Oldham Atheltic (A) League 1 Monday 25/4/11/

[boringteacher]

what a chance we've blown today. We have to win on Saturday - and pray both brizz or daggers dont. If it goes to the last set of games, we're down. bother!!!!!!!! What a waste

Peterboro seem to have accepted their place in the playoffs so might not be at the races against Daggers on the last day

indeed - and you wouldn't see Colchester busting a gut v daggers I'd think. I'm depressed tonight as I'd fancy at least one of the 2 to win on Saturday. I think we've fornicated it up tonight, even if we beat Charlton on Saturday. If we do go down, forget the Hutchings mismanagement as an excuse, we'll deserve it.

[SheffieldSaddler]

If Daggenham and Brizzle lose next week and we win - we are safe.

I think this result has cost us though, I can see us needing something from Soton...

I cannot honestly see both Dagenham and Rovers losing though in all honesty.
They are both playing teams who have nothing to play for, so one of them will win, no doubt.
That will mean we will need to beat Charlton and still go to Southampton needing something to be sure.
Anything less than a win against Charlton and we are down.
Oh, and dont forget Plymouth either, although their run in is hard to say the least!

[m&m]

Plymouth are the team to watch!
This result is a real set back though.Very poor to concede against 10 men so late on.

[MILO5]

head says that goal has sent us down , we just havent won the must win games recently - Plymouth, Sheff Wed, OLdham ...........

heart says we are out of the bottom 4 again tonight . But in reality we are relying on Carlisle at Daggers and Sheff Wed at Bristol and we have our last feasible chance against Charlton.

but ... the annoying thing is that Plymouth's destiny is now in their own hands , albeit with a tough run in ....the odds keep getting worse .

[saddlerJP]

Can see Shef Wednesday beating Rovers they are on a great run. Gutted is an understatment, would be all but done if we'd of held on. It's not even in our own hands any more. Plymouth go above us if they win their game in hand (although it is v southampton)

could really do with hudderfield cocking up and Southampton being home and dry by the time we play them

[MILO5]

Can see Shef Wednesday beating Rovers they are on a great run. Gutted is an understatment, would be all but done if we'd of held on. It's not even in our own hands any more. Plymouth go above us if they win their game in hand (although it is v southampton)

could really do with hudderfield cocking up and Southampton being home and dry by the time we play them

have been saying that for a few weeks ....if Saints win their next two OR Hudders lose at Brighton - one of which scenarios is very probable - then Saints could be in party mood.......possibly giving us half chance of a point with a few thousand Saddlers roaring them on ...............

Gutted tonight, but tempered by the Bristol collapse , and the fact that Daggers missed several golden opportunities to draw at Hudders ..

Going right to the wire

[SheffieldSaddler]

Can see Shef Wednesday beating Rovers they are on a great run. Gutted is an understatment, would be all but done if we'd of held on. It's not even in our own hands any more. Plymouth go above us if they win their game in hand (although it is v southampton)

could really do with hudderfield cocking up and Southampton being home and dry by the time we play them

I dont honestly believe any of that last statement.
Even if Southampton are already promoted, they will want to go out on a high in front of their home fans.

[bangsection]

If Plymouth stay up having been unable to pay their players for the best part of half a season it will be an utter disgrace. The ramifications of such an outcome would go well beyond our own situation but we should certainly be leading any protests.

I still think it's a straight shoot out between us, the Daggers and the Gas but today's result is hugely disappointing. Await reports with interest.

[boringteacher]

Can see Shef Wednesday beating Rovers they are on a great run. Gutted is an understatment, would be all but done if we'd of held on. It's not even in our own hands any more. Plymouth go above us if they win their game in hand (although it is v southampton)

could really do with hudderfield cocking up and Southampton being home and dry by the time we play them

I dont honestly believe any of that last statement.
Even if Southampton are already promoted, they will want to go out on a high in front of their home fans.

