I know it’s not fair to comment on games if you were not at the match but I’ve seen enough Oldham games recently to warrant an opinion on the direction we are heading. I am a long time supporter who has been watching the Latics since their last stint in the Fourth Division and I’ve followed them full term until we are finally back at the same level. I’ve seen good times and bad times over this period but we have to find a way to stop the current downward spiral.
When I saw the result from the Port Vale game I felt embarrassed! Have we really stooped this low? The likes of Accrington and Rochdale are in higher leagues than us and I find it extremely hard to swallow. I’ve read the match reports from the game and we can’t keep blaming incidents like penalties not given, poor refereeing etc. It’s part of the game and we have to deal with it and be better. It’s not any comfort to hear our own supporters saying we could be like Stockport et al... as we will be if things don’t start to improve, and immediately, before gates start to dwindle again.
I’m not blaming Frankie Bunn as he can only try to achieve the best results possible with the limited resources that he has at his disposal. His pre-match comments also seem to be following a pattern, “The International break will do us well and we can regroup. The squad is all fired up and raring to go” as an example. This doesn’t help as it gives false hope and builds the supporters up into expecting a big win. I know he has to inspire the team and he can’t say negative stuff but some reality is required.
In the old days we had our own players - who supporters could relate to - but now it’s just an endless revolving door or loan players who care nothing for the club and only want a pay packet. Grass roots football is in a very sorry state, all brought about by the greed of the Premier League. That league has perpetuated the widening gulf between itself and the rest of the Football League. Money, and players wages in particular, have been responsible for this devastating and disappointing downturn in real football. It’s time to bring the beautiful game back to its roots - the working-class man. The amounts of money being wielded about now is a slap in the face for struggling clubs who are fighting for existence because they owe a few thousand pounds; several have even gone out of business through it.
I was at Northampton last season and know the hurt that Oldham supporters felt. I still go into every match hoping for a win and wishing for a turn around in fortunes but am becoming more and more disillusioned with every negative result. I expect promotion, along with many other fellow supporters. Frankie Bunn began his tenure stating that he wanted to make Boundary Park a fortress again, an exciting prospect, but we have now lost four home league games – hardly a fortress. Maybe we will have to win away and try to draw our home games! I don’t have a solution and I don’t know of anybody with enough money to ‘buy our way out’ but this it totally against all my principles of football anyway. I believe that a successful team is built from a group of players, friends with each other, who are having lots of fun just enjoying playing the game and winning, much like the squad that Joe Royle assembled. Frankie has lived through it and knows enough about the game to achieve that and I wish him every success as he is learning his trade. Good luck Frankie, you’re going to need it.