28th December 2000  

Walsall game in doubt

ATHLETIC are optimistic the measures they have taken will enable Saturday’s home league game against Walsall to go ahead. The frost covers were put back down immediately following the Boxing Day win against Wigan Athletic to protect the Boundary Park pitch. And with a layer of snow on top of the sheets providing added insulation, chief executive Alan Hardy says the condition of the pitch is not an undue concern. “The covers protect the pitch to about minus three degrees. We have been down to minus five so there has been a little frost penetration, but that is not too much of a worry at the moment,” explained Mr Hardy. 

The biggest problem is that between two and three inches of snow lie on the covers, and removing that appears the biggest obstacle to the game being played. Mr Hardy believes that by tomorrow they should have a clearer idea as to whether the game will take place. Athletic are unlikely to risk John Sheridan on Saturday, even if he recovers from the knee injury sustained in the Boxing Day win against Wigan. 

The midfield player over-stretched and hurt the same knee which has kept him out from the opening day until mid-December. Manager Andy Ritchie says he is tempted to rest Sheridan even if he recovers, saying three games in eight days after such a lengthy lay-off is probably asking too much. Danny Boshell is suspended on Saturday but, on a brighter note, captain Lee Duxbury returned against Wigan to reinforce the midfield. Striker Ryan Sugden yesterday scored four goals for Athletic reserves who beat Morecambe 6-2 in a friendly at Chapel Road. Matthew Tipton and Matthew Wright also found the net.

Ritchie was anxious for his fringe players to have a strenuous workout after the postponement of so many recent reserve-team matches. Tipton, Mark Innes and Andrew Holt each played half the game while Boshell played the full 90 minutes. Athletic fans intending to travel to Peterborough on New Year’s Day are reminded that the deadline for booking coach transport at Latique is three o’clock on Saturday. 

Official Oldham Athletic Site

Latics were today informed that the match Referee for Saturday's game against Walsall at Boundary Park will now be Michael Jones from Chester.

The original Referee, David Laws from Tyne & Wear, had officiated at two of Latics most recent games, the two FA Cup ties against Peterborough and the Football League have considered that it is unsatisfactory for a Referee to officiate in three games involving the same club in such a short period of time.

Teamtalk Oldham

Andy Ritchie is mulling over his options for Saturday's visit of Walsall knowing that he will be missing Danny Boshell and John Sheridan. Ritchie has been forced into making changes with the midfield duo both missing. Boshell sits out the game with one-match ban after picking up five yellow cards. Sheridan is currently under treatment after aggravating a knee injury which kept him out for four months before making his comeback a few games ago. The veteran 36-year-old could be passed fit in time but Ritchie has decided to rest him rather than play him in a third game in a week. Versatile Paul Rickers is favourite to take on the role on the right of midfield, but Ritchie is still pondering on his defensive line. He said: "I have a number of options and we will have a look at things in training."

Mark Allott has taken literally Andy Ritchie's challenge to make it impossible to drop him following his inspirational display against Wigan.  Ritchie turned to his out-of-favour striker after Craig Dudley was injured and challenged Allott;" Make it hard for me to drop you again," and the frontman came up with the perfect reply, a goal in each of his two comeback games. The 23-year-old now has a couple of weeks to prove to Ritchie that he is the man to lead the Latics firing line after being first choice at the start of the season only to be dropped to the bench following the emergence of exciting young prospect Dudley. He got his second chance when Dudley was ruled out of the holiday games with a hamstring injury the boss said: "Mark was excellent in the last game against Wigan. I told him that if he was patient that his turn would come and his attitude has been first class. "If he keeps on scoring goals he knows that I won't be able to leave him out of the side. He has been unlucky not to be playing and I am very pleased for him."

Ritchie has also been full of praise for striker Carlo Corazzin. The 28-year-old Canadian international has been disappointing recently but he also bounced back in the Wigan game. Ritchie added: "It was his best game for a while and, like Mark, played a big part in the victory. He has been down about his form lately and hasn't been happy. But he held the ball well, won his headers and brought other people into the game. "He showed great awareness for the second goal and, with a bit more luck, could well have scored one himself."

Boundary Park is snowbound and more is forecast before the weekend though Oldham are doing all they can to allow Saturday's match to go-ahead. The pitch was covered after the Boxing Day win over Wigan and will stay down as long as possible. The biggest threat is frost and Manchester Weather Centre have reported that it will plunge to around six below zero on Thursday night with more of the same to come. If the weather does worsen then a pitch inspection will be likely for early Saturday morning.

Teamtalk Walsall

Ray Graydon has followed up his Boxing Day blast by hinting that the players only have one more chance to put things right on the road. Saturday's game at Oldham Athletic is effectively turning into the last chance saloon for some of the Saddlers' squad.
Graydon will not name names at this stage, but it does seem clear that he already has a good idea of who he will seek to move on if Walsall flop again on their travels. Following up his blast following the Boxing day defeat at Swansea Graydon said: "I am not going to do any business between now and us going to Oldham on Saturday. "But after that we shall be looking at changing the team by bringing some in and moving some out. Unless the players change the way that they play away from home then I will be looking at a similar result at Oldham to the one we had against Swansea. "In the end how we play away from home just comes down to mentality as I have worked and worked on how we should defend." Graydon and Paul Taylor have had a great deal of success in the transfer market over the last couple of seasons and if things do not go well at Boundary Park this weekend then Graydon looks certain to tell Taylor to start ringing around his contacts all over the globe to look into the prospect of making new signings.

