Oldham Story — December 2010

Hello everyone and welcome back to my Oldham story! We were doing well in November, we had climbed to top of the Coca Cola Championship, now we had to keep up the good form to ensure that we stayed there.

We start the month with a bit of great news, the board have got a rich new chairman and have provided me with extra funds!

It stared off as $11.5m, but with a bit of juggling with the wage budget I managed to get it up to $15.75m, a great budget, and with the transfer window coming up I can now strengthen the squad in the coming months.

With more money at the club we welcomed the visit of mid-table Ipswich, I felt we had a good chance of winnig this one. The match was actually quite close, but that didn’t reflect in the scoreline, we were lethal in front of goal and romped to a 5-0 victory. Febian Brandy got the first after just two minutes, before goals from Tomas Pekhart, Marco Verratti and Chris Taylor made it 4-0. Verratti’s goal was particularly good, he smashed it in from twenty yards. Brandy made it five with his second, he placed it in with ease. It was a very good win, I was delighted, the players should have confidence now going into the crucial Christmas period.

Next up and we needed confidence for this game, we were travelling to Fulham, a team that despite sitting 6th, still have some very good, premier league quality players. We started well, and in the twenty fourth minute our pressure paid off, Ruben glanced in from Verratti’s corner. We were playing well, and we went into half time one up, but after the break we looked sloppy, and Fulham punished us twice within two minutes. Chris Dempsey placed in the first and Erik Nevland smashed in the second in a two minute spell that left us stunned. We looked shocked, it took us until the eighty minute mark to launch another attack, it was too little, too late. I was very disappointed, all our work in the first half was undone.

We had to bounce back quickly in the next game, we were travelling to Swansea. Thankfully we looked far better than in the last match, we went ahead when Chris Taylor placed in from Sandrinho’sthrough ball. Brandy made it two after half time, he beat a defender and placed it home. Some gloss was added to the scoreline with an 80th minute penalty, which Verratti slotted away.

The next game was also going to be tough, we had a home tie against second placed Wigan, this was to be a crucial game. We started well, and in the fifteenth minute we were ahead, Brandy’s pace took him beyond the defenders, and he scored one-on-one. After that Wigan dominated, but a lot of their shots were from long range, so they rarely troubled us. We held firm, we didn’t allow them a clear cut chance, something I am very pleased about, and we secured a double of Wigan, a fantastic achievement.

The next game was against Preston, they have been poor this season and were struggling near the bottom of the table. We started really badly, Preston came flying out of the traps and in twenty minutes we were two down, both goals came from Chris Brown. I gave the players a grilling at half time and it seemed to work, we looked much better after the break. We got one back through Brandy, he’s continuing his great form of last year, and then in the seventy-fifth minute we drew level, Brandy cooly slotting in from ten yards. I was delighted and I would have been very pleased with a draw, but all our work was undone in the eighty-sixth minute, some slack marking allowed Nathan Baker to head into the top corner. I was furious, it was a horrible way to lose the game.

We had one more game to play in 2010, it was going to be another tough one, we were facing Portsmouth at Boundary Park. Pompey have struggled this season, but they still have some quality players, I was expecting a difficult game. They looked very lacklustre, bereft of confidence, I began to understand why they were so low in the table. They still proved difficult to break down though, it took us until the sixty-fourth minute for the deadlock to be broken. Recent free signing Seol Ki Hyeon smashed in from ten yards. After we went ahead the life went out of the visitors, and we sealed the win when Neill Collins thumped in a header from a corner.

That was another good win for us against a big team, it seems we play better against them and become complacent against lesser reputation sides.

That month has seen us consolidate our position at the top of the table, despite the two defeats. A lot of the challengers around us are faltering, that’s why we haven’t been punished for any losses yet.

Here are some player stats for the season at the turn of the year. Verratti and Brandy have been fantastic, Brandy has been in great scoring form once again, he may even beat last years total! I have also been very impressed with the defence, the two young full backs have slotted in brilliantly, and Collins and Ruben have been rock solid at the back.

Next month will see us play a lot of matches, it will be a really important month, if we come out of it with any lead then I am confident that we will go up.

So, that’s all then folks, thanks for reading!