was only pre-season, it was nice to see us hold our own against the big boys. We actually out played Celtic only to see them get the equalizer off a freak deflection of a clearance and we played Everton fairly even and were up 2-1 only to concede a goal in injury time.

Against United we parked the bus and got lucky on 2 counters. I think they out shot us 28 to 4.

[433tom]

Wow, look at all that money!

Are you going with a 4-4-2?

Big difference from the Ryman. But unfortunately thats probably one of the lowest wage budgets in League 1. Oldham are a kind of break-even club at best. And I have no transfer budget at all.

I have noticed my staff makes very few player recommendations compared to my Waltham Forest save. I wonder if that is due to just more unattached rubbish players available for lower league clubs or did they tone down the staff recommendations in the latest patch?

As for formations I have the personnel to play either a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1, so I have a 4-4-2 narrow counter, 4-4-2 wide attack, and a pretty standard 4-5-1 in the match prep screen.

[433tom]

August 2010 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

Well we got off to a pretty good start in the League picking up 7 points from 4 matches to finish the month sitting 6th in the Table. However we never played really well and were more than a bit fortuitous in our 4-2 win over Notts County. They dominated possession 63% to 37% and out shot us 18 to 6 with the difference being our clinical performance in front of goal. Our Cup performance were rather disappointing as we got knocked out of the League Cup by Perterborough and Johnstone's Paint by Rochdale.

On the transfer front we signed 2 more first team players before the window shut:
Ebou Sillah - 30 year old left winger released from MVV. Sillah is a very pacey winger and a very good dribbler. I don't seee him displacing first choice winger Aiden White at this point but he will get a lot of playing time.
John Paul Kelly - 23 year old central midfielder who came up through Bohemians youth system. I brought in Kelly to give us a bit more depth in the central midfield after Dean Furman broke his toe against Perterborough.

We also made 2 youth signings that I'm excited about. 18 year old Gael Nlundulu after he was released by Portsmouth, and 17 year old Striker Mohamed Bourhani released by FC Lorient. Bourhani looks very promising and has already scored 5 goals in 2(1) appearances for the youth team.

[433tom]

August 2010 Goal of the Month

Oumare Tounkara bends a low cross around 3 defenders and Aiden White applies the finish against Notts County.

[rjfreeman]

Looks like there are alot of people in attendance at that Notts County match. How many are you getting in attendance?

Nice goal.

[433tom]

Oldham Athletic Squad - August 31, 2010

Keepers
Ben Amos - On loan from Manchester United*
Dean Brill
Paul Gerrard - Player/Keeper Coach

Defenders
Kieran Lee - (R/L)*
Paul Black (L)*
Marcello Castellini (R/C)*
Andy Todd (C)*
Ruben Hazell (C)
Neal Trotman (C) - On loan from Preston
Rodney Mcdonald (L/C) - Currently listed as Available for Loan
Cedric Evina (L)

Midfielders
Aiden White (L/R) - On loan from Leeds*
Chris Taylor (R/L)*
Dean Furman (C)*
Dale Stephens (C)*
Ritchie Jones (C/R)
Medi Abalimba (C)
Filipe Morais (R/L)
Ebou Sillah (L/C)
Paul McGrath (R/L) - Currently listed as Available for Loan
John Paul Kelly (C)

Deane Smalley (R/L) On loan at Chesterfield
Kirk Millar (R/L) On loan at Altrincham

Strikers
Oumare Tounkara - On loan from Sunderland*
Warren Feeney*
Reuben Reid
Lewis Alessandra
Djeny Bembo Leta
Ryan Brooke - Currently listed as Available for Loan

* Denotes first choice 11 as of August 31.

[433tom]

Looks like there are alot of people in attendance at that Notts County match. How many are you getting in attendance?

I think we had 5800 for Notts County. The ground capacity is around 10,300. As of mid-September we are 16th in League Attendance.

