Albion Rob on Oldham away

[Albion Rob]

Right, first things first, a very good run there and back (only 4.30 hours on the way back, time for a couple of celebratory pints), but did see the aftermath of the crash that killed Jimmy Davis, they were cleaning the debris when we got aroud there about half seven (a.m.), very sad, took a bit of the shine off today for me.

On to the match, well Oldham is nicer than Burnley, I didn't think I was going to be killed in the town centre!

I thought our singing was ok, not as good as some games, but better than others. I didn't hear Oldham pipe up much, maybe because what looked like a lot of their boys were in that paddock, or maybe just for the fact we outsung them by and large and they only had a few singing. That said they were fairly loud when they got going, but overall I thought we drowned them out over and over.

On the pitch we were the better side, our first division experience counted for a lot. It may have been a different story if they hadn't lost all their players, but than again if we had kept Bobby and Brooker...etc, it's not worth going into as it is all if only...

As for the penalty, well I would be annoyed if it was given against us, but at the end of the day I've seen them given for less and it was jandball and handball in the box means a penalty, like it or not, if the ref decides not to give it then it is up to him.

Good spot kick by Henderson. Knight played well and both his goals showed poaching quality, he's tiny but got two headers, probably says more about Oldham that Knight!

The big blok at the back for Oldham looked as if he was trying to be a cultured defender by playing 'long passes' all the time, unfortunately they were just hoofs and our defence got wise yto it and dealt accordingly.

Overall, we were good, certainly better than them, but we can play better and will have to step up a gear when we play QPR. As it stands it was a good away win, but by February, Oldham could be so far adrift at the bottom that anything less than three points at that time wouyld be a disaster.

And to the Oldham fans on this board - hard lines guys, but then again if you want to talk about unfair, you did have that plastic pitch in the late 80sthat was a massive advantage and lets face it we all get good and bad refereeing decisions, if it had been the other way round I'm sure you wouldn't be coming on here going 'look guys, we're going to lobby the club to actually put the game down as a draw and let you have a point because we think you deserve it'. Football is built aroud the sense of injustice and deep down, if we are honest, it is one of the best parts of the game.

Personally I wish Oldham luck and no matter how bad it gets, remember at least they're there for you to watch each Saturday.

 

[Reeves_for_England]

I love the way that we're been written off as relegation certainties. I'm sure that if we took away your entire back 3, your LWB, a couple of midfielders and a striker you'd hardly do well. See my post about our defence and you'll understand what I mean.

P.S. When we went up with our plastic pitch in 1991, we went up with three other teams (Notts County, Sheff Wed and West Ham). For our first season in the top flight we were forced to remove the pitch and go back to grass. We comfortably stayed up and would have finished in the top half if we'd won our last game. Notts County and West Ham were relegated. That tells me that the pitch didn't have as much bearing as people think.

 

[Albion Rob]

So just to clarify your post, you did go up with the advantage of a plastic pitch. Maybe the fact that Boundary Park resembled Brighton beach was the advantage you had in thw Prem.

The highlight of your post from my perspective is that you have reiterated what I said.

The fact is we DIDN'T lose all the players you did. I'm sorry for you that you did, it's a tough bit of luck, but that's football.

I don't claim to know why you're in the mess you are, but I do know you have a pretty weak team. The fact that you have lost all those players does put you in a poor position.

Your posts seem to have this heady cocktail of Latic tinted glasses and 'don't start, we're in the shit'.

As I said before I wish you luck for the season, it must be hard being so close to Old Trafford and the City of Manchester Stadium and see half your town go to those two places every week, but I've always preffered Olsham out of all the Mancjester and Lancashire based clubs.

 

[nwgull]

I agree, Oldham looked very poor. It was the way they gave away possession so easily in midfield that was the difference.

I was impressed by McPhee's 10 minutes (first time I've seen him) and thought he looked more usefull than Henderson.

 

[Zebedee]

The key to our season will be how well we cope with QPR on Monday week. A convincing win and I'll start to feel a little optimistic about our chances of going up again. Hard as it may be to admit it, I suspect that most teams would have beaten Oldham this weekend.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Cracking report Rob, it's nice to get good match reports on the site when you're so far away....

As for that plastic pitch, well I had the "priviledge" of playing on it in the early 90's. The best part about it was because it didn't cut up they let the Oldham supporters club team play on it after the main game. We got up a team and took them on. It was a bit of a nightmare, the ball bounced prodigiously and they were miles better than us too!

It culimnated in several of us suffering astro burns while we adapted to trying to pass and shoot accurately, God knows what the pros made of it. We then drank so much afterwards that I disgraced myself in the pub by spilling 2 pints and the Fatty Tax Man had to be strategically poured out of the minibus back home.

 

[seagull1971]

Any team beating Oldham this weekend is a lack of credit towards us. Lets just look at ourselves, our ground, our team, our financial predicament, the whole picture really, and not forgetting we have been in their predicament, but a lot worse.
So i think we need a bit more praise to what we achieved on Saturday.

I feel this season is about status and holding on to our own, Saturday put us well on our way.
OK now the cliche What result did we get first game of last season. (NO DON'T EVEN GO THERE).

 

[El Presidente]

Good result, but remember winning 3-1 at Burnley last season!

Both QPR and Bristol City had thumping wins are thats why they are favourites at the bookies.

We have lost two of our best players and it's only by the ingenuity of Sir Steve that we have good replacements, but suspect Pardew will have Henderson back, Knight could come to us for the rest of the season with a bit of luck.

We played Oldham at the right time of the season, but good luck to them in their fight for survival off the pitch, relegation is a pin prick compared to the club going out of existence, as we know too well ourselves

 

[Reeves_for_England]

You're missing the point Albion Rob. The players I mentioned in the last post were the ones who were injured yesterday, not the ones who left over the summer!

If I were to include the players who left over the summer, plus the ones who were injured yesterday, then we'd be missing 4 strikers, our LWB, our RWB, 3 midfielders and 8 defenders! All in all, that's 16 players! That could perhaps explain our lack of cutting edge and defensive frailties

The striker, midfielder, LWB and central defenders were missing yesterday.

As regards to the plastic pitch. Undoubtedly it was a help, but it can't have been that helpful. You made the play-off final that year and we thumped you 6-1 at Boundary Park as well as winning 2-1 at the Goldstone Ground with and Andy Ritchie screamer.