I agree - they are a class above us and cannot miss the number of open goals they did at Bezzla a couple of months ago. I think we are well odds on to go down after today. What a waste

[Louise]

I think that goal conceded today is the death knell :( - my heart tells me we can do it and I shall be there cheering them on Saturday but my head tells me that the truth is we havent been good enough all season and League two beckons.

[chestersaddler]

Can see Shef Wednesday beating Rovers they are on a great run. Gutted is an understatment, would be all but done if we'd of held on. It's not even in our own hands any more. Plymouth go above us if they win their game in hand (although it is v southampton)

could really do with hudderfield cocking up and Southampton being home and dry by the time we play them

I dont honestly believe any of that last statement.
Even if Southampton are already promoted, they will want to go out on a high in front of their home fans.

I agree - they are a class above us and cannot miss the number of open goals they did at Bezzla a couple of months ago. I think we are well odds on to go down after today. What a waste

I agree with that also. If they are already up then it could be "showtime". The best scenario for me would be that Southampton are 3 points ahead of Huddersfield with a large GD advantage, therefore needing only a point to make sure.

Whatever the situation, we have had enough chances recently to make this a meaningless fixture.

[m&m]

Quite frankly it's pathetic that we cannot hang on for 2 mins against 10 men especially knowing the importance.We deserve to go down!

[BathSaddler]

To fail to beat a poor Oldham side from a winning position who have played the last 20 minutes with only ten men with their poor goalscoring record over the last 15 games should condemn us in itself. I'm more depressed today than I have been for a while...

[ShropsSaddler]

More later, but feel Smith's inexperience lost us 2 points, which could makeall the difference.

Richards was very poor again and, whilst subs were needed, bringing patterson on was bizarre in the extreme. His day will come, but it surely wasn't today?! Gbarrsin was needed, to put his foot in and close their midfield down. And then, however tired he was, Macken should've stayed on. Once he went off, we had nobody to hold the ball. It was a gamble by smith to give him a rest whilst we held on for 3 pts.....and it failed!!

[Jockey]

Tbf I know we are out the drop zone but i think that goal has sent us down.

Gutted!! These lads deserve to stay up after the fight of recent weeks but we have drew too many games!!

[Registered Saddler]

If anyone should be depressed today it's Bristol Rovers fans. They were the ones that blew their chance. We have effectively a two point advantage over them with the goal difference. All three of us play sides with nothing to play for next week, and I'm also really hoping that Southampton sew up promotion before the last day of the season. When Brighton won the title they were talking about going for 100 points, but since then they've taken one point from two games. Psychology is a funny thing and I can easily see Southampton enjoying a day in the sun rather than concentrating on picking up three meaningless points.

[belgiansaddler]

Absolutely gutted. Yet again a match we should have won. Two golden chances in the first half with Macken and Gray through one on one. Can't blame the players for effort, they gave their all. Oldham were hopeless and there for the taking. Jubilation when we scored and really couldn't see any other result than a win for us, especially when they went down to 10 men. For the life of I can't understand the Patterson substitution. Nothing against the kid but why take the massively frustrating Cook off and bring someone even more lightweight on when we were trying to close the game down? I assume Gbrassin was on the bench? Cook yet again spent the entire game beating a man and then losing it to the next one. Three points were so close today and they would have been MOSSIVE. As it is that late goal could well send us down. Still in it, but still gutted tonight

Brilliant support, very loud.

[MILO5]

If anyone should be depressed today it's Bristol Rovers fans. They were the ones that blew their chance. We have effectively a two point advantage over them with the goal difference. All three of us play sides with nothing to play for next week, and I'm also really hoping that Southampton sew up promotion before the last day of the season. When Brighton won the title they were talking about going for 100 points, but since then they've taken one point from two games. Psychology is a funny thing and I can easily see Southampton enjoying a day in the sun rather than concentrating on picking up three meaningless points.

what about if it rains?

...but seriously i am looking at the bright side like you - PLUS Daggers apparently really had a go at Huddersfield 2nd half and missed some chances .

If we dont beat Charlton, that means that we havent done enough to warrant staying up , but if we do ......who knows .....