[433tom]

Transfer Summary - August 31, 2010

Players In
Marcello Castellini, 37 year old Defender (RC) - Free, released from Bologna
Ebou Sillah, 30 year old Midfielder (LC) - Free, released from MVV
John Paul Kelly, 23 year old Midfielder (C) - Free, released from Drogheda United

Youth Players In
Gael Nlundulu, 18 year old Midfielder (R) - Free, released from Portsmouth
Mohamed Bourhani, 17 year old Striker - Free, released from FC Lorient

Players Out
Josh Ollerenshaw, 20 year old Keeper - Free transfer to Northampton

[433tom]

September 2010 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

September was a story of home and away form as we won our 3 home matches and lost at both Southampton and Swindon Town. The 9 points from the 3 wins was enough to see us hold on to 6th in the Table. The highlight of the month was the 6-1 pounding we gave Wednesday led by midfielder Ritchie Jones brace. A season high 8142 were in attendance at Boundary Park due to Wenesday's large traveling support.

Striker Oumare Tounkara picked up the Young Player of the Month award for September. Oumare scored 1 goal and had 4 assists while maintaining an average rating of 7.48 for the month.

On the injury front, Striker Lee Feeney injured his ankle against Swindon and is expected to be out for 8 weeks. With 3 strikers injured and Rueben Reid banned as a result of a red card against Hartlepool, we only have 2 fit strikers at the moment. As a result, 17 year old Mohamed Bourhani was called up from the youth squad and will make the bench for the next match against Bournemouth. Bourhani has scored 5 goals in 8 appearances for the youth and reserve squads thus far this season.

[433tom]

September 2010 Goal of the Month

Midfielder Ritchie Jones scores a mighty effort against Sheffield Wednesday.

[AK22]

Top scorers in the league so far, shame about the defensive record! You'll do well to stay in playoff contention, League 1 is a very competitive division with several teams that can do well.

[433tom]

October 2010 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

Everything started to come together in September as we picked up 4 wins in 5 league matches and jumped to 2nd in the Table. The only disappointment was the 4-2 loss to league leaders Peterborough at Boundary Park. The highlight of the month was the 5-0 win over Charlton. Striker Rueben Reid fresh off suspension scored a Hat-Trick and midfield playmaker Dale Stephens had 3 assists. The lads also put in a 5 star performance putting Yeovil to the sword 4-0 at their ground with Striker Oumare Tounkara scoring what turned out to be the npower league 1 goal of the month.

I got a bit of press for our attacking prowess after the Charlton match:


On the transfer front we signed 2 more excellent prospects for the youth team. 17 year old defender Yann Nsaku who was released from Portmouth and u-19 Wales International midfielder Shane Williams who was cut lose by Birmingham.

It's heady times at Boundary Park as along with the first team sucess, both the reserve and youth squads are leading their respective leagues.

[433tom]

October 2010 Goal of the Month

Striker Oumare Tounkara uses both strength and pace to fight off 2 Yeovill defenders to score what was chosen as the npower league 1 goal of the month.

[433tom]

Top scorers in the league so far, shame about the defensive record! You'll do well to stay in playoff contention, League 1 is a very competitive division with several teams that can do well.

We really lit it up in October, plus pulled 3 clean sheets.

[Flamers]

Slowly climbing...

[433tom]

Slowly climbing...

Well I'm hoping we don't pull a real world Oldham. They were fighting for a playoff spot a few weeks back but have slipped back down to mid-table.

[433tom]

November 2010 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

November was a mixed month as we slipped a bit in the Table but advanced in the FA Cup. In the League, we picked only up 5 points out of a possible 12 to slide to 4th. Our 1-0 loss to rivals Huddersfield was particulary disappointing and we conceded an injury time equalizer at home to Leyton Orient.

The highlight of the month was our convincing 3-0 win at Plymouth in the FA Cup 2nd round. 17 year old Carl Winchester was brought up from the youth team and made his debut at right back. Carl who had only signed a professional contract the week before, hardly put a foot wrong while picking up a match rating of 7.40.

We drew Crystal Palace at home in the FA Cup 3rd round. Hopefully if we can get past Palace we can get a big money draw, as the Club is already operating in the red.

