Oldham Story — February 2010

Hello everyone, welcome back! My career with the Latics was going well at the end of January we were six points clear of second place Leeds, and twelve points ahead of third place. We had some tough  fixtures coming up, notably a trip to Elland Road to face Leeds. Before that though we had three games to play, starting at Tranmere.

The first game of February was at Tranmere then, they were scrapping for their lives, currently down in 22nd, so I expected a win. We went in with an attacking strategy and it seemed that they did too, for it was a great game with goals flowing in. We went ahead when Febian Brandy was first to Sandrinho’s  cross to score a rare goal with his head. It was two-nil not long after, Deane Smalley powered in after latching on to a through ball. It was turning into a rout when Brandy grabbed his second in the 26th minute, he ran onto Dale Stephens’pass and lobbed the goalkeeper from 20 yards, it was a fantastic goal, what a signing he has been! Tranmere pulled one back on the half hour mark, Alan Mahon slotted past Halliwell. The three goal lead was restored soon after, Brandy secured a fabulous hat trick when he slotted in from 8 yards. The amazing half continued though, and before long Tranmere had scored again, Charlie Barnett headed in to make it 2-4. After the break I knew that if we got the next goal then the game was over and that’s what we did, Rueben Hazell headed in from a corner to finish the game. After hat the stuffing seemed to be knocked out of Tranmere, they rarely threatened again and we had won a fantastic game of football.

Next up for us and mid table Walsall were coming to Boundary Park, I expected another victory in this game. The match was the opposite of the Tranmere game, we just couldn’t finish and fortunately, neither could they. In the end the difference was, as usual, Febian Brandy. He stepped up when we needed him, he was first to Sandrinho’s pass to place one in that gave us all three points. It was harsh on Walsall who deserved a draw, but we weren’t complaining, we had three more points in the bag. I just want t0 draw your attention to the match stats. You can see that we hit the woodwork twice, Walsall three times, five times in all! I have never seen a game with so many efforts striking the post or bar, it’s incredibly unlucky for both teams.

After the game Martin Kelly’s loan deal with us expired and unfortunately it couldn’t be renewed. That mean I had to get another right back in, and in the end I went for Sam Hutchinson, on loan from Chelsea. He will be with us until the end of the season, he has good attributes and I like the fact that he can play as a central defender if we need him there as well.

Also signed was another centre defender. This guy was recommended to me by the assistant manager when I looked at the team report. It is John Kennedy, he was released by his previous club and I was pleased to snap him up on a free transfer. He is a strong rugged defender, hopefully he can serve us well as the club moves forward.

With the new signings on board, we faced the toughest team of the month yet, we travelled to 5th placed Colchester. We dominated the game from start to finish, but Colchester looked dangerous on the counter attack, I was worried about that. Sure enough, completely against the run of play they went ahead, some slack defending from us allowed Simon Hackney to slot in. We continued as the better team and got a deserved equaliser when Febian Brandy lashed one in from 20 yards. The match stayed like that, we couldn’t press home a winner, and it finished in a boring and disappointing draw.

Just four days separated that game and the toughest yet, we were travelling away to Leeds. They had been in quite a poor run of form, but I was wary of the treat they possessed, although they were missing Jermaine Beckford through injury. I played a 4-4-1-1 with Sandrinho supporting Brandy, Marco Verratti slotted in alongside Stephens in midfield. The match wasn’t a great one, we dominated possession but they had the better chances. Verratti showed his potential though, he smashed one in from thirty yards, it was a bolt from the blue. I would have been happy to try and conserve the lead but ten minutes later the win was all but sealed, Brandy scored yet another goal, his pace allowed him to get to the ball first and finish. After that we looked a bit shaky, and Leeds got one back with five minutes to go. It made the final stages nerve wracking, but we stayed solid and secured a great win, my best yet as manager.

We had one more game to play in February, it was at home against fourteenth placed Norwich. I don’t know how they are that low, they have some of the best players in the league, so I was worried about their threat. We have a great threat of our own however in Brandy. Once again he gave us the lead, he was played in and doesn’t miss many one on one’s, he certainly didn’t fail this one. We weren’t ahead for long though, some poor defending allowed Norwich to equalise. We went in at 1-1, but not for long, straight after the break Norwich scored again, suddenly we were 2-1 down. The reaction was immediate, we started playing much better and hit back through Deane Smalley, he continued his good season with another goal. After that we struggled to create much more, and I thought it was going to end level until substitute Pawel Abbott darted past one defender and smashed in from 20 yards, a worthy winner, and that’s what it proved to be.

That ends a very good month then, we won all but one game, and beat promotion rivals Leeds. That has seen us stretch our lead over Leeds to fourteen points and we are fifteen points clear of third placed Southampton. I am certain we will go up, almost definitely as champions. With just twelve games to go, I think we need only another twelve points to be promoted, ninety points will surely be enough.

Next month sees us play only four games, the toughest of which will be against Southampton, without their ten point deduction they would be challenging us right at the top.

That’s all for now then friends, thanks for reading.