[We-ARE-Walsall]

Absolutely gutted. Yet again a match we should have won. Two golden chances in the first half with Macken and Gray through one on one. Can't blame the players for effort, they gave their all. Oldham were hopeless and there for the taking. Jubilation when we scored and really couldn't see any other result than a win for us, especially when they went down to 10 men. For the life of I can't understand the Patterson substitution. Nothing against the kid but why take the massively frustrating Cook off and bring someone even more lightweight on when we were trying to close the game down? I assume Gbrassin was on the bench? Cook yet again spent the entire game beating a man and then losing it to the next one. Three points were so close today and they would have been MOSSIVE. As it is that late goal could well send us down. Still in it, but still gutted tonight

Brilliant support, very loud.

I thought you would be to wrecked to post on here, judging by the amount of blank texts I got :D

Keep ya chin up mate, we can still do it. See you at Southampton mate.

[PT]

What a shame.

Good, noisy turnout from our lot and the lads played some excellent stuff. Their keeper made two great saves from macken in the first half and we looked the better side.

Second half, much of the same. We had a stone-wall pen turned down and with Macken leading the line like a man-possessed it seemed that when they went down to ten men that we should be OK.

Cue, some really puzzling tinkering from Smith. I love the bloke and they way he has sent the team out in recent months has been a breath of fresh air but he needs to look at what he did today in the last ten minutes as in my eyes it cost us. Taking Cook off was bizarre and his replacement stranger as Pattison seemed to have been sent on with a brief to get it to the corner flag and sit on the lead. He failed miserably. Then we decided to give away the man advantage by bringing Byfield on for Macken and guess what? A ball Macken had been bossing all day was won by their centre-half with Byfield whinging for a foul and within seconds they rip through a central midfield that should have been bolstered by Gbarsson. With virtually the last kick of the game Byfield had the simplest of tasks to put the ball through for Grey but he fell over - typical of the 2011 Byfield.

Eighty per cent of what we did today was great, the twenty per cent was baffling and it cost us two points and with them probably our League one status.

We all need to get back up for next Saturday but 1-0 up in the 89th minute with a man advantage looks like a gift horse we shunned through naivety.

[WFC_Rob]

After that one my mood alternates between dread and optimism with every minute that goes by.

The fact remains, we could stay up without winning another game. Whilst that's unlikely, next Saturday's game is massive.

[cumbria-saddler]

That was a poor result.

I thought we deserved to more than a point really, but just lacked the bite we need to start winning games.

The ref and the linesman on our side of the pitch was poor imo, we should have had a penalty in the second half, and there were times when our players were getting punished for being fowled themselves. But he got the sending off right, from what i saw.

Also, who had a goal disallowed, us or them? I arrived in Oldham at about 2.20, and got to the ground an hour later because i got lost, and ended up about 15 miles away. :oops: (first time driving to a game on my own), so these are based on the match after 25 minutes. :lol:
Better players today were Walker, Butler, Cook and Macken.

Walker - did what he had to do really, made a great save from a free kick in the second half, dont think he could have done anything for their goal.
Taundry - not a defender, poor again. caught out of position a few times, miskicked it and not that fast, but apart from that...
Lancashire - thought he had a good game, particularly the first half
Butler - same old. Solid.
Williams - apart from the goal (i dont know if anyone else touched it or if it came straight from his free kick) his passing was poor, and he missed quite a few tackles.
Cook - our best player going foward, but seemed a bit hesitant to take on their full back at times. If were in league 1 next year i would try to get him here on a season loan.
Laird - quiet, didnt have a big effect on the game.
Richards - worst ive seen him play. Did absolutly nothing, misplaced quite a lot of passes, and got out run by their centre back when he should have been 1 on 1 with the keeper. I saw the brighton game the other week, i cant understand why Gbarssin didnt keep his place. Richards and Laird were quite poor in that game, but today they were a lot worse. Richards shouldnt start the next game (and im not usually critical of him).
Gray - quiet, was never really in the game.
Macken - I know he's about 80, but i'd keep him for next year too. He holds it up well, and deserved a goal today.
Grigg - good in parts, poor in others, and looked leggy towards the end.