[rjfreeman]

A good cup run is just what you need.

[uncle ron]

Hi 433Tom your doing well in League One, however Swindon beat you back in September...

Have you given up on the lower leagues now? Or have you loaded them in this save and going to move down in the future?

[433tom]

Hi 433Tom your doing well in League One, however Swindon beat you back in September...

Have you given up on the lower leagues now? Or have you loaded them in this save and going to move down in the future?

I figured you would have to mention the Swindon match.

No, I still plan on doing another lower league save probably starting with Waltham Forest again. I'm just going to run a few season with this save first. Then I'll start the lower league save and play both.

[433tom]

A good cup run is just what you need.

We could definately use the money. And I have a lot of players with contracts expiring at the end of season. I would like to extend the contracts for several key players in the next 2 months. I'll need to offload a few players in January to create a bit more room under the wage budget for wage increases.

[433tom]

December 2010 Update: Oldham Athletiic - npower league 1

The heady days of fall now seem far behind us as we could only pick up 2 wins and suffered 4 defeats in December. Despite our poor performance we somewhow managed to only drop 1 spot to 5th in the Table. Still in the playoff hunt, but far behind Peterbourough who look ready to run away with the League.

Particularly disappointing was our heavy 4-1 defeat to Walsall in front of the home supporters. I thought we had turned it around after a hard fought 1-0 Boxing Day victory over a good Colchester side, but it was not to be as we lost 3-1 to Tranmere two days later after giving up 2 late goals in a pretty evenly played match.

[rjfreeman]

Not bad. Half way done and still in a good spot.

[deltablue]

Hoping to snatch second?

[AK22]

Even with a blip you're still within a shout of promotion. As long as you recover, you'll be there or there abouts come the end of the season I reckon. Just don't finish 7th though, that's carp!

[433tom]

Not bad. Half way done and still in a good spot.

Should have been better, I think.

Hoping to snatch second?

I'll settle for a playoff spot at this point.

Even with a blip you're still within a shout of promotion. As long as you recover, you'll be there or there abouts come the end of the season I reckon. Just don't finish 7th though, that's carp!

Yea, we need to regain our early season form. 7th would still exceed expectations, But I'm hoping we can get that playoff spot.

[433tom]

Key players through the first half of the season

Reuben Reid - Our first choice striker currently leading the team in goals. App: 18(2) Goals: 10 Assists: 2 Average Rating: 7.11

Oumare Tounkara - Striker on loan from Sunderland. App: 21(2) Goals: 8 Assists: 8 Average Rating: 7.06

Dale Stephens - Central midfield playmaker. App 25 Goals: 1 Assists: 13 Average Rating: 7.04

Ritchie Jones - Box to Box midfielder. App 21(4) Goals: 7 Assists: 6 Average Rating: 7.17

Neal Trotman - Centerback on loan from Preston. App 18(2) Goals: 2 Assists: 1 Average Rating: 6.99

[433tom]

January 2011 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

A rather congested fixture list in January saw us struggle to pick 10 points from 6 league matches and slip from 5th to 7th in the Table. The highlight of the month was a come from behind 2-1 victory over MK Dons with winger Filipe Morais scoring a brace. In the FA Cup we forced a 3rd round replay against Crystal Palace with an injury time equalizer at home. However Palace were just too much for us on their home ground where we suffered a 4-2 defeat.

On the transfer front Alan Cawley who was out of contract with Dundalk was brought in to provide some additional midfield cover. Cawley is a very good free kick taker who can play both in the middle and right side of the midfield. Striker John Guidetti was also brought in on a 3 month loan from Manchester City. We also off-loaded Srikers Ryan Brook on a free to Shrewsbury and Lewis Alessandra to Aldershot for 1k plus a 10% sell on. And 18 year old winger Phil McGrath joined Gateshead on a 6 month loan. That freed up enough wages to give contract extensions to everyone that we plan on keeping at this point.

