Welcome
to today's issue of
BOUNDARY
BULLET-zine
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Daily On-line e-zine for 252
Oldham Athletic Supporters
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Today's
Edition for
30th June 2000
Today's
Headlines
Oldham
Evening Chronicle
Latics
withdraw offer to Graham
RICHARD
GRAHAM is looking for new employment after Athletic withdrew the offer
of a new contract which he has twice rejected. The
injury-plagued Graham becomes a free agent at midnight tonight, thereby
severing links stretching back almost 12 years. Athletic
must pay his salary to the end of July unless he gets fixed up in the meantime
with a new club. It was the end of the
road when Graham (25) yesterday rejected Athletic's second and final contract
offer. Athletic promptly ripped up the
12-month offer which involved a 50-per-cent cut in Graham's basic salary
with the remainder appearance related .
Graham, who along with Paul Rickers was Athletic's longest-serving player,
signed for the club as a 14-year-old.
He
said: "Several clubs are showing interest and my agent is dealing with
that. "I am disappointed that after being at Latics so long they didn't
offer me something more long term, but that's football and there is not
a lot I can do about it." Graham made
his first-team debut for Athletic in December 1993 when they graced the
Premiership. He looked to have a sparkling
future but in recent years his career has been badly disrupted by injury,
notably a career-threatening knee problem. Graham insists he has conquered
the problems and believes he can get his career back on track. Athletic
chief executive Alan Hardy says in view of Graham's medical record they
were only taking the necessary safeguards to protect themselves when drafting
the new contract which was initially only six months in length, but later
upped to one year. Manager Andy Ritchie is sad to see Graham leave and
says everybody at the club wishes him well in the future.
He
said: "Obviously we had to take into account Richard's medical record and
the fact the club is currently working on a shoestring budget. "But we
offered Richard a new 12-month contract which, if he had played regularly,
could have meant him being on more money. "I
am disappointed he chose not to accept it because a fit Richard Graham
would have been a great asset to the club." Ritchie
explained they are fortunate to be well off for central defensive options
with Shaun Garnett, Mark Hotte, Paul Jones and Stuart Thom at the club.
Athletic have agreed to a request from Colchester to play their league
game at Layer Road on Tuesday, August 29 (7.45 pm). It had originally been
scheduled for Bank Holiday Monday afternoon.
Teamtalk
Oldham
Duo
on short term deals
Contract
rebels Mark Allott and Scott McNiven have agreed to play for the Latics
on weekly contracts rather than signing new two year deals. The deals were
sorted out after further talks with chief executive Alan Hardy, but it
leaves the matter very much up in the air with the pair refusing to put
pen to paper on more long term matters. They will now join the rest of
the squad when they report back for pre-season training next Wednesday,
but they will only be earning the same money as last season rather than
the new improved offer currently on the table. One condition of the offer
is, though, that the pair will remain on the transfer list with the Latics
ready to negotiate with any club who comes in with an offer whilst, at
the same time, giving the players the chance to put their talents on show
in the shop window. Both Allott and McNiven are under the age of 24 and
the club are therefore entitled to a fee unless they move abroad, and the
Latics will be well aware of the threat after being bitten once before
when they lost out on the £500,000 rated Chris Makin who joined top
French club Marseille. For manager Andy Ritchie it is not the best scenario
to try and manage his team under, Allott was joint top scorer last season
whilst McNiven put in his best campaign ever but the manager will be well
aware that they could be on their way out of Boundary Park at any moment.
Graham
on way out
Big defender
Richard Graham is on his way out of the club after once again refusing
to sign a new 12-month contract on the table. Graham was only offered a
short-term contract because of concerns over his fitness, but he now becomes
a free agent and is available for offers. The star, who has been with the
Latics since leaving school, says that he has had offers from two other
clubs but the Latics have added that they would have reviewed the player's
situation had he signed on and proved his fitness this coming season. It
is now up to the likeable defender to find a club which is prepared to
take a risk on his fitness, which he insists, is not an issue.
Former
star on move from Magpies
Former Oldham star
Carl Serrant looks set to end his Newcastle nightmare with a move to either
Sheffield United or Wigan. The 24-year-old England B international signed
for the Magpies from Oldham for £500,000 in July 1998 but he only
managed six starts. In one of them at Everton in November 1998, he needlessly
conceded a penalty and he didn't play again that season. That and subsequent
injury problems affected his confidence and it's felt that a change of
club will be of benefit for all concerned.
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