It's Official, we're in trouble

First up I thought Oldham were very poor in the first half, and had there been any justice we would have been ahead at the break. That is were the "good" news ends!

Not for the first time, the second half was a disaster. I am not sure if Jolley and his assistants try to cram too much information into the players during the break, because they seem to come out like they are trying to come terms with it all.

The opposition half time team talk is more straightforward:- "Grimsby cannot hurt us even though they are playing well enough - go out and put them under pressure and they will fold."

It seems to me that the individual players have ability, but we are nowhere near ruthless enough, physical enough or fast enough  to make it work.

I was pinning my hopes on Wes Thomas but he played well within himself and didn't seem fit, but it was better up front with him and Cook in tandem till injury struck.

The left back was poor - from a distance it seems to me he is playing for himself and thinks he is a lot better than he is.

Macca needs a rest as I said the other day. His kicking is not very good, not vocal enough , not commanding enough. Its not a hanging offence but in the second half he seemed to be having a conversation with the office staff who were stood by the open corner.

I am not sure if Michael Jolley has fallen between several stools with his signings. Did he think he could out football teams with smallish, cleverish players with goals coming from throughout the team? To do that you have to be very good indeed, and with the budget wev'e got it isn't possible.

Once again the opposition had an outstanding player (who scored the first two) in the area where it really matters whilst we continue to struggle to attract the quality needed.

All very sad, but if for once we could score whilst on top we might see a different team.

Getting tired of watching a poor Town team. Years and years of non entertainment. Before anybody jumps down my throat about a promotion 2 years ago, it was from non league!
We need somebody please, to come in and take the reigns from the current board and get some money spent so we can compete in division 4. FFS

I’m trying to look for a positive, or at least a reason to give MJ a while longer.
We have currently only played one team in the bottom half, and we beat them  

We can play decent football (MK 1st half), but we have to be stronger, with more leaders on the pitch to earn the right to do it.

We also need a settled defence, and a plan B

Lew Chatterleys Lover.
I totally agree with this. McKeown is a good shot stopper but his distribution, communication and command of his area is average at best. I was astonished when he was given a 3 year deal. Maybe time to give him a rest and let Russell have a go.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Who are you blaming for the lack of the striker signing then? Who are you blaming for chopping & changing the defence? Who are you blaming for bringing Danny Collins straight back in?

Checked out Oldham's loan signings before the game - 2 from the Prem & 3 from the Championship. We've got 3 from League One.

There is certainly some blame to be laid at the feet of Jolley 100%...hes young and taking his first job in men's English football. He has and will make mistakes but I'm confident he's intelligent enough to learn from them.

Unfortunately we are an outpost and don't have a huge amount to offer players geographically. We will only attract top players when we can pay them very good money... We can't do that at the moment.

In terms of Oldham's loan signings, they are a big club, with a big history and on the doorstep of Manchester, a major city which will be a draw for players like it or not.

To attract players of a higher calibre, we would either have to drastically turn around our form and be consistently challenging for promotion, or do what Forest Green have done and pay ridiculous wages, which could seriously jeopardise the clubs existence...

What we have to hope and believe in is that Jolley and Limbrick can develop the squad and identify a system that gets the best out of the players we have. We absolutely have a better squad than we have we did last season and we saw what he managed to get out of them.

#believe

I best start by saying I'm still 100% behind Jolley and the team. I'm not a boo-er and didn't today.

I am baffled though by some decisions MJ has made since the start of this season. I think 352 was the plan but that was quickly scrapped. Some of the selections have been baffling as well IMO. Again today, the subs were quite strange  and we just seem to be shoving players in to a system rather than build around the players available.

There doesn't seem to  be enough variation in the centre forwards. The squad looks to be poorly assembled but that brings me to what I believe the root of the problem and it's got to be the board. If we haven't got the money then we can't spend it but we need investment from elsewhere to back MJ if we're to start moving in the right direction up the table. Either that or JF to step aside.

