The APL Prediction League & Preview –
OldhamI have a feeling the troops will be a bit thin on the ground for this one, midweek and just over a 300-mile round trip, to stand in the coldest ground on earth, in one of the bleakest places in the country, with a marathon walk to the carpark does little to excite the soul......have I sold it to you yet?
I think most of us have given up second guessing the team selection, and indeed what we are likely to expect in terms of formation and style of play, I know there is a long way to go in the season, but my therapist has suggested I accept relegation, telling me anything else is a bonus.
OK its not got to that stage yet, but I always think its best to prepare yourself for the worst case scenario...........seriously though, in honesty I’m looking forward to a relegation scrap, if that’s what it turns out to be, and isn’t a damp squib like our attempt to save our sorry backsides in the Championship, it will certainly add an element to it, not quite a challenge for the playoffs, but it will be exciting, tense and difficult watching at times, and if you haven’t started yet, its going to be continual refreshes of the phone checking the score updates during the games we have remaining.
Including this one we have 16 games left, and I’ve listed those below to give you an idea of the task in hand.
HOME – Charlton, Bristol Rovers, Rotherham, Bury, Blackpool, Blackburn, Doncaster, Scunthorpe.
AWAY – Oldham, Rochdale, Fleetwood, Bradford, Gillingham, Wigan, Southend, Shrewsbury.
I think it’s been said by some on the forum that we need to win about 6 or 7 of those to be safe based on historical relegation data, of course that also depends on those around us in the relegation zone, but in honesty I’m struggling a bit to see where those wins are going to come from as we must play 7 of the top 7 at some stage, unless of course there is a massive change in how we have been playing.
In the coming weeks I’ll list the remaining fixtures for the other relegation rivals, I do recall I did that last season and we pulled clear with ease, so fingers crossed that will happen again, but we do seem to be deeper in the crap this time round......time will tell.
A cursory glance at the fixtures involving the main protagonists would suggest that Blackpool have about the worst run in, and then us, but there are plenty of six pointers that will undoubtedly have a huge bearing on the outcome, starting with this one against Oldham.
Try not to worry.... right let’s have a look at Oldham.
THE STORY SO FAROldham currently sit one place above us in 21st, two points ahead of us and they have played two more games, their record is as follows,
PLAYED 32, WON 8, DRAWN 9, LOST 15, GF 45 & GA 58 with 33 POINTS.
League Form at a Glance –
LDLLWDTheir results in the league are as follows.
Oldham 0 Oxford 2
Walsall 2 Oldham 1
Oldham 0 Wigan 2
Blackpool 2 Oldham 1
Oldham 3 Charlton 4
Fleetwood 2 Oldham 2
Bristol Rovers 2 Oldham 3
Oldham 1 Shrewsbury 2
Rotherham 5 Oldham 1
Oldham 3 Peterborough 2
Portsmouth 1 Oldham 2
Oldham 1 Blackburn 0
Bradford 1 Oldham 1
MK Dons 4 Oldham 4
Oldham 2 Bury 1
Oldham 2 Scunthorpe 3
Oldham 3 Rochdale 1
Oldham 0 KFC Chicken 0
Gillingham 0 Oldham 0
Southend 2 Oldham 0
Oldham 5 Northampton 1
Doncaster 1 Oldham 1
Plymouth 4 Oldham 1
Oldham 1 Fleetwood 2
Oldham 1 Bristol Rovers 1
Shrewsbury 1 Oldham 0
Charlton 1 Oldham 0
Oldham 1 Rotherham 1
Peterborough 3 Oldham 0
Oldham 1 Plymouth 2
Oldham 2 Bradford 1
Blackburn 2 Oldham 2
THE MANAGERRichard “Richie” Paul Wellens born in Manchester, aged 37 years.
His playing career as a midfielder started on the youth books at Man Utd back in 1999, although he never really graduated into the first team squad, making just 1 sub appearance in the League Cup against Aston Villa which they lost 3-0.
He went on to make 698 appearances scoring 48 goals at Blackpool, Oldham, Doncaster, Leicester, Ipswich, Doncaster again, Oldham again, Shrewsbury, Salford City and finally Macclesfield Town in 2017.
In July 2017 Wellens took up the role of first team coach at Oldham, in September of the same year he was put in charge as a caretaker boss, and after 5 matches unbeaten he was appointed on a permanent basis in October on a 2-year contract.
His managerial stats are as follows,
GAMES 29, WON 11, DRAWN 8, LOST 10, and that’s a WIN RATIO of 39 %.
THE GROUNDThe 13,500 all seated Boundary Park (Sat Nav OL1 2PA), a round trip from MK1 of 330 miles.
Away fans are housed in the Zen Office Stand (Chaddy Road End) at one end of the ground.
This stand has a capacity of around 1,600 fans. This is the opposite end to where the away fans have been housed for many years and has caused some upset with some Oldham fans, as this was always seen as the traditional 'Home' end. If you get chance, make sure to try one of the pies; Cottage, Steak & Pepper, plus Cheese & Potato (all £3), some fans reckon that this is the best part of a visit to Boundary Park !