Paterson - i wouldnt have taken Cook off. Paterson didnt have too much time to effect anything though.
Byfield - not a lot of time to do anything, but did a fresh air kick near the end in their penalty area where he could have scored from.

I feel that today may have been the last chance to get a win. Look on the bright side of things though, in the reverse fixtures of our last two games, we've got 6 points, 3 of them being under Hutchings. Charlton are beatable at home, but i fear for the last day of the season.

Great support from the saddlers too, wish i could afford to come to the Charlton game next week. UTS

[ShropsSaddler]

I'd agree pretty much PT, although I didn't think we played that well. But we certainly did enough,until the bizarre late subs. Bring on nicholls and gbarrsin and I couldn't have argued.

Some very good performances again. Macken was immense, Lancashire showed why he should be our future at centre half, Butler was as brave and 'committed as ever, even Taundry had a good game!

The only players to let us down were Richards who was woeful again, and Gray who had one of his sulky matches.

Special mention to the ref, who made some bizarre decisions and wouldn't give us the clearest penalty you'll see for the trip on Macken. And not forgetting the linesman who wouldn't raise his flag until the ref told him which way to give the throw.

And finally....what IS going on with their pitch? It was more like bouncy ball than football!!!

[Jolly Johnny]

What a shame.

Good, noisy turnout from our lot and the lads played some excellent stuff. Their keeper made two great saves from macken in the first half and we looked the better side.

Second half, much of the same. We had a stone-wall pen turned down and with Macken leading the line like a man-possessed it seemed that when they went down to ten men that we should be OK.

Cue, some really puzzling tinkering from Smith. I love the bloke and they way he has sent the team out in recent months has been a breath of fresh air but he needs to look at what he did today in the last ten minutes as in my eyes it cost us. Taking Cook off was bizarre and his replacement stranger as Pattison seemed to have been sent on with a brief to get it to the corner flag and sit on the lead. He failed miserably. Then we decided to give away the man advantage by bringing Byfield on for Macken and guess what? A ball Macken had been bossing all day was won by their centre-half with Byfield whinging for a foul and within seconds they rip through a central midfield that should have been bolstered by Gbarsson. With virtually the last kick of the game Byfield had the simplest of tasks to put the ball through for Grey but he fell over - typical of the 2011 Byfield.

Eighty per cent of what we did today was great, the twenty per cent was baffling and it cost us two points and with them probably our League one status.

We all need to get back up for next Saturday but 1-0 up in the 89th minute with a man advantage looks like a gift horse we shunned through naivety.

Bob on summary PT! (Where were you in the stand btw? Had a look around and couldn't spot you!)

Why take Macken off in the 86th minute!! If he needed a rest he should have come off earlier but, as said, was the quality we needed up that end of the pitch (offer him another year please!). We were guilty of the two missed chances in the first half and then not shutting up properly for the last 5 mins. Great strike for them to be fair - was right in line with it. Also don't understand taking Cook off for Paterson - not in this game, at this stage.

Behind Macken, Butler and Lancashire were absolutely solid and commited at the back, winning everything, but can't distribute the ball to save their lives! The full backs weren't much better to be honest. Super Jim made some awesome and vital saves once again - what a legend! Nothing through midfield cost us a lot. No one really played incisive balls (other than the 2 one on ones in the first half) and we weren't quick enough moving the ball or off the ball - something that simply has to be worked on in the summer, no matter which division we're in next season.

Gutted to lose today, definitely 2 dropped. It was the typical scenario of the ten men finding something and being the better team. At one point I had to remind myself they had had a man sent off, as we just didn't take advantage or keep the ball as we should have.

MUST win next week and probably something needed from the south coast now, we're going to do it the hard way it seems!

