Rovers old boys

[Sparky]

Dave Challinors Stockport effectively promoted to league one

 

[bigmart]

Very sad news, Joe Thompson has been diagnosed with cancer for a third time, hopefully he can make a full recovery

 

[Keith Hill (Bolton)]

Very sad news, Joe Thompson has been diagnosed with cancer for a third time, hopefully he can make a full recovery

That is really sad news.

 

[Ian]

He has a very positive mindset and I’m sure he’ll come through again.

 

[Sparky]

Another promotion for Challinor on his CV.

Wrexham unsurprisingly getting all the nonsense headlines after successive promotions. Easy to do when you’ve got loads of money. We did it the hard way.

 

[drwhoman]

Another promotion for Challinor on his CV.

Wrexham unsurprisingly getting all the nonsense headlines after successive promotions. Easy to do when you’ve got loads of money. We did it the hard way.

Yes including the ability to sign an Irish winger in McLean who has played over 100 times for the Republic. Mind you, we were able to sign that quality of player twenty five years or so ago. Aldridge, Nevin to name two. Money is not vital but it can be very important when linked to good management and a decent scouting operation.

 

[Sparky]

Micky having a tough time at Oldham after a 0-0 draw at relegated part timers Oxford City. Lots of post match abuse from the latics fans at the game and online.
A poor run since they sat 4th in the league. Hope he gets the time to rebuild. Not seen him as angry post match as he is today

 

[Ian]

1 win in 9 is pretty rough. He'll be happy to end the season and try and rebuild if he can move some players on.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

Strong stuff from Micky post-match:

Mellon feels change is needed at Boundary Park ahead of 2024/25 season

Boss Micky Mellon feels his Oldham Athletic team requires an "overhaul" if they are to compete for a return to the Football League.

www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk

 

[Am on mobile]

The two yanks have are owed £10m its only going to get harder. Also the vegans going back to where they belong that's good cllse the door behind you lads

 

[Boz]

Strong stuff from Micky post-match:

Mellon feels change is needed at Boundary Park ahead of 2024/25 season

Boss Micky Mellon feels his Oldham Athletic team requires an "overhaul" if they are to compete for a return to the Football League.

www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk

It’s an interesting read. When I saw Oldham soon after he’d taken the hot seat at Boundary Park, they looked a fairly decent outfit and the play-offs seemed likely. Had hoped to get to the postponed midweek game at Halifax to understand what’s gone wrong. It sounds like a total
rebuild, which may mean he’ll need all three years to turn the Latics around.
Meanwhile one of his rejects, Ben Tollitt scored as Chester lost.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

I agree it’s an interesting read, with plenty to unpick on several levels. Ultimately, I suppose, the critics will still find plenty to criticise amongst all that, the doubters will continue to doubt (but probably still give him the benefit of that doubt…for now), and the blindly devoted will continue to absolve him of responsibility.

Sounds like Mellon wants revolution not evolution with all this talk about overhauling. And, despite giving his usual platitudes to the owner, he’s still essentially criticising what he inherited, for which the owner is ultimately responsible. So, if Rothwell also wanted, and still wants, overhaul, then Mellon is surely on safe ground.

But if Rothwell wanted, and still wants, evolution, building on the identity he’d already started putting in place around the club, then Mellon could be getting himself onto thin ice. Which reminds me, what was it about developing identity and building on continuity within a club? Something about failed managers coming in off the merry go round then wanting to rip everything up and start again?? A penny for Rothwell‘s thoughts!

Anyway, I doubt “The First 100 Days, Lessons in Leadership” has been flying off the bookshelves of Oldham over the last 100 days! And the first 100 days of next season might well define whether Mellon gets the three years he’s already implying that he’ll need.

Interesting times. Rather them than us.

 

[Keith Hill (Bolton)]

If you are aware of the politics within a club.
The owner and manager of a club, would have already agreed about the substance of the media release.
And I would also surmise, that both know the plan for moving forward, to how they will approach the summer recruitment and targets would be known
So from that, I would imagine a bit of a clear out.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

If you are aware of the politics within a club.

Yes. Very.

The owner and manager of a club, would have already agreed about the substance of the media release.

A naive assumption, especially as it wasn’t a media release, it was a post-match interview. Not in the same league as the off-message post-match interview given by your namesake after Colchester, mind. Which is probably just as well!

 

[Sparky]

What I liked about mickey is he said a number of times “I know what good looks like” and we know he has a proven track record if he is given the right tools to work with. He suggested a few times that a number of their poorer players still have another year on their contracts so it’ll be interesting how much he can actually rebuild

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

There aren’t many clubs better resourced and better supported in that league than Oldham so hopefully he doesn‘t overplay the ‘tied hands’ or ‘toughest job’ argument.

Assuming FGR go down (should now be a formality but the champagne‘s still on ice here ), they could be a serious obstacle to Oldham if they can keep Cotterill and if Vince carries on giving them a handsome budget.

 

[Ian]

Mellon doesn't strike me as someone that would put himself into a tricky situation in a post match interview. Everything he said in that interview he has probably already said to the board. Interesting when he said he knew very early on that the squad was not good enough. Tough task but if he get rid of some of the players that still have a year left, he could shape a little bit for next season. They should be doing better in that league and I think he probably inherited a bit of a mess.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

Some might say Mellon’s mouth contributed to his downfall here. That familiar pattern of overtly praising the owner while repeatedly implying he’s not being given the tools to do the job. After a while it can erode a chairman’s trust. And he did go on about it here for quite a while. Palios even called him out on it once.

Mellon’s quite a political animal. Dabbling in that can bring great rewards for a manager but is also fraught with risk, especially when things aren’t going well.

Still 50/50 for me as to whether he succeeds at Oldham.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Managers need to be careful what they say about players. Nigel never said our squad wasn’t good enough, even though several players were not League Two standard. Instead, he encouraged them and got the best out of them. He even resisted dabbling in the January transfer window, partly to maintain morale until the end of the season. Result - League Two safety and better knowledge of who can stay and who should go. Not to mention a lot of money saved for next season.

If you criticise players, especially before you have worked with them, it tends to demotivate them and leads to mistrust. No surprise Oldham has slipped down the table.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Managers need to be careful what they say about players. Nigel never said our squad wasn’t good enough, even though several players were not League Two standard. Instead, he encouraged them and got the best out of them. He even resisted dabbling in the January transfer window, partly to maintain morale until the end of the season. Result - League Two safety and better knowledge of who can stay and who should go. Not to mention a lot of money saved for next season.

If you criticise players, especially before you have worked with them, it tends to demotivate them and leads to mistrust. No surprise Oldham has slipped down the table.

In fairness, he had not criticised any of the players publicly until yesterday.

If he thinks he can't meet the chairman's expectations with the current squad, it is effectively a case of 'either they go, or I go'. His comments are actually completely honest from that perspective.

If he is not allowed to make changes this summer and does not think success is realistic, he will probably be happy to depart.

As for his relationship with Palios, subsequent events demonstrated the extent to which he was holding things together when the situation behind the scenes at the club was not as it should have been, particularly in relation to recruitment.

Their management styles are very different, but if Adkins was forced to work with same group of players next season I doubt he would stay here.