In the meantime I'm hoping MJ will at least start playing players in their correct position and the likes of RHJ and Fox will get back to fitness quickly because we're really missing them.

Quoted from Mighty_Mariner

There is certainly some blame to be laid at the feet of Jolley 100%...hes young and taking his first job in men's English football. He has and will make mistakes but I'm confident he's intelligent enough to learn from them.

Unfortunately we are an outpost and don't have a huge amount to offer players geographically. We will only attract top players when we can pay them very good money... We can't do that at the moment.

In terms of Oldham's loan signings, they are a big club, with a big history and on the doorstep of Manchester, a major city which will be a draw for players like it or not.

To attract players of a higher calibre, we would either have to drastically turn around our form and be consistently challenging for promotion, or do what Forest Green have done and pay ridiculous wages, which could seriously jeopardise the clubs existence...

What we have to hope and believe in is that Jolley and Limbrick can develop the squad and identify a system that gets the best out of the players we have. We absolutely have a better squad than we have we did last season and we saw what he managed to get out of them.

#believe

And this underlines how the younger generation view our club.. Oldham a big club that we can't compete with. FFS, God bless the Fenty generation. Another one saying we shouldn't expect to beat at home a side that are destined for mid-table in League Two. I really really fooking despair sometimes. The sad thing is that they're right. Years of deprivation in investment, foresight, success, excitement and entertainment have reduced us to the reality that we're bottom feeders who can't compete with Lincoln, Scunthorpe, Bury, Rochdale, Newport, Doncaster, Oldham, Yeovil etc etc etc. Who the fook can we expect to beat? Thanks JF, that's a sound body of work you've put in at our expense for the past 17 years.. Please name a realistic price (£0) and fook off and take your "no inward investment for years" and "competitive budgets" with you..

Quoted from quebec38

I best start by saying I'm still 100% behind Jolley and the team. I'm not a boo-er and didn't today.

I am baffled though by some decisions MJ has made since the start of this season. I think 352 was the plan but that was quickly scrapped. Some of the selections have been baffling as well IMO. Again today, the subs were quite strange  and we just seem to be shoving players in to a system rather than build around the players available.

There doesn't seem to  be enough variation in the centre forwards. The squad looks to be poorly assembled but that brings me to what I believe the root of the problem and it's got to be the board. If we haven't got the money then we can't spend it but we need investment from elsewhere to back MJ if we're to start moving in the right direction up the table. Either that or JFK to step aside.

In the meantime I'm hoping MJ will at least start playing players in their correct position and the likes of RHJ and Fox will get back to fitness quickly because we're really missing them.

I would rather walk out than boo but I still can't quite believe that we are waiting for the re-emergence of RH-J & Fox who are both journeymen/ex-trialists to bail us out.

Quoted from Bigdog

And this underlines how the younger generation view our club.. Oldham a big club that we can't compete with. FFS, God bless the Fenty generation. Another one saying we shouldn't expect to beat at home a side that are destined for mid-table in League Two. I really really fooking despair sometimes. The sad thing is that they're right. Years of depravation of success, excitement and entertainment have reduced us to the reality that we're bottom feeders who can't compete with Lincoln, Scunthorpe, Bury, Rochdale, Newport, Doncaster, Oldham, Yeovil etc etc etc. Who the fook can we expect to beat? Thanks JF, that's a sound body of work you've put in at our expense the past 17 years..

Hate to say it but I agree  

Quoted from Meza

Serious question.

Did u think we should be beating Oldham.  Cos I didn't.  They've come from league one and probably got a nice parachute payment.   I think a bit of realism is needed here rather than knee jerk reactions which is what I'm reading.

However everyone's entitled to their opinions and mine is we need to give him time.  

Don't know the Oldham no 9 but he looked a useful player.
Town need some results against teams in the bottom half. Recently the run of teams has been top half, including those right at the top.

Give the lads a chance and you might be surprised. If we don't get points from the bottom half we are in trouble, but don't panic yet mr manwairing.