Home wins are rarer than rocking horse sh……
Well its not that often in recent times we Latics fans have been able to celebrate a home win, and even if Latics 1-0 win over Walsall wasn’t the prettiest performance ever (although it was by far from the ugliest), the work ethic was most certainly there and we got the three points, and plenty of other positives from the game. With a bit of luck, the mounting injuries are now behind us, we now have competition for places in the starting 11, and our fortunes on the field will take a turn for the better. Taking into account the abilities of the teams around us, I am more than confident we have what it takes to avoid the drop and finish somewhere around mid table.
The move to Failsworth
The topic of the moment for many Latics fans is the impending move to Failsworth. Regarding my view on this, although not without my concerns I am in favour of this move. And I would like to take this opportunity to dispel some of the ‘scaremongering’
‘Failsworth is in Manchester’
No its not, its in Oldham, and has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham since 1974.
‘But it has a Manchester postcode’
Big deal, Rochdale and half of Tameside has an Oldham postcode, Bury has a Bolton postcode, Radcliffe has a Manchester postcode (even though its part of Bury), even Southport, which is part of Merseyside, has a Preston postcode.
‘But the residents see themselves as part of Manchester’
Different argument altogether, but a baseless statement without any sort of proof.
If there is any concern to be had over the location, I think it should be how close it is to local neighbours Manchester City, not whether it is part of Oldham or not or how close to Oldham it is. Despite this, I really do fear for the future of Oldham Athletic if this project does not go through, whether it be planning permission knocked back (again) or the charitable commission eventually rules against us regarding the status of the land, as a knockback would leave us with extremely limited options to take the club forward.
D-Day for Pompey
Before I get going on Portsmouth’s impending D-Day, I would just like to make the following absolutely clear. In no way shape or form do I want to see Portsmouth FC, one of the oldest and very few clubs that can be classed as a ‘traditional English club’, be sent into liquidation.
Nevertheless, when I read articles such as this, and this, it really does make my blood boil. I don’t think even the most ardent Portsmouth fan would deny that the club clearly spent beyond their means. But in recent times the likes of Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Stockport County, Southampton, Rotherham United, Darlington, Bournemouth, Luton Town, Chester City, have all encountered financial problems, some self-inflicted like Portsmouth. But the difference is, none of these clubs had any help off the League. They got hit with the 10 point penalty, with some clubs even getting hit with further penalties for failing to come out of administration. And with the exception of Leeds, these penalties were taken on the chin, and the clubs got on with things, even if in some cases it meant relegation.
Yet as soon as a Premier League club gets into serious financial trouble, there is talk of ‘bailing them out’? I will acknowledge Latic’s were extremely lucky going into administration when we did, in the sense that it happened to us before the 10 point deduction was brought in (and for the record, had this 10 point deduction been brought in we would have been relegated in 2003/2004 finishing third bottom on 47 points). However, there was no talk of the League advancing us any payments to bail us out, nor was there when any of the above clubs went into administration. Why should the rules be any different for Portsmouth? Such a move would also be a kick in the teeth to Portsmouth’s relegation rivals such as Burnley, Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton, Hull, all of whom do not spend silly amounts of money that they blatantly have not got, and a kick in the teeth to all clubs in the Premier League and Football League who make the effort to operate within their means and not overspend.
And what kind of message would such a bail out send out in the future? That "its ok to default on any payments to HMRC in the region of about 12 million or so, as the Premier League will advance us our TV money early if things get really bad. I mean they did with Portsmouth so they would have to do so with us, right???”