Saddlers 'keeper James Walker is under treatment in the build-up to Saturday's crucial clash against Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park. Walker picked up a sore thigh during the 3-1 defeat at Swansea on Tuesday and Ray Graydon
will give the long serving 'keeper as long as possible recover before Graydon names his side for the clash in Lancashire. However, the injury doubt to the former Notts County man has led to Carl Emberson being put on alert for a possible return to first-team action. Emberson is on the transfer list at Walsall but has found potential bidders for his services hard to come by since being put up for sale earlier this season but a match in the first-team could do a lot to boost his hopes of finding a new club. He comes to the end of his contract at the Bescot Stadium next summer and will move on as a free agent at that time unless a club comes in for him between now and the end of the season. While Walker battles to be fit to face Oldham, right-back Chris Marsh only has an outside chance of being fit to face the Latics. Marsh missed the defeat at Swansea with a hamstring problem that he suffered against Cambridge United last weekend. His more likely comeback target would appear to be the New Year's Day clash at home to Swindon Town.

Ronnie Ekelund is waiting to discover if he is one of the players who to benefit from the fall out that has followed Walsall's defeat at Swansea. The former Danish international is coming towards the half way point of his short-term two month contract at the Bescot Stadium and has so far struggled to make much of an impact at first-team level since his arrival at the club following his recovery from the ankle injury that he suffered while playing in France for Toulouse last season. Ray Graydon is still searching for the best way to fit Ekelund into his team, but he might well feel that the time has come to give him a start against Oldham as he seeks to find a cure to Walsall's travel sickness. The Dane, who is not regarded by Graydon as an out and out midfielder or an out and out striker, is more at home playing between midfield and attack but the manager plays a fairly rigid 4-4-2 formation at the Bescot Stadium which has so far given Ekelund little scope to really show what he is capable of. Ekelund has hinted that he would like the opportunity to stay in the Midlands on a permanent basis as he has a base in Coventry and has just become a father for the first time. He has another four weeks to try and secure a long term deal and Saturday's clash at Oldham is going to be the start of a crucial spell for him.

Wolverhampton Express & Star

Skipper Tom Bennett is urging Walsall to ditch their footballing principles away from home. The influential midfielder feels Saddlers have to change their tactics and get back to basics in order to unearth a winning formula away from Bescot. The Boxing Day setback at Swansea was Saddlers' fourth defeat in their last five trips to opposition grounds - a sequence that is raising questions over their ability to maintain a serious push for promotion. Now Ray Graydon's on-field general, Bennett, believes he should be issuing new orders on the road with the time right for a more direct approach.

"The defeat at Swansea was probably one of the most disappointing results of the season for me," said Bennett. "We were never really in control despite getting an early goal and I think it was one of those games were we needed to knock the ball into the channels, chase it and squeeze. "We are trying to play the same way that we play at home and sometimes you have to change your approach to get a result. I think most of the lads feel that way.  "When we come away from home we need to pump the balls into the channels and force sides back as opposed to playing in front of them and trying to play through them

"We were playing against a team that shouldn't really be living with us and still trying to play football. We need to beat sides such as Swansea at their own game. "This is a very football-minded team. The players want to play all the time, but if you are going to get promotion you have to go away from home and grind results out. "Everyone has got the ability to get the ball down and pass it but sometimes you need to go another way and that means maybe being a little bit more unorthodox."

Saddlers will be aiming to end their depressing away-day sequence, weather permitting, when they travel to Oldham on Saturday. The Boundary Park playing surface has been covered to protect it from frost and the club are hopeful the clash will go ahead. Keeper Jimmy Walker is expected to shake off a minor thigh problem he sustained during the Boxing Day defeat at Swansea while Graydon rates Chris Marsh as having an outside chance of making the trip with the defender showing signs of recovering from a hamstring strain.

Birmingham Post

Walsall boss Ray Graydon has warned his team  to turn around their disastrous away form - or risk the axe. He has vowed to take desperate measures unless the Saddlers start rectifying the dreadful away form which is threatening to under-mine their chances of automatic promotion from the Second Division. Despite holding second place, Walsall have not won an away match since their 2-0 success at Colchester United on October 6, picking up a solitary point from their last five excursions. The 3-1 Boxing Day defeat at Swansea means they now trail leaders Millwall by four points and Graydon is understandably anxious to halt a worrying trend when they head to Oldham for a crucial match this weekend.

"I have players who generally have an attacking mentality and they find it difficult to change when they go away from home," he said. "They still like to play football and, to be honest, I don't want to stop them from doing that. But they have to realise that the ball occasionally needs to end up in row Z. It may not be attractive, but sometimes that's how it has to be. "If we can't get things right in the next away game or two, I will have to think about changing players. "I haven't particularly been looking to do anything in the transfer market with any great desire, but unless things improve, I will have to start looking at the situation." Experienced full-back Chris Marsh, pictured, who missed the Swansea setback with a ham-string problem, has an outside chance of being fit for the trip to Boundary Park. Goalkeeper James Walker is also a doubt, as he battles to overcome a sore thigh.