5th December 2000  

Pies are off!!

FOLLOWING THE 6.30pm PITCH INSPECTION BY THE MATCH REFEREE TONIGHT'S MATCH HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO SEVERE WATERLOGGING

Latics Youth Team have the incentive of facing West Ham Utd at Upton Park in the 4th round of the FA Youth Cup if they manage to beat Brighton on the 18th December.

Latics have 11 players whose contracts expire at the end of this season and will therefore be opening negotiations with the players in the very near future. Out of these 11 there are 6 First Team regulars in Neil Adams, John Sheridan, Danny Boshell, Tony Carss, Lee Duxbury and David Eyres. In the case of Duxbury, Carss and Eyres the club has an option on the player's contract for a further 12 months. Manager Andy Ritchie will no doubt be keen to offer 19-year old midfielder Danny Boshell a new deal but will have to give careful consideration concerning both John Sheridan, who has played only one First Team game this season, and Neil Adams, who is currently out with knee ligament damage.

The other 5 players out of contract in the summer are goalkeeper Jamie Campbell, defender Ben Futcher, utility player Gerry McLaughlin, full back Barry Prenderville and midfielder Danny Walsh. There is also one other player who is currently playing for Latics and is on a week to week contract. This is defender Scott McNiven who has still not intimated whether he is prepared to sign a new contract with the club.

Oldham Athletic's Boxing Day game with promotion chasing Wigan Athletic will now kick off at 1.00 pm - on police advice. "The Boundary Park club have reluctantly agreed to the switch" says Chief Executive Alan Hardy. Head of Oldham Police Chief Superintendent Eric Hewitt met club officials after Saturday's game with Oxford Utd and explained the reasons behind his request. Mr Hardy said "We were approached by the police over the weekend. The police clearly feel that, by kicking off a little earlier, they will prevent people from perhaps taking too much alcohol and, hopefully preventing the minority from spoiling the day for the majority". There is no history of trouble between the clubs but Athletic want to be safe rather than sorry.

ATHLETIC will be going all out for victory tonight when they take on North-West neighbours Wigan in the LDV Vans Trophy. Some clubs use the competition to experiment with their team, but Athletic have named the strongest squad available for the first-round derby. Manager Andy Ritchie is intent on knocking out the division two high-flyers, who are unbeaten in their last 13 games. If Ritchie’s men achieve their goal, they will complete a hat-trick of wins after beating Wigan twice last season in the league. Ritchie proclaimed: “We are taking it very seriously. We want to go as far as we can because a decent run in any competition is good for the club. There is a cup final at the end of it and money to be made if you can get through. “We did well against Wigan last season, but that was then and this is now, so we have to do it all over again.”

There is no Wembley final this season as the national stadium is being renovated. But Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium - a magnificent arena with 73,000 seats and a retractable roof - looks favourite to take over. With Lee Duxbury (hamstring) and Paul Jones (fractured cheekbone) added to their injury list, Athletic will be forced into two changes from the weekend. Danny Boshell is set to play in midfield, with Andrew Holt recalled for his first start in 10 games. Ritchie may also change the formation and go back to a three-man defence featuring Holt, Scott McNiven and Shaun Garnett. That would leave Mark Innes and Paul Rickers as wing-backs. Or, alternatively, Holt will play in the middle of a flat back four, with McNiven replacing Jones on the right. Barry Prenderville, the Irish defender who did well after signing on a free transfer, returns after injury, along with Mark Hotte. 

ATHLETIC (from): Kelly, Garnett, McNiven, Holt, Rickers, Innes, Boshell, Carss, Eyres, Corazzin, Dudley, Prenderville, Hotte, Salt, Allott, Tipton, Miskelly. WIGAN (from): Carroll, Sharp, Padula, Balmer, De Zeeuw, McGibbon, Griffiths, Green, Bidstrup, Kilford, Martinez, Hernandez, Sheridan, Liddell, Ashcroft, Gillespie, McLaughlin, Stillie. 

THERE could be some good news on the horizon for Athletic following a new statement on the future of the transfer system. Small clubs throughout Europe have been living in fear recently as rumours grew that transfer fees would be abandoned. The European Commission, it seemed, was insisting that football should fall into line with other trades and allow freedom of movement for its employees. For the likes of Athletic, the fall-out would have been obvious — no fees, followed by a big fall in income, which means debts swallowing up the club and, possibly, sending it out of business. But there is now light at the end of the tunnel, with the Commissioner responsible for sport claiming that international deals will be the only ones affected. Viviane Reding said the national transfer system would not be touched in any of the European member countries. She insisted it would not even come under scrutiny when the EC meets up with football’s governing body, FIFA, which is opposing the plans vehemently.

And Ms Reding added that the British system would be a matter for Britain only, with the government and the leagues left to make their own decisions. Athletic have already made their feelings known during top-level talks in the Belgian capital, Brussels. Three supporters and the club’s chief executive, Alan Hardy, were among a delegation to lobby the European Parliament and warn of the dire consequences if the system was abolished altogether. It should be stressed that Ms Reding’s comments are not the end of the matter. There will be more consultation, with a report due by December 31. A final decision follows later, but the signs are more encouraging than for some time. Mr Hardy said: “If they have a change of heart, it looks as though the lobbying will have had a positive outcome. It would be good to know we weren’t wasting our time.” But, assuming international transfers are reformed, there could still be a long-term problem for Athletic. Instead of transfer fees when players cross a border, there could be “severance fees”, similar to those paid in other industries. As an example, Liverpool’s Michael Owen could sign for Inter Milan without his English club receiving the going rate. So Liverpool would surely look abroad for a replacement — and thus avoid a transfer fee — rather than taking a chance on a player from the lower divisions, such as West Brom’s Lee Hughes. Cash sums such as £4million, which is the valuation put on Hughes, would not be passed on to the smaller clubs, who may need it to survive.

Instead, it would be spent on wages and signing-on fees, staying in the pockets of the top players. Mr Hardy added: “We need as much money as possible to filter down from the top and help the smaller clubs. “The latest news is good on the whole, but it could still have a knock-on effect for people like ourselves.”

NOT for the first time, captain Lee Duxbury stands accused of being barking mad. Duxbury recently led a campaign group, consisting entirely of players, who wanted a change to the music Athletic run out to at Boundary Park. But rather than something heart-warming or uplifting, their choice was one of those inane, throw-away pop songs. So Saturday’s game against Oxford saw the debut of “Who Let The Dogs Out?” by this millennium’s Hoddle and Waddle, The Baha Men. The result, a 3-2 win, was right for Athletic. But the new theme tune didn’t bring much luck for Duxbury himself — he picked up a hamstring injury and will be out for three weeks.

OXFORD’S back-up goalkeeper on Saturday was none other than Jimmy Glass, one of the unlikeliest heroes of recent years. Glass was the man who went up for a corner in the last minute of the season when he was on loan at apparently-doomed Carlisle. With the Conference looming large, Glass smashed in the goal which kept the Cumbrians in the league. By way of thanks, he was sent straight back to Swindon and has since struggled for first-team football.