[newportsaddler]

Don't see why theres all the pessimism to be honest.
Yes, we blew a great chance today, okay, but so did Bristol? And the form Dagenham are in at the moment means its unlikely they'll taste victory again this season.
Remember, if results go our way and we do our bit on Saturday, we could well be safe by the time we go to Southampton.
And, honestly, I firmly beleive thaat we could get something from them if thousands of Saddlers are there to roar them on. (Also, its highly unlikely we'll go there having to win, if we do, i think we're buggered).(How many were there walsall fans today?)
So, with a bumper attendance on saturday, maybe, just maybe, we can do it.
Beleive.

[Wyrley_saddler]

Just got back. Gutted to concede late on. To be fair, Oldham were poor and I thought we deserved all 3 points. And what a massive 3 points they would have been aswell.

We weren't spectacular, but I think we were slightly the better team. However, we decided it was won at 1-0 and Oldham down to 10. Smith should never have taken Cook and Macken off. Credit to Oldham though to get back into it. Cracking strike!

Fantastic vocal support today, proper away game. Almost non-stop singing from our fans for the 90 minutes.

Saturday is vital, I think 3 points vs Charlton could see us safe.

[Bristol Fan]

Agree with the consensus. It was a decent performance, but the substitutions were poor. I think Cook had asked to come off (maybe he was injured by one of the numerous fouls on him) but it was a bizarre replacement. Bringing Macken off was a terrible decision. If he was tired then that's understandable, but I don't think playing an extra four minutes would have made a fat lot of difference to him (but it might have been the difference between us staying up or going down).

We looked better all over the pitch than we have recently but Oldham were pretty awful, lost a player to injury early on and had a bloke sent off. Taundry was fine (more than fine, in fact) but I still hope Lescott is fit for next week. Lancashire is our best centre back and I don't understand why he hasn't played every game. We are so much better with him in the team. Richards was poor again - he looks completely exhausted and, while he has been our best player this season by a country mile, maybe if he'd been rested for a game recently he (and we) would have benefited. Gray was frustrating. He made a couple of runs into excellent positions and was ignored by his teammates and after that seemed to give up trying.

The fat lady has still not sung. It's not out of the question (though highly unlikely, obviously) that we could lose both remaining games and still stay up. A win next Saturday would probably be enough - let's hope we can take the positives from today (and there were some) and find that extra little something from somewhere.

[Sadders]

Not long back, absolutely gutted. Deserved the points, although its our own faults for not seeing out a game against 10 men, that have nothing to play for and have scored 6 goals in 16 games odd. Macken, Butler, Lancashire were the best of the bunch, Cook and Laird decent. Why didnt we shut up shop?

I actually physically cannot stand Julian Gray. Sulky, overpaid, overhyped pre-madonna. If we weren't such a poor side, he'd have been left out a while ago for me. Such a passionless moron. Tried to walk down the tunnel at the end in a paddy, until Smith turned him around and forced him to give our fans (who were excellent) the most pathetic of not bothered 'im too big to clap leaguee one fans' clap ive ever seen in my life. Cannot stand the man.

Superb support for the boys today, much louder than I thought we were going to be.

Have a nasty feeling that's the goal to send us down. Rovers losing, Dagenham losing and County conceding a last minute eqauliser. If we'd have kept them out for another 4 or so minutes, we'd be sat on 47 now needing 3 points Saturday to be comfortably safe.

Bristol Rovers v Sheffield Wednesday
Dagenham vs Carlisle

Nest saturdays games? Can see 3 points for both if im honest, particularly rovers.

[latviancheese]

Darren Byfield :roll:

Nice to see he is so gutted tonight by talking about his trip to london over the next few days. barclays. I really hope no one touches him with a bargepole next season, he doesnt deserve it.

[belgiansaddler]

Darren Byfield :roll:

Nice to see he is so gutted tonight by talking about his trip to london over the next few days. winner. I really hope no one touches him with a bargepole next season, he doesnt deserve it.

Explain? Sorry not part o the twerp community, but if he has posted that after todays match he is an even bigger disgrace than I thought he was. Didn't he bother explaining why he fell over in the last minute when we had a chance to win it?