I'm just your long time curse

Sigh. Sorry. This is all my fault. When writing last week’s blog, I had a horrible feeling that saying “the manager of the month curse isn’t real” would come back to bite me on the arse. Sadly, that proved to be the case.

Shrewsbury itself is lovely. We went to the Market Hall before the game and had a couple of drinks and a very good cheeseboard at PetitGlou Wine Bar. We do away days in style. I hoped that the owl mural on the wall would prove to be a good omen.

We also had a bit of a mooch at the book stall, where they had a military history section that would have kept Andy occupied all afternoon, and I found a copy of My Remarkable Journey by Katherine G. Johnson. If you’re not familiar with her, Katherine G. Johnson was a mathematician who worked on NASA’s first space missions, at a time when segregation when still in force in the southern states and she wasn’t allowed to use the toilets nearest to her office. She really was an amazing woman. I was very tempted to buy it, but I figured carrying it to the game and then home might prove impractical.

We headed to the Charles Darwin pub nearer to the ground to meet our good friend Saraan, and they could not have been more welcoming. I couldn’t see a jukebox, so I can only assume that the staff were playing Mouldy Old Dough, I Am The Resurrection, Fanfare For The Common Man and This Is How It Feels. The landlord even gave us a lift to the ground in the minibus he was taking some of his regulars in. Going the extra mile doesn’t quite cover it.

It was another bouncing, sold-out away end, we’ve been on a great run, they were 18th, we were 9th. We had every reason to be optimistic. Morgan’s shot for them from 30 yards out was, as the commentator on the highlights said, ‘ambitious to say the least’. At the other end, Hawkes did really well to keep the ball under pressure in the penalty, and crossed to Payne in the 6 yard box, who shot wide and really should have done much better.

📸 Thomas Lee Stacey

It was fucking gutting when they took the lead, both because it was their first (only?) shot on target, and because it was far too easy. They played a free kick into the box, which was only half-cleared out, Perry played it back in, and it was a very good header by Boyle. They thought that they’d gone 2-0 up just before half-time when Ihionvien put the ball away after Morgan’s initial shot was parried, but Morgan had long since been flagged offside.

I was still confident that Mellon would make the changes needed and give the players the necessary rocket up the arse at half-time and we’d get something from the game. Garner came on for Payne, which was exactly the substitution a lot of us were hoping for – Payne wasn’t having a great game, and playing Fondop up front on his own wasn’t working.

It was definitely the right move and should have resulted in an equaliser early on. Garner played the ball back to Drummond, whose shot was put wide by the keeper. In the goalmouth scramble from the resulting corner, the ball definitely crossed the line – we were directly behind the goal and had a perfect view of it – but the goal wasn’t given, nor was a penalty given for the clear foul on Fondop. Again.

📸 Thomas Lee Stacey

Sometimes it just really isn’t your day, and the last thing we needed was Daniels’ hamstring going and him having to go off injured, to be replaced by Simeu.

It was a mad day weather wise. I’d dressed for the forecast rain, then debated whether I needed to buy sunglasses when we got off the train. I had to take my coat and hoodie off in the first half and was in danger of getting sunburn, put my coat back on in the second half, then wondered if there was any way of putting my hoodie back on without taking my coat off. It started belting down about an hour in, and I couldn’t help reflecting on the fact that I could be sitting in a warm dry wine bar, sipping peach bellinis, eating blue Cheshire cheese, and reading Katherine G. Johnson’s memoir, and regretting my choices.

It was a pretty terrible performance, but we had chances. Robson crossed the ball in for Garner, whose shot was just wide. Monthe bombed on forward and won us a corner, and Jalo’s overhead kick would have been a glorious goal, but it hit the post. The 9 minutes stoppage time reflected how much time-wasting had gone on and how scrappy the game had gotten, but it felt like we could have played an hour extra and not scored. We trudged out of the ground, and our new mates gave us a lift back to the Charles Darwin so we could begin the sorrow-drowning in earnest.