And finally, we scored what I believe will be somewhat of a coup and signed 21 year old LM Graham Carey from Celtic on a pre-contract. Carey will be joining us July 1, when his contract with Celtic expires.

[433tom]

January 2011 Goal of the Month

Central midfielder Dean Furman scores with a diving header in the FA Cup against Palace.

[433tom]

February 2011 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

February saw us regain our form as we picked up 10 points in 5 league matches to move up to 6th in Table. However, the month ended on a down note as we threw away a 2 goal lead at home and had to settle for a draw against Bournemouth. Next up were league leaders Peterborough who had just pulled off a major FA Cup upset with a win over Arsenal. Perterborough had all the play as we went down 2-1 in a match that was not nearly as close as the scoreline would indicate. The highlight of the month was our 4-0 win over Hartlepool led by a brace from Striker John Guidetti. Guidetti who joined us last month on a 3 month loan has settled in quickly and has thus far picked up 3 goals in 5 matches.

Striker Reuben Reid won the npower leagie 1 Player of the Month Award for February.

[433tom]

February 2011 Goal of the Month

Midfielder Ritchie Jones creates something out of nothing and scores a cracking goal against Swindon Town.

[433tom]

March 2011 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

Well despite a porous defense that leaked 10 goals in 5 matches, we managed to pick up 3 wins and claw our way up to 5th in the Table. The highlight of the month was a heart stopping 4-3 win over Carlisle in front of the Boundary Park faithful. Twice we came back from a 2 goal deficit to pull out the win.

Striker Reuben Reid won the npower league 1 Player of the Month award for the 2nd consectutive month. Reid is currently 3rd in the League 1 scoring table with 18 goals. However, it's doubtful if he can catch Charlton's Bradley Wright-Phillips who leads the pack with 23 goals to date.







In other footie news, Man City bad boy Mario Balotelli has fallen out with Mancini and been placed on the transfer list. City are asking 56m for him and there appears to be little to no interest thus far. Chelsea and Man United are currently tied atop the Premier League Table with Arsenal 3 points adrift.

[433tom]

March 2011 Goal of the Month

Striker John Guidetti scores with a stunning header against Leyton Orient.

[Almondo]

Nice to see someone with a career with my local club. Hopefully you can get them up.

Just to say as well. In your post with the history someone has got an old photo of the ground for the background as the seats shown on the right are not there anymore after the stand was knocked down.

Anyway Good Luck

[433tom]

Nice to see someone with a career with my local club. Hopefully you can get them up.

Just to say as well. In your post with the history someone has got an old photo of the ground for the background as the seats shown on the right are not there anymore after the stand was knocked down.

Anyway Good Luck

Thanks. It was my local club too until I was 12 and my family moved to Holyport.

[433tom]

April/May 2011 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

It was all in our hands and we threw it away as we suffered 4 straight defeats in April to finish 7th in the Table and miss out on a playoff spot. April started off well enough with a 2-0 win over rivals Huddersfield at Boundary Park. Then things went pear-shaped as we lost 4 matches in row including 2 at home. Going into the final week, we still had an outside chance of grabbing 6th if we could beat fellow playoff candidates Colchester. However, we would have to rely on both Plymouth and Bournemouth not picking up max points for us to nip 6th place. We took care of business at Colchester winning 3-1, but unfortunately Bournemouth nicked Yeovil 1-0 to secure the remaining playoff spot. To add to our disappointment, rivals Huddersfield secured promotion via the playoffs.

On the transfer front, we signed 22 year old Mark Stewart from Falkirk on a pre-contract. Stewart will be joining the squad on July 1.

[433tom]

April/May 2011 Goal of the Month

A little winger to winger action as Filipe Morais makes an outragues pass for Aiden White to score at the far post.

[AK22]

Ouch! That was a bit of a shocker!

[433tom]

Ouch! That was a bit of a shocker!

Yea it was. Against Brighton for example, we went down 2-0 in the first 15 on a PK and own goal. Fought back to pull even, then conceded a late winner off a corner. It was one of those months.

