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Stephens to boost Athletic
Date published: 26 March 2010
ATHLETIC are hoping that the lack of a match this weekend will prove to be a blessing in disguise.
They had been due to face Southampton but the Saints are involved in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final against Carlisle, at Wembley.
The extra few days of preparation could help Athletic clear up a few niggling injury worries before Tuesday’s home game with Brentford.
Dale Stephens had been enjoying a fruitful spell in midfield before hip and groin injuries forced him out of the last two matches. With Dean Furman serving a two-match suspension for collecting ten bookings, Athletic are keen for Stephens to prove his fitness.
Likewise, experienced defender Jim Goodwin hopes to be available after missing eight matches due to a persistent thigh strain.
Midfielder Danny Whitaker, who took a painful blow to the foot in the 2-0 home defeat by Brighton, is expected to have fully recovered before Tuesday.
Winger Chris Taylor has been given the all-clear to face Brentford.
He has been troubled by groin/hamstring problems for much of the season and had a follow-up hospital scan this week to ascertain the extent of the problem.
The medical verdict was that the situation has not deteriorated and that Taylor should be able to continue.
One other piece of good news for Athletic is that full-back Kelvin Lomax came through his midweek reserve-team outing without mishap.
Sidelined for a month with a groin strain, Lomax played the full 90 minutes in the 3-0 win over Accrington Stanley in the quarter-finals of the Lancashire Senior Cup.
Comments
Just as the Latics are about to go and build a new ground in Manchester, FC United are about to unveil plans for a new 3.5 million pound stadium in Newton Heath
What are the odds that come Tuesday DP will put our poor performance down to "lack of match practice" after 10 days off and Southampton will be blamed for our defeat and slip back into the relegation berths?
One positive.
At least we won't have had a morale-sapping defeat against Southampton, come Tuesday night.
O.S.- I don't doubt that your constant heckling is done with the best interests of the club at heart, but in all honesty these conspiracy theories don't stack up. Surely the owners, already millionaires, could think of better ways to speculate than buying O.A.F.C.? As to asset stripping, if this is the case, why run the club down first? In my view, Corney and co. are doing this as a hobby- otherwise they would have sold up and gone long ago. As others have so often said- THIS IS ALL WE HAVE!
mentalmickey dont take him on thats what he wants. I, like you, know the owners are keeping our heads above water i know its not ideal but in this day and age there will be many more clubs going bust sooner rather than later.
for all their faults they are doing the sensible thing.
im sure lee hughes was 1 of the biggest earners in the league and the tta funded it.its only this season that has been a sham and that is down to penney. his signings.
at least taylor has the all clear lol.what a joke
How about groundsharing with F.C.United. Seems as though 5000 capacity is enough !
mentalmickey - I bet the owners have been badly hit by the credit crunch. Like a lot of financiers and big businessman, a lot of their wealth is probably based on bank borrowings. It may have been a hobby before, but now it's a bugbear to them. They obviously don't even have the funds to maintain BP, never mind gather an adequate team, anymore. They would sell tomorrow if they could get a decent price. The land/stadium deal seems to be their only chance.
Oldham scot -- you stated you support the club earlier this week. Well lets hope you lose interest vey soon because I and I am sure many other true supporters are sick of your derogatory remarks, week in and week out.
Go support another club as soon as possible and lose yourself.
Blessing i disguise? Believe me, when Latics aren't playing, that's just a blessing, there's no disguise!
Regards the comment by Metalmickey, I agree, however, if the club had ambitions this season for a play off place, then Penny would have long gone, realistically we haven't the players to acheive this, the manager is a dead loss and we are gliding towards League 2, because in reality that's all our owners see OAFC as, a league 2 outfit. They may have a bigger picture (I doubt) but it's plain to see that it wasn't well thought out, as by following this 'secret' plan they have driven away support.
Well done Max, nice to see some one talk sense, I stated before the season started, this season would be a disaster, like i predicted the season before we would finish no more than tenth and i have been right both times. As for OLDHAM4LIFE how about getting one!.
It may only have been the JP Trophy but at least Southampton have something to show for the season.
Correct OS, you did say we would struggle. You said that despite a great Manager in Dave Penney, we would struggle because TTA would not back him with cash (guess Furman and Colbeck got paid for with Scotch Mist then) and because - in you words - we had the Chuckle Brothers as a Centre Half pairing. That's right, the best and second best players this Season.
You guessed and got the result right but for the wrong reasons. You're a clueless Clown who should stick to Championship Manager!!!
FC united will not exist in 5 years due to the nature of thier supporters.i think us latics fans should set up our own fc oldham of athletic if we can only win the champoins league,get to another champions league final and win the league every year at a canter .its not acceptable wheres my pine villa scarf
Have Your Say
Well glad to hear Stephens back!(might have a chance of a draw now)....hold up! Rochdale want him on loan and Hardy is already half way down the A627M, and Taylor has already got the taxi booked for the next trip to the hospital. While the directors have just signed a book contract named "How to run a successful football club"
By OLDHAM SCOTLAND @ 26/03/2010 14:22:01