Make sure you wrap up well though, as the location of Boundary Park on the edge of the Pennines, means that it always seems to be cold, with a biting wind that goes right through you.
The closest pub is the Clayton Green, which is a Brewers Fayre outlet and can be found two hundred yards from the corner of the Main Stand and the Chaddy End, on Sheepfoot Lane. There is also the Greyhound pub, which is across Broadway down Holden Fold Lane.
The nearby Oldham Royal Hospital does matchday parking at a cost of £3 per car but be warned its one hell of a walk to the ground.
OLDHAM MASCOTChaddy the Owl who was once attacked by one of his own fans at a game versus Preston, poor old Chaddy was punched firmly on the nose, but the culprit was never found. Chaddy was also in the wars in a pre-match BMX stunt at Carlisle in 2009, he fell off his bike rupturing ankle ligaments and was stretchered off to hospital.
FORMER PLAYERS & MANAGERS Ken Bates, Jack Rowley, Jimmy Frizzell, Joe Royle, Denis Irwin, Earl Barrett, Graeme Sharp, Neil Warnock, Andy Ritchie, Iain Dowie, Paul Dickov.
FAMOUS OLDHAM FANSPaul Scholes, John Stapleton, Dr Brian Cox, Nicola Stephenson famous for that lesbian kiss (Brookside), Alex Carter (Hollyoaks), Bill Waddington (Percy Sugden from Corrie) and Terry Hall (Lenny the Lion).
SHOOTERS BOOTSEoin Doyle with 15 goals in all competitions.
CURRENT MATCH DAY ODDSOldham 6/5 (Coral), Draw 12/5 (BetFred), MK Dons 9/4 (Stan James)
LAST TIME ROUND Saturday 21st October 2017 - MK Dons 4 Oldham 4
Team – Nicholls, Walsh, Wootton (Seager), Ebanks-Landell, Golbourne, Aneke, Cisse (Ariyibi), Gilbey, Upson, Agard (Nesbitt), Brittain
Unused Subs – Sietsma, Williams, Lewington, Tshibola
Scorers – Antony Coggins (6 yellows)
Ref – Davies 7’, Gilbey 17’, Doyle 39’ & 45’, Upson 56’, Clarke 63’, Nesbitt 82’, Upson 89’
Attendance – 9,312 (694 Oldham fans)
League Place at the Time of Fixture – Dons 15th Oldham 20th
HEAD 2 HEAD (League Only)
2017/18 MK Dons 4 Oldham 4 (Gilbey, Nesbitt, Upson 2)
2016/17 MK Dons 1 Oldham 0 (Maynard)
2016/17 Oldham 0 MK Dons 2 (Reeves, Agard)
2014/15 Oldham 1 MK Dons 3 (Bowditch, Powell, Reeves)
2014/15 MK Dons 7 Oldham 0 (Grigg 2, Bowditch, Alli, Potter, Afobe, C Baker)
2013/14 Oldham 1 MK Dons 2 (G Baldock, McLeod)
2013/14 MK Dons 2 Oldham 1 (Carruthers, Reeves)
2012/13 Oldham 3 Mk Dons 1 (Powell)
2012/13 MK Dons 2 Oldham 0 (Powell, Potter)
2011/12 Mk Dons 5 Oldham 0 (Powell 2, Bowditch, Doumbe, Gleeson)
2011/12 Oldham 2 MK Dons 1 (Morrison)
2010/11 Oldham 1 MK Dons 2 (Balanta, Marsh-Brown)
2010/11 Oldham 0 MK Dons 0
2009/10 MK Dons 0 Oldham 0
2009/10 Oldham 2 MK Dons 1 (Own Goal)
2008/09 MK Dons 6 Oldham 2 (Wilbraham, Puncheon, S Baldock 2, Navarro, Gerba)
2008/09 Oldham 2 MK Dons 0
2005/06 Oldham 1 MK Dons 2 (McLeod 2)
2005/06 MK Dons 0 Oldham 1
2004/05 MK Dons 1 Oldham 1 (Edds)
2004/05 Oldham 3 MK Dons 0
YOU’VE GOT NO HISTORYOldham were formed 120 years ago in 1895 as Pine Villa FC and played in the Lancashire and Manchester leagues.
Oldham County FC folded in 1899 and Pine Villa FC moved into their stadium Boundary Park and changed their name to Oldham Athletic FC with the nickname of the Latics.
In 1907/08 Oldham gained acceptance into the Football League structure.
Oldham were one of the founding members of the newly formed Premier League.
In 2001 businessman Chris Moore purchased the club and vowed to take Oldham back to the Premiership in 5 years, how wrong can you be.
PREDICTIONThat’s it, hopefully I’ll see some of you up at Oldham.
The deadline is of course 1 hour prior to the kick off, all the usual rules apply.
Keey your powder dry.
WellDonEXAMPLEOldham 1 MK Dons 1
MKDFGS - Aneke
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