Mellon bemoaned our ‘tepid’ first half performance and our lack of ‘devilment’, and felt that the referee lost control of the game. He may have a point. He was right that Fondop’s shot crossed the line. The BBC reporter incurred his wrath when he asked if it had been a step too far in terms of effort: “so we’re saying they never tried?” The unfortunate hack quickly clarified that he meant that the players maybe looked tired, and Mellon conceded that maybe the players didn’t apply themselves as well as they could, “but you can never, ever question their effort, never, I won’t have that”.

Having been fiercely defended by his boss, Jamie Robson said the players were disappointed to have not given the supporters something to cheer, and made it clear he’s very happy to be here: “since I’ve come here, it’s a fantastic club, everything about the club, it’s been brilliant.”

A midweek trip to a team mired in a relegation fight was the perfect opportunity to bounce back and put ourselves back in play-off contention. Wasn’t it? WASN’T IT?

I didn’t see much of the first half, I was watching England’s World Cup qualifier v Spain. (How the hell have the European champions and world champions ended up in the same qualifying group?) It was a brilliant 1-0 win for England, with a superb save from Hampton and some excellent time-wasting shithousery at the end. I didn’t miss anything of note at Holker Street, by the sound of it.

I’m not sure I can bring myself to reflect too much on the second half, to be honest, as action-packed as it was. It started so promisingly, with Kai Payne’s side-footed goal putting us 1-0 up, and briefly making those of us who complained about him starting look foolish.

📸 Sean Walsh

We didn’t kick on, though, we sat too deep, Barrow won a succession of corners and eventually equalised from one, then took the lead in absolute farcical fashion straight from the kick off. Yes, Gordon was offside (I wasn’t even sure if being offside from the kick off was a thing), yes, it looked like handball, but what in the name of fuck were we doing? Male goalkeepers, mate, fucking hell, absolute joke.

On a night of unlikely midfield scorers, Pett equalised with a good low shot from outside the area, but we very much didn’t look like the best defence in the league on Tuesday, and Barrow hit us on the break to retake the lead in stoppage time. It was too easy, and Fletcher was practically unmarked. What a load of shite.

Mellon concluded after the game that “it looks like we run out of legs, and we run out of bodies” and felt that we’d had to use players who weren’t ready to play at that intensity. Fair enough, but that does raise questions about the starting line-up and subs. Pett, Woods and Drummond have looked tired recently. Why leave it so late to bring on Hawkes and Hammond? Why didn’t Taylor or Jalo feature at all? Why not make use of your younger players who are desperate to play?

📸 Oldham Athletic

He stressed that “we have to be respectful that they’ve had a terrific season, a brilliant season up until now”, which is fair enough. Well, brilliant in patches anyway. It was just so disappointing to see the play-off push sputter out with such a whimper.

Congratulations to our women’s team, who finished the season on something of a high with a double header against AFC Chorlton. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a 4-2 win for our girls, but the challenges of grassroots football sometimes throw up abnormal circumstances, and it was instead a 2-1 win for Chorlton, followed by a comprehensive 3-0 win for us. Did Paige Stopford still get the match ball, having scored one in the first game and two in the second? Anyway, it’s been a frustrating but encouraging season. Onwards and upwards, girls.

📸 Oldham Athletic

We can be proud of the club off the pitch, as always. This Friday (24th), our Community Trust have organised a sleep-out at Boundary Park to raise awareness of homelessness and to raise funds for local charities, including NorthCare Charity, who support our local hospitals. It’s a great event and great causes, and you can donate here.

We can still mathematically make the play-offs, but it’s looking very unlikely now. We should probably take the opportunity to make an early start on building for next season, having had such a short time to prepare for this one. And focus on finishing 10th, because that was where I predicted that we’d finish and I fucking love being right.

You don’t need me to remind you of the last time we played Salford in our second-to-last home game of the season. It’s a very different proposition today, obviously. There’s no real pressure on us, but we can put paid to any lingering hopes they’ve got of automatic promotion. Which would be funny. Give us something to cheer, lads, and I promise we won’t commit the very serious criminal offence of running on the pitch. KTMFF.

📸 Oldham Athletic

Written by Arlene Finnigan