Welcome
to today's issue of
BOUNDARY
BULLET-zine
The
Daily On-line e-zine for Oldham Athletic Supporters Worldwide
Today's
Edition for
7th September 1999
Today's Headlines
Graham
in reserve
Squad
to be slashed
Thom
setback
Oldham Evening Chronicle
RICHARD
Graham makes his long-awaited return for Athletic in tonight's reserve-team
match at Grimsby Town. Manager Andy Ritchie
said: "Having Richard back after such a lengthy absence will be like having
a new signing. "It will give us a major boost, as we haven't got much cover
in the centre of defence." Tonight's game represents the injury-plagued
24-year-old central defender's first competitive action for almost nine
months. Graham, who has had a serious knee injury, made his last appearance
against Brentford in the FA Cup in December. Graham
first sustained the injury in October. Then, in December, he was forced
to abort his comeback after only two matches. Graham will definitely play
in the opening half of tonight's Pontins League clash at Blundell Park.
But there is a chance he could stay on for part of the second half if he
feels in good condition.
Another
Athletic central defender, Stuart Thom, will not be fit to return for at
least a fortnight. Thom, who broke a toe in the Worthington Cup tie against
Stockport, is still complaining of soreness. "Stuart has done some running,
but when he tried to sprint he felt pain," said Ritchie. Steve Whitehall,
who made his first senior start of the season as a substitute at Gillingham,
gets another run out in the reserves. There will be plenty of competition
for striking spots tonight, with Matthew Tipton, David McNiven, Ryan Sugden
and Darren Wardle in the squad. Wardle gets his chance after scoring six
goals for the youth team.
RESERVES
(from): Campbell, Mohan, Tait, Futcher, Hotte, Swan, Clitheroe, Salt, Graham,
Tipton, Whitehall, Sugden, D McNiven, Boshell, Wharton, Walsh, McLean,
Wardle.
ATHLETIC’S
youngsters have no difficulty finding a route to goal.
The
front two of Darren Wardle and Nathan Wharton bagged all the goals as the
under-19s beat Blackpool 3-1 in the Football League Youth Alliance. Wharton
opened the scoring, while Wardle bagged the other goals as Athletic continued
their good start to the season — they have lost only once in their first
four matches. Wharton began and finished
the move for Athletic’s first goal. He chased back into his own half to
win possession. Wharton then turned provider
to set up Wardle, who scored with a near-post shot. Wardle’s
second and sixth of the season was an identical effort after Wharton and
Jonathan Spurr linked on the right. Athletic’s
under-18s lost 3-2 in a friendly against Tranmere, Jonathan Froggatt and
an own goal accounting for their tally.
The
under-18s are in action again tomorrow in a friendly at Everton.
Latics boss
must act to cut the wage bill
ATHLETIC’S
fringe players could soon be heading for the exit as manager Andy Ritchie
launches a major clear-out of his playing staff. The
recent signing of Jordan Tait took the number of professionals at Boundary
Park to 36 — a figure around 50 per cent higher than the average second
division club. The financial burden
of retaining such a big squad can be crippling and it is the wage bill
which is ruling Athletic out of any moves in the transfer market. Ritchie
is now looking to offload some of the men who either don’t figure in the
first team or, in the case of younger players, are unlikely to do so in
the future.
One
problem he has is that other clubs must be willing to take such people
off his hands. They may be an unnecessary
drain on resources, but potential buyers — many of whom are in the same
dire straits as Athletic — would have to be sure they weren’t signing another
financial millstone of their own. Then
there is the issue of the club honouring contracts. Not
many of the 36 will become free agents at the end of this season and it
would be a huge surprise if three of those — Richard Graham, Mark Allott
and Gary Kelly — weren’t offered new deals. Nor
are players who are transfer listed or have their names circulated around
the league — a very common practice — likely to be snapped up quickly.
Each
summer sees a vast number of footballers facing life on the scrapheap,
and that number seems to increase every year. It’s
a rough estimate only, but Athletic’s squad could probably be trimmed by
at least 10 without being badly affected. The
reserves could still operate comfortably, even in the event of an injury
crisis, while the restructuring of the youth system has also reduced the
need for a surplus of bodies. Where
there used to be an ‘A’ team and a ‘B’ team, there is now a single side.
And, as that is strictly for under-19s, no-one older than a first-year
professional is eligible to play. Ritchie
is aware that Athletic simply can’t afford to retain such a large squad
if he is to bring in new faces.
By
pruning the wage bill he would create scope for signings and, though he
brought in Paul Beavers only a month ago, the manager still believes a
striker is the top priority. The current
number of full-time players is strikingly similar to the Premiership days,
when crowds and overall income were far higher. The
only difference now is that more youngsters are under contract and fees
were involved for only Lee Duxbury (£350,000), Shaun Garnett (£150,000),
Steve Whitehall (£40,000), Stuart Thom (£40,000) and Gary Kelly
(£10,000). That means an astonishing
31 of the 36 professionals have come through the ranks — proof, if any
were needed, that the club could hardly survive without its youth system. Comparisons
with other North-West clubs are revealing, for they emphasise just how
much Athletic are living beyond their means. The
richest club in the world, Manchester United, could probably afford to
double their eye-popping total of 56 professionals.
Yet
neighbours City — with an average division two attendance last season of
28,273 — have the same size squad as Athletic, whose crowds were less than
20 per cent of that at 5,628. Rochdale
have 22 pros, Macclesfield 23 and Stockport County, who are in flying high
in division one, have 24. Athletic have
exactly half as many on top of that — but they won’t have for long.
Teamtalk
Oldham
Beavers joins
injury list
Striker Paul Beavers is the latest injury
problem for the Latics, and looks a doubt for the clash with Bury due to
an Achilles problem. Beavers picked up the problem in a recent reserve
game, and aggravated it in last Saturday's defeat at Gillingham. It's not
known how long the former Sunderland man will be out for, but he's almost
certainly set to miss Saturday's big game.
Thom comeback
blow
Stewart Thom has suffered a set back in
his return to training after a broken toe, and now looks likely to be out
of action for another two weeks. The key defender has missed the last six
games after breaking a toe in his only appearance this season. He had pencilled
in this Saturday's derby clash against Bury for his return, but when he
stepped up his training schedule, he found the injury was still very sore
when sprinting. It now looks like the 23 year old will have sit on the
sidelines for another couple of weeks.
Ritchie gets
V.O.C.
Chairman David Brierley says he is backing
Andy Ritchie, and has given the boss something of a vote of confidence
despite the sides bad start. After five defeats in a row, Brierley admitted:
"Of course we are disappointed with how things stand, and we know things
need to be sorted out quickly." "But this is a time for patience, because
in these circumstances everybody is quick to condemn the manager. You cannot
expect him to sort out the problems he inherited in less than 18 months
in the job." The Chairman added: "He needs time to stamp his own authority
on the team, and given time I am sure he can do so. I can understand the
fans' disappointment, they pay good money and are entitled to have their
say, but we are all behind the manager."
Contributions and letters should
be sent to Gary Davies by
e-mail at [email protected]The
views expressed on this e-zine are not the views of Oldham Athletic
F.C. nor necessarily the views of the EditorAny complaints will be dealt
with swiftlyThe editor will not publish any letters containing bad languageThis
e-zine is written using Microsoft Outlook Express