[rjfreeman]

Think you can win it next season?

[433tom]

2010/2011 End of Season Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

Overall it was a pretty good season as we exceeded expectations by finsihing 7th in the League. Squad harmony is good and my job is currently very secure.

On the financial side, we lost 113k for the season. Our average attendance was 5613 which ranked 13th in League 1.

Striker Reuben Reid finished 3rd in the League scoring table with 19 goals. Reid continued to garner individual honors as he was voted Oldham Player of the Year by the supporters and named to the League 1 Players Team of the Year.

Midfielder Dale Stephens finished co-leader in League assists with 16.



Oldham Athletic 2010/2011 Best Eleven



Youth Update

The youth team won their league handily led by Right Winger Gail Nlundulu, Striker Mohamed Bourhani, and Right Back Carl Winchester.

[433tom]

Think you can win it next season?

Have to wait and see. I'm just starting the preseason and the board gave me no transfer budget and a smaller wage budget than last year, so things are tight. They cut the wage budget by 2k/week which just about adds up to 113k we were in the red last season.

But my staff has found a boatload of good 16 and 17 year olds. I expect the youth team to be even stronger than last season. So I may just have to build for the future.

[433tom]

2010/2011 England Summary

Premier League


npower Championship


npower - League 1

[433tom]

npower - League 2



Blue Square Premier


FA Cup - Tottenham

League Cup - Manchester City

Johnstone Paint Trophy - Colchester

FA Trophy - Rushden

Champion's League - Inter-Milan

Euro Cup - Manchester City

[433tom]

2010/2011 Off Season Update: Oldham Athletic

After reviewing the squad my primary concern going into the new season will be my central defenders. Andy Todd is 36 and missed much of last season due to injury and with Marcello Castellini now 38 years old, I don't think I can rely on either of them for another season. Todd is out of contract on July 1 and has already signed a pre-contact with Exeter, I plan on trying to off-load Castellini on a free as soon as the transfer window opens. That will leave us with Ruben Hazell as our only experienced center back, so I'll be scrambling to bring in at least 2 central defenders early in the pre-season. I would also like to upgrade the Keeper position if possible. Dean Brill is a good back-up but not really the quality I want as first choice. We should be ok at LM and Striker as we already signed Graham Carey from Celtic and Mark Stewart from Falkirk to pre-contracts.

However, our financial situation might affect my plans. We lost 133k last season and it's only going to get worse on July 1 when we start making payments of 41k/month on a 4.6m Chairman loan. Thats another 490k a year. The Board cut the wage budget from 34.9k/wk to 32k/wk for the coming season. This means I'm going to have to free up some wages to fill the holes in the squad. With that in mind, besides Castellini, I'm going to list right mid Chris Taylor who's currently on 3k/wk. Filipe Morais had already displaced him as first choice RM in the second half of the season. Hopefully, 19 year old Gael Nlundulu can step in as back-up RM after being promoted from the youth team where he had 11 goals and 11 assists last season from the RM position.

[AK22]

That loan will really start to bite when the payments commence. Perhaps you could rent a couple of zimmer-frames from Oldham's Mobility Centre for your elderly centre-backs?! This'll be cheaper than forking out for a new player.

[433tom]

That loan will really start to bite when the payments commence. Perhaps you could rent a couple of zimmer-frames from Oldham's Mobility Centre for your elderly centre-backs?! This'll be cheaper than forking out for a new player.

There were a few times last season where they moved out on the pitch like they were using walkers.

[acidmonkey]

thats unlucky on the playoffs dude, hopefully you can kick on that little bit extra this year and make a push again for a play-off spot.

also as a mackem is Oumare Tounkara actually good enough

[433tom]

thats unlucky on the playoffs dude, hopefully you can kick on that little bit extra this year and make a push again for a play-off spot.

also as a mackem is Oumare Tounkara actually good enough

Well he was already on a season long loan when I took over. But he did well enough. 38 app. 11 goals, 10 assists, 7.00 avg rating. If you look a few posts above you will see he made our season Best Eleven.

And at Oldham it's hard to bring in the better players that are available for loan because we can't afford the loan fees. I pretty much have to look for loan players that carry no loan fees.

[433tom]

2011/2012 Pre-Season Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

As discussed in my off-season update, several players were released or sold to free up wages, and we signed 3 central defenders and upgraded the Keeper position. Of course things went awry when Midfielder Dean Furman demanded a new contract far beyond our means. When we couldn't agree terms he demanded to be listed and was subsequently sold to Motherwell. Roma then came in with a bid we couldn't refuse for RM Gail Nlundulu. This leaves us scrambling to bring in at least 2 more midfielders before the window closes. To make our midfield woes a bit worse, LM Ebou Sillah tore a calf muscle in late July and is expected to be out for four months.

On the pitch things were a mixed bag as we worked hard on Team Blend.



Transfers In
Graham Carey - 22 year old LM - Free, signed on pre-contract from Celtic
Mark Stewart - 22 year old Striker - Free, signed on pre-contract from Falkirk
Yves Makabu Ma Kalambay - 25 year old Keeper - Free, released by Swansea
Neal Trotman - 24 year old Defender (C) - Free, released by Preston
Gavin Peers - 25 year old Defender (RC) - 80k from Sligo Rovers
Sean McGinty - 17 year old Defender (C) - Free, released by Manchester United

Loans In
Jack Butland - 18 year old Keeper - Season long loan from Birmingham
Harry Kane - 18 year old Striker - Season long loan from Tottenham

Transfer Out
Gail Nludulu - 19 year old RM - 425k plus 30% sell on to Roma
Chris Taylor - 23 year old M(R/L) - 200k plus 10% sell on to Huddersfield
Deam Furman - 22 year old CM/DM - 200k plus 10% sell on to Motherwell
Dean Brill - 25 year old Keeper - 65k to Huddersfield
John Paul Kelly - 24 year old CM - 5k to Stevenage
Marcello Castellini - 38 year old Defender (C) - Free to Charlton

Player Out of Contract
Andy Todd - 36 year old Defender (C) - Signed pre-contract with Exeter
Deane Smalley - 22 year old RM - Signed with Walsall
Phil McGrath - 19 year old M(R/L) - Signed with Glenavon
Rodney McDonald - 19 year old Defender (LC) - Left club

The supporters are currently angry with me for selling Taylor and Brill to Rivals Huddersfield.

The media are projecting us for a 10th place finish. The Board expect a safe mid-table finish.

Season ticket sales were 2400, unchanged from last season.

[433tom]

August 2011 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

August was a bit of a disappointment as we dropped points at home in matches that we should have won. Overall, we picked 8 points from 4 league matches to finish the month 6th in the Table. In the League Cup we advanced past the 1st Round with a 3-1 win over Morecambe, but Wolves knocked us out in the 2nd Round with us suffering a 3-0 drubbing. The Highlight of the month was our convincing 3-1 away win over MK Dons.





On the transfer front we managed to fill the gaps in midfield with what I believe are quality signings.

August Transfers In
Andrew Shinnie - 22 year old CM/RM - 40k from Rangers
Oliver Norwood - 20 year old CM - Free, released from Manchester United
Nathan Rooney - 18 year old CM - Free, released from Wolves
Christian Montano - 19 year old Striker - Free, released from West Ham

August Loans In
Billy Knott - 18 year old LM/LB - 3 month loan from Sunderland to provide cover for injured Ebou Sillah

[433tom]

August 2011 Goal of the Month

Striker Mark Stewart shows great ability pulling a Graham Carey cross out of the air to score against Morecambe in the FA Cup.

[433tom]

Oldham Athletic Squad - August 31, 2011

Keepers
Yves Makabu Ma Kalambay*
Jack Butland - On loan from Birmingham
Paul Gerrard - Player/Keeper Coach

Defenders
Kieran Lee (R/L)*
Paul Black (L)*
Gavin Peers (R/C)*
Neal Trotman (C)*
Reuben Hazell (C)
Sean McGinty (C)
Cedric Evina (L)
Yahn Nsaku (C)+
Carl Winchester (R)+

Midfielders
Graham Carey (L)*
Andrew Shinnie (RC)*
Dale Stephens (C)*
Ritchie Jones (RC)*
Oliver Norwood (C)
Nathan Rooney (C)
Alan Cawley (RC)
Filipe Morais (R/L)
Ebou Sillah (LC)
Billy Knott (L) - On 3 month loan from Sunderland
Medi Abalimba (C) - Currently listed as available for loan

Larnell Cole (RC) On loan at Fleetwood
Kirk Millar (R/L) On loan at Altrincham
Matty Carr (C)+ On loan at Barrow

Strikers
Reuben Reid*
Mark Stewart*
Warren Feeney
Christian Montano
Harry Kane - On loan from Tottenham
Djeny Bembo Leta - Currently listed as available for loan

Mohamed Bourhami + - On loan at Cambridge

* Denotes first choice 11 as of August 31.
+ Denotes players promoted from Youth Team

[433tom]

September 2011 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

September saw us pick up 9 points from 5 league matches to move up to 5th in the Table. However, we can't seem to stop leaking goals. Our Keeper play has been outstanding but the back four have been very inconsistent. Hopefully our new defensive signings will settle in sooner rather than later. The highlight of the month was the 3-1 win at Swindon.

The Morecambe match turned out to be a very costly win as we had 4 players come off injured. Most notable was Striker Mark Stewart who will be out for 4 to 5 months with a muscle tear. Stewart hit the ground running this season as he scored 7 goals in 9 appearances thus far this season. And Midfield playmaker Dale Stephens twisted his knee in the match and will be out for 3 to 4 weeks. I believe Oliver Norwood can step in for Stephens, but Stewart's goals will surely be missed.

[433tom]

September 2011 Goal of the Month

Dale Stephens scores the opener against Swindon with a 30 yard free kick.

[433tom]

October 2011 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

October started off well enough with a 2-1 victory over Leyton Orient, but injuries continued to plague us as Striker Reuben Reid twisted an ankle and missed the rest of the month. With starting Strikers Reid and Stewart out in addition to midfield playmaker Dale Stephens, our form dropped and we only mangaged 1 win in our next 4 league matches to slip to 8th in the Table.

The highlight of the month was our 6-2 win over Accrington in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy led by a hat-trick by Striker Djeny Bembo-Leto.

On the transfer front, LM Billy Knott's loan was up and he returned to Sunderland. Knott did a good job covering for injured LM Ebou Sillah scoring a goal and picking up an assist in 6(6) appearances. 18 year old Striker Jamie May was bought in from Newcastle on a short-term loan after Reid's injury to give us some additional options up front.

Hopefully we are past the injury crisis as Reid, Stephens and Sillah all started training at the end of the month.

[433tom]

October 2011 Goal of the Month

Winger Graham Carey makes a nice run into the box and scores against Rochdale.

[Flamers]

It's good to see this still going

[433tom]

Thanks. I've been working a lot the past few weeks.

[433tom]

November 2011 Update: Oldham Athletic - npower league 1

November was a bit of a disappointment as we could only manage to pick up 4 points in League and slipped to 9th in the Table. The only bright spot being a very good team performance in a convincing 4-1 win over Notts County.

We lost a heartbreaker to Shefiield Wednesday in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. We outshot them 21-5 and had the bulk of possesion, but couldn't find the back of the net and went out in the PK shootout.

In the FA Cup we faired better winning against both Mansfield and Hartlepool in front of the home supporters at Boundary Park.

Our Striker crisis worsened as Reuben Reid fresh back in side, tore his calf muscle and will be out for another 5 months. Wareen Feeney then twisted his ankle in training the last week of the month and is expected to miss 4 to 5 weeks.

[433tom]

November 2011 Goal of the Month

Midfield Playmaker Dale Stephens crafts himself a wonderful goal in the box against Notts County.